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From Commemorative Biographical Record of the Counties of Rock, Green, Grant, Iowa and Lafayette Wisconsin, publ. 1901- page 924
A. B. CHAPMAN. For over sixty years this gentleman has been a resident of Grant county, and has witnessed almost its entire development. He has seen its wild lands transformed into beautiful homes and farms, its hamlets grow into villages and flourishing towns, and all of the interests and evidences of an advanced civilization introduced. As a farmer he has met with success in business affairs and is now living a retired life in Cassville.
Mr. CHAPMAN was born in Sherrell Mountain, Dubuque Co., Iowa, in 1836, a son of Ammyson and Mary (DUNLARD) CHAPMAN. The father was born in Connecticut, the mother in Canada of French Huguenot extraction. At a very early day in the development of the State, Ammyson CHAPMAN moved to Iowa, and took up a tract of government land, at one time owning 160 acres of land where the city of Dubuque now stands, but was driven off his claim by United States troops, after which he came to Grant county, Wis., in 1838, and opened up and improved a farm in Harrison township. He was a soldier of the Black Hawk war, and was prominently identified with the early development and upbuilding of this section of the State. He was born Sept. 1, 1800, and died in Cassville township, Grant county, in 1881, having long survived his wife, who passed away in 1865. Their children were Mrs. Mary KNOX, who went to California in 1850; A. B.; Mrs. Lois LANG, a resident of Dakota; Peter, a veteran of the Civil war, and a resident of Grant county, Wis.; Collins, who was a member of a Wisconsin regiment in the same war, and is now a farmer of Waterloo township, Grant county; and Mrs. H. SCHUELTER, a resident of Cassville.
Being only two years old when brought by his parents to Grant county, A. B. CHAPMAN was reared in the wilds of this State, and received a limited education, as schools were few and widely scattered in this locality during his boyhood. His early life was spent upon the home farm in Harrison township, and throughout his active business career he engaged in agricultural pursuits, becoming owner of a good farm of 120 acres in Waterloo township, which he still owns. He moved to Cassville Feb. 22, 1899, and is now living a retired life, enjoying a well-earned rest.
At Dubuque, Iowa, in 1864, Mr. CHAPMAN married Miss Josephine OSHEA, a native of St. Paul, Minn., and a daughter of Lew OSHEA, an early hunter and trapper of the Northwest and his wife, a Sioux Indian. Her uncle, Link COMAS, was chief of the Sioux tribe. Of the fourteen children born to Mr. and Mrs. CHAPMAN, the following named are living: Birdsell, a resident of Waterloo township, Grant county; Arizona; Mrs. Alvaretta COWDER; Mrs. Jane WILMOT, of Cassville; Earnest, who took a course at Bailey College and is now on the home farm; Orlando; Josephine; and Jessie.
During the war of the Rebellion Mr. CHAPMAN enlisted at Potosi, Grant county, in the 49th Wis. V.I., for one year, and as a part of the Army of the West was on detached duty, being stationed most of the time at Rolla, Mo., and he now holds an honorable discharge. As a Republican he takes quite an active interest in political affairs. As a prominent pioneer and worthy citizen of Grant county, he is certainly deserving of honorable mention in this volume.
This biography generously submitted by Carol Holmbeck