Son of Thomas Chapman(1782–1846)and Anna(Welton)Chapman(1787–1863)
Married to Maria Helen Parker
Father of
William Chapman
In listing the known Underground Railroad homes Capt.Hiram Chapman is listed in Versailles,NY http://www.math.buffalo.edu/~sww/0history/hwny-ugrragents.html
Erie County Independent, Published by the Hamburg Publishing Co. (Hamburg, NY.), P. 6
Thu., Apr. 26, 1934
Silhouettes
One of the most colorful figures in western New York was Captain Hiram Chapman, the lake boat captain whose ship carried slaves and cargoes from Dunkirk to the Canadian shore.
Stories have been told of his famous picture of the "Holy Family", and now Miss Edith Parker, his wife's niece, is going to take you on a fascinating trip through Captain Chapman's house which is one of the most beautiful and historical for many miles around. Through the death of her brother, Remington Parker of Buffalo, it has come into the possession of Miss Parker and she is endeavoring to carry on the spirit of the traditions which its former owners so loved.
David Day Parker and his wife came from West Rupert, Vermont in 1800 by wagon team and purchased from the Holland Land Company a tract of land three miles west of Versailles, N. Y. and reaching through the settlement of Versailles to the creek. After a sawmill was built, logs were used to build a bridge and later a road was cut through the pine trees and a plank road was built from three miles west of Versailles to the creek.
Maria Parker, the eldest daughter of the nine children, married Captain Chapman, of Sheridan. A short distance from the settlement of Versailles, on land given the daughter by her father, David Day Parker, Captain Chapman built a log house for relics. A few rods from the log house stands the white frame house which the lake boat captain built for a home and which to this day is a place of indescribable charm.
Maria Parker Chapman went back to Vermont and brought seedlings and today in front of the house they are tall pine trees. The entrance hall of the house remains unchanged.
"From this hall there was an entrance to the pantry," Miss Edith Parker relates, "when you opened the door, the most delicious odors came to you. On a Thanksgiving there was always a great gathering of the family - twenty to twenty-five came and stayed from Wednesday until Sunday night, and those pantry shelves were loaded with mince pies and tarts. Aunt Maria had spent days preparing things for Thanksgiving. The pantry was a place of secrets. People would go in there and shut the door and then you'd hear whispering."
"To the left of this hall was Uncle Hiram's and Aunt Maria's bedroom." The big bed took up a large part of the room. On the peak of the roof directly above the bed hung the bell with a cord arranged in the bedroom above the bed so Uncle Hiram could reach up and pull the bell if he needed to. Another rope hung down outside. The bell is really the famous art, for it was sort of an institution. We children were never allowed to touch it except at special times. When the light slanted a certain way on a certain spot, we knew it was noon and we could ring the bell to call the farm hands in to dinner. The bell is still on the roof - but it's silent now."
In the bedroom there is a quaint old table desk used by the captain and an old tobacco box of David Parker's made to hang on the wall. The bottom edges have been burnt through to the nails.
To the right of the entrance hall is the sitting room. Although remodeled to modern proportions it is still simple in lines. In the room is a large fireplace paneled in white and many pieces of old mahogany furniture, maple cane-backed rockers, and a two-drawered, square topped table whose top lifts and discloses a desk.
"The parlor organ used to stand there in one corner. We used to have such marvelous charades," Miss Parker smiles at remembered pictures. "In Aunt Maria's bedroom across the hall were trunks of charade things and they used to go in there and shut the door and get laughing so, they would forget we were waiting to see the charade over here in the sitting room. They were all exceptionally talented actors and singers. Later, Salem and Capitola Parker gave singing lessons all over the country."
Through a door from the sitting room one enters the parlor of the old house - now a modernly equipped kitchen. A much smaller room than the others. There were the wax flowers under glass covers and there hung on the wall above a hair cloth sofa, the famous picture of the Holy Family. It was in that room the older members of the family gathered to play "Old Sledge" (a card game, now called seven-up) "from morning until evening" on a small mahogany table in the house.
"We children were always hushed from that room," says Miss Parker. "When it wasn't used, the parlor was always kept tightly closed until some special occasion."
