Peace by William Howard Taft, President of the United States

Peace
Performed by William H. Taft
Recorded October 1, 1912
I am willing to admit that war has accomplished much in the progress of the world. I am willing to admit that there are certain crises in the forward march of Christian civilization that perhaps could not have been met than in any other way than by the sword. I am willing to admit that war develops certain heroic traits in men and furnishes a test for the evidence of the highest character. Perhaps too, it trains and disciplines people. But the other side of the picture justifies the prayer of every man, of every civilized man, that war should be abolished and that the suffering, cruelty, corruption and demoralization that follow in its train should be, as far as we can bring it about, lifted as a burden from the human race. It is our duty to take every legitimate and proper step we can to persuade the nations of the world to settle their controversies in some other way. They are looking to us as a country independent of entangling alliances separated from all possible attacks by two wide oceans; rich, powerful, and in a situation where nobody can accuse us of being afraid of any nation or of taking this step because we are afraid of war, if war were a necessity. It is the common people of the world that are interested in this business, they know when we have war, it is they that have to bear the burden. It’s their sisters, and mothers and daughters that have to wait, trembling, to hear the news from the battlefields to learn whether their dear ones have bitten the dust. It’s the grave mass of the plain people that Lincoln loved so well that have to stand the brunt of war. They do not have the glory of coming home with the gold lace and the feathers and all that falls to the leader. They are not elected President because they happen to be successful. They know the demoralization that follows in the wake of war. We should lead the way and all doubts as to our constitutional authority should be resolved in favor of our stepping forward as a nation with the power, the wealth, the fortune and the opportunity that God has given us to help along the movement of Christian progress towards permanent peace. 

First Church of Springfield Massachusetts 1645

Source: Wikipedia....

The First Church was organized in 1637, the year following Springfield's founding by Puritan iconoclast and businessman, William Pynchon. The first church building was built in 1645 by Thomas Cooper, on what is now the southeast corner of Court Square. It had two towers: one for the bell, and the other to watch for approaching Indians. It was replaced in 1677 by the second meeting house, and the third was built in 1752. The third one was, in turn, replaced by the current building in 1819.^[3]
Noted abolitionist Dr. Samuel Osgood was the pastor of the congregation from 1809 to 1854. It was during this time that the present building was visited by notable figures such as Daniel Webster and John Brown, who resided in Springfield for some time. In addition, Jenny Lind performed a concert in the church in July 1851, and in 1848, the body of President John Quincy Adams lay in state in the center aisle of the sanctuary.<sup>[4]

For more information:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Church_of_Christ,_Congregational_%28Springfield,_Massachusetts%29</sup> 

Chapin Lincoln Connection

Lincoln Isham - Grandson of Abraham Lincoln and Deacon Samuel Chapin

There is another connection that Abraham Lincoln's family tree intersects with the Chapin tree. The connection is through Charles Bradford Isham 1853-1919 who married Mary Todd Lincoln (1869-1938). Charles is a direct descendant of Deacon Samuel Chapin through Catherine's line. Lincoln Isham (1892-1971) is their son and the great Grandson of President Abraham Lincoln. He is a 7th great grandson of Deacon Samuel Chapin.

Lincoln Isham had a stepdaughter Francis Mantley (1908-1983), but no other children.

Grave site link...
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=14859048

Chapin cousin Andy Chapin was a keyboardist with the Ricky Nelson Band.

Chapin cousin Andy Chapin was a keyboardist with the Ricky Nelson Band. 

Andy Chapin (February 7, 1951 – December 31, 1985) was an American keyboardist best known for his short stint with the Ricky Nelson Band, which ended in 1985 when he and his bandmates died after their plane crashed on New Year's Eve in De Kalb, Texas while en route to a performance in Dallas, Texas. Prior to joining Ricky Nelson, Chapin had been a member of The Association and before that of Steppenwolf, with whom he'd recorded Hour of the Wolf in 1975,[1] the band's first album recorded without founding keyboardist Goldy McJohn. The official explanation for his departure from Steppenwolf was that he didn't like touring. He was replaced by Wayne Cook. 

My drawing of Ricky Nelson...

