Spencer Chamberlain’s family connection to Sir Isaac Newton

Most of Spencer Chamberlain’s family are (almost) direct descendants of Sir Isaac Newton through Jonas Phillips. His daughter Betsy Phillips married Alonzo Chamberlain and his son Samuel married Jeanette Chamberlain. Most of Spencer’s progeny come from these two families. Thereby, they are descendants of Jonas Phillips and (almost) direct descendants of Sir Isaac Newton.

Almost?

Yes. Sir Isaac Newton had no children and therefore, he has no direct descendants. Also, his father, Isaac Newton, Sr., died before Isaac Jr. was born. He was the only child of Isaac and Hannah Newton with no full siblings.  Therefore, first cousin (X) times removed is about as close as it is possible to being a direct descendant of Sir Isaac Newton. Jonas Phillips is his first cousin (4) times removed.

It follows that the descendants of these two families of Spencer Chamberlain are also his first cousins (X) times removed. For example, Jonas Phillips (4), Betsy Phillips (5), John Harry Chamberlain (6), Harry Ellis Chamberlain (7), Ernest M. Chamberlain (8) and myself Dennis Chamberlain a first cousin (9) times removed of Sir Isaac Newton.

(Note: This genealogy is in Familysearch.org Relative Finder. However, whether the Richard Newton who came from England to Massachusetts in 1639 was Sir Isaac Newton’s uncle is based on circumstantial evidence.)

Early Life of Isaac Newton

Isaac Newton was born on Christmas Day in 1642* in the manor of Woolsthorp, near the village of Colsterworth, Lincolnshire, England. He was three months premature, and was so small, his mother said he could fit into a quart mug.¹

His father, Isaac Newton, Sr. was a well to do but illiterate farmer. He died on October 6, 1642 three months before Isaac Jr. was born. Our direct ancestor, Isaac Jr’s grandfather Robert Isaac Newton had died in Lincolnshire in 1641. His uncle Richard Newton had sailed to America in about 1639 where he settled in Sudbury, Massachusetts Bay Colony.²

Isaac’s mother, Hannah Ayscough, remarried when he was three years old. Her new husband, Barnabas Smith, was a wealthy minister of the church in a nearby village. However, Reverend Smith did not accept the three-year-old Isaac as part of the arrangement. He left him in the care of his grandmother Margery Ayscough. Isaac’s childhood was very lonely and he had bitter feelings for his mother and step father. His stepfather died in 1653.⁴

Isaac lodged with the Clark family in Grantham when he attended Free Grammar School. School reports there described him as “idle” and “inattentive”.¹ “But every one that knew Isaac… when he was at school, recount with admiration the many instances of the extraordinary of his genius, whilst a boy; his strange inventions, uncommon skill & industry in mechanical works.”⁷

His mother, however, felt he might do better at managing her significant property and estate. She took him out of school. Isaac showed little interest or aptitude in financial management.

His uncle William Ayscough must have seen some promise in his young nephew because he persuaded his mother to let Isaac return to Grammar school to complete his education. He returned in 1660 and lodged with Mr. Stokes.  Stokes was headmaster of the school and recognized Isaac’s potential. He persuaded his mother to let him enter the university.¹

Newton entered Trinity College Cambridge, on 5 June 1661 as a sizar. A sizar was a student that received an allowance toward college expenses in exchange for such tasks as waiting tables and cleaning other student’s rooms.¹ One of Newton’s self confessed transgressions seems to show he had a need of money, a desire to learn, and enjoyment of college life:

“Setting my heart on money learning pleasure more than Thee.”

Newton’s list of sins³

In 1662 Isaac wrote a very personal list of his sins. The nineteen-year-old was very candid and likely intended this list to be viewed only by himself and God to whom it was written. After all, it is a record of what he considered to be worst things he had ever done in his life!

Since it mentions his step father Smith who died in 1653, he seems to be expressing some remorse for threats and thoughts he had when he was a child less than 10-years-old.

“Threatning my father and mother Smith to burne them and the house over them.” “Wishing death and hoping it to some.”

He divided his list between sins of the past (Before Whitsunday 1662), and more recent. (After Whitsunday 1662). Whitsundy was a celebration about seven weeks after Easter, near the end of his first year at Cambridge.

