On May 1, 1855 Alonzo Chamberlain loaded his wife and two children on a stage coach and traveled forty miles to Montpelier. There they caught a west bound passenger train to start a new life on the western frontier in Winnebago County, Illinois, ten miles south of Beloit, Wisconsin. When he arrived he had only $1.75 in his pocket. He bought a $5 cook stove and paid for it in work.¹

Why did Alonzo leave Glover and why was he broke? There are many unanswered questions about Alonzo after he left. However, a sequence of events before he left, may give some insight.

Alonzo had two children, Amanda and Harry when his wife Betsy died April 25, 1852. His father Spencer was living with him, but moved to his daughter Jeanette’s home sometime between 1850 and before the time Spencer died on December 21, 1853.

Alonzo purchased two adjoining  lots in the village of Glover on April 11 and May 5, 1853. Alonzo and his new wife Lydia Blanchard Chamberlain jointly owned this property in town. They sold it to Warren Smith on February 8, 1855 for $500. Then there was a “Transfer of Mortgage” deed from Alonzo to F. M. McLellan for $300 signed on April 12, 1855. This would leave him with only about $200 before he left Glover.²³

His son Harry wrote that Alonzo had “received letters from some friends who had moved to northern Illinois, thought he saw a chance in that new country to build a home and support his family of a wife and two children more easily than he could on the barren hills of his native state.”³

So, Alonzo packed his belongings into some trunks and loaded his family on a stagecoach and headed for the frontier, which “our people then thought was the land of Indians and untold dangers.”³

They arrived at their new home in Shirland, Winnebago County, Illinois on May 14, 1855. He went to work to support his family. “Wages were seventy cents a day, and twenty-five cents a cord for cutting wood… wealth did not pile up much.”³

In the 1860 census the Chamberlain family of four lived in a structure in Shirland Township, Winnebago County, but no value was shown for the property.

The Underground Railroad in northern Illinois

Alonzo Chamberlain was an abolitionist. He was known to be a conductor on the Underground Railroad in Vermont. Though we know nothing about Alonzo’s personal activities, the UGRR was very active in northern Illinois.

There were well known stops of the UGRR in Byron, Illinois and in Beloit, Wisconsin thirty miles north. Alonzo Chamberlain lived between these locations. Byron has an UGRR museum known as the Read House which was one of three “stations” in town from 1850 to 1862, where fugitive slaves were hidden.  According to the museum director, “Byron held a large group of abolitionists during that time. Most were members of the Congregational Church and came here from New England”.⁴

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is interesting because his son said Alonzo had been corresponding with friends who had moved to northern Illinois. And, Alonzo’s location in Shirland, Winnebago County, twenty miles north of Byron filled a needed gap between Byron and known UGRR safe houses in Wisconsin.

Also, there is an UGRR museum in Milton, Wisconsin called Milton House. It is near Janesville about thirty miles north of Shirland.

It was built in 1844 and has a distinctive hexagon shaped design and a basement where fugitives were hid. There was a 45 foot tunnel from the basement to a nearby cabin.⁴

 

 

 

 Winnebago County Sheriff John Taylor and Alfred Countryman

The history of Winnebago County can give us great insight into the life and times of the Chamberlain family. As pioneers in this new land, they were certainly affected by both local and national events.

On November 11, 1856, Sheriff John Taylor was nearing the end of his term. A new sheriff of Winnebago County had been elected a few days earlier. Sheriff Taylor was looking forward to spending more time on his farm with his expectant wife and eighteen month old son.⁶

That day, two brothers, Alfred and John Countryman herded some cattle into Rockford from another county. They offered the cattle for sale at such a low price it raised suspicion. The purchasers withheld payment and notified the sheriff. Upon investigation, Sheriff Taylor arrested the men on suspicion of cattle rustling and searched them for weapons. He found a pistol ball in Alfred’s pocket and asked for the pistol, but said he had none.^5,6

Sheriff Taylor assisted by the Constable escorted the prisoners to the jailhouse steps where Alfred broke loose. He leaped the fence on Elm Street and ran down the street to the livery stables. The sheriff pursued and was about to seize him. Countryman drew a concealed pistol and fired behind him striking the sheriff. He staggered a few steps and fell. His last words were “I am shot, catch him!“⁵

Many infuriated citizens chased him to the woods north of Kent’s creek where John Platt caught him. With assistance, he wrestled away his pistol and subdued him. Amid threats of lynching, they took him to jail. Sheriff-elect Samuel Church secured the captive with irons.

Alfred Countryman went to trial on February 24 for the murder of Sheriff Taylor. The prosecution and the defense presented their case and it went to a jury of twelve men. On Friday March 6 they returned with a verdict: “Guilty”. The judge sentenced him to be hanged.

Winnebago County’s first public execution was scheduled for the afternoon of Friday March 27, 1857. It was a major event. People started crowding into town the evening before, coming from as far as Dubuque, Iowa. Two special trains arrived from the west at daybreak. Rockford was packed solid with horses, carriages and people. An estimated 8000 citizens gathered at Sheriff Church’s farm, a short distance from town. (Other newspapers estimated 15,000 and 20,000 attendees).^5,6

The prisoner arrived in a procession of five horse drawn carriages. The last carriage carried the Countryman family, father, brother, and sister. His wife and his mother chose to say their goodbyes at the jail. Two fire companies armed with sabers and carbines accompanied the procession. The armed guard escorted the prisoner safely to the scaffold.^5,6

The Reverend Hooper Crews began the ceremony with earnest prayer. The prisoner then made a short speech and expressed repentance and forgiveness for his crime. At seventeen minutes past the hour of two, the bolt was withdrawn. The trap door fell and Countryman was “swung into eternity”.⁵ The immense concourse of people did not move for some time. Only the sobs of the family were heard above the silence of the multitude.⁶

Before the body was taken down, Sheriff Church addressed the crowd. He praised and thanked them for their order. Then he spoke these words: “These painful proceedings being now concluded, and the sword of justice is about to be returned to its sheath, I hope never again to be drawn with so much severity”.⁵

The new anti-slavery party

In the 1850s, the issue of slavery absorbed the minds of the people, and none more so than Alonzo Chamberlain. We can only speculate on the roll politics played in Alonzo’s decision to move to Illinois. There is no doubt, however, that he was now in the center of the action.

Democrat Senator Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois introduced a bill that would allow settlers to choose whether slavery would or would not exist within a territory. He hoped the bill would satisfy the interests of both the North and the South. The Kansas-Nebraska act dissolved the terms of the Missouri Compromise and allowed slave or free status to be decided in the territories by popular sovereignty. This would likely extend slavery into the newly opening territories.

Douglas’ bill sparked outrage and protests in the northern states.  A small, dedicated group of individuals came together to pledge to fight against the spread of slavery. In a small school house in Ripon, Wisconsin on March 20, 1854, they organized a new party. They chose the name the “Republican Party”.

“A house divided against itself cannot stand”

On June 16, 1858 in Springfield, Illinois, Abraham Lincoln accepted the nomination of the Republican Party to oppose Stephen A. Douglas in the race for the U. S. Senate. In his speech accepting the nomination, he paraphrased a passage from the Bible, Mark 3:25: “A house divided against itself cannot stand.”

