There are probably 5-10 million people who are related in the world through Samuel Chapin in their pedigree; most descendants of Deacon Chapin. Many of us have "Chapin" in our first two lines; my father's mother a Chapin with a direct line to the Deacon. As there are no less than 30 Deacons in the Chapin line, my guess is that they took the bible literally in reference to the term "begat"; usually with as many conjugal partners as possible.

C. Burton Hannum