The Chamberlain Story tells the story of our family in the context of local and national history. I hope this review of the lives if Spencer, Alonzo, Harry, Harry and Ernest Chamberlain and their wives will refresh your memories. If you have read any of these stories, please take the time to send me a short note to let me know something that caught your interest.

I would really love to hear from more of my closer relatives, siblings, cousins (first, second and third), nieces, nephews, children, grandchildren etc. Of course everyone is welcome to respond. It would be especially great to hear from a few if the younger folks.

My website has a per month average of 414 visitors and 806 post views, (January through June of 2020). That’s OK. However, the vast majority of these are from the early Chamberlain generation stories and extra posts.

My more recent posts are of interest to a much smaller audience. So, I especially appreciate the comments I have received on these.  I encourage those who read my posts to tell their family about them and to place a comment on my Facebook notice and mention something that you found new or interesting.

Coming soon

Chapter 26-  Stories of Ernest and Harry Chamberlain’s family during the time they lived on 10th East in Salt Lake City where Ernest, Lois, Harry Jr., Richard and Robert were born. Also covers their extended family in Spencer Iowa at this time, (many great family photos). Quiz: What was happening in the Chamberlain family in the middle of the great stock market crash of 1929? 

Chapter 27- Coming soon. The courtship and early married life of Ernest Chamberlain and Fay Barney. Brief sketch of Fay Barney’s ancestors. New: The most beautiful photo of Fay Barney I have ever seen.

Review: The Chamberlain Story Part II History Time Line 1791-1942

I am really impressed by the things our forefathers accomplished, Spencer, Alonzo, Harry, Harry Ellis Chamberlain and Ernest Chamberlain and their amazing wives! Is there anything that captured your attention along the way? Please let me know your thoughts.

Chapter 9– A map from 1835 was found with “Chamberlain Lake” written on it just like Spencer Chamberlain told his grandson Alonzo C. Phillips in 1853. This post shows that Spencer still had connections to Maine as late as 1835 when he was living in Glover Vt. The historical significance of this post has made it my third most viewed.

Chapter 10– There were two Chamberlain families in Westmoreland, NH in the 1790s. Both had a son named John. The records, however, confused the two Johns as the same person. One of these John Chamberlains was the father of Spencer Chamberlain, The Chamberlain Story sorted out who is who and corrected the birth order of the sons of Thomas Chamberlain. Harry Chamberlain was trying to find this information in 1934.

Chapter 11– Thomas Chamberlain and Abigail Pierce were the grandparents of Spencer Chamberlain. They had 7 sons and 1 daughter. Five men from the Thomas Chamberlain family signed the Westmoreland Charter, and five men including John (the father of Spencer) were original grantees.

Chapter 12- After the Battle of Bunker Hill, Silas French (the father-in-law of Spencer Chamberlain) enlisted in the Militia. I researched and answered a couple of questions. Was Lieutenant John Chamberlain the son of Thomas Chamberlain or Henry Chamberlain? Also, our family has two different versions of a  tale of a wife who melted down the lead clock weight to make bullets for her husband. Which tale is correct?

Chapter 13- The History of the Town of Keene, New Hampshire tells us about life during the Revolutionary war for Silas French who enlisted on July 14, 1775. It tells of their march to Ticonderoga, the first celebration of the Fourth of July and the first national day of Thanksgiving at this location.

Chapter 14- Spencer Chamberlain had blue eyes, he also had close family ties to the state of Maine, and the Penobscot tribe was an ally to the US during the Revolutionary war. These facts show strong circumstantial evidence that Winona, (Spencer Chamberlain’s mother) was Penobscot. If so, we are likely descendants of Chief Madockawando and his son-in-law the French baron Jean-Vincent d’ Abbadie.

Chapter 15– New information from the Glover Historical Society indicated there was a connection between Spencer Chamberlain and Increase Chamberlain Jr. Both lived in Glover, VT 1802-1810. A copy of a letter from Cheshire County NH Historical society proves that Spencer Chamberlain was raised in the home of Increase Chamberlain Jr. He also appears in that household in the US census records of 1790 and 1800. A 45+ year old woman listed as a member of the household was most likely Spencer’s mother who we know as Winona. Increase Chamberlain Jr is the cousin and step-father of Spencer Chamberlain. Spencer’s father was John, the son of Thomas, the son of Daniel, the son of William Chamberlain who immigrated from England in 1835.

