John Grant CHAPMAN, Congress, MD (1798-1856)

CHAPMAN, John Grant, (father of Andrew Grant Chapman), a Representative from Maryland; born in La Plata, Charles County, Md., July 5, 1798; was tutored at home; attended a college in Pennsylvania in 1812 and 1813 and was graduated from Yale College in 1817; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1819 and commenced practice at Port Tobacco, Charles County, Md.; also interested in agricultural pursuits; member of the State house of delegates from 1824 to 1832 and from 1843 to 1844, serving as speaker 1826-1829 and again in 1844; member, State senate, 1832-1836, serving as president of that body from 1833 to 1836; served in the State militia; unsuccessful candidate for Governor of Maryland in 1844; elected as a Whig to the Twenty-ninth and Thirtieth Congresses (March 4, 1845-March 3, 1849); chairman, Committee on District of Columbia (Thirtieth Congress); resumed the practice of law at Port Tobacco, Md.; president of the State constitutional convention in 1851; died on his sister’s estate, “Waverly,” on the Wicomico River, Charles County, Md., on December 10, 1856; interment at St. Johns, a family estate; reinterment in Mount Rest Cemetery, La Plata, Md.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present