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Asa Chapman (September 2, 1770 – September 25, 1825)^[1][2] was an American lawyer who served as a justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court from 1818 to 1825.

Chapman was born in Saybrook, Connecticut on september 2, 1770.^[1] He was graduated from Yale University in 1792, in the same class as Eli Whitney, Roger Minott Sherman, William Marchant, and William Botsford.^[3]

Following his graduation, Chapman taught at academies in North Salem, New York, and Norwalk, Connecticut, for two years while continuing his legal studies. He studied law under Tapping Reeve at the Litchfield Law School, was admitted to the bar in 1795, and established a law practice in Newtown, Connecticut. Throughout his practice, he also provided instruction to law students.

Chapman represented Newtown in the Connecticut House of Representatives across six legislative sessions between 1801 and 1815. In 1817, he was elected to the Governor's Council.

Following the rise of the Toleration Party a political coalition that successfully overturned Federalist dominance and passed the Connecticut Constitution of 1818 the state judicial system was restructured, reducing the number of Supreme Court judges from nine to five. While most incumbent Federalist judges were retired, Chapman was appointed to the newly configured Connecticut Supreme Court in 1818 as one of three new judges selected under the Toleration administration. He served on the bench until his death.

In the autumn of 1824, Chapman relocated from Newtown to New Haven, Connecticut, where he opened a private law school. However, failing health forced him to abandon the enterprise shortly thereafter.^[1]

He was married, at Newtown, on September 2, 1798, to Mary ("Polly"), eldest daughter of Dr. Bennett and Sarah (Beers) Perry, by whom he had three sons and one daughter. The eldest son, Charles Chapman, was a distinguished lawyer in Hartford and a Member of Congress.^[1]

His disease was consumption, and after two journeys in search of health, he died in New Haven on September 25, 1825, at the age of 55. Many of his manuscript letters addressed to Judge David Daggett are preserved in the Yale Library.^[1]

Mrs. Chapman died in Brooklyn, New York, at the residence of one of her sons, on March 24, 1850, in her 70th year.^[1]

Category:1770 births Category:1825 deaths Category:People from Middlesex County, Connecticut Category:Yale University alumni Category:Justices of the Connecticut Supreme Court

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