Charles A. Chapman
BIRTH: 23 Sep 1854 in Minersville, Meigs County, Ohio, USA
DEATH: 8 Nov 1934 (aged 80) in Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minnesota, USA
Section 6 | Plot 95-4, Lot D
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Charles A. Chapman was an early pioneer, surveyor, and civic leader whose work helped shape the physical and institutional development of Mankato and Blue Earth County.
Born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on October 14, 1833, Chapman was educated in the public schools and later attended the Lawrence Scientific School of Harvard University, graduating in 1856. That same year, he set out west seeking employment as a railroad engineer, but economic conditions halted railroad expansion. He instead settled temporarily in Des Moines, Iowa, where he worked as a surveyor, including on the Des Moines River Improvement Company land grant.
In the spring of 1857, Chapman journeyed north with Dr. Byron DeWitt, traveling by wagon through sparsely settled country and navigating portions of the route by compass. They arrived in the Mankato area in June 1857, when it was still in its earliest stages of development. Shortly after, Chapman became involved in land purchases and town planning, including the early platting of Le Hillier City.
By the fall of 1857, Chapman had moved to Mankato, where he opened a surveying office with A. D. McSweeney. Together, they surveyed and platted many of the city’s early additions, including Warren’s, Hanna’s, Givens & Lewis’, Moreland, Freeman & Buck’s, Shaubut’s, Dukes’, and Roelofson’s additions—work that helped define much of present-day Mankato.
Chapman played a significant role in public service and civic life. He served one term as Auditor of Blue Earth County and was the first city engineer of Mankato. For approximately twenty years, he was Secretary of the Mankato Board of Trade, and he served as Secretary of the Mankato Cemetery Association from its founding in 1869 for many years thereafter. He was also active in the Territorial Old Settlers’ Association and was elected a vice president of the Blue Earth County Historical Society in 1901.
Beyond his professional contributions, Chapman was known for his involvement in the community. He played the organ at the Presbyterian Church, was deeply engaged in Masonic activities, and was widely regarded as a storyteller and historian of the region’s early days. At the time of his death, he was remembered as “one of the last remaining links which connect the past with the present.”
He married Hannah A. Chapman of Bethel, Maine, on March 31, 1859. They had three children, though two died in infancy. Their surviving son, James F. Chapman, went on to receive an education at Carleton College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and later held a responsible position with the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company in Pueblo, Colorado.
Charles A. Chapman died on January 20, 1920, at the age of 86, and was laid to rest at Glenwood Cemetery in Mankato—a city whose early growth and structure he helped define.
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