Al the great!

The cigar box above, this is the bottom of it, has been in the family for YEARS, literally. Until recently we didn't know just how long. In the Lower right hand corner is signed, "Al Chapman" Tahlequah, Okla then on the left side it says Ossie Chapman, Davenport, Okla. In the center is written Deadids to farm. The box has a make shift 'hidden' bottom in it.
Its because of Al we are Chapman's.
There are plenty of rumors as to why a young 14 year old girl of IL would get pregnant. Family 'lore' has a couple of stories. She may of been raped by a neighbor boy, or even the husband next store to them.I hope it wasn't so drastic. Maybe she made a mistake, and coming from a Quaker background, those kind of mistakes aren't thought well of. All that new the true story died with closed lips on the subject. Whatever the circumstances regarding the pregnancy, my great grandfather was born, Oscar Clay English.
When he was ten, his mom met Al and they fell in love and were married, not only did she take Al's last name but so did my great grandfather, aged 20. He was legally adopted as far as we know. AND he was mentioned in Al's will and was left land. All we have of him is this signature in on this old cigar box. No photos.
He didn't have to give his name to this 'bastard' boy. But he did and the 'stigma' was removed. To further remove this 'stigma' they moved to Lincoln County, Okla.for a fresh start. Five generations later, and there is a sixth too. We still carry this name. Truly he was Al the GREAT!

UPDATE: after a recent visit with an Uncle I discovered that there is a photo of Alfred Nelson Chapman. I was floored. I told him this is the only one of him. He let me scan the photo, here it is as I post it proudly.

Let me introduce Alfred Chapman and his wife Lucinda and their two boys, Theodore and Frank.