All the horsehair upholstery of the chairs and sofas in the old home are of a flower pattern on a rise-grey background - the original material from her grandmother's day.
Off from the parlor was the "parlor bedroom" which has been made into pantries and cupboards. Opening from the sitting room is an enclosed dining porch in which are a highly polished table made from a tree on the place and the short backed rounded chairs originally used by Captain Chapman and his wife, The flag stone floor is most attractive.
Walking through the entrance hall, one is startled by the simple beauty of the very large room beyond. Eighteen by twenty-seven feet with five feet added to the width in the bay window containing five window frames and glasses. All the glass in the house is the original glass of the Chapman house. This room, originally the kitchen of the house has black walnut floors, the boards of which measure nine and a quarter to nine and a half inches in width. An old secretary dating back to 1800, old tables, chairs and setters, a large fireplace in a white wall paneling, create an unusual picture.
"The old rug made on a piece of sailcloth with tufted yarns tied on, making the picture of a dog, was made by a sailor tramp, Ed Gallagher. For 70 years that rug had hard usage and the colors have never faded," Miss Parker points out. "The rug with the thistle pattern, a hooked rug, was made 100 years ago by a Scotchman whose granddaughter brought it to Canada. See how wonderful the colors still are in that one too." The old rocker on the porch with the broad arms is at least 75 years old. All the children have sat in it and sweethearts have perched on the arms of it. It's part of the house."
"Uncle Hiram was a very austere man. People's opinions never influenced him. He would make up his mind while listening and then strive for his own goal. I have heard him tell how he used to sit reading by candlelight by this little drop leaf table. The Indians were always free to come at any time into his house. One room in it was always kept for old Mrs. Crouse, an Indian woman.
Captain Chapman was the first man to experiment with the honey plant which he brought from Bermuda, but it was not successful and he lost a good deal of money. His farm was the first truck farm. He was a great friend of Mr Hubbard of Eden, who raised the Hubbard squash. For 75 years the hotel Astor in New York City carried on their menus, Versailles melons. Captain Chapman raised melons and shipped them to Astor. He also raised tomatoes and trucked them to Buffalo.
After the death of Captain Chapman and his wife. The farm was left to Josephine Remington, a sister of Myron and DeForest Parker. From Josephine Woodford, Remington Parker purchased the estate twenty years ago, and used it as a summer home. For 40 years no one had been there in the winter. It was Remington Parker who, because of his deep love for the place, remodeled it and tried to keep alive the old traditions.
After a short year and a half, at his death, the place came to his sisters. Miss Edith Parker is managing the farm of fifty acres - seven acres of peonies, 500 cherry trees, fruit and melons. Indian labor is used on the farm.
The large table built around a circle of trees in the yard was formerly used in sorting tomatoes, now people who come to pick fruit picnic there. In the old days the Indian band used to play for parties held out-of-doors when the lawns were strung with Japanese lanterns. Cake and lemonade were served on the table under the trees. Days never to be repeated - but always remembered by those who were fortunate enough to have been present.
Contributor: Chloé (47159257) •
Married to Maria Helen Parker
Father of
William Chapman
In listing the known Underground Railroad homes Capt.Hiram Chapman is listed in Versailles,NY http://www.math.buffalo.edu/~sww/0history/hwny-ugrragents.html
Erie County Independent, Published by the Hamburg Publishing Co. (Hamburg, NY.), P. 6
Thu., Apr. 26, 1934
Silhouettes
One of the most colorful figures in western New York was Captain Hiram Chapman, the lake boat captain whose ship carried slaves and cargoes from Dunkirk to the Canadian shore.
Stories have been told of his famous picture of the "Holy Family", and now Miss Edith Parker, his wife's niece, is going to take you on a fascinating trip through Captain Chapman's house which is one of the most beautiful and historical for many miles around. Through the death of her brother, Remington Parker of Buffalo, it has come into the possession of Miss Parker and she is endeavoring to carry on the spirit of the traditions which its former owners so loved.
