Thomas A. Chaffin homestead certificates, 1885

Thomas Allen Chaffin was the grandson of one of the first two white men to settle in the Bitterroot Valley of Montana. He ranched, operated businesses, and lived in the Bitterroot Valley and Missoula, Montana for seventy-seven years. He was born in Springfield, Missouri, the son of Milton and Martha Chaffin. In 1864 he accompanied his parents across the plains with a wagon train from Ft. Scott, Kansas, to Bannock, Montana. The party included Elijah, Anthony, Milton, Amos Chaffin, and their wives and children. Shortly thereafter, the Chaffin family moved to Corvallis, Montana, then known as Willow Creek. Thomas Chaffin and his brothers, James and Sam, became successful farmers in the Bitterroot Valley. The Chaffin family contributed to the development of schools, churches, and the Corvallis community. Thomas A. Chaffin was involved in stock-raising and wool-growing on his Bitterroot ranch for many years. He later formed a partnership with Perkins and Gage in the Valley Mercantile Company in Hamilton, Montana. During this period, he also served as the vice president of the Citizen's State Bank. Thomas A. Chaffin married his wife Lillian E. in Springfield, Missouri, on March 8, 1887, and the couple had three children. The Chaffins moved to Missoula in 1905, purchasing a livery, grain, and feed business on Cedar Street. Thomas Chaffin died on April 18, 1941, at his Sherwood Street residence in Missoula.