History

The following is from research gathered when applying for the Hudson Heritage Association historic status :

The John L. Chapman House 

The house at 137 South Main Street was built by John L. Chapman in 1882. 

John L. Chapman was brought up in Hudson on his father’s farm in the southwest corner of Hudson Township. His father, John Chapman, had been a sailor on a British warship during the War of 1812 and had been captured in the Battle of Lake Erie. He ended up in a prison camp in Northern Ohio, and when the war ended, he decided to remain in Ohio. By 1828 he was in Hudson where he remained the rest of his life. His two sons were John L. Chapman and Matthew Chapman.

 In 1860, the family farm was transferred to the name of Matthew Chapman. From what we know of Matthew’s brother, one can conjecture that their father might have felt that John was a “ne’er do well”, or, at the very least, excessively hot-headed. The court dockets listed in the Akron newspapers of the last decades of the 19th century are filled with references to John L. Chapman of Hudson. 

July 2, 1888. “Robert Izard vs. John L. Chapman. Money. The verdict of the jury heretofore ordered in this case set aside and a new trial granted. The former verdict gave plaintiff $600.” 

Oct. 9, 1888. “The State of Ohio vs. John L. Chapman. Defendant having pleaded guilty at the opening of the term to Assault and Battery on Miles Oviatt, he was sentenced to pay a fine of $10 and the cost of the prosecution.”

Feb. 24, 1896. “Dennis Tuohey has filed his answer to the suit of John L. Chapman. The case is an appeal from the docket of Justice E. E. Rogers in Hudson, where Chapman obtained a judgment against Tuohey for obstructing a water course. Tuohey claims that Chapman dug a ditch across his property and this spoiled his underdraining. He has endeavored to remedy this but never threw up an embankment as charged.” 

Jan. 25, 1896.”HUDSON YOUTH BRINGS SUIT FOR DAMAGES. John L. Chapman of Hudson is asked to pay $5000 for the alleged damage done to the character of Claude Deacon, an infant, who has brought action in Common Pleas Court by Cyrus Deacon his next friend. The petition states that on two occasions the defendant accused the plaintiff of stealing chickens. The accusations are averred to have been made in the presence of others.” 

In any case, Chapman seems to have been able to control his temper sufficiently to become a rather successful businessman. By 1860, when his brother took title to the farm, he already bought a prime piece of real estate on Main Street, the building known as the Walter Wright Store (built 1833) at the corner of Clinton and Main Streets. Presumably, he had begun the hardware business, which he was to operate at that location for many years. During the course of the next 34 years, he was to own both that building and the one immediately north of it, acting both as a landlord and as a storekeeper. (See Walter Wright House Report). 

Also during the 1860’s he began a series of real estate dealings which, in 1880, were to culminate in the purchase and subdivision of what became known as the Chapman Allotment. 

The property was purchased at a sheriff’s sale, which resulted from a court judgement in a suit brought against George H. O’Brien by John L. Chapman himself. Chapman bid $6800 for the land and was awarded the property of 81 and 95/100 acres, which straddled Great Lots 46 and 36. From the total acreage he separated off 26 building lots of between .25 and .44 acres each, keeping 72.87 acres for himself. Much of this land he evidently farmed, since he is listed in the 1885 Burch Directory as a “farmer”. 

In 1882, John L. Chapman built a house for himself on his reserved property. That year, the tax duplicate clearly records “H & B” -- House and Barn. 

The next years were spent selling the building lot parcels, which he had subdivided. He also bought and sold properties in Akron and Tallmadge. One of the lots in Akron was sold to Ferdinand Schumacher, the founder of the oatmeal concern which has become Quaker Square. In 1894, he sold his commercial property on Main Street for the last time, and was undoubtedly out of the hardware business by that time. Several pieces of the large property on which his house stood were sold off during the first years of the 20th century. Finally, in 1905, he sold his house and the remainder of his farm to E.L. Fillius and Henry Wehner. Mr. Fillius was the owner of the flour mill which later became Turner’s Lumber Mill, and Henry Wehner had a dry good business on Main Street (112 Main Street). 

Fillius and Wehner evidently purchased the property as an investment and did not intend to own it long. In 1907, they sold it, together with the house and barn, to Laura Stahl, making a profit of almost $1600. Mrs. Stahl owned the house and land through 1910, when our tax records end.

There is no record of John L. Chapman dying in Hudson. It is known that he was still alive in 1908, when he sold a right-of-way in Tallmadge. He may have gone to live with a daughter to whom he had sold property there in 1902. Nevertheless, Hudson has not forgotten John L. Chapman. The lots along the East side of South Main Street and along the South side of Ravenna Street are still listed as the Chapman Alottment. And the large 1878 map hanging in the Hudson Library and Historical Society shows an advertisement along its border, stating in bold letters:

J.L. CHAPMAN 

Manufacturers and Dealers in Hardware,

Stoves, Tinware, Agricultural Implements etc. 

Agent 'Iron King' Cook Stove

From Summit Memory Project

William Moos recorded this history, "John L. Chapman (1833-1908) built this home in 1881. Long remembered as hot-tempered, Chapman was the son of John L. Chapman (1788 or 92-1866), a veteran and prisoner of war from the War of 1812 who was captured in the Battle of Lake Erie. After being freed, he settled in Hudson. Several court cases involve the younger John Chapman: one for stealing chickens, another for diverting a waterway, and another for slander." http://www.summitmemory.org/cdm/ref/collection/hudson/id/418

This advertisement was found in the wall of the upstairs bathroom during renovations in 1992.

The following is taken from the book Hudson: a Survey of Historic Buildings in an Ohio Town by Lois Newkirk:

 The John Chapman House, 1881

137 S Main St.

Hudson, OH 44236

Taken in 1979

 Hudson Enterprise. 13 March 1880: 

J.L. Chapman, who recently purchased the O’Brien farm on South Main Street, has just set out a hundred and thirty choice young maple trees, extending along the entire South Main Street and Ravenna Street frontage—an improvement which will be appreciated by the public. We learn that Mr. Chapman pro­poses to have the land fronting on Ravenna Street surveyed and divided into building lots, which will be shortly placed upon the market. The plat will be known as ‘Chap­man’s Addition’ to Hudson. Chapman himself had filed a suit against G.H. O’Brien resulting in a sheriffs sale of the property. He demolished the old farm house and built this one in its stead in 1881.

The house has a boxed cornice, heavy frieze and two long single pane triple hung win­dows on the lower front facade, with a center chimney and an entryway on the north-south cross gable.

John L. Chapman was a son of John L. Chapman, a farmer with holdings in northwest Hudson Township. (See below)

 1405 Hines Hill Rd., Hudson, OH

 A Greek Revival farmhouse, with frieze and returns, symmetrical front facade and a single entry door, off-center, with shelf en­tablature and pilasters. There is an addition to the one story west wing and a one story addition at the rear, giving a saltbox effect.

A sandstone quarry on the premises provided the foundation for this house and many others in the area. Outbuildings include an Erie Shore barn, granary and sheds.

His father was a sailor on a British warship during the War of 1812 and was captured in the Battle of Lake Erie. He was placed in a prison camp in northern Ohio until the end of the war and elected to stay in the area per­manently. He came to Hudson in 1828 and remained here for the rest of his life. His son, Matthew Chapman, became the owner of this farm in 1860. 

Hines Hill Road was originally’ called the Chapman Road, honoring this family and John Chapman, who built this house in 1845.