Pioneer history of Ingham County, compiled and arranged by Mrs. Franc L. Adams, secretary of the Ingham County pioneer and historical society.

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PIONEER HISTORY OF INGHAM ICOUNTY

religious societies of women. She also officiated as chairman of
the woman's committee in her own church.
In recognition of her attainments and work, Lombard University, in June, 1892, conferred upon her the degree of Doctor
of Divinity, the first woman in the world to receive this title.
Dr. Chapin's services have been much sought for in the lecture
field, in which her topics were chiefly English literature and art.
She held the appointment of extension lecturer on English literature for the University of Chicago, and non-resident lecturer on
literature and art for Lombard University, Galesburg, Ill. She
was a member of many societies of women, among which may be
mentioned the Sorosis of New York city, King's Daughters, the
Chicago Woman's Club, and the Women's Christian Temperance
Union.
Dr. Chapin very freely shared with her old friends and acquaintances the experiences of her life, and her addresses before
the Ingham County Pioneer Society, the Inghanm County Farmers'
Club and other organizations were always listened to with great
pleasure.
The Chapin farm became well known throughout the country
because of the fact that J. W. Chapin, a son of Almon Chapin, developed on it the largest sugar bush in the state of Michigan.
It is a far cry from the charmingly primitive "sugar bush" of
fiction to the business-like proposition of modern farm life. but it
is safe to say that not even the most advanced agriculturist elsewhere has a trolley line and telephone connection from his residence to his sugar bush, as has J. W. Chapin of Eden (1912).
Eden is a little hamlet four miles south of Mason, and the Chapin
estate of 360 acres, which has been in the family for many years, is
the largest farm for many miles around. The Lansing-Jackson
branch of the Michigan United Railway runs through the farm,
passing close to the house and also the sugar bush one-half mile
away. A private telephone line runs from the sugar house to the
residence, and a switch here gives connections with all the neighboring towns. The Jackson-Saginaw branch of the Michigan
Central Railroad is only a few rods away on the opposite side of
the house from the M. U. R.
Mr. Chapin now taps 2,200 trees every season, producing from
6,000 to 9,000 pounds of syrup and sugar each year. This is