Charles H. Chapman was born about 1813 in Madison or Oneida County, New York, the son of parents who were likely from Connecticut. Charles married Mariah L. Thomas on November 27, 1836 in Broome County, New York. Her parents, William Merriam Thomas and Betsey Wylie, were the head of a prominent family in Chenango and Broome Counties and Betsey’s father, James Wylie, was a Revolutionary War Soldier of the Connecticut line.

Charles and Mariah had seven children and during most of their marriage they resided in Chenango, Broome County, near her parents and siblings. Charles was a hotel and inn keeper and at times a boatman along the Chenango River and the Chenango Canal that operated between 1837-1878 and connected Binghamton with Utica, New York.