Charles E. Chapin

Charles E. Chapin (October 19, 1858 – December 13, 1930) was an American editor of Joseph Pulitzer’s Evening World. He was convicted of the murder of his wife and sentenced to a 20-year-to-life term in Sing Sing prison.

Career

Chapin was born in upstate Watertown, New York to Earl Chapin and Cecelia A. Yale, member of the Yale family. His brother was Frederick Yale Chapin and his grandfather, Aaron Yale, was a California pioneer and the owner of a large carriage manufacturing business in Pennsylvania. His uncle was Col. John Wesley Yale of the N.Y. Infantry, son-in-law of Col. John Means of the War of 1812, and was in the book, wall-paper, and art business in New York. Col. Yale was also Chairman for the Democrats in his county, a friend of Gov. David B. Hill and Roswell P. Flower, vestryman of St Paul's Episcopal Church, and was nominated trustee of N.Y. State Asylum by Gov. Teddy Roosevelt.

Chapin began his career on a Kansas newspaper, aged 14, moving later to Chicago to work for the Chicago Tribune, where he gained renown as a crime reporter. He excelled sufficiently to be hired in 1898 by the Evening World, a New York daily, run by the Pulitzer family.

Unlike the morning World, which Pulitzer saw as a reflection of his voice and serious-minded sensibilities, the Evening World was "a commercial enterprise" with an emphasis on crime and entertainment. It enjoyed one of the largest circulations in the country, thanks in part to Chapin's news instincts and use of large, "startling" headlines.