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I lenry Chapman, HCM’s grandfather.
the Great Fire of Boston in 1872. (Henry was 16 when this occurred.) Lawrence died suddenly at age forty-five. Aunt Lela, age forty, then inherited his fortune, with which she built a house, “Aldie,” in Doylestown for Mary and her family, underwrote the travels and education of Mary’s children, helped found the Boston Museum of Fine Art, and maintained a residence in Georgetown, D.C. HCM dedicated the Columbus Room of Fortthill to her memory (see 1908-12).
Chapman enjoyed history, art, travel, and literature. He traveled often to Europe, amassing a large portfolio of prints which were important to HCM both for content and design. The judge read two papers before the Bucks County Historical Society (BCHS) and wrote several short novels after his retirement from public life.
Aunt Elizabeth Chapman Lawrence (1829-1905) and Uncle Timothy Bigelow Lawrence (1824-1869):
Elizabeth Chapman was known as “Aunt Lela” to her sister Mary Mercer’s children: HCM, Lela, and Willie, Jr. Aunt Lela enjoyed travel, art, and high society. In 1854 she married Bigelow, as he was called, a wealthy Boston diplomat posted to London and Florence. During their years in Florence, the Lawrences rented a villa with an extensive garden and neo-Gothic observation tower, located just inside the city wall. Their nephew, Henry, visited the villa at the impressionable age of 14. Aunt Lela enjoyed encouraging and assisting deserving artists, including young Henry.
Colonel Lawrence assembled an important collection of medieval armor, which was subsequently lost in
Mother, Mary Rebecca Chapman Mercer (1831-1903):
Mary Chapman “finished” schooling in Philadelphia with her older sister Elizabeth. Devoted to her family, she sketched and painted for pleasure, and taught Sunday School.
Fanny Chapman. HCM’s aunt, was vain about her figure, judging from this retouched photograph.
HCM’s Mother,
Mary Rebecca Chapman Mercer
Aunt Fanny Chapman (1846-1924) and Uncle Arthur Chapman (1848-1916):
Neither of these two children of Judge Chapman’s second marriage ever married. Until her half-sister, Elizabeth Lawrence, died, Fanny often visited and traveled with her, then lived on for almost twenty years at Frosterley (see 1871). Fanny took a particular interest in her Mercer nephews and niece, and offered HCM helpful criticism on his drawings.
Arthur kept a farm, “Highlands,” near Doylestown, where HCM as a youngster was allowed to raise pigeons. Arthur was fond ofguns, and once read a paper on historic firearms at a BCHS meeting.
HENRY CHAPMAN MERCER: AN ANNOTATED CHRONOLOGY