Reuben Chapman

{{Short description|American politician (1799–1882)}} {{for|the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Justice|Reuben Atwater Chapman}} {{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}}

{{more footnotes needed|date=March 2013}} {{Infobox officeholder |name = Reuben Chapman |image = Governor Reuben Chapman.jpg |order1 = 13th |office1 = Governor of Alabama |term_start1 = December 16, 1847 |term_end1 = December 17, 1849 |predecessor1= Joshua L. Martin |successor1 = Henry W. Collier |state2 = Alabama |constituency2 = {{ushr|AL|1|C}} (1835–1841)<br>{{ushr|AL|AL|At-large district}} (1841–1843)<br>{{ushr|AL|6|C}} (1843–1847) |term_start2 = March 4, 1835 |term_end2 = March 3, 1847 |preceded2 = Clement Comer Clay |succeeded2 = Williamson R. W. Cobb |birth_date = {{birth date|1799|7|15}} |birth_place = Bowling Green, Virginia, U.S. |death_date = {{death date and age|1882|5|17|1799|7|15}} |death_place = Huntsville, Alabama, U.S. |resting_place= Maple Hill Cemetery |party = Democratic }}

'''Reuben Chapman''' (July 15, 1799 – May 17, 1882) was an American lawyer and politician. He served six terms in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1835 to 1847, and as the 13th governor of Alabama from 1847 to 1849.

==Personal life== Born on July 15, 1799, in Bowling Green, Virginia, he moved to Alabama in 1824, where he established a law practice. He was colleagues with Thomas McElderry and the two of them would go on to serve on the Old Bank of Decatur board together in the late 1870s and early 1880s.

== Political career == He represented Alabama in the U.S. House of Representatives from March 4, 1835, to March 3, 1847, and served as the 13th Governor of the U.S. state of Alabama from 1847 to 1849.

[[File:Col.Tom McElderry.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Circa 1880 from left to right: Br. Gen. William B. McClellan, age 83; Capt. John T. Rather, age 87; Col. Thomas McElderry, age 90; Gov. Reuben Chapman, age 79; from Tom McElderry's families photo collection]] === Relationship with French ambassador === While a member of the House of Representatives, he had a very contentious relationship with the French ambassador, Louis Adolphe Aimé Fourier, comte de Bacourt. In 1844 the ambassador had made remarks towards him, and Virginia congressman George W. Hopkins, and Chapman challenged Louis Adolphe Aimé Fourier, comte de Bacourt to a duel. However, the French ambassador backed down. That same year the French ambassador also offended Virginia congressman Lewis Steenrod, though it is unknown precisely what words were exchanged. Chapman and Hopkins grew so hostile towards the French ambassador that in 1846, President James K. Polk eventually asked the French government to send Monsieur Fourier home and select a new ambassador to the United States.<ref>Governor Reuben Chapman by Thomas McAdory Owen · 1921</ref>

== Death == He died in Huntsville, Alabama on May 17, 1882.

==References== {{Reflist}}

==Sources== *[http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=C000316 Biographic sketch at U.S. Congress website] *[http://www.archives.state.al.us/govs_list/g_chapma.html Alabama Department of Archives and History] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160908174914/http://www.archives.state.al.us/govs_list/g_chapma.html |date=September 8, 2016 }} *[http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-1530 Reuben Chapman 1847-1849]- Encyclopedia of Alabama *Governor Reuben Chapman by Thomas McAdory Owen · 1921

==External links== *[http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=C000316 Biographic sketch at U.S. Congress website] *[http://www.archives.state.al.us/govs_list/g_chapma.html Alabama Department of Archives and History] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160908174914/http://www.archives.state.al.us/govs_list/g_chapma.html |date=September 8, 2016 }} *[http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-1530 Reuben Chapman 1847-1849]- Encyclopedia of Alabama

{{S-start}} {{s-ppo}} {{s-bef|before=Nathaniel Terry}} {{s-ttl|title=Democratic nominee for Governor of Alabama|years=1847}} {{s-aft|after=Henry W. Collier}} {{S-par|us-hs}} {{US House succession box |state=Alabama |district=1 |before=Clement Comer Clay |after=''District inactive'' |years=March 4, 1835 – March 3, 1841}} {{US House succession box |state=Alabama |district=AL |before=''District inactive'' |after=''District inactive'' |years=March 4, 1841 – March 3, 1843}} {{US House succession box |state=Alabama |district=6 |before=''District created'' |after=Williamson Robert Winfield Cobb |years=March 4, 1843 – March 3, 1847}} {{s-off}} {{succession box | before = Joshua L. Martin |title=Governor of Alabama | years = 1847–1849 | after = Henry W. Collier}} {{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chapman, Reuben}} Category:1799 births Category:1882 deaths Category:People from Bowling Green, Virginia Category:Democratic Party governors of Alabama Category:Jacksonian United States representatives from Alabama Category:19th-century United States representatives