J. B. Chapin

J. B. Chapin (1822-1893) was a native of New York. He went to California in 1852, Kansas in 1856, and then to Colorado, Montana, Utah. He was engaged in mining, freighting, and hotel keeping. He drove the first team to Brainerd and was one of the first to settle in the Red River Valley. He opened one of the first hotels in Fargo, opened the first large farm in the valley, built the first opera house in Fargo, and gave to the church just to hear the silver jingle. He died by his own hand in St. Paul in 1893, homeless and dependent.