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The Chapman family papers consist primarily of letters between John W. Chapman of Brooklyn, New York, and his immediate family, written around the turn of the 20th century. Most of the letters relate to his daughter, Sarah Dimon Chapman ("Sallie"), including a series of letters written to her by her mother, Mary C. Chapman, with advice for Sallie's European travels, as well as later letters to John and Mary from Sallie's husband, Lewis Witherbee Francis.

The Chapman family papers contain about 98 items, of which 85 are letters exchanged by members of the Chapman family around the turn of the 20th century. John W. Chapman and his wife, Mary Dimon Chapman, received incoming letters from numerous family members and other acquaintances, such as Mary's father, Charles Dimon. Of the 85 letters, 42 pertain to their daughter Sallie and her husband, Lewis Witherbee Francis. In 1896, Mary Chapman wrote 12 letters to Sallie in which she offered her opinions about several European countries while Sallie was traveling abroad. Her letters occasionally enclose newspaper clippings. Sallie also received letters from her father, grandparents, and other relatives and acquaintances throughout the late 1800s. She and her husband occasionally wrote to her parents, reporting on their health and news from New York City. In one letter, Lewis commented on the stock market and the assassination of President William McKinley (September 15, 1901). A woman who signed herself "Aunt Cordelia" also wrote to John and Mary Chapman on the same subject, sharing her feelings about the shooting and about anarchists (September 8, 1901). Many of these letters are written on stationery with printed letterheads from hotels and businesses, including two of John W. Chapman's professional letterheads.

The collection also contains receipts from Sallie Chapman's purchases in France in July 1896, calling cards, a printed report on the expenses of the Union Pacific System (July 30, 1901), some cat fur kept as a souvenir, and an illustrated newspaper clipping on the Duke and Duchess of Marlborough.

This collection is made up of 240 letters, diaries, compositions, and other papers of the Delia Campbell Chapin family of Mansfield City, Connecticut, and Brooklyn, New York, dating largely between 1864 and 1889. The correspondence is largely incoming letters to Delia Campbell Chapin and her sister Eugenie Campbell from family members including Susie McCall Cushman, Gilbert Warren Chapin, and Sarah Gertrude Storrs. Later letters (1931-1936) were primarily addressed to Delia's daughter-in-law Avelina Chapin. Other papers include diaries of Eugenie and her mother Cynthia Storrs Campbell, penmanship and commonplace books, library catalogs from the South Mansfield Sunday School Library, a manuscript version of the Authors card game, school papers, and printed advertisements, visiting cards, invitations, and other ephemeral items.

This collection is made up of correspondence, diaries, compositions, documents, printed materials, and other papers pertaining to the Delia Campbell Chapin family of Mansfield Center, Connecticut, and Brooklyn, New York. The papers date from October 19, 1829, to August 31, 1936, with the bulk of the collection falling between September 26, 1864, and May 5, 1889.

The 240-item collection contains 110 letters, 15 diaries and compositions, two cabinet card photograph portraits of unidentified subjects, 46 documents and other manuscript materials (including notes, school exercises, recipes, lists, receipts, library catalogs, and the constitution and by-laws of two organizations of which Delia and Eugenie were members), 55 printed items (including visiting cards, printed invitations, advertisements, leaflets, booklets, and other ephemeral items), and 12 empty envelopes.

The bulk of the letters were addressed to Delia Campbell Chapin and her sister, Eugenie Campbell, from relations including Delia's husband Gilbert W. Chapin and maternal first cousins Susan McCall Cushman and Sarah Gertrude "Gertie" Storrs. The correspondence between July 6, 1931, and August 31, 1936, is primarily addressed to Avelina Parent Chapin, Delia and Gilbert's daughter-in-law and wife of Warren Storrs Chapin.

• Three catalogs of books received by the South Mansfield Sunday School Library: two from October 1865 and one from July 1872.
• A bundle of 102 slips of paper, each with (apparently) a book title written on them; with a hand-sewn wrapper made from the October 21, 1859, issue of the New York Times.
• Manuscript version of Authors, an educational card game.
• Cynthia Campbell's diary from 1838 and Eugenie Campbell's diaries from 1864, 1865, and 1866.
• Annotated copy of The Improved Class-Book for Sunday-School Teachers' Minutes, Abridged (Philadelphia: American Sunday School Union). Handwriting on the front cover reads: "Library Register. H. B. Campbell."
• By-laws, constitution, and minutes of the Gamma Nu Society, formed in Mansfield, Conn., in 1860 to promote public speaking and "the art of composition." Genie Campbell was a founding member and eventual chairwoman.
• By-laws and constitution of Enterprise, a club formed by members of the 1st Congregational Church of South Mansfield--including Delia and Genie Campbell--to relieve the church of its debts.
• Two cabinet card photographs of an unidentified man and woman produced by C. D. Fredericks and Co. of New York, New York.