Ransom Roswell Chaplin (1878-1955) Papers, 1900-1940 MSA 700
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Ransom Roswell Chaplin (1878-1955) Papers, 1900-1940 MSA 700 Introduction This collection contains the papers of Ransom Roswell Chaplin (1878-1955), a Spanish American War veteran who farmed in Montgomery and Vershire, Vermont. Lois E. Jackson gave the collection to the Vermont Historical Society in 2004. A scrapbook came with the collection but became separated from the collection between receipt and processing. The collection is stored in one archival flip-top box and consumes .25 linear feet of shelf-space. Biographical Notes Ransom Roswell Chaplin was born to Roderick and Sybil Tracy Chaplin on 23 October 1878 in Montgomery Center, Vermont. Chaplin’s middle name was in honor of his grandfather, Roswell Allen Chaplin, who served with the 13th Vermont Regiment in the Civil War, including during the Battle of Gettysburg. Ransom Chaplin’s father, Roderick Chaplin, also served in the Civil War. Ransom Chaplin served in the US Army during the Philippine–American War. He enlisted on 8 September 1899 and served with the infantry, in Company B, 43rd Regiment, US Volunteers. A detachment of Chaplin’s company fought the Battle of Jaro, Leyte, in the Philippines on 15 April 1900. Chaplin received his discharge from military service on 1 July 1901. At 24 years of age, Ransom Chaplin married 15 year old Lizzie Ordina Deary (1887- 1970), the daughter of Antoine and Margaret Duso Deary, on 24 August 1903, also in Montgomery, Vermont. Ransom Chaplin applied for and received an Army Invalid pension for rheumatism and heart disease. A payment card shows him paid at a rate of $14 beginning on 18 Oct 1905; he received an increase to $17 commencing on 1 April 1908 (Pension application no. 1,276,683 and certificate no. 1,131,943). An additional information card showed Philippine Volunteers could get an extra two months pay, Chaplin received $26 under this program but had to pay $5.20 to lawyers to collect it. As required, he also registered for the drafts for the 1st and 2nd World Wars. After returning to Vermont, Ransom Chaplin had several encounters with the law. He paid a fine for illegally killing deer, paid another fine for assaulting his uncle after the uncle’s cows got into Chaplin’s cornfield, and became a suspect in an arson fire at a barn in Montgomery Center. No outcome of the arson investigation appeared in the newspaper and apparently he faced no charges. None of his legal problems seem to have affected his public life as voters in Orange County voted him in as a Justice of the Peace for a term beginning on 1 February 1927. Sometime between 1920 and 1927, Chaplin had moved his family from Montgomery to Vershire, Vermont, in Orange County. Vermont Historical Society • Barre 05641-4209 Ransom Chaplin Papers 2 Problems followed the Chaplins to Vershire where they went into farming. The farm operated successfully for a while, but later records indicate something happened that resulted in an insurance settlement with most of the money going to mortgage holders. The sheriff also confiscated property from the couple. The Chaplins had at least eight children: Arthur (b. 1904), Nellie (b. 1907), Harry (b. 1909), Clyde (b. 1911), Bernie (b. 1913), James (b. 1915), Jessie (b. 1917), and Harold (b. 1919). In 1935, the Chaplins were living in Chelsea, Vermont; by the late 1940s, they lived in Washington, Vermont. Ransom Chaplin died at the Veterans Administration Hospital on 3 September 1955, after being confined to a hospital bed for a little more than a month. His wife had his remains buried at the Highland Cemetery in Chelsea, Vermont, complete with a flat, granite marker provided by the Veterans Administration. Scope and Content The collection consists of documents from the life of Montgomery, Vershire, Chelsea, and Washington, Vermont resident, Ransom Roswell Chaplin (1878-1955). Several documents related to Chaplin’s efforts to obtain a military pension and follow-up benefits from the government. There are also several original insurance policies on the farm and an automobile held by the Vermont Mutual Fire Insurance Company of Montpelier, Vermont. Instructions are included on where and when fuel could be added to the car’s fuel reservoir. Other documents illustrate the family’s legal problems although not in very great depth. Some legal documents also hint at a charitable side to the Chaplin family as they acted as sureties to ensure the court appearance of some local men and also provided a home for a pregnant woman, Mrs. Ralph Perkins, in 1933 and 1934. A folder contains Chaplin’s tax bills and herd certifications for the period 1930 to 1940. Another folder provides glimpses into his business interests: at one point, Chaplin considered selling tires to supplement his income from the farm. The final folder in the collection contains miscellaneous items including a report card of Roswell Chaplin’s son, Clyde Chaplin, and a letter from Ordina Comstock to Lizzie Chaplin in 1908. Inventory MSA 700:01: Military Pension :02: Insurance Documents :03: Legal Papers :04: Receipts, Tax Bills, Herd Certification, 1930-1940 :05: Business Items: Sterlingworth Tire Company De Laval Sales and Service, Inc. Vershire Creamery Company Randolph newspaper :06: Miscellaneous Items: Vermont Historical Society • Barre 05641-4209 Ransom Chaplin Papers 3 Letter, Ordina Comstock to Lizzie Chaplin Report card, Clyde Chaplin, grade 8, Vershire, Vt. Postcard, “25,000 gifts,” White River Junction, 1948 Appointment, Ransom R. Chaplin, Justice of the Peace, 1927 Letter of Administration, estate of Sybil Chaplin, 1909 Inventory, estate of Sybil Chaplin, 1909 Harry Harrington June 2014 ChaplinRansom.doc Vermont Historical Society • Barre 05641-4209 .