REMEMBER WHEN

Remember When: Dr. Lee J. Chapman, truly one of Lancaster’s great citizens

Joyce Harvey
Correspondent

Dr. Lee Jackson Chapman was born in Texas in 1867. Named for Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson, he grew up on a horse ranch south of Dallas.

He came to Ohio at age 22 to attend the National Normal University in Lebanon. He obtained a degree and returned to Texas to teach. He came back to Ohio again, and obtained a medical degree from the Ohio Medical University in Columbus. Dr. R. W. Mondhank was a classmate of Chapman’s. When Chapman visited Mondhank and his wife in Royalton, he met Dora Addie Kiger. She became his wife Dec. 27, 1896. Four children were born to the couple: Frances (1898), Dana (1900), Thelma (1910), and Robert (1913).

The couple lived on the upper two floors of 220 E. State St., Columbus. Dr. Chapman’s office was on the ground level. He was appointed house physician of the Protestant Hospital, served on the surgical staff at Grant Hospital, and was one of the organizers of Mercy Hospital (E-G Aug. 14, 1952). Health problems in 1906 “nudged” him to take life easier. He did not retire but rather moved to Lancaster and commuted to Columbus on the interurban.

Chapman purchased about 12 acres of land adjoining the water works reservoir on the hill north of Rising Park in 1907. A “splendid modern 8-room residence” was built. Chapman did not take the property across from his new home for granted. He actively worked for the Mt. Pleasant property to become a city park. Nov. 23, 1908 the Daily Eagle reported he was one of three working to obtain the D.A.R.’s option to purchase Mt. Pleasant for Philip Rising. He was at the Dec. 14, 1908 City Council meeting when Mt. Pleasant became official property of the city, and he served as chairman of the grandstand and decoration committee for the official opening of Rising Park on July 5, 1909. He considered helping preserve Rising Park his biggest civic accomplishment.

When not working, Chapman was not golfing. “Other men play golf, but I play dahlias,” stated Chapman (Daily Eagle, Sept. 10, 1919). He went on to say he loved flowers and spent all of his time in his gardens when he was home. He planted his first dahlias in 1910. By 1920 the Daily Eagle stated his large dahlia gardens were attracting more attention than Rising Park. He had 122 varieties and 3,000 plants. His first flowers were planted because he loved them, but by 1920 his was the largest dahlia business in Ohio. He shipped 1000 blooms a week to Columbus when available. During 1921 he promoted the American Iris Society’s national show in Columbus and advertised he had 50,000 gladioli blooming on his farm.

Dr. Chapman commuted to Columbus until 1922 when he retired after serving 30 years as a physician and surgeon. In June of 1923 he downsized his gardens by leasing his dahlia farm to the Lancaster Greenhouse. The Fairfield Dahlia Society was formed in 1924 with Dr. Chapman serving as president. In 1925 this society sponsored the first combined city and county flower show for amateurs and professionals at the Elks’ Lodge. 

Disaster struck the Chapman family on Dec. 9, 1925. Dr. Chapman was using dynamite to blast rocks on his property above Rising Park. When a charge did not explode, he waited and then approached it just as it exploded. He was not rendered unconscious but lost both of his eyes. By early January he was home convalescing and was soon launching a new life for himself.

He learned to read and write braille. By 1935 he stated: “There are not enough hours in the day to do the things I want to do” (Daily Eagle, Jan. 11, 1935). He was an authority on flowers and he was delivering speeches and lectures. He had not missed one meeting of the garden club during its 11 years of meetings. He organized the “Careful Club” county-wide for school children to promote traffic safety. Membership totaled 3,338 at the end of his campaign.

Wanting to do things with his hands, he learned to make baskets. He then “resurrected a youthful knowledge of carpentry,” and began making small wood items in his basement workshop. Dr. Chapman and his wife celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in 1946. Mrs. Chapman died in 1949. Dr. Chapman suffered a stroke and died Feb. 14, 1953. Juanita Grant closed an Aug. 14, 1952 E-G article about Dr. Chapman by saying that he saw with his mind and heart, and “He ‘sees’ far more than many of us who have eyes and see not.”

Readers may contact Harvey at joycelancastereg@gmail.com