He attended Brown University, a school with a historical Baptist affiliation, graduating in 1799 with a Bachelor of Arts.

Chaplin spent a year at Brown as a tutor and pursued additional theological study to become a minister.

Chaplin remained in Danvers through 1817 with the exception of a 1804 stint at the First Baptist Church in the City of New York.

During the remainder of his life, Chaplin preached in Rowley, Massachusetts and Willington, Connecticut, and then moved to Hamilton, New York where he died in 1841.

[3] A Liberty ship constructed in 1943, the SS Jeremiah L. Chaplin, was named in his honor.