Grinnell College - Go West, Young Man

Grinnell College in Grinnell, Iowa was founded by Josiah Bushnell Grinnell.  Grinnell was married to Chapin cousin "Julia Chapin Grinnell".

Josiah Bushnell Grinnell (December 22, 1821 – March 31, 1891) was a U.S. Congressman from Iowa's 4th congressional district, an ordained Congregational minister, founder of Grinnell, Iowa and benefactor of Grinnell College.

Grinnell was born in New Haven, Vermont in 1821. He studied the Classics and graduated from Auburn Theological Seminary in 1847. He held pastorates in Washington, D.C. and New York City before moving to Iowa. Grinnell was the young man to whom Horace Greeley is quoted as having given the famous advice, "Go West, young man." Grinnell was also involved in railway building and was instrumental in the move of Grinnell College, known at the time as Iowa College, from Davenport to the newly established town of Grinnell.

In Iowa, Grinnell was elected to the Iowa Senate, where he served from 1856 to 1860. At the same time, he studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1858, and set up his legal practice in Grinnell. He was a delegate to the 1860 Republican National Convention that nominated Abraham Lincoln for President.

Grinnell was also a 'conductor' on the underground railroad and was associated with John Brown.^[1] He provided shelter to John Brown in 1859 after Brown's anti-slavery raids in Kansas and Missouri.^[2]

In 1862, after the 1860 census increased the number of U.S. House seats in Iowa from two to six, Grinnell ran for the newly created seat representing Iowa's 4th congressional district. The Fourth District was then a diamond-shaped configuation of twelve counties that included Newton and Iowa City, and ran from the Missouri border to the southern edge of Waterloo.^[3] After winning the Republican nomination and the general election in 1862, he served in the Thirty-eighth Congress. In 1864 he won re-election, serving in the Thirty-ninth Congress. On June 14, 1866, he was assaulted by fellow congressman Lovell Rousseau for insulting him and his home state of Kentucky during a House debate.

Grinnell lost the Republican nomination for a third term, losing by thirteen votes to Judge William Loughridge in June 1866.^[4]

After his service in Congress, Grinnell resumed the practice of law. He was also interested in the building of railroads, becoming a director of the Rock Island Railroad, and receiver of the Iowa Central Railroad (later the St. Louis & St. Paul Railroad). He also served as president of the Iowa State Horticultural Society and of the First National Bank in Grinnell.

He died of throat disease, complicated by asthma, at his home in Grinnell on March 31, 1891.^[5] He was interred in Hazelwood Cemetery.

________________________

Newspaper writer Horace Greeley supported liberal policies towards settlers; in a July 13, 1865 editorial, he famously advised "Go West, young man, go West and grow up with the country." Some have claimed that the phrase was originally written by John Soule in the Terre Haute Express in 1851,^[7] but it is most often attributed to Greeley. Historian Walter A. McDougall quotes Josiah Bushnell Grinnell, the founder of Iowa's Grinnell College, as saying, "I was the young man to whom Greeley first said it, and I went." Researcher Fred R. Shapiro questions whether Greeley ever wrote it at all and cites, instead, an occurrence of Greeley writing "If any young man is about to commence the world, we say to him, publicly and privately, Go to the West" in the Aug. 25, 1838 issue of the newspaper New Yorker.^[8]

A champion of the working man, he attacked monopolies of all sorts and rejected land grants to railroads. Industry would make everyone rich, he insisted, as he promoted high tariffs. He supported vegetarianism, opposed liquor, and paid serious attention to any "-ism" anyone proposed. What made the Tribune such a success were the extensive news stories, very well written by brilliant reporters, together with feature articles by fine writers. He was an excellent judge of newsworthiness and quality of reporting. His editorials and news reports explaining the policies and candidates of the Whig Party were reprinted and discussed throughout the country. Many small newspapers relied heavily on the reporting and editorials of the Tribune.

Greeley was noted for his eccentricities. His attire in even the hottest weather included a full-length coat, and he was never without an umbrella; his interests included spiritualism and phrenology.^[9]

Horace Greeley

Presidential Cousins linked through the Chapin Line