Chapin, Stephen, D.D., son of Stephen and Rachel Chapin, was born in Milford, Mass., Nov. 4, 1778.

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9h  · Daily Baptist Encyclopedia Post by Jim Curran

Chapin, Stephen, D.D., son of Stephen and Rachel Chapin, was born in Milford, Mass., Nov. 4, 1778. In 1798 he began to prepare for college, under the instruction of the Rev. Caleb Alexander, of Meriden, and made such rapid progress that he entered Cambridge University, Mass., in July, 1799, graduating in 1804, He studied theology with the Rev. Nathaniel Emmons, Franklin, Mass., and was licensed to preach Oct. 10, 1804. He was ordained in Hillsborough, N. H., in June, 1805, but severed his connection with the church there in 1808 on account of difficulties respecting the so-called “ Walf-way Covenant,’’ and in November, 1809, was installed as pastor of the church in Mount Vernon, N. H. It is a fact worthy of mention that Dr. Chapin was present as a deeply-interested friend at the sailing of the first American mission- aries from Boston in 1811. In 1818 he was dis- missed from his connection with the church on account of his change of views on the mode and subjects of baptism, having been until that time a Congregational Pedobaptist. In 1819 he was or- dained pastor of the Baptist church in North Yar- mouth, Me. In 1822 he left this field of labor to accept the professorship of Theology in Waterville College, Me.; was inaugurated in August, 1823, and held the same until September, 1828, when he was called to the presidency of the Columbian Col- lege, Washington, D.C. This position he resigned in 1841 in consequence of declining health, and died Oct. 1, 1845, in the sixty-seventh year of his age. Dr. Chapin was an intelligent and interested par- ticipant in all the denominational movements of his day. When the Triennial Baptist Convention was threatened with disruption, in consequence of the antagonistic views of its members on the ques- tion of slavery, he did all in his power to prevent ‘the division which soon followed, and when the Southern Baptist Convention was formed he was made a delegate, although he did not attend its sessions. When Dr. Chapin entered upon the presidency of the Columbian College a crushing debt of upwards of $100,000 was hanging over it and crippling its energies. He sacrificed his ease and his health to remove this debt, and by frequent visits to the South to collect funds, and by the con- tribution of three years of his own salary, he finally succeeded in the onerous effort. Dr. Chapin had a very wide circle of most intimate friends. He was personally intimate with most of the great states- men of his day, many of whom, like Jackson, Clay, Calhoun, Webster, Woodbury, McDuffie, Preston, Van Buren, Choate, Marshall, Taney, McLean, Mangum, were often seen at his hospitable board, and many of whose sons were under his personal instruction in the college. In the ministry his compeers and friends were Sharp, Wayland, Chap- lin, Stow, Rice, Judson, Mercer, Brantly, Davy, Semple, Broaddus, Ryland, Brown, and hosts of others, whom he frequently met at his own fire- side. His whole life was marked by those traits of character which inevitably win the warm regard and most tender love of men. But little of Dr. Chapin’s literary labors are left us except a few sermons and tracts and essays, but they show us the superior culture of his mind, Among them are ‘‘ Letters on the Mode and Subjects of Bap- tism,” a valuable discussion of the question , *‘ The Messiah’s Victory,’ a discourse at the ordination of the Rey. Samue! Cook, Effingham, N. H.; on the ‘‘Conversion of Mariners,”’ ‘‘The Duty of Living for the Good of Posterity,’’ a discourse de- livered in commemoration of the second centennial of the landing of the forefathers of New Engiand ; “The Superior Glory of Gospel Worship,” “ Moral Education,” ‘‘The Proclamation of Christ Crucified the Delight of God,’ “An Inaugural Address,” delivered as president of the Columbian College ; “The Spirit of the Age,” “ The Design of God in Afflicting Ministers of the Gospel,” “On the Death of Luther Rice,” and an interesting letter to Presi- dent Van Buren ‘‘On the Proper Disposition of the Smithsonian Bequest.”’ From the Baptist Encyclopedia by William Cathcartphotos from findagrave