John Fletcher Chapman
John Fletcher Chapman was born in Madison County, Ohio, November 8, 1843, and was a son of James and Mary Ann (Chapell) Chapman, natives of Virginia. Fletcher, as he was always called, grew to maturity in this county, and was self-educated, never having attended school but three months in his life. In the fall of 1862, he enlisted in the One Hundred and Thirteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and served until the war closed, being mustered out at Louisville, Ky., with the balance of his regiment. He was an ardent Democrat all his life. Upon the close of the war, he began to read law in the office of Col. J. C. McCloud; was admitted to the bar in 1869, and practiced his profession until his death, December 7, 1879, leaving his widow, Clara B. Chapman, with two children, all of whom reside with her father, James B. McCarty, of Xenia. Mr. Chapman enjoyed a fair practice, and is kindly remembered by the bar of the county.
From History of Madison County - W. H. Beers [Chicago, 1883]