Reuben Atwater Chapman (Sept. 20, 1801 Russell, Massachusetts – June 28, 1873 Flüelen,

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

) was an American attorney who served as chief justice of the

Massachusetts Supreme Court The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) is the highest court in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Although the claim is disputed by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, the SJC claims the distinction of being the oldest continuously functi ...

from 1868 until his death in 1873. As a youth he was employed as a store clerk in

Blandford, Massachusetts Blandford is a town in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 1,215 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. It was the home of the Blandford Ski Area. History ...

when he was given the opportunity at the age of 19 to read law as a clerk in a law office. Admitted to the bar, he successively practiced in Westfield, Monson, and Ware, before settling in Springfield, Mass., where he practiced in partnership with Whig politician George Ashmun as Chapman & Ashmun. The firm became one of the most successful in the state and in 1860 Chapman was appointed an associate justice of the state supreme court, subsequently being elevated to chief justice in 1868. He was a presidential elector for Lincoln in 1860, and served on the Harvard Board of Overseers. He handled some legal matters for

John Brown John Brown most often refers to: *John Brown (abolitionist) (1800–1859), American who led an anti-slavery raid in Harpers Ferry, Virginia in 1859 John Brown or Johnny Brown may also refer to: Academia * John Brown (educator) (1763–1842), Ir ...

when Brown was in business in Springfield, and later, when Brown was imprisoned in Virginia facing hanging after the abortive Harper's Ferry raid, he wrote to Chapman asking him to either come himself or send legal assistance: "I have money in hand here to the amount of $250 ..do not send an ultra abolitionist," which Chapman was unable to do at the time. Chapman died in Switzerland in 1873.Chapman, Frederick William. ''The Chapman Family, or The Descendants of Robert Chapman''. Case, Tiffany & Co., 1854, p. 324. His younger sister was

Clarissa Chapman Armstrong Clarissa Chapman Armstrong (May 15, 1805 – July 20, 1891) was an American missionary in the Hawaiian Islands and Marquesas Islands, from 1832 until 1847. She was part of the Fifth Company of missionaries sent to Hawaii by the American Board of ...

, a missionary teacher in the Hawaiian Islands. Through her, Reuben Atwater Chapman was uncle to Samuel Chapman Armstrong, an

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

general and founder of Hampton Institute, and to

William Nevins Armstrong William Nevins Armstrong (March 10, 1835 – October 16, 1905), aka Nevins Armstrong and aka W. N. Armstrong, was the Attorney General of Hawaii during the reign of King David Kalākaua. He is most widely known outside of Hawaii for the book ''A ...

, Attorney General in the Kingdom of Hawaii.Robert Francis Engs
''Educating the Disfranchised and Disinherited: Samuel Chapman Armstrong and Hampton Institute, 1839-1893''
(University of Tennessee Press 1999).

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* 1801 births 1873 deaths Massachusetts lawyers 1860 United States presidential electors Justices of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Massachusetts Republicans People from Hampden County, Massachusetts 19th-century American judges 19th-century American lawyers {{Massachusetts-state-judge-stub