Vinton Chapin
United States Ambassador to Luxembourg
In office
October 29, 1957 – July 31, 1960
PresidentDwight D. Eisenhower
Preceded byWiley T. Buchanan Jr.
Succeeded byA. Burks Summers
Personal details
Born(1900-04-17)April 17, 1900
Paris, France
DiedSeptember 15, 1982(1982-09-15) (aged 82)
Woburn, Massachusetts, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Spouses
Elizabeth Brosius Higgins Olmsted
​
​
(m. 1928, divorced)​
Lilian Aldrich Winchester
​
​
(m. 1938)​
EducationSt. Mark's School
Alma materHarvard University

Vinton Chapin (April 17, 1900 – September 15, 1982) was an American diplomat who served as the United States Ambassador to Luxembourg.

Early life

Chapin was born on April 17, 1900, to American parents in Paris, France. He was a son of Dr. Amory Chapin (1855–1917) and Annie (née Dickinson) Chapin (1876–1925).

His paternal grandparents were John Farnum Chapin and Frances Jones (née Vinton) Chapin (niece of Elisha Dyer, the 25th Governor of Rhode Island, and first cousin of Elisha Dyer Jr., also a Governor of Rhode Island). His paternal aunt, Esther Dyer Chapin, was the second wife of Brigadier General William A. Hammond, Surgeon General of the United States Army.

He was educated at St. Mark's School in Southborough, Massachusetts, before attending Harvard University, where he graduated with the class of 1923 and was a member of the Hasty Pudding Institute of 1770 and the Harvard Club of Boston.[1] At Harvard, he was president of the freshman class and was a start tailback player on the Harvard Crimson football team.[2]

Career

During World War I, Chapin served in the U.S. Marine Corps.[2]

Diplomatic career

After the War, he became a Foreign Service officer with the U.S. Department of State. He served as the U.S. Vice Consul in Prague in 1929,[3] and the U.S. Consul in Port-au-Prince in 1943. In 1947, he was located at The Hague in The Netherlands. In the late 1950s, he was counselor of the United States Embassy in Havana.[4]

On July 3, 1957, President Dwight D. Eisenhower appointed Chapin the United States Ambassador to Luxembourg to succeed Wiley T. Buchanan Jr.[5] Chapin presented his credentials on October 29, 1957.[6] His mission was terminated when he left the post on July 31, 1960.[7] He was succeeded in the role by A. Burks Summers.[8] On June 23, 1960, President Eisenhower appointed him to succeed Joseph S. Farland as the U.S. Ambassador to the Dominican Republic. Chapin took the oath of office, but did not proceed to post as the U.S. severed diplomatic relations with the Dominican Republic on August 26, 1960. In the interim, the duties of which were carried out by the Chargé d'Affaires ad interim Henry Mark Valpey Dearborn.[9]

In 1968, Chapin was a member of the Ambassadors for Nixon Committee, an organization formed of seventeen former ambassadors to support the, then, former Vice President Richard M. Nixon's run for president.[10]

Personal life

On November 1, 1928, Chapin was married to Elizabeth Brosius (née Higgins) Olmsted (1900–1970)[11] at Prouts Neck, Maine.[1] Elizabeth, the former wife of Frederick Nelson Olmsted of Boston,[12] was daughter of Aldus Chapin Higgins and the older sister of Milton Prince Higgins (1903–1997).[13][14] Together, they were the parents of:

They divorced and Elizabeth remarried to Ernest Angell, who later served as the president of the American Civil Liberties Union, in February 1939.[22] Her daughter from her second marriage, Abigail Brosius Angell, was married to Cass Canfield Jr.,[23] son of Cass Canfield, in 1973. Canfield's younger brother Michael Canfield was the first husband of Lee Radziwill.[24]

In January 1938, he was married to Lilian (née Aldrich) Winchester. Lillian, who was divorced from John Winchester of Boston with whom she had two sons (Charles and Gordon Winchester), was a daughter of Charles F. Aldrich of Boston and Fairwood Farms in Dublin, New Hampshire.[25] In March 1939, his wife was presented to King George VI and Queen Elizabeth at Buckingham Palace by Ambassador Joseph P. Kennedy, father of future U.S. President John F. Kennedy.[26]

Chapin died on September 15, 1982, at the New England Rehabilitation Hospital in Woburn, Massachusetts, after a long illness.[2] He was buried at Swan Point Cemetery in Providence, Rhode Island.[27]

