The two other major sources of the family, are located in New England and are; George CHAPPELL who came from England in 1634/35, and William CHAPEL who turns up in New London around 1640. Thomas, George, and William may all have been cousins in England, or even more closely related.
Links from this page will take you to the genealogy of George CHAPPELL who came to Plymouth Plantation in 1634/35, William CHAPEL who settled in New London around 1640, and the descendants of Oliver CHAPPELL who lived in Lebanon, CT around 1772.
George Chappell - b.1615 - England
George Chappell was born in England in 1615. During the Spring of 1634/35, he migrated to Plymouth Plantation aboard the "Christian". On board was a Mr. Stiles, who George was apprenticed to as a cabinetmaker, and who may have paid for George’s passage. George is recorded in the ancient records of Windsor, CT, were he worked for Stiles. Stiles was involved in constructing the buildings, that were to be a very early capitol of the colonies, located in Windsor.
William Chapel
The descendants of William CHAPEL were numerous, many settling in the North Parish of New London, now Montville, at a place now (1896) called "CHAPEL HILL" - from Baker's History of Montville - 1896 p. 474. Christian: She was the sister of Thomas Bell, a London merchant, whose will, proved 3 May 1672 bequeathed to, all children of my sister Christian on her body begotten, who m. one Chappell, I bequeath 20 pounds apiece".
The old timers in New London pronounce the name CHAPEL with a long "A" as in CHAPIN. Tradition says this was done to keep these folks sorted out from the CHAPPELL line (pronounced with a short "A" as in apple). This tradition holds true in these times and in some records you will find the name spelled CHAAPEL. Unfortunately, some of the early record keepers in and around New London were not as careful in recording the name and you find the spelling corrupted on both sides. I began recording this line about ten years ago in hopes of being able to keep them sorted out. My convention is to spell the descendants of George CHAPPELL and William CHAPEL, exactly as shown, when their origin is known, regardless of how the corrupted name may have been located in records.
Oliver Chappell - 1752
Oliver CHAPPELL, my 4th great-grandfather, was born in Lebanon, CT on the twenty-ninth of March in 1752. Oliver Chappell is the oldest of my ancestors that, at present, can be directly traced. It is recorded that Oliver had two half-brothers, Jonathan and Solomon [1]. It is not known, in my generation, who the father of Oliver, Solomon, and Jonathan was. I personally believe that it was one of the descendants of Lieut. Caleb Chappell, son of George 1st, who came to Lebanon around 1694 [2]. Similarly the researcher should note that the names Jonathan, Elijah, Elizabeth, Amos, James, Rachel, Sallie, Lucinda, Erastus, and Almira, all of which are given to the descendants of Lieut. Caleb, also appear as given names for the descendants of Oliver Chappell.
Oliver married Eunice Palmer around 1772-4 and they had nine children [1]. Of the nine children there were four sons; Oliver, Russell, Elijah, and Erastus. All nine children are believed to have been born in Lebanon, Windham Co., CT (now New London Co.). The four sons along with their sisters eventually left Connecticut and purchased adjoining farms in the town of Maryland in Otsego Co., NY. [1]
Oliver Chappell, after all his children had left Lebanon, CT, finally bought a place in Milford, Otsego Co., NY and became the last to leave their native state [1]. Oliver sold the farm in Lebanon, CT on March 13, 1812 [4] to a Hiram Baxter. On the thirtieth of November in 1815 Oliver Chappell died. Young Oliver, his son, buried his remains "on his farm" [1] and Eunice, the widow, went to live with their son Elijah. She lived there fourteen years and when she passed away the sons laid her beside her husband with a stone to mark her resting place [1].
Oliver Chappell is buried in the Town of Milford, Otsego Co., NY in what is now known as Edson's Corners Cemetery. There is no marker next to him for his wife, though there appears to be a slate foot marker placed to his right. How Oliver arrived at Edson's corners is unclear. One explanation may be that the phrase "he buried him on his (own) farm" [1] really means on Oliver Sr.'s farm and the cemetery was deeded out of old Oliver's farm and became a public burial ground. It is interesting that Newton Chappell's cousin visits these graves around 1909 and finds all located as expected.
In 1933, when the Oneonta Chapter of the D.A.R. recorded the graves at Edson's Corners, Oliver Chappell (but not Eunice), was recorded on their list [5]. Since Newton Chappell is the source of the original burial information* and the D.A.R. was clear in their audit it also could be possible that Oliver Chappell, his remains, his stone, or both were moved between 1909 and 1933 to Edson's Corners.
Oliver's daughter Polly, and her husband David Wilcox, are also buried at Edson's Corners. There are several Wilcox ancestors buried here. The Wilcox descendants may have moved Oliver and his wife Eunice, or the stones to their family plot when the last of the Chappells sold their farms and moved to Cayuga County. The only other logical theory is that this cemetery was once part of Maryland, NY and located on Oliver the younger's farm.
Inscribed on Oliver's stone is a verse from book of Revelation, Chapter 14, verse 13; "Blessed are we dead which die in the Lord from henceforth yea, said the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors and their works do follow them." The cemetery is in extremely poor condition and badly overgrown. Many stones have fallen over and many badly worn and unreadable. Our visit to Edson's Corners Cemetery was on August 19,1990. Oliver Chappell is my fourth great-grandfather.
[1] Newton Chappell Manuscript, Letter to B. B. Chappell 1913. © (copyright
) 1997 Joel B. Chappell
joel.b.chappell@myfairpoint.net
Last updated by Joel B. Chappell on 05/13/10
This page was created manually by Joel B. Chappell
[2] Ancient Lebanon - Rev. Orlo Hine, p.150-1.
[3] Lebanon Land Records Vol. 16 p.136; Vol. 17 p.250.
[4] Lebanon Land Records Vol. 20 p.281.
[5] O.D.A.R. Vol. 2 P. 243.