Daisy Chapin was born on May 23, 1889, in Wayne Township, Lafayette County, Wisconsin, the eleventh child of Enoch Jefferson Chapin and Mary Jane Mikesell Chapin.

In the spring of 1895, Daisy began attending Blaisdell School, the rural school in District #8 of Wayne Township, where she studied for eight years. In 1903, she earned her common school diploma and proceeded to the State Normal School in Oshkosh, completing the short course in 1906.

That same year, the Chapin family moved to Winslow, Illinois. After her father’s passing in August, Daisy began her teaching career as a “country school marm,” instructing about 30 students in Martinstown, Wisconsin, for a salary of $40 a month. She later taught at the Crosby School near South Wayne, Wisconsin.

From 1911 to 1915, Daisy taught in Beloit under Miss Nellie Jones at Wright School, where she introduced the teaching of phonics. Her salary had risen to $60 per month. In 1915, she moved west to teach in Kalispell, Montana, and then in Missoula, Montana. While in Missoula during World War I, she volunteered her spare time to the Red Cross, preparing bandages.

After her mother was injured, Daisy returned to Winslow. In 1920, she resumed her teaching career in the Beloit School System under Superintendent F.E. Converse. She taught English to immigrants in evening vocational school classes, helping prepare 40 men and two women for U.S. citizenship.

Daisy Chapin earned a Bachelor of Philosophy degree from the University of Wisconsin. In 1927, she became the elementary principal at Cunningham School, where she served until her retirement in 1954 after 48 years in Beloit’s school system.

Following retirement, she worked for 15 years at the Beloit Historical Society. One of her lasting legacies was the establishment of the Daisy Chapin Schoolhouse at the Bartlett Museum, which welcomed field trips from local schoolchildren.

A devoted member of Second Congregational Church, she taught Sunday School and chaired the Missions Committee. She was also active in the Daughters of the American Revolution and the Delta Kappa Gamma Society of Beloit.

Daisy Chapin passed away on July 21, 1985, at the age of 98, at Caravilla Nursing Home.