Henry Chapin was a judge, a state legislator, and a three-term mayor of Worcester, Massachusetts

Worcester, Massachusetts

Worcester is a city and the county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, as of the 2010 Census the city's population is 181,045, making it the second largest city in New England after Boston....

.

Early life and career

Chapin, a native of Upton, Massachusetts

Upton, Massachusetts

Upton is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 7,542 at the 2010 census.For geographic and demographic information on the census-designated place Upton-West Upton, please see the article Upton-West Upton, Massachusetts....

, graduated from Brown University

Brown University

Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...

 in 1835. He served as an educator in Upton, studied Law at Cambridge, and passed the Massachusetts Bar in 1838. He practiced law in Uxbridge

Uxbridge, Massachusetts

Uxbridge is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, in the United States. It was first settled in 1662, incorporated in 1727 at Suffolk County, and named for the Earl of Uxbridge. Uxbridge is south-southeast of Worcester, north-northwest of Providence, and southwest of Boston. It is part of...

 from 1838–1846, and became an amateur local historian in that community.

Later public service

Chapin represented the local district in the state legislature, served as the State's Commissioner of Insolvency, and on the State Board of Education.

In 1848, he was appointed chief Judge of the Worcester County

Worcester County, Massachusetts

-Demographics:In 1990 Worcester County had a population of 709,705.As of the census of 2000, there were 750,963 people, 283,927 households, and 192,502 families residing in the county. The population density was 496 people per square mile . There were 298,159 housing units at an average density...

 Probate and Insolvency Court. Judge Chapin was later elected for three terms as Mayor of Worcester

Worcester, Massachusetts

Worcester is a city and the county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, as of the 2010 Census the city's population is 181,045, making it the second largest city in New England after Boston....

. In 1853, Mayor Chapin was nominated by the Republican Party for a Congressional seat, which he declined. A lifelong Unitarian

Unitarianism

Unitarianism is a Christian theological movement, named for its understanding of God as one person, in direct contrast to Trinitarianism which defines God as three persons coexisting consubstantially as one in being....

, Chapin served in church leadership positions.

A historical address

In 1864, he delivered a later published historical address in Uxbridge, which records the story of America's first legal colonial woman voter. He is later simply known as "Judge Henry Chapin".

Afterwards

Judge Chapin was asked to serve as Mayor of Worcester, one more time, in 1870. In 1877 he developed ill health, and died at age 67, in Worcester, on October 13, 1878.