My local newspaper prints archived stories that are of interest to genealogists and
historians. Though I am not related to either the Chapin or Twogood family in any way, I
thought someone out there may appreciate the wealth of information found in this short
story. This was printed in the ROCKFORD REGISTER STAR newspaper on Jan. 17, 1920:
"Death Calls Mrs. Sarah T. Chapin at Age 85"
Mrs. Sarah Twogood Chapin, widow of Colonel Alfred Chapin of the Tenth Wisconsin Infantry
and pioneer resident of this section, died yesterday morning at 11:40 o'clock at the
Swedish American Hospital, where she had been a patient for the last six weeks, of
infirmities incident to advanced age. Mrs. Chapin came here (Winnebago County, Illinois)
with her father Sidney Twogood, a veteran of the War of 1812, who purchased a tract of
land where the old Kishwaukee trail crossed at the ford near the present village of Cherry
Valley. Indians were numerous when her family first located here. Her marriage to Alfred
Chapin was an event of July 30, 1859 at Chicago. They settled in Milwaukee, where Mr.
Chapin became established in business and was First Lieutenant of the Milwaukee Light
Guards. Later he organized the Tenth Wisconsin regiment and Mrs. Chapin followed the
regiment when it went south and ministered to the suffering who fell on the field of
battle. As a result of a wo!
und incurred, the Colonel broke down and died in Rockford Dec. 20, 1866. The Chapin home
was at 635 Longwood (Rockford, Illinois, Winnebago County).