Lincoln continued:

“I believe this government cannot endure, permanently, half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved — I do not expect the house to fall — but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing or all the other.”

These words obviously made a deep impression on Alonzo Chamberlain as Lincoln’s words from this event were quoted at Alonzo’s funeral forty-four years later. “Like Abraham Lincoln, he (Alonzo) thought and said this nation could not live part slave and part free”²

The Lincoln – Douglas Debates

The Senate campaign of 1858 involved seven three hour debates between the two candidates. Each debate was held in a different congressional district. The format was that the first candidate spoke for one hour, the second then had one hour and a half, and then the first had an half hour to finish. Spontaneous  comments, cheers and laughter from the audience punctuated the debates.

On August 27, 1858 the second debate was held at Freeport, Illinois about twenty miles southwest of Shirland. On a cool, damp day, special trains brought in an estimated 15,000 from all over northern Illinois.⁷ Freeport is the one debate location, if not more than one, that Alonzo would attend if possible.

At this location, Lincoln spoke first and answered the “interrogatories” which Douglas had raised in the previous debate. Douglas then began by complementing the audience for avoiding “vulgarity and blackguardism” while Lincoln was speaking. Douglas then spoke for an hour and a half, often playing the race card with an occasional racial slur and by repeatedly calling Lincoln’s party the “Black Republican Party”.

Lincoln then began his reponse:

“The first thing I have to say to you is a word in regard to Judge Douglas’s declaration about the ‘vulgarity and blackguardism’ in the audience- that no such thing, as he says, was shown by any Democrat while I was speaking. Now, I only wish, by way of reply on this subject, to say that while I was speaking, I used no ‘vulgarity or blackguardism’ toward any Democrat.” (Great laughter and applause)⁷

Douglas had long advocated that under popular sovereignty the settlers in each new territory would decide their own status as a slave or free state; and that this would allow northern and southern states to resume peaceful coexistence.

Lincoln, however, responded that the Dred Scott decision sealed the fate of the country with one of only two possible outcomes: the country would inevitably become either all slave or all free. In 1857, the Supreme Court ruled that Dred Scott, a slave who moved to Wisconsin with his master, was not a U. S. citizen even though he was in a free territory. In other words, residence in a free territory did not make Scott free. Also, that Congress had no constitutional authority to prohibit slavery in any territory. The decision effectively overturned the Missouri Compromise, and all of other political compromises negotiated between the North and South over the past 30 years.

At Freeport, Stephen Douglas argued that, in spite of the Dred Scott decision, slavery could be excluded from territories of the United States by local legislation. This became know as the Freeport Doctrine.

The Presidential Election of 1860

Abraham Lincoln lost the 1858 Senate race. However, the debates of 1858 gave him national stature. At the Republican convention, May 18, 1860 in Chicago, Lincoln over took William H. Seward of New York on the third ballot and received the nomination for President. Republicans opposed the extension of slavery into the territories.⁸

Douglas’ Freeport doctrine and popular sovereignty pleased Democrats in Illinois. However, these angered Southern Democrats, and the national Democrat Party was in turmoil. In April at the Democratic Convention at Charleston, SC, delegates from the Southern states pulled out and no nomination could be made. They held a second convention in June at Baltimore, MD. Stephen Douglas got the Democrat Party nomination, but Southern Democrats nominated Vice President John C. Breckenridge, a slave owner from Kentucky. Both Douglas and Breckenridge claimed to be the official Democratic candidates.⁸

The Constitution Union Party nominated John Bell of Tennessee. They, like the Whig Party before them, believed the best strategy was to ignore the issue of slavery.

Lincoln understood the value of unity. He campaigned to keep the Party united. Douglas actively campaigned in both the North and in the South where he gave a passionate defense of the Union and strenuously opposed secession.

On election day, November 6, 1860, Alonzo Chamberlain cast his vote for Abraham Lincoln, as he would for every Republican Presidential candidate for the rest of his life. With about 40% of the popular vote, Lincoln won in all the northern states except New Jersey. This gave him 180 electoral votes, enough to win the electoral college and the election. By the time of Lincoln’s inauguration in March, seven Southern states had seceded, and a month after Lincoln became president, the country became engaged in civil war.⁸

A complete victory in the battle at Antietam Creek might have decided the war, one way or the other

The rebellion of the Southern states and the Civil War opened the opportunity for Abraham Lincoln to free the slaves. President Lincoln first proposed the Emancipation Proclamation to his Cabinet in July 1862. However, his cabinet opposed it. Secretary of State William Seward suggested waiting for a Union victory so that it might be credible that the government could enforce it. Lincoln drew up the document and patiently waited for an elusive Union victory.⁹

In mid 1862, the Union suffered three devastating defeats at Shanandoah, Richmond and Manassas, Virginia. With the War going badly, the Democrats began an anti-war campaign. They saw the opportunity to take over the House of Representatives in the November mid-term election. To make things worse, France and Great Britain were enduring a cotton shortage and were considered legitimizing the Confederacy.^10,11

Confederate General Robert E. Lee, recognizing the dissent in the North, hoped a major battle won on Union soil might topple Lincoln’s congressional support and secure complete victory. His Confederate forces moved into West Virginia where Stonewall Jackson captured Harpers Ferry. Lee then moved his army to Sharpsburg, Maryland.

September 17, 1862, General Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia met Union General George McClellan’s Army of the Potomac at Antietam Creek. The two armies faced each other across a 30 acre corn field. In twelve hours of battle there were about 23,000 casualties. An estimated 3,650 died. It was the deadliest single day in all American military history.

 

To be continued…. Chapter 21 Harry Chamberlain– leaves Winnebago County for Clay County Iowa. Homesteader, teacher, politician, lawyer and family man.

Jeanette Chamberlain Phillips and the anniversary of Runaway Pond

Fifty years had passed since the big flood of 1810. On June 6,1860 county residents gathered to Glover’s North Church to commemorate the historic event. Five surviving participants attended as honored guests.¹  There is no record, but I am quite certain that Jeanette Phillips was there along with her three boys Spencer 16, Alonzo 14, and Franklin 12. After all, she had heard her father tell his experience during this tramatic event many times.

