The Street Seen: Chapin
Palisades Park @ Broadway
In Palisades Park, near the Camera Obscura, there is a granite block bearing the inscription “CHAPIN”. Is it in memory of Santa Monica pioneer and town treasurer E.K. Chapin? No - the granite is a 1932 “gift” of Henry L. Chapin, a retired jeweler from Denver. Here is their story.
“Recently, without publicity, pomp or ceremony, Chapin made a gift of a granite and bronze sun dial to Palisades Park in Santa Monica. Investigation revealed that he has also given an imported Italian marble bench to Woodlawn cemetery, and similar beneficences to other Southern California communities.” - Evening Vanguard May 11, 1932
E.K. Chapin (1839 - 1891)
E.K. Chapin is born Ephraim Perry Packer1 in CT. He operates a country store in Coventry, CT, and, in 1875, gets into financial troubles and absconds to California. Through the medium of early transcontinental train service, Ephraim Perry Packer becomes Ephraim Kingsbury Chapin.
After a stop in Bakersfield, Chapin (age 37) comes to very early Santa Monica in 1876, where he becomes a leading grocer. When Santa Monica incorporates in 1886, Colonel Chapin is elected Town Treasurer - a position he holds up to his death (age 52) in 1891.
Henry L. Chapin (1852 - 1944)
Henry L. Chapin2 is born in Worcester, MA. He settles in Denver, CO in 1880, where he works as a silversmith and jeweler. Chapin (age 58) moves to Los Angeles in 1910 and remains here up to his death (age 92) in 1944.
He gifts bronze plaques and marble benches to a variety of Southern California institutions.
Palisades Park
It is Henry L. Chapin who gifts the granite monument in Palisades Park - the bronze sundial on top is missing.
“Presented to the city without the usual fanfare of publicity attendant to such a gift, workmen quietly walked into the park about six weeks ago, dug a hole for the shaft and embedded it. And today many Santa Monicans still are unaware of its being there.
The former Connecticut manufacturer has been deluged with requests for the pieces. Several Southern California cities want statues of Cabrillo, and they want benches in memory of this and that personage. Usually, the city has the gift before it knows it has been marked as a recipient.” - Santa Monica Evening Outlook, May 12, 1932
Ephraim Kingsbury Chapin (1839 – 1891). Ephraim Perry Packer is born in CT. He marries Mary Ellen Morgan (1843 - 1913) in 1863, and they have a daughter, Mary M. Chapin (1871 - 1953).
Packer operates a country store in Coventry, CT, and he holds Coventry offices of judge of probate, town clerk, and registrar. In 1874, he is a candidate for State Comptroller. In 1875, his business collapses with liabilities of $35,000 and assets of $6,000. He resigns as lieutenant colonel of the 3rd Regiment, and leaves Coventry for California in October of 1875.
We do not know why Ephraim Perry Packer chose Ephraim Kingsbury Chapin as his new name. He keeps his first name and his colonel title. His wife, Mary, and daughter join him in Santa Monica two years later. While Chapin is Santa Monica Town Treasurer, M. E. Chapin runs the grocery store on Third St. When he falls ill in 1891, he appoints Mary deputy city treasurer. Mary Chapin runs the grocery store in the Cates Block through 1898.
E.K. Chapin is laid to rest in Woodlawn Cemetery.
Henry Lewis Chapin (1852 – 1944). Although the Los Angeles newspapers refer to Chapin as a “wealthy philanthropist,” we have no idea of how he came to be wealthy or how wealthy he actually is - the newspapers also refer to him as a “recluse.” In 1880, he is in Denver, CO, where he marries Mary Magdalen Spencer (1857 - 1945) in 1866 and is the proprietor of a jewelry store.
Henry Chapin moves to Los Angeles in 1910 and lives just west of downtown Los Angeles at 749 Columbia Ave. He has two carved marble objects in the Los Angeles Public Library. In 1937, Chapin gifts a “Roman” sarcophagus to USC. Placed at the entrance to the main library, the sarcophagus is now believed to be a modern reproduction.
Henry Chapin dies in Los Angeles and is laid to rest in Denver, CO,
but has monuments to himself in nine Los Angeles County cemeteries:-