David Day Parker and his wife came from West Rupert, Vermont in 1800 by wagon team and purchased from the Holland Land Company a tract of land three miles west of Versailles, N. Y. and reaching through the settlement of Versailles to the creek. After a sawmill was built, logs were used to build a bridge and later a road was cut through the pine trees and a plank road was built from three miles west of Versailles to the creek.
Maria Parker, the eldest daughter of the nine children, married Captain Chapman, of Sheridan. A short distance from the settlement of Versailles, on land given the daughter by her father, David Day Parker, Captain Chapman built a log house for relics. A few rods from the log house stands the white frame house which the lake boat captain built for a home and which to this day is a place of indescribable charm.
Maria Parker Chapman went back to Vermont and brought seedlings and today in front of the house they are tall pine trees. The entrance hall of the house remains unchanged.
"From this hall there was an entrance to the pantry," Miss Edith Parker relates, "when you opened the door, the most delicious odors came to you. On a Thanksgiving there was always a great gathering of the family - twenty to twenty-five came and stayed from Wednesday until Sunday night, and those pantry shelves were loaded with mince pies and tarts. Aunt Maria had spent days preparing things for Thanksgiving. The pantry was a place of secrets. People would go in there and shut the door and then you'd hear whispering."
"To the left of this hall was Uncle Hiram's and Aunt Maria's bedroom." The big bed took up a large part of the room. On the peak of the roof directly above the bed hung the bell with a cord arranged in the bedroom above the bed so Uncle Hiram could reach up and pull the bell if he needed to. Another rope hung down outside. The bell is really the famous art, for it was sort of an institution. We children were never allowed to touch it except at special times. When the light slanted a certain way on a certain spot, we knew it was noon and we could ring the bell to call the farm hands in to dinner. The bell is still on the roof - but it's silent now."
In the bedroom there is a quaint old table desk used by the captain and an old tobacco box of David Parker's made to hang on the wall. The bottom edges have been burnt through to the nails.
To the right of the entrance hall is the sitting room. Although remodeled to modern proportions it is still simple in lines. In the room is a large fireplace paneled in white and many pieces of old mahogany furniture, maple cane-backed rockers, and a two-drawered, square topped table whose top lifts and discloses a desk.
"The parlor organ used to stand there in one corner. We used to have such marvelous charades," Miss Parker smiles at remembered pictures. "In Aunt Maria's bedroom across the hall were trunks of charade things and they used to go in there and shut the door and get laughing so, they would forget we were waiting to see the charade over here in the sitting room. They were all exceptionally talented actors and singers. Later, Salem and Capitola Parker gave singing lessons all over the country."
Through a door from the sitting room one enters the parlor of the old house - now a modernly equipped kitchen. A much smaller room than the others. There were the wax flowers under glass covers and there hung on the wall above a hair cloth sofa, the famous picture of the Holy Family. It was in that room the older members of the family gathered to play "Old Sledge" (a card game, now called seven-up) "from morning until evening" on a small mahogany table in the house.
"We children were always hushed from that room," says Miss Parker. "When it wasn't used, the parlor was always kept tightly closed until some special occasion."
All the horsehair upholstery of the chairs and sofas in the old home are of a flower pattern on a rise-grey background - the original material from her grandmother's day.
Off from the parlor was the "parlor bedroom" which has been made into pantries and cupboards. Opening from the sitting room is an enclosed dining porch in which are a highly polished table made from a tree on the place and the short backed rounded chairs originally used by Captain Chapman and his wife, The flag stone floor is most attractive.
Walking through the entrance hall, one is startled by the simple beauty of the very large room beyond. Eighteen by twenty-seven feet with five feet added to the width in the bay window containing five window frames and glasses. All the glass in the house is the original glass of the Chapman house. This room, originally the kitchen of the house has black walnut floors, the boards of which measure nine and a quarter to nine and a half inches in width. An old secretary dating back to 1800, old tables, chairs and setters, a large fireplace in a white wall paneling, create an unusual picture.