Spencer Chamberlain’s children would often gather together around the fireplace and coax their father to tell them stories. Their favorite was the one about the Runaway Pond. Their eyes would widen as they listened to their father tell of his race to get ahead of the massive flood to save the miller’s wife. Spencer Chamberlain passed away in 1853, but Jeanette had memorized the story and continued the tradition for her children.²

The Reverend Pliny H. White arose to give the keynote address. Would he mention the part of her father in the event? She listened in anticipation. White described the layout of the land and the situation of that day in exquisite detail. Then after about twenty minutes into his discourse he began to describe the flood:

“As the waters rushed impetuously down the valley the trees of the forest fell before them like the grass before the mower’s scythe…”³

She listened intently as he continued:

“Indeed, after the waters had once descended into the valley, their course through the dense woods was no faster than an active man could, and actually did run. Solomon F. Dorr….”³

Solomon F. Dorr??? What??? Solomon F. Dorr???  Jeanette’s mind went numb as White continues to tell of the heroic run of Solomon F. Dorr:

“He increased his speed, again got in advance of the torrent ran rapidly to the mill, crossed the river on the dam, which was an upright dam with a broad flat top, and rushed into the mill, shouting as he approached, with all the breath he could spare…”³

White’s sermon sent shock waves through her family. Jeanette Phillips knew her father’s story by heart, but she had not written it down. She went home and immediately began to write out the story in the form of a poem, “thinking it would be of interest to her descendants as time rolled on. For Spencer Chamberlain, her father, was called the hero on that occasion.”⁴

Her poem was published that year,

There is no public record of the dispute for many years. However, in 1875 the Express and Standard published an article by Judge Parker of Coventry titled “Reminiscences of the Early times in Orleans County”. Again he told the story with Soloman F. Dorr as the runner.⁵ Then in 1887, O. V. Percival published a news article giving credit for the heroic run to Spencer Chamberlain.⁶

By 1889 the dispute concerning the facts about the story of Runaway Pond had reached a fever pitch. At that time, E. T. Wilson sat down with Jeanette Chamberlain Phillips while she related to him in great detail her father’s eye witness account of the flood and his run from the pond to the mill.⁷

Mr. Wilson states that the incidents in his report from the time the party left the mill until it was carried away, “all of which Chamberlain saw,” was obtained from his daughter Mrs. Phillips who was 77 years of age.⁷

For many years, the debate continued as many came forward to tell stories. They had heard these from the perspective of their grandparents who had witnessed the flood. Wayne H. Alexander compiled the written accounts into his book Runaway Pond: The Complete Story. The material was kept in “as close to its original state as possible… We hope that in a particular twist of grammar or awkward turn of phrase, some scholar may find a new window on some of the historical problems created by the pond that ran away.”⁸

Truth and Poetry

The following verse is from Harry Alonzo Phillips’ poem: History of Glover and Runaway Pond.

The waters sweep the forest dale,
Huge isles of trees begin to sail
Proud woodland kings, erect they stand,
Floating along with no command.
With mighty volume- power of spray,
Half-acre lots are wrenched away,
And borne upon the foaming tide,
With heavy cargos on beside,
With crumbling, soon became a jam,
Of rocks and trees that form a dam.
A lakelet gathers as before,
Then breaks away with fearful roar,
And thunders on down the dell,
A violent monster freed from hell.

The controversy on Runaway Pond continued through the 1910 centennial and into the twentieth century. Harry Alonzo Phillips, the great grandson of Spencer Chamberlain, wrote a poem that told the story of Runaway Pond. His father, Frank Samuel Phillips, signed a notarized document on June 15, 1929, declaring that a poem written about the event was factually correct. This made the poet Harry A. Phillips the third generation to defend Spencer Chamberlain as the hero of Runaway Pond.

His poem was a hit.  It has endeared the story of Spencer Chamberlain’s run to the hearts and minds of many of the residents of Glover and Orleans County. On Glover day each year the story of Runaway Pond is re-enacted in a puppet show to the verses of Phillip’s poem.

Jack Sumberg of Glover also loved Harry Alonzo Phillips’ poem. He knew it was good, perhaps too good to be true!

As the bicentennial celebration of June 2010 approached, Sumberg wrote a blog which revived the questions and controversy of the past.  He implied in the November 22, 2009 post of his blog that the Chamberlain-Phillips version of events may be more poetry than truth.

Sumberg wrote:

“Can we conclude that it was the power of poetry that ultimately caused the Chamberlain-Phillips version of the story to predominate in the public mind? If the Willson-Dorrs had fathered, or mothered, poets would the battle for the hearts and minds of Glover still rage today? Could a new film or TV docu-drama succeed in overthrowing the triumphant story?”²⁴

Sumberg’s blog raised some good questions. Questions that had never been answered to everyone’s satisfaction.

That is when I decided I had to find those answers. After all, there were about twenty Chamberlains of the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh generations planning to make a trek from California, Utah or Connecticut to Glover for the Bicentennial.  Most were just learning the story of their ancestor Spencer Chamberlain. Most had never heard of Solomon Dorr. It would be quite an unpleasant shock to arrive in Glover to find that the 200 year history had dramatically changed over the course of the past year. Or, that the hearts and minds of the citizens of Glover had been persuaded that Spencer Chamberlain wasn’t a hero after all, and that his triumphant story had been overthrown.

All the clues were there in Wayne H. Alexanders resource, Runaway Pond: The Complete Story. I had five months to write and publish my book: Run Chamberlain, Run! Solving the 200-year-old Mystery of Runaway Pond.

The Children of Spencer Chamberlain and Millie French

What we know about Spencer and Millie’s six children and their families.

1- Jeanette Chamberlain, born 13 Oct. 1811
2- Amanda Chamberlain, born about 1813
3- Delana F. Chamberlain, born about August 1816
4- Alonzo Chamberlain, born May 7, 1818
5- Sarah Chamberlain, born about November 1820
6- Melissa M. Chamberlain was born about 1824

While looking for information about our antique family album, I found one similar to ours for sale, complete with (unidentified) photos, for $25.00! That is sad. I am attempting to identify photos of Spencer’s extended family in the Chamberlain album. There is some speculation involved, but I have been able to match most photos with likely family members.

1- Jeanette Chamberlain Phillips

Jeanette Chamberlain married Samuel Phillips in Glover Vermont on November 23, 1842. He was born in Glover, Vermont August 7 1812 and died there on February 4, 1894.⁹ Samuel was the brother of Betsy Phillips who married Alonzo Chamberlain. Therefore, the descendants of Samuel and Jeanette and the descendants of Alonzo and Betsy have both sets of Grandparents in common. I guess this makes the children of Betsy Norris Phillips Chamberlain “double cousins” with those of the Samuel Phillips family.

Their parents, Jonas Phillips and Dorothy Bean were married in Glover November 1, 1802. They had twelve children.

In 1892 three generations of the Phillips family lived together in harmony on their farm in Glover. These included Uncle Samuel and Aunt Jeanette, as they were familiarly called, their sons Alonzo and Franklin and their families. Alonzo and Franklin ran the farm of 15 dairy cows which supplied milk and butter for the multi-family of 10, plus $26 in weekly butter sales. Their large flock of hens supplied eggs for the family plus some 50 dozen per month surplus to sell on the market. They also raised prize winning sheep with wool measuring up to sixteen inches in length. The home was pleasantly surrounded by about 100 pines, lombardy poplars plus many other varieties of trees, flowers and shrubs.¹⁰

2- Amanda Chamberlain Winship

Spencer and Jeanette’s second daughter, Amanda was born about 1813. Amanda married Oliver Winship 26 February 1854 at Lexington Middlesex Mass. He previously had been married to Anna Fisk who died 15 October 1851 at about age 51-years-old. Oliver Winship was born November 12, 1794 and died April 18, 1874. Oliver and Anna had a son, Isaac Augustus Winship, who was born 4 July 1822 and died 12 October 1887. No children are known from the union of Oliver and Amanda.

