Alfred Clark Chapin

Alfred Clark Chapin (March 8, 1848 – October 2, 1936) was an American lawyer and Democratic politician who served as Mayor of Brooklyn and for one year as a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1891 to 1892. He was born in South Hadley, Massachusetts, to Ephraim Atlas Chapin, who had interests in the railroad business, and Josephine (née Clark) Chapin. He grew up in a family connected to both commerce and public life; his younger sister, Alice Chapin, later became an actress and suffragette. Chapin’s early years were spent in New England, where he attended both public and private schools before pursuing higher education.

Chapin graduated from Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts, in 1869. He then studied law at Harvard Law School, from which he graduated in 1871. The following year, in 1872, he was admitted to the bar and commenced the practice of law in New York City, while maintaining his residence in Brooklyn. His legal career in New York placed him in the midst of the rapidly expanding commercial and transportation sectors of the late nineteenth century, and his family’s railroad connections complemented his growing expertise in public and corporate law.

Chapin entered elective office as a member of the New York State Assembly, representing Kings County’s 11th District in 1882 and 1883. During his legislative service he quickly rose to prominence, serving as Speaker of the Assembly in 1883. His early political career was marked by a serious incident on January 13, 1882, when he was injured in a train accident in which State Senator Webster Wagner was killed, an event that underscored the risks of the era’s expanding rail network. Building on his legislative experience, Chapin was elected New York State Comptroller in the 1883 state election and was reelected in 1885, serving as comptroller from 1884 to 1887. In this statewide office he oversaw the fiscal affairs of New York during a period of significant economic growth and public works development.

In 1888 Chapin was elected Mayor of Brooklyn, a position he held from 1888 to 1891. As mayor, he governed one of the nation’s largest and fastest-growing cities prior to its consolidation into Greater New York, dealing with issues of urban infrastructure, transportation, and municipal finance. His tenure as mayor enhanced his standing within the Democratic Party and provided a platform for further public service. His municipal leadership in Brooklyn coincided with broader debates over urban governance and reform in the Gilded Age.

Chapin’s congressional service came during a significant period in American political and economic history. A member of the Democratic Party representing New York, he was elected to the 52nd United States Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Representative David A. Boody. He served from November 3, 1891, to November 16, 1892, completing one term in office. During this year in the House of Representatives, he participated in the legislative process and represented the interests of his New York constituents at the national level, contributing to debates in a Congress that confronted questions of tariff policy, monetary issues, and federal regulation in the closing years of the nineteenth century. He resigned his seat on November 16, 1892.

After leaving Congress, Chapin continued to combine public service with legal and business pursuits. He served as railroad commissioner of New York State from 1892 to 1897, a role that drew on both his family background in railroads and his prior governmental experience. As railroad commissioner, he was involved in the oversight and regulation of one of the state’s most critical industries during a time of consolidation and technological change. Alongside his regulatory work, he continued the practice of law and was financially interested in various enterprises, reflecting the close interconnection between law, politics, and business in his era.

Chapin’s personal life linked him to several prominent American families. On February 20, 1884, he married Grace Stebbins (1860–1908), the daughter of Alice Holmes Schieffelin (1838–1913) and Russell Stebbins (1835–1894) and the granddaughter of Samuel Schieffelin, a religious author and businessman. Alfred and Grace Chapin were the parents of two daughters: Grace Chapin (1885–1960), who married Hamilton Fish III (1888–1991), later a long-serving member of the U.S. House of Representatives, and Beatrice Chapin (1889–1932). Through this marriage, Chapin became connected to the Fish family, one of New York’s notable political dynasties; his grandson Hamilton Fish IV also served as a U.S. Representative from New York. After the death of his first wife in 1908, Chapin remarried on January 6, 1913, to Charlotte (née Storrs) Montant (1860–1942), the widow of Charles Montant.

In his later years, Chapin divided his time between his professional interests and leisure pursuits. He owned a summer home in Murray Bay, Quebec, reflecting his long-standing ties to Canada as a place of retreat. It was during a visit to Canada that his life came to a close. Alfred Clark Chapin died at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, on October 2, 1936. His long career in law, state and municipal government, and brief but notable service in the United States Congress placed him among the influential Democratic figures in New York politics in the late nineteenth century, and his family connections extended his legacy into subsequent generations of congressional service.