"The old rug made on a piece of sailcloth with tufted yarns tied on, making the picture of a dog, was made by a sailor tramp, Ed Gallagher. For 70 years that rug had hard usage and the colors have never faded," Miss Parker points out. "The rug with the thistle pattern, a hooked rug, was made 100 years ago by a Scotchman whose granddaughter brought it to Canada. See how wonderful the colors still are in that one too." The old rocker on the porch with the broad arms is at least 75 years old. All the children have sat in it and sweethearts have perched on the arms of it. It's part of the house."
"Uncle Hiram was a very austere man. People's opinions never influenced him. He would make up his mind while listening and then strive for his own goal. I have heard him tell how he used to sit reading by candlelight by this little drop leaf table. The Indians were always free to come at any time into his house. One room in it was always kept for old Mrs. Crouse, an Indian woman.
Captain Chapman was the first man to experiment with the honey plant which he brought from Bermuda, but it was not successful and he lost a good deal of money. His farm was the first truck farm. He was a great friend of Mr Hubbard of Eden, who raised the Hubbard squash. For 75 years the hotel Astor in New York City carried on their menus, Versailles melons. Captain Chapman raised melons and shipped them to Astor. He also raised tomatoes and trucked them to Buffalo.
After the death of Captain Chapman and his wife. The farm was left to Josephine Remington, a sister of Myron and DeForest Parker. From Josephine Woodford, Remington Parker purchased the estate twenty years ago, and used it as a summer home. For 40 years no one had been there in the winter. It was Remington Parker who, because of his deep love for the place, remodeled it and tried to keep alive the old traditions.
After a short year and a half, at his death, the place came to his sisters. Miss Edith Parker is managing the farm of fifty acres - seven acres of peonies, 500 cherry trees, fruit and melons. Indian labor is used on the farm.
The large table built around a circle of trees in the yard was formerly used in sorting tomatoes, now people who come to pick fruit picnic there. In the old days the Indian band used to play for parties held out-of-doors when the lawns were strung with Japanese lanterns. Cake and lemonade were served on the table under the trees. Days never to be repeated - but always remembered by those who were fortunate enough to have been present.
Contributor: Chloé (47159257) •
Son of Thomas Chapman(1782–1846)and Anna(Welton)Chapman(1787–1863)
Married to Maria Helen Parker
Father of
William Chapman
In listing the known Underground Railroad homes Capt.Hiram Chapman is listed in Versailles,NY http://www.math.buffalo.edu/~sww/0history/hwny-ugrragents.html
Erie County Independent, Published by the Hamburg Publishing Co. (Hamburg, NY.), P. 6
Thu., Apr. 26, 1934
Silhouettes
One of the most colorful figures in western New York was Captain Hiram Chapman, the lake boat captain whose ship carried slaves and cargoes from Dunkirk to the Canadian shore.
Stories have been told of his famous picture of the "Holy Family", and now Miss Edith Parker, his wife's niece, is going to take you on a fascinating trip through Captain Chapman's house which is one of the most beautiful and historical for many miles around. Through the death of her brother, Remington Parker of Buffalo, it has come into the possession of Miss Parker and she is endeavoring to carry on the spirit of the traditions which its former owners so loved.
David Day Parker and his wife came from West Rupert, Vermont in 1800 by wagon team and purchased from the Holland Land Company a tract of land three miles west of Versailles, N. Y. and reaching through the settlement of Versailles to the creek. After a sawmill was built, logs were used to build a bridge and later a road was cut through the pine trees and a plank road was built from three miles west of Versailles to the creek.
Maria Parker, the eldest daughter of the nine children, married Captain Chapman, of Sheridan. A short distance from the settlement of Versailles, on land given the daughter by her father, David Day Parker, Captain Chapman built a log house for relics. A few rods from the log house stands the white frame house which the lake boat captain built for a home and which to this day is a place of indescribable charm.
Maria Parker Chapman went back to Vermont and brought seedlings and today in front of the house they are tall pine trees. The entrance hall of the house remains unchanged.