The entire list of his 57 sins can be found at the end of chapter E6 on Newton’s religion and theology.  The list gives us an intimate view of the feelings of the young college student and budding genius. It may also show this was a time of religious awakening for him, and an attempt at repentance, and a desire to do better.

Trinity College at Cambridge

At Cambridge he studied the philosophy of Aristotle, Descartes, Gassendi, Hobbes and Boyle; the astronomy of Galileo and the optics of Kepler. His interest in math began in 1663 when he read Euclid’s Elements, Oughred’s Clavis Mathematica, Descartes’ La Géométrie and other major works of mathematics.

He recorded his thoughts in a book which he entitled Quaestiones Quaedam Philosophicae. It is a fascinating account of how Newton’s ideas were forming around 1664. He headed the text with an expression of his freedom of thought and passionate search for truth:

“Plato is my friend, Aristotle is my friend, but my best friend is truth.”

Newton’s first original mathematical work may have come as he studied Wallis’ Algebra. Wallis’ method for finding a square of equal area to a parabola and a hyperbola used indivisibles. Newton made notes but also devised his own proofs of the theorems writing:

“Thus Wallis doth it, but it may be done thus ...”

Newton was elected a scholar on 28 April 1664 and received his bachelor’s degree in April 1665.¹

The 1665 Plague of London

Bubonic Plague also known as the Black Death had been known in England for centuries. It was a horrible disease. The victim’s skin turned black in patches and inflamed glands or ‘buboes’ in the groin, combined with vomiting, swollen tongue and severe headaches.⁵

The epidemic started slowly in 1665 London. It is believed that a traveler brought in some laundry full of fleas infected with the disease. The plague grew at an alarming rate causing Trinity College at Cambridge to close it doors. The students went home including Isaac Newton.

By May of 1665, 43 had died. In June 6137 people died, in July 17036 people and at its peak in August, 31159 people died. In all, 15% of the population perished during that terrible summer.⁵

In 1666 the Great Fire of London destroyed much of the center of London, but this helped to kill off some of the black rats and fleas that carried the plague.⁵

The legend of the apple

Newton returned to his childhood home and farm in at Woolsthorpe manor in Lincolnshire to avoid the plague. There he lived with his extended family consisting of his mother, his grandmother, one half-brother, and two half-sisters.

It was at this time and location which found Isaac sitting in an apple orchard. (There is no evidence that an apple actually hit him on the head.) Nevertheless, while enjoying a “contempative mood” he watched the occasional apple fall to the ground. It was then, the notion of gravitation came into his mind:¹

“Why should that apple always descend perpendicularly to the ground,” thought he to himself. “Why should it not go sideways, or upwards? but constantly to the earths center? Assuredly, the reason is, that the earth draws it. There must be a drawing power in matter and the sum of the drawing power in the matter of the earth must be in the earths center, not in any side of the earth. Therefore dos this apple fall perpendicularly, or toward the center. If matter thus draws matter; it must be in proportion of its quantity. Therefore the apple draws the earth, as well as the earth draws the apple.”⁷

During this time at home Isaac also studied light. He found that when a thin beam of sunlight passes through a glass prism it formed a spectrum of colors. Therefore, he came to the conclusion that white light is not a simple entity.

In addition to these projects, he spent his time developing the foundations for differential and integral calculus. Several years later this was independently discovery by Leibniz.¹

Isaac Newton returns to the University

When the University at Cambridge reopened in 1667, Newton was elected to a minor fellowship at Trinity College.  However, after being awarded his Master’s Degree, he was elected to a major fellowship. This allowed him to dine at the Fellows’ Table.¹

That year the Dutch attacked the the British fleet at the mouth of the Thames. They came up the river with a great fleet and burnt many of the British ships inflicting great damage. The students as far as Cambridge could hear the gun fire. The cause was well known by all, but only Isaac recognized situation of the battle. He boldly pronounced that Dutch had beaten the British fleet. The news soon confirmed it and the curious would not relax until Isaac would satisfy them of his mode of intelligence. He told them that by carefully listening to the sound, he found it grew louder and louder, consequently came nearer. From this he rightly inferred that the Dutch were victors.⁷

In July 1669 one of his professors, Isaac Barrow, sent his work out to renown mathematicians.  This ensured Newton’s achievements became known to the world.¹

Problems arise in his career

In 1672 Newton was elected a fellow of the Royal Society after he donated a reflecting telescope. Also, that year Newton published his first scientific paper on light and color in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society. The paper was well accepted and Isaac Newton is on top of the world in his career. 

