Artist. Son of William P and Maria (Howes) Chappel. His artistic talent was recognized very early  when at nine he entered a portrait into the American Institute Fair. By the time he was twelve, he was charging $25 for each portrait he painted. He also was strongly influenced by the history of the United States and was inspired by the works of other artists of the period. His family moved to Brooklyn where he met and married Almira Stewart in Plymouth Church by the abolitionist preacher Rev. Henry Ward Beecher who was the brother of Harriet Beecher Stowe (author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin).  At 27 he began to work for the publishing house of Martin, Johnson Company painting pictures that would be made into steel engravings. These plates were used to illustrate textbooks, many of which are in use today. His most often seen pictures are The Battle of Long Island, The Death of Lincoln and Washington’s Farewell. His painting The Inauguration of Washington was used to create a U. S. commemorative postage stamp in 1939.  Upon the death of his first wife, he married Mrs. Abbie J. (Carpenter) Briggam of Brooklyn and purchased a farm in 1869 on the East End of the lake in Middle Island. It is believed the name of Artist Lake came around the turn of the century from renaming Corwin’s Pond to honor Alonzo Chappel. (bio by: Mark Maxwell)  Inscription:AE 59 ys