CHAPMAN FAMILY ASSOCIATION
Our Mission
The Chapman Family Association is Dedicated to Helping Chappies Find Their Roots
Our Goal
Our goal is to be a catalyst for positive change, and since our beginnings in 2000, we’ve been driven by the same ideas we initially founded our Non-Profit Organization upon: support, empowerment, and progress.
Purpose Statement
The purposes for which the Chapman Family Association is organized are the collection, preservation and dissemination of the genealogy and history of the various Chapman families by any and all practicable means including, but not limited to, the following:
1. collecting, compiling and editing historical and genealogical records of Chapman family members;
2. establishing a central repository and retrieval system for the collection of Chapman family historical and genealogical records;
3. publishing books, newsletters, magazines and periodicals to disseminate the collection of Chapman family historical information to members of the Association and interested members of the public;
4. educating Chapman family members about the historical contribution of the family to the development of the United States of America;
5. providing a means for social and fraternal association and fellowship among the members;
6. establishing an organization with perpetual life to continue and preserve the herein described purposes for successive generations; and
7. any and all other lawful purposes permitted by the Texas Non-Profit Corporation Act which are not inconsistent with the purposes described herein.
2024-2025 CFA BOARD AND OFFICERS
BOARD OF DIRECTORS:
Ray Chapman - Chair
Al Chapman
Kathy Chapman
Mark Chapman
Pauline Chapman
Shelley Chapman
Val Chapman
Marilyn Foster
Lennae Seevers
OFFICERS:
Ray Chapman, NC - President
Val Chapman, OH - Vice President
Pauline Chapman, IL - Secretary
Nadine Chapman, NH - Treasurer
Al Chapman, MO - Corresponding Secretary
CORPORATE OFFICE:
Chapman Family Association
5900 Balcones Drive, Suite 100
Austin, Texas 78731
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
Origins of the CFA
Gil Alford began publishing his newsletter, Chapman Chatter, in August 1983 and continued the distribution through October 1996.
In April 1994, the Association received a Certificate of Incorporation. The Chapman Family Association (CFA) is a Code 501(c)(7)non-profit corporation. The Association has no paid staff or employees and depends entirely on volunteer workers.
Many feel that the CHAPMAN CHATTER was the prelude to the Chapman Family Association. The CFA Quarterly #1 was published August 1994. At that time CFA had 56 members.
Gil Alford was the founder of the Chapman Family Association. No, he didn’t do it all by himself, but he was the prime mover that got things rolling. Gil was born 1 Jan 1926 in South Carolina. He served in the Army Airborne during WWII and the Korean Conflict. He married Mary Louise Newkirk in September 1944 and they settled in Saint Louis where he worked for McDonald Douglas. After his retirement he became interested in his Alford genealogy and also began work on Mary’s Newkirk and Chapman Genealogy.
He was a pioneer hobbyist with computers which helped in organizing his genealogy and doing correspondence. Gil & Mary created "Chapman Chatter," a newsletter, in 1983 as a vehicle by which to communicate with others interested in Chapman family history and genealogy. At least forty four issues of "Chapman Chatter” were published over a period of eleven years. In mid 1993 Gil believed it was time for other Chappies to begin to take part in the fun, so he talked to interested Chappies about starting an organization which became the Chapman Family Association. Beginning in August 1994, under Gil's guidance, CFA began publishing an association newsletter with Emily Chapman Painter as the editor. The first CFA conference was held in June 2001 in St. Louis, Missouri.
Gil passed away 20 Aug 2013 at the age of 87. He is interred in Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery, Lemay, St. Louis County, Missouri.
Gil and Mary Alford, founders of the Chapman Family Association