Chapter 16- This is the story of Spencer Chamberlain and Runaway Pond. I wrote this for the 2010 Bicentennial Celebration. This study was the first to show the exact path Spencer ran from the pond to the mill. My book Run Chamberlain, Run! Solving the 200-Year-Old-Mystery of Runaway Pond  gives the step-by-step proof that Spencer Chamberlain, and not Solomon Dorr, was the true hero of Runaway Pond.

Chapter 17- On September 11, 1814, Spencer Chamberlain was with the Vermont 31st Infantry. Their orders were to defend Fort Brown “to the last man”. Fort Brown was one of three forts across the Saranic River. Only about 2000 American ground troops were there to hold the city of Plattsburgh against the overwhelming force of 14,000 elite British soldiers.

Chapter 18- Alonzo Chamberlain was a secret agent for the Underground Railroad, hiding runaway slaves in his home and helping them on their way to Canada. This information was unknown to the family and his home town of Glover, Vermont until Lara Chamberlain discovered a newspaper article from 1900, and his story was published in The Chamberlain Story and other media coverage.

Chapter 19-  Jeanette Chamberlain Phillips and her family at the 50th anniversary of Runaway Pond in 1860 were stunned. The keynote speaker told the story of the hero who ran ahead of the flood to save those below. The hero- “Soloman H. Dorr!” This started the controversy which lasted 150 years. This chapter also shows photos and information about the families of the children of Spencer and Millie Chamberlain.

Chapter 20- Why did Alonzo Chamberlain move to Winnebago County, Ill and why was he broke when he got there? This chapter studies the history of this area. It was the center of action for an abolitionist like Alonzo. He experienced the beginning of the Republican Party (anti-slavery party), the rise of Abraham Lincoln and it was a prominent location where he may have continued his work on the Underground Railroad. This chapter also tells of William Warren’s (son-in-law of Alonzo) Civil War experience.

Chapter 21-  Harry and Alonzo Chamberlain’s adventures in homesteading. How Harry met Mary. The Warren family also moves to Clay County. Harry leaves farming and gets into politics. Harry’s son (Alonzo W. “Lonnie” Chamberlain) was a star football player for Spencer High School.

Chapter 22- Missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints returned to Iowa in 1897. The daily journal of Joseph Francis Thomas preserved the record of their meetings with Harry and Mary Chamberlain. They had a great impact on their family. Mary’s father Walter Ellis grew up thirty miles from Palmyra, New York where the Book of Mormon was published in 1830. The Ellis family was very religious. Mary’s brother Dennis Ellis was the minister who established the Christian Church in Spencer, Iowa.

Chapter 23– Harry Chamberlain had a happy childhood on the farm in Spencer, Iowa. Tragic death of his brother Ernest C. Chamberlain. The local newspaper reported Ernest’s vision of the afterlife. The family moved to California to be near Hal and Myrtle Keese. Harry saw the magnificent giant redwood forest and felt the great San Francisco Earthquake of 1906. The missionaries baptized Harry a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1910. There are many family photos including “The French Twins” of two twin girls with their grandfather and his twin brother.

Chapter 24- The story of Annie Ankarstrand Chamberlain. Her mother and father Mathilda Erikson and Martin Trulson Ankarstrand were baptized members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Sweden. They came to America in about 1882.

Chapter 25- The story of Harry Chamberlain, Key Witness in Salt Lake Murder trial as it unfolded day by day in 32 newspaper articles. Most members of our family never heard this story before. My father Ernest was eight years old at the time. I once heard him talking about it with his father but I didn’t know what they were talking about. I would love to hear your thoughts about this story.

Chapter 26-  Stories of Ernest and Harry Chamberlain’s family during the time they lived on 10th East in Salt Lake City where Ernest, Lois, Harry Jr., Richard and Robert were born. Also covers their extended family in Spencer Iowa at this time, (many great family photos). Quiz: What was happening in the Chamberlain family in the middle of the great stock market crash of 1929? 

Chapter 28- After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Ernest Chamberlain, an officer in the ROTC, was soon called to active duty. Several strange events took place that determined where he would serve in combat that changed the course of his life.

Chapter 29- Ernest Chamberlain left for Fort Lewis Washington on December 31, 1941. He left his wife Fay and small son home. Another son was on the way. That was me. I was born in March 1942 during the darkest days of World War II. This chapter tells the story of a family who desperately wanted to be together as much as possible before the inevitable call came and Ernest was shipped off to war.