One Hundred-Fifty Year Anniversary of the American Civil War

This year marks the 150th anniversary of the start of the American Civil War. Many commemorative events have been held. Many more are planned. In Union County, a lot of men went off to serve in this war. Many returned home after the war. Many more did not. Today I find it fitting to mention Norton Parker Chipman from Milford Center, Ohio. In 2007, I wrote a piece about him for a MILITARY REMEMBRANCE Calendar that was published by the Union County Chapter of the Ohio Genealogical Society. Below is his story.


NORTON PARKER CHIPMAN - FROM SMALL TOWN BOY TO NATIONAL FIGURE

Norton Parker Chipman was born in Milford Center, Ohio on March 7, 1834 to Norman and Sarah Chipman. Norman Chipman was proprietor of a hotel in the village, and he was also active in the Union Township government.

In his early years, Norton Chipman attended schools in Union Township, Union County, Ohio. And, in 1859, he graduated from the Cincinnati Law School, presently a part of the University of Cincinnati. He then moved out to Iowa, where the rest of the Chipman family had relocated.

It was from Iowa, that Norton Chipman enlisted in the Union Army during the Civil War. He first served a Private in Company H of the Second Iowa Infantry. When his commanding officer, Colonel Samuel R. Curtis was promoted to the rank of general, Chipman was elected second lieutenant of his company. By the end of the Civil war he had attained the rank of brigadier general.

At the end of the Civil War, General Norton P. Chipman resigned his position in the Army and began the practice of law in Washington, D. C. He also served two terms in the in the United States Congress as the only representative from the District of Columbia.

Upon the end of his second term in Congress, Chipman relocated to California, where he once again took up the practice of law. Over the course of his law career, he was affiliated with the Republican Party. He also rose to serve as the commissioner of the California Supreme Court.

Norton Parker Chipman is credited as a co-founder of the Grand Army of the Republic, a service organization for Union veterans of the American Civil War. And, it was through his work with the GAR and General John A. Logan, that he wrote an order that effectively marked the creation of Decoration Day, the precursor to Memorial Day.

Norton Parker Chipman married Mary Isabel Holmes in 1865. Two this union were born two children. Chipman died on February 1, 1924 in California.