Oscar Chapin (1842-1919)

Born in Ohio in year 1842, Oscar was the fourth child of Dennis Chapin and the third to Dorcas, asserting himself as a seventh generation Chapin. Oscar moved to Champaign County, Illinois with his parents and siblings when they settled in the area in circa 1860.

Oscar worked as a farmhand on his father’s land until the outbreak of the Civil War. He enlisted and was assigned to Company I of the Illinois 10th Cavalry Regiment for the duration of the war. According to his military records, Oscar had auburn hair and blue eyes.

Oscar says nothing of the combat he saw, if any, nor do any of the family speak of his bad knee--which may or may not be related to his service. He chose to speak of the quieter moments in war or lamenting the pay he’d yet to receive. His letters open with the same set of words commonly used by his brothers, portraying a closeness shared among them, despite them moving across state borders.

Oscar married his wife Katie J. McNulty on May 8, 1867 and moved westward with her to Minneapolis, Kansas. Together, they had six children. Any letters Oscar wrote from Kansas never made it to this collection; Katie’s letters provide the only insight into their everyday lives. Oscar passed away on September 4, 1919.