However, he had a big problem. He was holding a secret deep inside that was tearing him up. No one knows. If they did, his career and reputation would come crashing down.

As a professor at Trinity College, it was required that he take holy orders and become an ordained priest in the Church of England. This meant that he had to swear an oath on the Bible that he believed in the Trinity. This he could not do. Finding a solution to this problem seemed impossible, even for Isaac Newton.  

 In addition to this problem, Newton’s relations with another scientist, Robert Hooke, deteriorated. In 1675, Hooke claimed that Newton had stolen some of his optical results. The two men made up with an exchange of polite letters. Nevertheless, Newton turned away from the Royal Society, as Hooke was one of its leaders. He delayed publication of his research on the theory of light and color Opticks until after the death of Hooke.¹

In 1687, Newton first published “Principia: Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy” a landmark work which states that every body in the universe is attracted to every other body with a force that is directly proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them. This publication also featured his three laws of motion.⁶

This most beautiful system of the sun, planets and comets, could only proceed from the counsel and dominion of an intelligent and powerful Being– The Principia, –Isaac Newton

Newton’s defense of Cambridge University

A Roman Catholic, James II became king of Great Britain in 1685. When a Protestant rebellion arose James put it down. He then began to appoint only Catholics to positions of power such as army officers, judges and officers of the state. Therefore, vacant positions at the University of Cambridge were only being filled with Catholics. Newton, a staunch Protestant, strongly opposed this and considered this an attack on the University. The King insisted that a Benedictine monk be given a degree without taking any examinations or swearing the required oaths. Newton strongly objected. He prepared documents to defend the University and argued the case against the King.¹

On November 5, 1688, William of Orange from the Dutch Republic, landed his army in southern England. British political and religious leaders supported the invasion.  Therefore, there was little resistance as Protestants defected from King  James’ army.  The “Glorious Revolution” deposed James who fled to France. William and Mary then reigned together in his place.⁸

In 1689, Newton famous for his strong defense of the University, was elected to the Convention of Parliament. He was now a leader of the university and one of the most eminent mathematicians in the world.

Government Service

Newton suffered a nervous breakdown in 1693 and retired from research.  He left Cambridge in 1696 and took a government position in London. He becoming Warden of the Royal Mint and then Master of the mint in 1699. This position, combined with income from his estates, made him very wealthy. He lead the mint through a difficult period of re-coinage and actively pursued measures to prevent coin counterfeiting.¹

In 1703 the Royal Society elected him president, and re-elected him each year for the rest of his life. Queen Anne knighted him in 1705, the first scientist so honored for his work.¹ Sir Isaac afterward, went to evening service at king’s college chapel. There he gave a speech for her Majesty and presented her with a richly ornamented bible.⁷

To be Continued…. 

Isaac Newton sought for truth both in science and theology. He was a student of the Bible and of the history of the early Christian Church. His massive writings of religion and theology contained his deepest secret and were not published until 1936. See Isaac Newton: The Athanasian Creed and Bible Prophecy.

If you got this far, please click Goodbye or Table of Contents. This will simply tell me that someone looked at this post. Thank you! Dennis Chamberlain

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References:

*Isaac Newtons was born on Christmas day, but it was on January 4, 1643 by the “corrected” Gregorian calendar.

1- http://www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/Biographies/Newton.html
2- http://josfamilyhistory.com/htm/hopkins/robinson/robinson-leonard-newton.htm
3- Isaac Newton, Fitzwilliam Notebook, Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, UK, Published online: October 2003
4- Never at Rest: A biography of Issac Newton.
5- http://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofEngland/The-Great-Plague/
6- http://www.history.com/news/ask-history/did-an-apple-really-fall-on-isaac-newtons-head
7- Willaim Stukely*, Memoirs of Sir Isaac Newton’s Life, published in 1752 http://www.newtonproject.ox.ac.uk/view/texts/normalized/OTHE00001
*(Note: In 1726, Newton shared the apple anecdote with William Stukeley, who included it in his biography of Newton.)
8- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_III_of_England