1869

Dennis Chapin passed away on May 8th, 1869. He and his wife Lucinda, having moved to Champaign County from Ohio in the mid-1850s, had helped to found a community of settlers from the northeast that would come to be known as Yankee Ridge. Yankee Ridge would eventually be incorporated into Philo, Illinois. Dennis’ death would lead to the Chapin family's relocation from Champaign County. The family would eventually follow Dennis Jr.--the new central provider–to Vermilion County where he would find employment, though it would be several more years before Lucinda, Harrison, Maggie, and Dennis Jr. would leave Yankee Ridge.

In the first letter in the collection that Dorcas received after her husband’s passing, her eldest daughter Hannah Daggett seeks to comfort her and advise her on how to handle her finances. Following Dennis Sr.’s death, Hannah would begin to instruct her mother protectively with unsolicited advice. In this letter, she tells her mother to keep all of her property in her own hands, and that she should look to Dennis Jr. to head the family while making sure Harris and Maggie are educated so that they may become teachers in future. However, it is very clear that this overprotective behavior was a genuine product of Hannah’s love for her mother and very well-intentioned.