Dabney Chapman: Man, Myth, and Dad & Other Civil War Relics

John Chapman, son of long-time Shepherdstown Rotary member R. Dabney Chapman (1929-2015), was born in Garmisch-Partinkirchen, West Germany, in 1965, and grew up a “State Department brat,” moving from country to country thanks to his father’s career. Migrating to Shepherdstown in 1983 to attend Shepherd College, he became enamored of the area’s beauty, history, and people, and like so many others has remained in the region ever since, ultimately convincing his parents to retire here in 1986.

A longtime teacher of middle school Social Studies, he inherited his father’s love for history, particularly as it pertains to the Shenandoah Valley and the Civil War. As a result, his primary avocation and passion for the last 35 years has been searching the farms and fields of the lower Shenandoah Valley, particularly around Shepherdstown, with his shovel and metal detector- occasionally succeeding in discovering and documenting long-forgotten homesites or Civil War camps. Articles and pictures of the results have been published in North South Trader’s Civil War and American Digger magazines.

John and his wife Crystal, a case manager nurse at Berkeley Medical Center, reside just outside metropolitan Cherry Run in Morgan County, along with their dog, cat, and three-legged rescue squirrel Miss Twiggy.