The 1880 census of Hume Allegany County New York showed that A. Winship, a widow age 67 was living with her brother-in-law and sister Franklin and Melissa Somers. Amanda died in 1888 in Wiscoy, Allegany New, York.

3- Delana F. Chamberlain

Delana was born about August 1816 and died 10 Oct. 1850, age 34 years, 2 months according to Westlook Cemetery records.

4- Alonzo Chamberlain

Spencer and Millie’s fourth child and only son, Alonzo was born in a small log cabin in Glover, Vermont on 7 May 1818. Alonzo’s life in Glover and his activity with the Underground Railroad was covered in the previous chapter. He was married September 27, 1843 to Betsy Norris Phillips. They had two children, Amanda and Harry. In 1850 his father Spencer Chamberlain, age 63, lived with them in their West Glover home. Betsy died 25 April 1852. Alonzo later remarried Lydia Blanchard. He moved from Glover with his family on 1 May 1855. The life and times of Alonzo and his family in Shirland, Illinois 1855-1871 will be presented in the next chapter.

5- Sarah Chamberlain

Sarah was born about Nov. 1820 in Glover, Vermont and died 9 Jan. 1826 at age 5 years, 2 months. She was buried at Westlook Cemetery, Glover, Vermont.

6- Melissa M. Chamberlain Somers

Melissa was born in 1825 in Glover, Vermont. Melissa married William H. Somers on August 7, 1860 in Glover Vermont. After this marriage three more children were born, Frank, Charles, and Amanda.

Census history of the Somers family

In 1860 William F. Somers was living in the home of Lewis and Julia Bernas in Dick Johnson, Clay County, Indiana with his 4-year-old son Willie.¹⁵ William H. Somers was born in Vermont and may be Melissa’s son, I don’t know. 

In the 1870 census William F. Somers 49 and Melissa M. Chamberlain Somers 46  lived in Hume, Allegany, New York with their four children, William H. 14 was born in Vermont, Frank C. 7 was born in Indiana, Charles M. 5 was born in New York, and Amanda 3 was also born in New York.¹⁶

In 1880, the Somers still lived in Hume, Allegany, New York with the three youngest children and Melissa’s widowed sister Amanda Chamberlain Winship 67. The oldest son William H. Somers 24 lived in Belmont, New York.¹⁷

The father William F. Somers died in 1884, Amanda Chamberlain Winship died in 1888 and her sister Melissa Chamberlain Somers died on September 12, 1889. They were buried in Wiscoy Cemetery, Allegany, New York.¹⁸

Amanda Somers married Bert E. Granger April 25, 1899. They had two children Frank Arthur Granger 1904-1976 and Helen L. Granger 1907-1983. Amanda died March 20, 1926 at Silver Springs, Wyoming, New York.¹⁹

In 1900, William H. Somers had been married to Estelle, age 44, for 18 years (since about 1882). Their son Howard L. Somers 11 and daughter Ora A Somers 7 were born in Virginia. William’s brother Frank C Somers 38 was also living with the family in Guilford District Surrey, Virginia. William was a sheet metal worker and Frank was a paper hanger and painter.²⁰

In 1910, Charles M. Somers age 45  had been married to Mary O’ Neill age 44 for about 18 years, (since about 1892). They had a daughter Mildred A. Somers 13, a son William F. Somers 11, a daughter Anna Somers 9, and a son Charles 2.  Charles’ mother-in-law Anna O’Neill 75 was living with them. Mary had immigrated with her mother Anna from Ireland in 1876. Charles was working as a metal shop foreman.²¹

In 1920 William H. Somers lived in Panama City Bay, Florida with his wife Estella 63 and their daughter Ora E. Somers 26.²²

Family of Frank C. Somers and Mary Immel

Frank C. Somers married Mary Josephine Immel an May 15, 1892. She was born in Jay County, Indiana September 19, 1876 and died at the same location March 12, 1900. Their children were Charles H. Somers, Kenneth R. Somers and Grace Naomi Achsah Somers.²⁵

1- Charles H Somers b. August 9, 1893, d. May 22, 1912 Jay County, Indiana.²⁵

2- Kenneth R. Somers b. July 28, 1895, Jay County Indiana, d. August 2, 1983 Jay County. He married Minnie Alberta Trafzer (1901-1980) on July 29, 1916 in Jay Co. Indiana.  Children of Kenneth and Minnie Somers: Robert L. Somers 1917-2008. Everett Leroy Somers 1918-2004. Martha Alberta Somers 1923-2014. Mary Helen Somers 1926-2002. Edward L. Somers 1928-2009. Ester M. Somers 1931-2004. Norma Jean Somers 1932-2004.²⁵

3- Grace Naomi Somers b. October 12, 1897, d. June 1975 McHenry, Illinois. She was married on January 1, 1915, Jay County, Indiana, to Herman Progue Blowers 1895-1972. Children of Herman and Grace Blowers: Murl Blowers 1915-2001, Mary Jane Blowers 1917-2010, Jacquelyne Geneviere Blowers 1919-2000, Herman Blowers, Jr. 1921-1938, and William Martel Blowers 1922-2010.²⁵

Frank C. Somers died in 1923 and was buried in the Wiscoy Cemetery, Wiscoy, Allegany County, New York.  He was buried along with his father, mother and aunt,  William F Somers 1820-1884, Melissa M. Chamberlain Somers 1825-1889, Amanda. F. Winship 1814-1888.

The Children of Samuel Phillips and Jeanette Chamberlain

1- Spencer Chamberlain Phillips was born September 26, 1843 in Glover Vermont.

During the Civil War he joined the 15th Vermont Volunteer Infantry Regiment¹¹ under the President’s call of August 4, 1862. They were mustered into the U. S. service for nine months on October 22, 1862 and left Vermont for Washington on October 23. The Vermont 15th regiment became a part of the 2nd Vermont brigade stationed at “Camp Vermont” near Hunting creek. On December 12 they moved their location to one mile south of Fairfax Court House. At the time of Gen. Stuart’s raid in the rear of Fairfax Court House, Dececember 28, 1862, it picketed all the approaches to Centerville.¹² Spencer Phillips died of illness on April 24, 1863 at age 19. Seventy-eight of the 942 enrolled in the 15th Regiment died by disease. He was buried in Alexandria National Cemetery, Alexandria, VA.¹¹

2- Alonzo Chamberlain Phillips was born September 19, 1845 in Glover, VT. He married Olive Brown in St. Johnsbury, VT., 30 Nov. 1870.

Alonzo C. Phillips wrote Spencer Chamberlain’s Ancestors  where he gave his understanding of family history in about 1927.²

He was the second generation  to defend the legacy of his grandfather. In 1910 he wrote his version of the story of Runaway Pond. Also, in the above 1927 document, he wrote to the Chamberlain family in Iowa:

“And now I wish to correct a mistake made by White at the 50th anniversary address of the letting out of the pond…Mr White was misinformed… not knowing anything about the facts…This mistake was what caused my mother (to write) her piece giving her father the dues that rightfully belonged to him. There were but few that ever knew what ever lead up to this mistake.”¹³

Alonzo’s wife Olive (Dora) died on March 5, 1888. He later married a second wife Eudora Crosby. Alonzo C. Phillips died 10 April 1930.

