Chapman Family Home

THF806034 / Chapman Family Home
01

Artifact Overview

During the 1870s, this simple farmhouse was the home of John B. Chapman and his wife Susie. Chapman taught several terms in the one-room schools of his rural community. Young Henry Ford was one of his pupils. Chapman also worked at other tasks for much of the year, as a farmhand and as a cooper, making barrels for local farmers.

Artifact Details

Artifact

House

Date Made

1860

Creator Notes

Built in 1860 in Dearborn Township, Michigan.

Location

at Greenfield Village in Porches and Parlors District

Object ID

29.3060.1

Credit

From the Collections of The Henry Ford.

Material

Wood (Plant material)
Brick (Clay material)
Glass (Material)

02

Related Content

  • Henry Ford at McGuffey Birthplace in Greenfield Village, circa 1940
    Set

    Henry Ford: Heroes

    • 22 Artifacts
    Part of Henry Ford's love of the past stemmed from his fondness for the McGuffey Readers he had read as a boy. But collecting hundreds of readers was not enough to satisfy his yearning to re-claim this part of his past. In 1932, he purchased the log birthplace of William Holmes McGuffey and moved it to Greenfield Village.
  • Hanks Silk Mill
    Set

    Greenfield Village Buildings

    • 84 Artifacts
    As America was taking its first steps towards industrialization, the Hanks family of Mansfield, Connecticut, made early attempts to mechanize the production of silk thread. Rodney Hanks and his nephew Horatio Hanks built this mill in 1810. It was the first silk mill in America, producing some of the first silk with machines that were powered by a waterwheel.