Marshall Chapin

Marshall Chapin was born in Bernardston, Massachusetts in 1798, one of nine children of Dr. Caleb Chapin and his wife Mary.^[1] The family later moved to Caledonia, New York, where Marshall went to school. He took a medical course at Geneva Academy (now Hobart and William Smith Colleges), and studied medicine with an uncle in Buffalo, New York.^[1] He received his medical degree in 1819.^[1]

In 1823, Chapin married Mary Crosby.^[1] The couple had four children: Louisa, Helen, Charles, and Marshall.^[1]

In 1819 Chapin moved to Detroit, and, with the help of his uncle, established the first drugstore there,^[1] as well as going into private practice as a physician.^[2] He was soon appointed physician for Fort Shelby.^[3] He went into public service, serving as an alderman in 1826 and 1827 and mayor in 1831 and 1833.^[1] He was appointed City Physician during the cholera epidemic of 1832, and served as same during the second outbreak in 1834.^[1]

Marshall Chapin died of heart disease on December 26, 1838.^[2] His drugstore continued in business under his son-in-law's name, and others, well into the 1880s.^[2][4]