3- Franklin S. Phillips, the third son of Samuel and Jeanette, was born 18 Dec. 1847. He married Nettie Drew on 1 Jan.1878.

Initials on Spencer’s rifle appear to be “FSP” indicating that he may have given it to his grandson Franklin S. Phillips. It seems likely that Franklin later gave the rifle to Alonzo’s son Mazzini (Zeke) who owned several hunting dogs and loved to hunt and fish. Franklin S. Phillips died 29 Oct.1929 in Glover VT. His wife Nettie was born on 1 May 1856 and died 27 Nov.1935 also in Glover VT.

4- Harry P. Phillips, Samuel and Jeanette’s fourth son was born on 3 July 1851 in Glover, Vermont and died three weeks later on 23 July 1851

Children of Alonzo C. Phillips and Olive (Dora) Brown

1- Gertrude Alice Phillips, born 9 Nov. 1871. Gertrude married Charles Arden Kelton in Glover on June 30, 1894. She died 25 Jan.1927. Her husband was born 24 August 1869 and died 12 Dec 1936. Their daughter Alice Ruth Kelton was born 27 November 1898 and died at age 15 on March 31, 1914. In 1900 Lydia A. Phillips Seaver was a boarder in the Kelton home. Lydia was Gertrude’s great aunt.

2- Mazzini Phillips, born 2 July 1875 married Gertrude Carter on 28 June 1897. They were divorced in 1901, there were no known children. Mazzini married again to Minnie Ella Dexter, 27 June 1906. Wendell A. Phillips 1908-2008 was their only son. 

In 1926, A. C. Phillips wrote: “My son, Mazzini Phillips, has (Spencer’s) old gun in his possession at the present time with the word London on the Lock”²  This is believed to be the rifle used by Spencer Chamberlain in 1814 during the battle of Plattsburgh.

3- Wendell C. Phillips was born 29 Sept. 1879 and died 5 Sept. 1885 at the age of five in Glover, Vermont.

4- Clarence Leo Phillips was born 1 May 1887. Clarence was a taxidermist in Glover. He married Alice Buswell and they had a son Alonzo Buswell Phillips 1914-2000 . Alice was born 20 August 1889 and died 8 Jan. 1939. Clarence died 23 Aug.1953. He and his family were buried in Westlook Cemetery, Glover, Vermont.

Children of Franklin S. Phillips and Nettie Drew

1- Elnora L. Phillips was born September 4, 1880. She married Fred E Simpson September 11, 1906. No children are recorded for Fred and Nora in the U. S. census. She died 15 May 1962.

2- Harry Alonzo Phillips was born 1 June 1883. He had a profound love of nature and loved to study birds and animals. He lived on Pine Shade Farm until he moved to Glover in 1941. His grandfather bought the farm in 1841, but it must have been in the family longer for he had heard stories of his ancestors sitting on the front porch listening to the roar of the running away of Long Pond in 1810. Alonzo was a poet. His most famous poem was “Runaway Pond and the History of Glover” written in 1929. Harry Alonzo Phillips died 10 April 1966.¹⁴

 Jonas Phillips, father of Betsy Norris Phillips

Jonas Phillips was born August 13, 1776 in Athol, Worchester, Massachusetts and was an early settler of Glover. He married in Glover, Dorothy Bean of Sutton NH on November 1, 1802. On March 7, 1808 he was among seven men in Glover who were elected Surveyor of Highways. All of their 12 children were born in Glover, VT.

Jonas Phillips was the son of Samuel Phillips and Joanna Stroud, Samuel was the son of Samuel Phillips and Martha Newton. Martha is the great-granddaughter of Richard Newton and Anne Locke. Richard, born in England, immigrated to America in 1639. It is  believed he was born in 1609, the Uncle of Sir Isaac Newton.²³

Children of Jonas Phillips and Dorothy Bean²³

1- Curtis Phillips born June 18, 1804 – died November 5, 1862. Never married.
2- Jonas Phillips, Jr. born December 2, 1805– died March 6, 1850. Married Hannah Hardy October 11, 1830.
3- Dorothy Phillips born January 26, 1808– died September 9, 1895. Married Rev. Nathan W. Scott.
4- Hiram Phillips  born December 17, 1809– died August 2, 1892. Married Lucy Ann Cook.
5- Samuel Phillips born August 7, 1812– died February 4, 1894. Married Jeanette Chamberlain November 23, 1842.
6- Josiah  Phillips born September 23, 1814– died August 1, 1864. Married Emily Blanchard
7- Rosannah P Phillips born August 10, 1817– deceased. Married Henry Blake III March 27, 1839
8- Charlotte  Phillips born June 7, 1819– died December 23, 1881. Married William Merriam.
9- Lydia A Phillips born January 18, 1822– died December 16, 1905. Married Hyman Dana Seaver 1843.
10- Betsy Norris Phillips born September 27, 1823– died April 25, 1852. Married Alonzo Chamberlain September 27, 1843.
11- Harry Walter Phillips born February 11, 1827– died July 2, 1930. Married Sabra Wilcox.
12- John E  Phillips born January 25, 1830– died March 23, 1907. Married Sarah Paige.

To be continued…..

Chapter 20- Alonzo Chamberlain’s Family Moves to Winnebago County, Illinois 

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

© Copyright Dennis D. Chamberlain, The Chamberlain Story, 2017. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of the written content of this site without express and written permission from the author and owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that credit is given to Dennis D. Chamberlain and direction to  www.thechamberlainstory.com.

References:

1- Wayne H. Alexander, Runaway Pond The Complete Story, CR 2001, Second Edition, Glover Historical Society, Glover, VT 05839. p. 45
2- Abid…..Alonzo C. Phillips p. 56
3- Abid….Pliny H. White pp. 28-29
4- Abid….Jeanette Chamberlain Phillips p. 32
5- Abid….Judge Parker of Coventry p. 35
6- Abid….O. V. Percival p. 42
7- Abid….E. T. Wilson pp.47-51
8- Abid….The Editors p. iii
9- Descendents of Ebenezer Phillips, unpublished record sent to Dennis Chamberlain from Janice Airola (granddaughter of Mazzini Phillips from the Jonas Phillips’ Bible.
10- O. V. Percival, unidentified Glover news clipping
11- Vermont in the Civil War Search for a Soldier Http;//vermontcivil war.org
12- Fifteenth Vermont Infantry https://vermontcivilwar.org/units/15/
13- Alonzo Chamberlain Phillips, The Descendents of Spencer Chamberlain, unpublished family document
14- People Who Have Made a Difference in Glover History- Harry Alonzo Phillips, Glover Historical Society, Inc. 1994
15- 1860 US Census
16- 1870 U. S. Census Hume Allegany, New York
17- 1880 U. S. Census, Allegany County, New York.
18- Grave marker, Wiscoy Cemetery Allegany, New York.
19- Familysearch.org
20-1900 U. S. Census, Guilford District Surry, Virginia.
21- 1910 U. S. Census Nunda, Livingston NY.
22- 1920 U. S. Census Panama City Bay, Florida.
23- Familysearch.org., all 12 children names have been verified with information found in Jonas Phillips family Bible. Richard Newton, (the third great grandfather of Jonas Phillips), came over from England in about 1639, and he is according to Familysearch the uncle of Sir Isaac Newton. However, I have not verified this information.
24- Jack Sumberg, http//runawayponders.blogspot.com/ (blog dated 11/22/09.
25- MacNaught family tree, Ancestry.com