References

  1. ^ a b "MRS. E. OLMSTEAD BRIDE.; Wed to Vinton Chapin, Diplomatist, at Prouts Neck, Me" (PDF). The New York Times. 3 September 1928. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
  2. ^ a b c "Vinton Chapin, at 82; was US ambassador". The Boston Globe. September 22, 1982. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
  3. ^ "BECOMES VICE CONSUL IN SANTO DOMINGO; H.V. Cooke Jr. of East Orange, N.J., Is Transferred From Venezuela--Other Changes" (PDF). The New York Times. 9 November 1930. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
  4. ^ a b "Miss Maryan Gainor Fox Will Be Married To Richard Chapin, Who Is Harvard Aide" (PDF). The New York Times. 15 September 1956. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
  5. ^ "Chapin Sworn as Envoy" (PDF). The New York Times. 11 September 1957. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
  6. ^ "Luxembourg - Chiefs of Mission - People - Department History". history.state.gov. Office of the Historian, Bureau of Public Affairs United States Department of State. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
  7. ^ "Vinton Chapin - People - Department History". history.state.gov. Office of the Historian, Bureau of Public Affairs United States Department of State. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
  8. ^ "PRESIDENT NAMES FOUR NEW ENVOYS; Duties of U.S. Ambassador to Cameroon Expanded -- Guam Chief Chosen" (PDF). The New York Times. 14 June 1960. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
  9. ^ "Dominican Republic - Chiefs of Mission - People - Department History". history.state.gov. Office of the Historian, Bureau of Public Affairs United States Department of State. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
  10. ^ "17 Ex-Ambassadors Form a Nixon Group" (PDF). The New York Times. 27 May 1968. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
  11. ^ "Mrs. Ernest Angell" (PDF). The New York Times. 24 December 1970. Retrieved 26 August 2019.
  12. ^ The Journal of the Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Worcester Polytechnic Institute. 1922. p. 273. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
  13. ^ The Chapin Book of Genealogical Data: With Brief Biographical Sketches, of the Descendants of Deacon Samuel Chapin. Chapin Family Association. 1924. p. 2037. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
  14. ^ Higgins, Mrs Katharine Elizabeth Chapin (1918). Richard Higgins: A Resident and Pioneer Settler at Plymouth and Eastham, Massachusetts, and at Piscataway, New Jersey, and His Descendants. K.C. Higgins. p. 729. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
  15. ^ Lawrence, J. M. (August 4, 2013). "Richard Chapin, 89, former president of Emerson College". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
  16. ^ "Richard Chapin". Brunswick Times Record. 16 July 2013. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
  17. ^ "In Memoriam: Maryan Chapin". bowdoinfestival.org. Bowdoin Music Festival. 12 July 2016. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
  18. ^ "MISS MARYAN FOX BECOMES A BRIDE; Wed in Easton to Richard Chapin, Assistant Dean at Harvard Business School" (PDF). The New York Times. 4 November 1956. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
  19. ^ "Births. CHAPIN-Aldus Higgins" (PDF). The New York Times. 9 October 1930. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
  20. ^ "NANCY N. DANIELS WILL BE MARRIED; Briarcliff Alumna Engaged to Aldus Higgins Chapin, a Graduate of Harvard" (PDF). The New York Times. 18 December 1955. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
  21. ^ a b Holley, Joe (21 May 2009). "Arts Administrator Aldus Higgins Chapin, 78, Dies; Led Corcoran, Ballet, WPAS". The Washington Post. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
  22. ^ "MRS. E.B.H. CHAPIN WED TO ATTORNEY; Former Elizabeth Higgins Is Married to Ernest Angell by Dr. John L. Elliott" (PDF). The New York Times. 11 February 1939. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
  23. ^ "CANFIELD--Cass Jr". The New York Times. December 1, 2013. Retrieved 26 August 2019.
  24. ^ "Miss Abigail Brosius Angell Married to Cass Canfield Jr" (PDF). The New York Times. 14 December 1973. Retrieved 26 August 2019.
  25. ^ "MRS. L. A. WINCHESTER WED TO A DIPLOMAT; She Becomes Bride of Vinton Chapin, Assistant Secretary of Legation in Prague" (PDF). The New York Times. 26 January 1938. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
  26. ^ "FOUR AMERICANS BOW TO BRITISH ROYALTY; Brazilian Envoy's Wife Presents Them at Season's First Court" (PDF). The New York Times. 10 March 1939. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
  27. ^ "Former U.S. Envoy Dies". The New York Times. 23 September 1982. Retrieved 27 August 2019.

External links

Diplomatic posts Preceded byWiley T. Buchanan Jr. United States Ambassadorto Luxembourg 1957–1960 Succeeded byA. Burks Summers
United States Ambassadors to Luxembourg
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