"From this hall there was an entrance to the pantry," Miss Edith Parker relates, "when you opened the door, the most delicious odors came to you. On a Thanksgiving there was always a great gathering of the family - twenty to twenty-five came and stayed from Wednesday until Sunday night, and those pantry shelves were loaded with mince pies and tarts. Aunt Maria had spent days preparing things for Thanksgiving. The pantry was a place of secrets. People would go in there and shut the door and then you'd hear whispering."
"To the left of this hall was Uncle Hiram's and Aunt Maria's bedroom." The big bed took up a large part of the room. On the peak of the roof directly above the bed hung the bell with a cord arranged in the bedroom above the bed so Uncle Hiram could reach up and pull the bell if he needed to. Another rope hung down outside. The bell is really the famous art, for it was sort of an institution. We children were never allowed to touch it except at special times. When the light slanted a certain way on a certain spot, we knew it was noon and we could ring the bell to call the farm hands in to dinner. The bell is still on the roof - but it's silent now."
In the bedroom there is a quaint old table desk used by the captain and an old tobacco box of David Parker's made to hang on the wall. The bottom edges have been burnt through to the nails.
To the right of the entrance hall is the sitting room. Although remodeled to modern proportions it is still simple in lines. In the room is a large fireplace paneled in white and many pieces of old mahogany furniture, maple cane-backed rockers, and a two-drawered, square topped table whose top lifts and discloses a desk.
"The parlor organ used to stand there in one corner. We used to have such marvelous charades," Miss Parker smiles at remembered pictures. "In Aunt Maria's bedroom across the hall were trunks of charade things and they used to go in there and shut the door and get laughing so, they would forget we were waiting to see the charade over here in the sitting room. They were all exceptionally talented actors and singers. Later, Salem and Capitola Parker gave singing lessons all over the country."
Through a door from the sitting room one enters the parlor of the old house - now a modernly equipped kitchen. A much smaller room than the others. There were the wax flowers under glass covers and there hung on the wall above a hair cloth sofa, the famous picture of the Holy Family. It was in that room the older members of the family gathered to play "Old Sledge" (a card game, now called seven-up) "from morning until evening" on a small mahogany table in the house.
"We children were always hushed from that room," says Miss Parker. "When it wasn't used, the parlor was always kept tightly closed until some special occasion."
All the horsehair upholstery of the chairs and sofas in the old home are of a flower pattern on a rise-grey background - the original material from her grandmother's day.
Off from the parlor was the "parlor bedroom" which has been made into pantries and cupboards. Opening from the sitting room is an enclosed dining porch in which are a highly polished table made from a tree on the place and the short backed rounded chairs originally used by Captain Chapman and his wife, The flag stone floor is most attractive.
Walking through the entrance hall, one is startled by the simple beauty of the very large room beyond. Eighteen by twenty-seven feet with five feet added to the width in the bay window containing five window frames and glasses. All the glass in the house is the original glass of the Chapman house. This room, originally the kitchen of the house has black walnut floors, the boards of which measure nine and a quarter to nine and a half inches in width. An old secretary dating back to 1800, old tables, chairs and setters, a large fireplace in a white wall paneling, create an unusual picture.
"The old rug made on a piece of sailcloth with tufted yarns tied on, making the picture of a dog, was made by a sailor tramp, Ed Gallagher. For 70 years that rug had hard usage and the colors have never faded," Miss Parker points out. "The rug with the thistle pattern, a hooked rug, was made 100 years ago by a Scotchman whose granddaughter brought it to Canada. See how wonderful the colors still are in that one too." The old rocker on the porch with the broad arms is at least 75 years old. All the children have sat in it and sweethearts have perched on the arms of it. It's part of the house."
"Uncle Hiram was a very austere man. People's opinions never influenced him. He would make up his mind while listening and then strive for his own goal. I have heard him tell how he used to sit reading by candlelight by this little drop leaf table. The Indians were always free to come at any time into his house. One room in it was always kept for old Mrs. Crouse, an Indian woman.
Captain Chapman was the first man to experiment with the honey plant which he brought from Bermuda, but it was not successful and he lost a good deal of money. His farm was the first truck farm. He was a great friend of Mr Hubbard of Eden, who raised the Hubbard squash. For 75 years the hotel Astor in New York City carried on their menus, Versailles melons. Captain Chapman raised melons and shipped them to Astor. He also raised tomatoes and trucked them to Buffalo.
