Chapman Family

John Grant Chapman was born in 1798 in Chapmantown (now La Plata), Charles County, Maryland. He studied law at Yale University, graduating in 1817. Chapman joined the Maryland bar in 1819 and began practicing law in Port Tobacco, also in Charles County, Maryland, shortly thereafter, in addition to running his plantation. John Grant Chapman married a Virginia cousin, Susan Pearson A. Chapman, and by 1830 owned nearly 70 slaves. John Grant and Susan had five living sons: John Grant, Jr. (b. 1833?), Marshall (b. 1835?), George P. (b. 1837?), Andrew Grant (b. 1839), and Robert F. (b. 1840?). By 1840, Elizabeth Chapman, perhaps John Grant's mother, was living with the family, and they owned nearly 90 slaves. By 1850, there were 140 slaves on the Chapman plantation.

An affluent citizen of Charles County, John Grant Chapman participated in both state and national politics for over twenty-five years. A member of the Whig party, he served in the Maryland House of Delegates from 1824 to 1828 and again in 1830 and was Speaker of the House from 1826 to 1828. Chapman then advanced to the Maryland Senate, serving from 1831 to 1836 and holding the positions of President Pro Tem in 1831 and President from 1834 to 1836. He returned to the Maryland House of Delegates again in 1843 and 1844 as Speaker of the House. Chapman ran unsuccessfully for governor in 1844 but was subsequently elected to the U. S. House of Representatives, serving from 1845 to 1849. In 1850, John Grant was elected president of Maryland's Constitutional Convention.

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