In October 1835, forty civic leaders, opposed to abolitionist Samuel May, threatened him and threw stones and eggs at the building as he gave his lectures. They placed placards around town warning people not to attend. Nevertheless, he continued. An angry mob rushed him when he began to speak. Colonel Jonathan Miller, an abolitionist and Underground Railroad agent stood up in his defense. Miller, a veteran of the Greek wars, threatened the mob with bodily harm if they persisted. The mob knew that he meant it and backed off.¹¹

Alonzo Chamberlain was 17 years old.  He likely attended some of  Samuel May’s lectures in Montpelier, Vermont, 45 miles from his home in Glover. Apparently, he was very impressed by this experience.

The presidential election of 1840

In November, 1840, Alonzo Chamberlain was eligible to cast his first vote for a U. S. President. However, he was not happy with the choice.

At the December 1839 convention, William Henry Harrison became the Whig party’s nominee. He would face the Democrat incumbent President Martin Van Buren in the general election. The Whigs named former Virginia Senator John Tyler as their nominee for vice president to attract support in the South. Their strategy was to win the election by avoiding discussion of the most difficult national issue – slavery.

Harrison actively campaigned for the office by flaunting his success in an ancient Indian battle and his southern running mate. Their slogan was, “Tippecanoe and Tyler too.” Harrison defeated the Shawnee at Tippecanoe back in 1811. That was before Alonzo was even born.

The Democrats laughed at Harrison for being too old. They called the 67 year-old candidate “Granny,” hinting that he was getting senile. One Democrat newspaper mocked Harrison: “Give him a barrel of hard cider, and a pension of two thousand a year, and, our word for it, he will sit the remainder of his days in a log cabin.”¹

The 22-year-old Alonzo could see their point. Nevertheless, the Democrats were far worse. They were pro-slavery.

Alonzo was an idealist who “possessed the qualities which usually characterize New England people – energy, industry, prudence, integrity, and loyalty to the principles of right and justice.”²

He was an American abolitionist.

“In early life he was deeply impressed by the sufferings of the black race and characterized human slavery our great national curse…. Like Wendell Phillips, William Lloyd Garrison and others of their day he had the physical and moral courage to assert his convictions of the national curse, when to do so, even in the free north, was to subject one to the grossest insult, often to imperil his life.”²

Alonzo Chamberlain shared the goals of William Lloyd Garrison and Wendell Phillips, but he did not agree with their method. Garrison had established the American Anti-Slavery Society in the 1830’s. Garrison, Phillips and others took a radical approach.

They condemned the federal constitution for its compromises over slavery and refused to link abolition with political action. They advocated national disunion rather than continued association with the slave states.³

The Liberty Party believed the U. S. Constitution was an anti-slavery document.

In 1839, there was a split in the abolitionist movement which immediately caught the attention of Alonzo Chamberlain. A group of moderates formed the Liberty Party. It was the first antislavery party. They believed that the U. S. constitution was an anti-slavery document. Therefore, they were willing to work within electoral politics to try to influence people to support their goals.

On April 1, 1840, at a national convention in Albany, New York, the Liberty Party officially adopted its name and declared abolition of slavery to be the single plank in its platform. They confirmed the nominations of abolitionist  James  G. Birney, for President and Francis J. Lemoyne for Vice President.⁴

The Presidential Election of 1840

Over eighty percent of eligible voters cast their ballets for president in 1840. Harrison won in the December vote count 234 electoral votes to Van Buren’s 60. The Liberty Party’s Birney received 7069 popular votes nationally and 319 votes in Vermont. This included the one from Alonzo Chamberlain.

Eight Survivors of the “319”

In 1900, on the sixtieth anniversary, eight survivors of the Vermont Liberty Party voters were located:

“Of the ‘immortal 319’ who voted the Liberty Party presidential ticket in Vermont in 1840, eight have been found.”⁵

The list of eight known survivors included Alonzo Chamberlain of Spencer, Iowa.

“Mr Chamberlain voted in Glover, and some of the first colored people which his family ever saw were fugitive slaves brought to his home when he was an active conductor on the underground railroad”⁵

Glover’s Underground Railroad Station

Glover, Vermont was a station of the underground railroad. Alonzo Chamberlain was a “conductor” who’s home was used as a safe house for fugitive slaves. In 1840, Alonzo lived with his parents Spencer and Millie and four sisters. These were Jeanette 29, Amanda 27, Delana 24, and Melissa 15. The activities of their young son and brother must have made some interesting dinner conversations.

I have little doubt that Alonzo continued this activity throughout his life. Not only in Glover, but also when he moved to Shirland, Ill. As shown on the map, Glover, Vermont and Shirland in northern Illinois were both on major routes of the underground railroad.

The following quote in honor of Alonzo Chamberlain indicates his passion extended to the 1860s. “Like Abraham Lincoln, he thought and said this nation could not live part slave and part free”²

September 27, 1843 Alonzo married Betsy Norris Phillips. Less than a year earlier, his sister Jeanette married Betsy’s brother Samuel.

Alonzo and Betsy moved to a farm in West Glover where they could raise their family. It also would be a perfect location for his secret activities with the underground railroad. The surrounding forests completely secluded his home and farm buildings. Their farm house was one half mile away from the road between Glover and Parker Settlement. The road then went on to Barton.

Many fugitive slaves would come from southern states by sea to Boston. They would eventually move through Vermont. Montpelier was a central Junction that split into three routes. One of these routes went through Hardwick, Barton and Troy to the Canadian border.⁶  “On the other side of that geographical line, their chains fell off as by magic under English law.”⁷

The Chamberlain Story is first to report an underground railroad station between Hardwick and Barton. Alonzo Chamberlain and his safe house location in Glover were previously unknown. The town of Glover is not listed in 2014 edition of Abolition & the Underground Railroad in Vermont by Michelle Arnosky Sherburne. This discovery was made by my research associate, Lara Chamberlain, who found the article in The Vermont Watchman, dated May 30, 1900.

Alonzo’s Home in West Glover

Alonzo Chamberlain lived in West Glover from the time he was married in 1843 to 1855. A family document written about Spencer Chamberlain gives us the location of Alonzo’s home. It says that after Spencer’s wife died in 1849: “He then sold his farm and went to live with his son Alonzo on what is now (1927) called the Milton Lyman Farm.”⁸

The Milton Lyman home and farm where Alonzo lived is still there today! It is now (2017) the Gary and Gail Lyman farm. I talked to Gail Lyman on the phone to tell her the surprising history of her home. She was very kind to talk to me about their home and farm and to help me learn more about it.

With the Lyman’s permission, I invited Joan Alexander, secretary of the Glover Historical Society to take some photos of the home and farm for my family blog, The Chamberlain Story. I am very grateful to Gary and Gail Lyman and Joan Alexander for their help and for allowing our family to learn more about this important part of our history.

