Willaim Chapin | (1802 - 1888) William Chapin (1802 - 1888) was
a prominent New York and Philadelphia based engraver active in
the early part of the 19th century. Though we know little of
Chapin's early years he seems to have been an apprenticed at the
age of 15 to John Vallance in the Philadelphia firm Tanner,
Vallance, Kearny & CO. from 1817. This firm, which is
responsible for Tanner's early atlases, had a substantial
cartographic corpus. There are records to indicate that Chapin
purchased his freedom from Vallance for 125 USD in 1822. In time
he established a significant engraving business for himself in
Pennsylvania and New York with heavy focus on cartographic
material. Fielding suggests that Chapin's large map of the
United States is in fact the first published map to be engraved
steel in the United States. Around 1839 Chapin seems to have
changed careers when he accepted a position as Commissioner of
Public Schools in New York. In this capacity Chapin developed an
interested in working with and teachi