After the death of Captain Chapman and his wife. The farm was left to Josephine Remington, a sister of Myron and DeForest Parker. From Josephine Woodford, Remington Parker purchased the estate twenty years ago, and used it as a summer home. For 40 years no one had been there in the winter. It was Remington Parker who, because of his deep love for the place, remodeled it and tried to keep alive the old traditions.
After a short year and a half, at his death, the place came to his sisters. Miss Edith Parker is managing the farm of fifty acres - seven acres of peonies, 500 cherry trees, fruit and melons. Indian labor is used on the farm.
The large table built around a circle of trees in the yard was formerly used in sorting tomatoes, now people who come to pick fruit picnic there. In the old days the Indian band used to play for parties held out-of-doors when the lawns were strung with Japanese lanterns. Cake and lemonade were served on the table under the trees. Days never to be repeated - but always remembered by those who were fortunate enough to have been present.
Contributor: Chloé (47159257) •
Married to Maria Helen Parker
Father of
William Chapman
In listing the known Underground Railroad homes Capt.Hiram Chapman is listed in Versailles,NY http://www.math.buffalo.edu/~sww/0history/hwny-ugrragents.html
Erie County Independent, Published by the Hamburg Publishing Co. (Hamburg, NY.), P. 6
Thu., Apr. 26, 1934
Silhouettes
One of the most colorful figures in western New York was Captain Hiram Chapman, the lake boat captain whose ship carried slaves and cargoes from Dunkirk to the Canadian shore.
Stories have been told of his famous picture of the "Holy Family", and now Miss Edith Parker, his wife's niece, is going to take you on a fascinating trip through Captain Chapman's house which is one of the most beautiful and historical for many miles around. Through the death of her brother, Remington Parker of Buffalo, it has come into the possession of Miss Parker and she is endeavoring to carry on the spirit of the traditions which its former owners so loved.
David Day Parker and his wife came from West Rupert, Vermont in 1800 by wagon team and purchased from the Holland Land Company a tract of land three miles west of Versailles, N. Y. and reaching through the settlement of Versailles to the creek. After a sawmill was built, logs were used to build a bridge and later a road was cut through the pine trees and a plank road was built from three miles west of Versailles to the creek.
Maria Parker, the eldest daughter of the nine children, married Captain Chapman, of Sheridan. A short distance from the settlement of Versailles, on land given the daughter by her father, David Day Parker, Captain Chapman built a log house for relics. A few rods from the log house stands the white frame house which the lake boat captain built for a home and which to this day is a place of indescribable charm.
Maria Parker Chapman went back to Vermont and brought seedlings and today in front of the house they are tall pine trees. The entrance hall of the house remains unchanged.
"From this hall there was an entrance to the pantry," Miss Edith Parker relates, "when you opened the door, the most delicious odors came to you. On a Thanksgiving there was always a great gathering of the family - twenty to twenty-five came and stayed from Wednesday until Sunday night, and those pantry shelves were loaded with mince pies and tarts. Aunt Maria had spent days preparing things for Thanksgiving. The pantry was a place of secrets. People would go in there and shut the door and then you'd hear whispering."
"To the left of this hall was Uncle Hiram's and Aunt Maria's bedroom." The big bed took up a large part of the room. On the peak of the roof directly above the bed hung the bell with a cord arranged in the bedroom above the bed so Uncle Hiram could reach up and pull the bell if he needed to. Another rope hung down outside. The bell is really the famous art, for it was sort of an institution. We children were never allowed to touch it except at special times. When the light slanted a certain way on a certain spot, we knew it was noon and we could ring the bell to call the farm hands in to dinner. The bell is still on the roof - but it's silent now."
In the bedroom there is a quaint old table desk used by the captain and an old tobacco box of David Parker's made to hang on the wall. The bottom edges have been burnt through to the nails.