Joan’s pictures will be used to present a photo tour of today’s Lyman Farm at the end of this chapter.

Working on the Underground Railroad

Alonzo Chamberlain’s activities were extremely secret. Consequently, there were no written records. That would be too dangerous. He only had to know who he could trust to deliver to his home, and where  to deliver the precious lives into another’s trusted hands.

He did not know the runaways before they showed up at his home. Nor, did he know what became of them after he passed them off at the next location.

He received no compensation or recognition of any kind. Indeed, publicity was the last thing he wanted. His only reward was to know that he had helped a fellow being one step along the road from bondage to freedom.

The Reverend Joshua Young Underground Railroad agent in Burlington wrote in a letter in 1893 of his own activity:

“The Underground Railroad was… simply the aiding and passing on from one well known and trusty agent to another, of the fugitives on their way to Canada, and the methods of keeps and concealment employed to secure their safety were as various as the instances of rescue. The chief was to devise ways and means of helping the fugitive in avoiding the central and more public places on his route to freedom… which was often done in the early hours of the morning while it was yet dark and in very strange and unsuspecting methods of conveyance.”⁷

In the northern states it was illegal to help or aid a fugitive slave. They were considered to be the property of the southern slave owner. Alonzo would be subject to severe fines or jail if he was caught. And, of course, the fate of the captured fugitive would be much worse.

In some areas there were slave patrols, police organizations affiliated with state militias. Their sole purpose was to travel the roads searching for runaway slaves. Also, bounty hunters would travel into northern Vermont if they had a lead and the compensation worth while.⁹

An experience in Vermont on the Underground Railroad

There were no records kept, so actual experiences on the Underground Railroad are hard to find. This experience of conductor Stephen Carver Boardman was recorded by his son Charles who was 13 years-old at the time in 1854. They lived in Norwich, VT, an important station on the underground railroad.

At three o’clock in the morning, a man, wife and a four-year-old child arrived at the Stephen Boardman home. A well-known abolitionist brought them and gave warning: A slave-catcher with bloodhounds was in pursuit.

They gave the family food and other necessities, and then rushed them into a cornfield to a hidden cellar. Old shoes wet with camphor were given them to wear so they would leave no scent upon the ground along their way.

At eleven am, the United States Marshal, slave-catcher, and several deputies, with two bloodhounds, arrived and demanded to search the premises. Mr. Boardman questioned their right to search without a warrant. A heated discussion between the slave-catcher and the father turned into a display of Bowie knives and revolvers. Fearing bloodshed, the marshal tried in vain to persuade the father to yield. Finally, they departed until a search warrant could be procured.

At sundown, the son following his normal routine, opened a gate so that the cows could find their way to the barn to be milked. He then left them and went to the hiding place in the cornfield. The fugitives had been in the cellar all day. Charles led them through the woods for a mile and a half to another road. There they waited for his father who drove up in his wagon at about 9 pm. He carried them twenty-five miles, and put them aboard a morning freight train. They were now in the charge of a conductor who had provided this same service many times before.¹⁰ Their next stop was Montpelier, and perhaps onto Alonzo’s safe house in Glover? In any case they were soon safe in Canada.⁹

Alonzo’s hiding place?

It is obvious that an active conductor of the Underground Railroad had to be prepared for any situation that may come up. In communication with Gail Lyman and Joan Alexander, I tried to figure the most likely place Alonzo Chamberlain might hide fugitives when necessary. I was quite intrigued with this description of a possible hiding place at Alonzo’s home in West Glover.

There is a trap door that opens up from the front porch that leads to the cellar. A set of stairs goes to the space beneath the porch and there use to be a door between the room under the porch and the cellar, but it has been boarded up. The space under the stairs is just an empty space with an opening that led to the cellar. The opening has been boarded up on the cellar side.¹¹

The front porch is on the far end of the house near the old barns. (See photos at the end of this post)

Politics of Slavery 1841-1844

At his inauguration on March 4, 1841, President William Henry Harrison gave the longest inaugural speech in American history. It lasted 1 hour and 45 minutes. The weather was cold and damp and he came down with a cold that night.

One month later, President Harrison died of pneumonia. It was the shortest term for any U. S. president. John Tyler was the first vice president to assume the presidency. The Tyler administration became more aligned with the southern Democrats on many issues including slavery.

In the General Election of 1844, President John Tyler pursued annexation of Texas as a slave state.  He hoped to undermine the unity of the Whig and Democratic parties in an attempt to stay in the White House.¹²

The Whig Party, however, chose Henry Clay as their nominee. He adopted an anti Texas annexation platform. This alienated many voters in the South and West who supported annexation. Some Whigs in northern swing states shifted support to the anti-slavery Liberty Party.¹²

Democrat Party nominee James K. Polk united the anti-slavery Northern expansionists, who demanded Oregon as free-soil, with pro-slavery Southern expansionists, who insisted on acquiring Texas as a slave state.¹²

In 1844, Liberty Party nominee James Birney received 2% of the popular vote. His 15,800 votes in New York may have thrown victory from Clay to Polk who won New York by only 5,100 votes. If Clay had won New York, he would have had the majority of electoral votes and won the general election.

Chamberlain family life in Glover, Vermont 1841-1853

November 23, 1842 Jeanette Chamberlain married Samuel Phillips. They had four boys, Spencer Chamberlain Phillips b. 26 Sept 1843; Alonzo Chamberlain Phillips b. 19 Sept 1845; Franklin S. Phillips b. 18 Dec 1847; and Harry P. Phillips b. 3 July 1851. The baby, Harry Phillips, died three weeks later 23 July 1851.

September 27, 1843 Alonzo Chamberlain married Betsy Norris Phillips. They had two children, Amanda Chamberlain b. 21 Jan 1846 and John Chamberlain b. 5 July 1849.

 

July 5, 1849 John Harry Chamberlain was born. (He was listed as John in the 1850 census, but was known as Harry Chamberlain throughout his life)

September 21, 1849 Millie French Chamberlain died, she was the wife of Spencer Chamberlain.

October 10, 1850 Delana F. Chamberlain, Alonzo’s sister, died at age 34 years, two months.

1850 U. S. Census showed a Lucy Chamberlain, age 3, living with Samuel and Jeanette Chamberlain Phillips. The identity of Lucy is a mystery. She could be a daughter of one of Spencer’s nearby relatives or perhaps a child of Jeanette’s unmarried sister Delana who died that year. Spencer Chamberlain was living with his son in Alonzo’s home during the census.

April 25, 1852 Alonzo Chamberlain’s wife and mother of his two children, Betsy Norris Phillips Chamberlain died.

