Emily Coolidge Chapin
1849-1925

Niles Daily Star, Wednesday, March 25, 1925, page 4, col. 1, microfilm Niles District Library

    Misses Claudine and Orril Coolidge will go to Chicago tomorrow to attend the funeral services for their aunt, Mrs. Emily Chapin, at the home of Lowell M. Chapin, a son of the deceased, and will accompany the funeral party to Niles.

Niles Daily Star, Thursday, March 26, 1925, page 1, col. 2, microfilm Niles District Library

 

    Funeral services for Mrs. Emily Chapin, widow of Charles A. Chapin, who died in Pasadena, Calif., on March 21, were held at the home of her son, Lowell M. Chapin, in Chicago this morning.  Dr. James A.K. McClure, president of the McCormick seminary, and for many years a friend of the deceased, conducted the service.  The funeral party left Chicago with the body in a special car immediately after the service for Niles, arriving here at 2:40 o'clock this afternoon.
    The body was taken directly to Silver Brook cemetery where Rev. H.T. Scherer, pastor of the Chapin Memorial Presbyterian church, conducted the committal services.

    Emily Coolidge Chapin was born in Edwardsburg, Cass county, in 1849. She died at Pasadena, Calif., on March 21, 1925.  She was one of the daughters of Judge Henry H. Coolidge.  She attended the Niles public schools, and completed her education at the Kalamazoo Seminary in Kalamazoo, graduating from that institution in 1869, after specializing in study of vocal and instrumental music.  In 1873 she was married in Niles to Charles A. Chapin, a prominent resident of this city.
    During her residence in Niles, Mrs. Chapin was an active member of the Presbyterian church and was for many years a teacher in the Sunday school.  She was a member of the Ladies Reading club and active in the musical and social circles of the city.
    In 1898 the family moved to Chicago and she had since resided there.
    In her tastes Mrs. Chapin was literary and artistic, appreciating the best in literature and music. Throughout her life she retained her love for music, and was enthusiastic in promoting musical (Continued on Page 8) activities.  In her youth she possessed a beautiful high soprano voice and sang with intelligence and artistic finish.  As a young woman in Niles she sang at different times in both the Presbyterian and Episcopal church choirs.  In Chicago she was interested in supporting the Chicago Symphony orchestra and the Chicago Civic opera.  She was active in the work of the Fourth Presbyterian church, the Chicago Half Orphan asylum, the Glenwood Boys' home, a liberal supporter of missions and of the Chicago Y.M.C.A.  She was a member of the Colonial Dames, of the Daughters of the American Revolution, and of L'Alliance Francaise.
    She erected the Edwardsburg Presbyterian church as a memorial to her father.  She devoted not only a great deal of money to church and philanthropic enterprises but gave of her time to these interests in large measure a strong Christian faith and joy in Christian service finding expression in these ways.  In disposition she was sweet and lovable, unassuming, and with a kindly attitude toward everyone with whom she came in contact.  A long life of usefulness and service is ended with her passing, and her death is mourned by many.
    Mrs. Chapin was the mother of eight children of whom seven are living as follows:   Homer C., Henry K., Charles D. and Lowell M. and Mrs. William Smith, of Chicago; Mrs. Paul Pitner and Mrs. Jerome Bishop Jr., of Pasadena, Calif.

Niles Daily Star, Thursday, March 26, 1925, page 4, col. 1, microfilm Niles District Library


    Rev. Benjamin Jones, the pastor, and the trustees of the Presbyterian church at Edwardsburg, attended the committal services here today for the late Mrs. Emily Chapin. The church at Edwardsburg was a gift of Mrs. Chapin in memory of her father, Judge Henry H. Coolidge.