To the right of the entrance hall is the sitting room. Although remodeled to modern proportions it is still simple in lines. In the room is a large fireplace paneled in white and many pieces of old mahogany furniture, maple cane-backed rockers, and a two-drawered, square topped table whose top lifts and discloses a desk.
"The parlor organ used to stand there in one corner. We used to have such marvelous charades," Miss Parker smiles at remembered pictures. "In Aunt Maria's bedroom across the hall were trunks of charade things and they used to go in there and shut the door and get laughing so, they would forget we were waiting to see the charade over here in the sitting room. They were all exceptionally talented actors and singers. Later, Salem and Capitola Parker gave singing lessons all over the country."
Through a door from the sitting room one enters the parlor of the old house - now a modernly equipped kitchen. A much smaller room than the others. There were the wax flowers under glass covers and there hung on the wall above a hair cloth sofa, the famous picture of the Holy Family. It was in that room the older members of the family gathered to play "Old Sledge" (a card game, now called seven-up) "from morning until evening" on a small mahogany table in the house.
"We children were always hushed from that room," says Miss Parker. "When it wasn't used, the parlor was always kept tightly closed until some special occasion."
All the horsehair upholstery of the chairs and sofas in the old home are of a flower pattern on a rise-grey background - the original material from her grandmother's day.
Off from the parlor was the "parlor bedroom" which has been made into pantries and cupboards. Opening from the sitting room is an enclosed dining porch in which are a highly polished table made from a tree on the place and the short backed rounded chairs originally used by Captain Chapman and his wife, The flag stone floor is most attractive.
Walking through the entrance hall, one is startled by the simple beauty of the very large room beyond. Eighteen by twenty-seven feet with five feet added to the width in the bay window containing five window frames and glasses. All the glass in the house is the original glass of the Chapman house. This room, originally the kitchen of the house has black walnut floors, the boards of which measure nine and a quarter to nine and a half inches in width. An old secretary dating back to 1800, old tables, chairs and setters, a large fireplace in a white wall paneling, create an unusual picture.
"The old rug made on a piece of sailcloth with tufted yarns tied on, making the picture of a dog, was made by a sailor tramp, Ed Gallagher. For 70 years that rug had hard usage and the colors have never faded," Miss Parker points out. "The rug with the thistle pattern, a hooked rug, was made 100 years ago by a Scotchman whose granddaughter brought it to Canada. See how wonderful the colors still are in that one too." The old rocker on the porch with the broad arms is at least 75 years old. All the children have sat in it and sweethearts have perched on the arms of it. It's part of the house."
"Uncle Hiram was a very austere man. People's opinions never influenced him. He would make up his mind while listening and then strive for his own goal. I have heard him tell how he used to sit reading by candlelight by this little drop leaf table. The Indians were always free to come at any time into his house. One room in it was always kept for old Mrs. Crouse, an Indian woman.
Captain Chapman was the first man to experiment with the honey plant which he brought from Bermuda, but it was not successful and he lost a good deal of money. His farm was the first truck farm. He was a great friend of Mr Hubbard of Eden, who raised the Hubbard squash. For 75 years the hotel Astor in New York City carried on their menus, Versailles melons. Captain Chapman raised melons and shipped them to Astor. He also raised tomatoes and trucked them to Buffalo.
After the death of Captain Chapman and his wife. The farm was left to Josephine Remington, a sister of Myron and DeForest Parker. From Josephine Woodford, Remington Parker purchased the estate twenty years ago, and used it as a summer home. For 40 years no one had been there in the winter. It was Remington Parker who, because of his deep love for the place, remodeled it and tried to keep alive the old traditions.
After a short year and a half, at his death, the place came to his sisters. Miss Edith Parker is managing the farm of fifty acres - seven acres of peonies, 500 cherry trees, fruit and melons. Indian labor is used on the farm.
The large table built around a circle of trees in the yard was formerly used in sorting tomatoes, now people who come to pick fruit picnic there. In the old days the Indian band used to play for parties held out-of-doors when the lawns were strung with Japanese lanterns. Cake and lemonade were served on the table under the trees. Days never to be repeated - but always remembered by those who were fortunate enough to have been present.
Contributor: Chloé (47159257) •
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