Harry Edwin Chapman 
pages 309-310
Portrait

 IN ALL ages of the world industry, perseverance and energy, where intelligently applied, have achieved results which could only have been gained by having one end in view, and by improving every opportunity of ultimately attaining that object. The late Harry Edwin Chapman, of Cleveland, Ohio, was an example of what can be accomplished when the spirit of determination is exercised, in connection with the every-day affairs of life.. His connection with railroading and the steel industry resulted most satisfactorily, and he became one of the substantial men of his community. He was a man of progressive ideas and high ideals and was in every way eminently deserving of his large success in a material way as well as of the high esteem in which he was held by his wide circle of friends and acquaintances.
Mr. Chapman was born in Cleveland, June 14, 1858. He was a scion of one of the sterling old families of the Forest City, having been a son of Nathan E. and Fannie (Miller) Chapman. The father was born in Tolland, Connecticut, April 6, 1829, and there he grew to manhood and received his education. When twenty-four years of age he removed to Cleveland, Ohio, and engaged in the railroad business, which he continued to follow, for the most part, during his subsequent career, being connected most of the time with the Cleveland & Pittsburgh Railroad, and at the time of his death he was also interested in the Latrobe Steel Works, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His death occurred January 8, 1893. The mother of our subject was born in Pennsylvania, but grew to womanhood and was educated in Cleveland. She was a daughter of Alexander Hamilton Miller, of Cleveland. Her death occurred March 10, 1908. These parents were married October 16, 1855. To their union two children were born, George Dana, who died in infancy, and Harry E.
Harry E. Chapman, of this memoir, grew to manhood in his native city and here he received a good common-school education, including a course in Brooks Military School of Cleveland, from which institution he was graduated. He remained a wide reader of the world's best current literature and was therefore a well-informed and versatile man. There was always a marked attachment between himself and his mother and he made an effort to comply with her every wish. It being her desire that he should remain at home, he, at an early age, became interested with his, father in the railroad business, in Cleveland, and was first given a position in the mechanical department of the Cleveland & Pittsburgh Railroad, his father having been superintendent of motive power. Young Chapman, having an alert, inquiring mind, learned rapidly the various phases relating to the machinery of the road. He continued actively connected with the road until 1881, when he engaged in another business. He soon again returned to the railroad business as master mechanic of the Big Four railroad, remaining with this company until 1893, when he moved to Latrobe, Pennsylvania, and became connected with the steel works plant at that place, but returned to Cleveland a year later, and retired from active life. Eight months prior to his death, he purchased a fine country estate and at once moved there, which was his home at the time of his death.
Mr. Chapman was married, September 15, 1887, to Caroline Smith, a lady of many estimable characteristics, and a daughter of William Smith, a native of Bourton, England, where he grew to manhood, was educated and married, and there he resided until emigrating with his family to the United States, about 1869, locating in Cleveland, Ohio. Mr. Smith engaged in no particular business after coming to America, death overtaking him May 23, 1875. Mrs. Chapman has one sister and three brothers, namely: Sophia Smith Rogers, of Cleveland; A. H. Smith, who makes his home in New York City; Charles H. Smith, of Cleveland; and William A. Smith, of Chicago.
The union of Mr. and Mrs. Chapman was without issue, but they adopted a son, a first cousin of Mr. Chapman, his name being Nathan E. Miller Chapman; he is now sixteen years of age, is a bright lad, and is attending Mohegan Lake School at Mohegan, New York.
Mr. Chapman was a Republican in politics, but, like his father, never took an active interest in public affairs, preferring to devote his attention to his large business affairs and to his home of which he was very fond. He was a great lover of blooded horses, and owned a number of fleet racers, but for pleasure only, never entering them in regular races. He belonged to the Gentlemen's Driving Club of Cleveland, which he joined very soon after its organization. He also kept many fine hunting dogs, and although he belonged to no hunting clubs he went to Prospect, Prince Edward County, Virginia, during the autumn of every year for a hunting trip which he thoroughly enjoyed. His superior horses and dogs were greatly admired by all who saw them. He was a man of kindness, never permitting any one to treat them harshly, and in return for his kind treatment he was beloved by the dumb animals.
The death of Mr. Chapman occurred November 17, 1910, at the age of fifty-two years. The influence of such a noble life as his is far-reaching and he will long be remembered by those who knew him best for his many admirable traits.

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