Bio of Chapman, Rhinaldo W. (b.1835) Wabasha Co., MN ========================================================================= USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, material may be freely used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material, AND permission is obtained from the contributor of the file. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for non-commercial purposes, MUST obtain the written consent of the contributor, OR the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. If you have found this file through a source other than the MNArchives Table Of Contents you can find other Minnesota related Archives at: http://www.usgwarchives.net/mn/mnfiles.htm Please note the county and type of file at the top of this page to find the submitter information or other files for this county. FileFormat by Terri--MNArchives Made available to The USGenWeb Archives by: Barbara Timm and Carol Judge ========================================================================= This bio comes from "HISTORY OF WABASHA COUNTY" 1884. Check out Barbara's site for more great information on this book: http://www.rootsweb.com/~mnwabbio/wab1.htm There are also some pictures and information from descendents for some of the bios on her pages. Chapman, Rhinaldo W., a Plainview farmer, was born in Lima, Jefferson county, New York, June 5, 1835. He was the youngest son of Asa Chapman, a farmer. His education was obtained in the district school. He continued to reside at home until he had nearly attained to his majority. In the meantime he had learned the carpenter trade, and being also of a speculative turn of mind, had profitably handled his small earnings, and was now enabled to purchase a fifty-acre farm in the southern part of his native county. Good luck attended him, and he engaged in buying stock and poultry for the New York market. He was drafted in 1863, but paid for a substitute and the following year volunteered his services to fight the Union battles, and was mustered into the 186th N. Y. Inf., and was in active service in the army of the Potomac until the close of the war, his regiment participating in all those hard-fought battles in which that army engaged immediately preceding the fall of Petersburgh. In consequence of impaired health, the result of exposure while in the service, he has been placed on Uncle Sam's pension rolls. He resumed business in Oswego, New York, where he ran a grocery store for a few months, and for the two years following he was in the stock and poultry business. In 1869 he came to Minnesota and bought from John Allen, of Elgin, a farm on section 21 in that township. This place he greatly improved, and erected thereon fine buildings. In 1882, ill health induced him to go to Elgin village to reside. At the time the cyclone visited that unfortunate town he was living with his family, consisting of a wife and two step-daughters, Edith and Hattie Dillon, in the second of one of the ill-fated houses. The family were at dinner when the tornado approached, and were all buried beneath the ruins of their home. They escaped, however, with only bruises, and esteem their good luck in this to providential interposition. Mrs. Helen Dillon nee Goodenough, of St. Lawrence, New York, the relict of Albert Dioon (a comrade in arms of Mr. Chapman), became Mrs. Chapman, November 23, 1868. Since the destruction of his Elgin home, Mr. Chapman has resided in Plainview village, where he has purchased several village lots in Thompson's addition, and on which he is erecting a fine house. Mr. Chapman and his family are members of the Methodist Episcopal church; has been steward and trustee. Dear Ms. Timm, I am writing in regard to Rhinaldo W. Chapman (born June 5, 1835 in Lyme, Jefferson County, New York) who relocated to Wabasha County, Minnesota in 1869. He was attached to Co E of the 186th NYSV Infantry during the Civil War. I have been researching the 186th and one soldier in particular...Corporal Albert Dillin (also known as Dillon). Rhinaldo's wife Helen, was the widow of Albert Dillin. Out of complete curiosity I would like to learn more about Helen's fate and that of her 2 daughters Edith & Hattie (Hettie) Dillin. I am also looking for any ancestral descendants of soldiers of the 186th, that may be in possession of letters, pictures, or diaries from soldiers of the 186th. I know my chances are slim, but if there are local descendants of Helen and Albert Dillin, perhaps they have some family history to share? The Dillin family was a renowned pioneer family of Jefferson County, New York. Albert was the only son of Samuel & Rhoda Dillin. He died at Petersburg, Va on April 2, 1865, without a surviving male child. Another daughter, Jenyvieve, pre-deceased him at the age of 2 months. My curiosity arose when my children and I discovered a monument erected to his memory in an old cemetary near the home of my parents. Further research strongly indicates that my parents' home now stands where Albert and Helen had lived after their marriage. An old stone foundation still remains. I love history and I love mysteries. This has turned out to be the best of both. I recently received Albert Dillin's military pension records. That was how I was able to discover what had become of his widow Helen. A document informing the pension record dept. of her remarriage and relocation has led me to Minnesota. If there is any information you can share, or if you know of a direction in which to point me, please let me know. It would be greatly appreciated. Thank You ~ Karen S. Doney E-mail me!