December 21, 1853 Spencer Chamberlain died at age 67. He was buried at Westlook Cemetary. Remarks: “67 yrs. ‘Runner for Run Away Pond’ Son of John E. & Winona (War of 1812 f/h)”.¹⁴

The Fugitive Slave Act, September 18, 1850

The Fugitive Slave Act was part of the “Compromise of 1850.” Antislavery advocates gained the admission of California as a free state, and the prohibition of slave-trading in Washington DC. The slavery advocates received concessions with regard to slave holding in Texas and the passage of this law. It required that all escaped slaves, upon capture to be returned to their masters and that officials and citizens of free states had to cooperate in this law. This law was hated by abolitionists. They called it the bloodhound law. In turn, they increased their activity in operation of the Underground Railroad.^12,13

The beginning of the Republican Party, March 20. 1854

A meeting was held in Ripon, Wisconsin on March 20, 1854. It was obvious that slavery as a single issue was not a winning strategy. Therefore, abolitionists began to develop an anti-slavery party with broad based appeal. This meeting was the beginning of the Republican Party.¹⁵

On May 30, 1854, Congress passed the Kansas-Nebraska Act.  This allowed settlers “popular sovereignty” the right to decide if their state would be slave of free.

Alonzo and his family left Glover, Vermont on May 1, 1855. They took a stagecoach to Montpelier then caught a train to Beloit, Wisconsin. He and his family settled in Shirland, Illinois, only 134 miles south of where the new anti-slavery party was born one year earlier. It has long been known in family history that Alonzo Chamberlain was a staunch Republican. He never missed voting in a presidential election nor failed to vote for a Republican presidential candidate.

Grandpa’s old photo album

I guess I have always had an interest in family history. I remember one day, sometime in the 1950’s, my Grandma Annie Chamberlain talking with my mother. She told her about Grandpa’s (Harry Ellis Chamberlain’s) family photos and how valuable they were. They were so valuable in fact, that no could look at them. They were just too valuable!

I was twelve or thirteen at the time and had never seen a picture that was too valuable to look at, and remember looking around the house wondering were they might be. I really wanted to see those forbidden pictures! But alas, they could not be found.

It was more than thirty years later before I ever laid eyes on Grandpa’s pictures. Grandpa and Grandma had passed away and my father now had them in his possession.

In the 1980’s, I remember seeing the old, red velvet photo album. Its front cover displayed an intricate copper engraving. The picture was of a man riding though the woods on a horse. It seemed a rather strange picture for a family album but, I thought little about it.

Now (2017), I went to that album to get a scan of my great-great grandfather Alonzo for my blog. The old pages had slots that fit certain sized photographs. There were pictures of Alonzo’s second wife Lydia Blanchard Chamberlain and his two young children. These pictures were taken by a photographer in Beloit, Wisconsin.

Suddenly, I realized that this album was from the 1860’s and the original owner was Alonzo himself! The strange copper engraving now caught my full attention. Finally, I understood its significance. The rider on the horse appeared to be a fugitive slave!

A photographic tour of the Lyman farm, (Alonzo’s Farm in 1840s)

These photos were taken by Joan Alexander, Secretary of the Glover Historical Society on May 14, 2017. It was the first dry sunny day they had, had for a while. Joan commented “I was struck with the beauty of the farm…it is so secluded and private…there certainly were a lot of bordering woods.”¹¹

Her photos will take you on a tour of the farm today (2017) where Alonzo Chamberlain and his family lived from about 1843 to 1855.

Links of The Chamberlain Story related to Glover, Vermont

Chapter E3 Alonzo Chamberlain’s UGRR Media Coverage 
Media coverage on Alonzo Chamberlain and the Underground Railroad finds new information about “fugitive slave” on cover of Chamberlain photo album. Read the article from the “Caledonian Record.”

Chapter 15- The Unusual Household of Increase Chamberlain, Jr. 
In October 2014, I received an email from Joan Alexander, Secretary of the Glover Historical Society.  It was the first big clue to what my grandfather, Harry Chamberlain, was looking for 80 years before- a major break in finding Spencer Chamberlain and his parents in Westmoreland.

Chapter 16- Spencer Chamberlain and the Runaway Pond 
The story of the day the pond ran away through Glover, Vermont, June 6, 1810.

Also, see my book, Run Chamberlain, Run – Solving the 200-Year-Old Mystery of Runaway Pond and photos from the 2010 bicentennial celebration. Author Dennis D. Chamberlain answers many questions about Spencer Chamberlain’s heroic run including the path that he ran from the pond to the mill.

Chapter 17- Spencer Chamberlain in the Battle of Plattsburgh The Chamberlain family in Vermont during and after the War of 1812. Spencer Chamberlain enlisted in the Vermont 31st Infantry. Following the 31st gives us a good idea of what Spencer experienced before and during one of the most decisive battles of the war.

Chapter 19- Spencer Chamberlain’s Family Jeanette Chamberlain Phillips and her family defends Spencer Chamberlain as hero of Runaway Pond. Spencer’s family and photos in Glover, Vermont and beyond.

Chapter 20- Alonzo Chamberlain Moves to Winnebago County, Illinois.  Alonzo Chamberlain moves to Shirland, Winnebago County, Illinois. Underground Railroad in Northern Illinois. Public hanging of Alfred Countryman. Lincoln and Douglas debate popular sovereignty and the spreading of slavery. Battle of Antietam opens way for Emancipation Proclamation. William Warren in Civil War. He married Amanda Chamberlain.

For more Chamberlain history stories see “Table of Contents”, or before you leave, please click “Good Bye!”

Read The Chamberlain Story from the beginning, an unbroken chain of generations beginning in 1621. Chapter 1- Francis Chamberlain Arrives in the New World.  Or, chose any single chapter from the Table of Contents 

© Copyright Dennis D. Chamberlain, The Chamberlain Story, 2017. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of the written content of this site without express and written permission from the author and owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that credit is given to Dennis D. Chamberlain and direction to  www.thechamberlainstory.com.

References:

1- America’s Story from America’s Library, http://www.americaslibrary.gov
2- Obit- Alonzo Chamberlain, Orleans County Monitor, November 3, 1902.
3- Wendell Phillips, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Wendell-Phillips
4- Liberty Party, http://www.course-notes.org/us_history/political_parties/liberty_party
5- The Vermont Watchman. (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, May 30, 1900, p.4, Image 4. http://choniclingamerica.loc.gov

6-Michelle Arnosky Sherburne, Abolition & the Underground Railroad in Vermont, History Press, Charleston, SC 29403. pp.58-63
7- Abid., p.59
8- Alonzo Chamberlain Phillips, Spencer Chamberlain’s Ancestors, Unpublished document held by Chamberlain family.
9- Michelle Arnosky Sherburne, Abolition & the Underground Railroad in Vermont, History Press, Charleston, SC 29403. pp.35-36
10- Stephen Carver Boardman, http://www.genealogy.com/

11- Joan Alexander, emails May 4 and May 15, 2017.
12- The United States Presidential Election, 1844, https://en.wikipedia.org
13- The Fugative Slave Act 1850, http://www.nationalcenter.org/FugitiveSlaveAct.html
14- Glover, Vermont Westlook Cemetery, Gravestone Inscriptions & Other Genealogical Data, Glover Historical Society, Glover, VT 05839, 2nd Edition, 2002, p46. Remarks from Phillips family records, compiled by Dick Brown, based on information from various family members, Phillips family Bibles, and vital records, etc., unpubished. p.240
15- http://www.ushistory.org/gop/origins.htm