Thomas Chamberlain was born in Billerica, Massachusetts, August 9, 1703. He was the son of Daniel Chamberlain and Mary Swain. Daniel was the thirteenth and youngest child of William Chamberlain and Rebecca (Addington) Chamberlain.¹

Spencer Chamberlain told his his grandson, Alonzo Chamberlain Phillips that his family “located on the east coast of Maine” (Chapter 9).  I believe that Daniel and his brother William and their families moved to Rye, Rockingham, NH about 1704. William’s son, William, 3rd., was born there that year. Daniel and Mary’s son, Jonathan, also was born there. Jonathan, Thomas’ younger brother, was born in Rye, NH on February 21, 1708. Daniel and Mary and their family apparently moved back to Billerica by 1713.

25 December 1713 Thomas’ sister Dorothy was born in Billerica. The mother, Mary Swain died that year, apparently from complications of child birth.¹

22 November 1725 Thomas’ father Daniel Chamberlain died in Billerica, Massachusetts.

About 1730 Thomas Chamberlain, age 27, married Abigail Pierce, she was about 24 years old.¹

1731 through 1748 Thomas and Abigail had seven sons and finally, one daughter.  Their birth location and approximate birth year were: Josiah (1731) and Isaac (1732) were born in Billerica, Joshua (1734) in Lynnfield, Job (1736) location unknown, Jedediah (1737) in Stoneham, John (1739) in Newton, Increase (1741) and Abigail (1748) in Westmoreland.¹  (For more details about their births see Chapter 10)

Settling Westmoreland

On November 30, 1736, the land survey committee accepted and chartered a township east of the Connecticut River called “No. 2”. They named it Great Meadow. Thomas Chamberlain was one of the grantees under the Massachusetts charter. A few Abenaki Indians remained for a brief time in the north part of town by a small brook known as Wigwam Brook.²

In the spring of 1741, a few families canoeing up the Connecticut River from Northfield made the first settlement. Stories of the fertility of the “Great Meadows” got their attention. Thomas and Abigail were among the first to come here. The Sentinel of Sept 15, 1813 reported that their son, Increase Chamberlain, born there in 1741, was “supposed to have been the first male (white) child born in (the settlement now known as) Westmoreland.”³

Fort Hill or Putney

1744-48 King George’s War widened in Europe with the out break of the War of Austrian succession, in which Spain and France were allied against Britain. This again spilled into the colonies as the (1744-48) segment of the French and Indian Wars. Settlers of Town No.2, Putney, and Westminster came together to build a stockade fort on the Great Meadow named Fort Hill, also called Fort Putney.

The Indians, in their travels up the river occasionally surprised individuals or small groups of men working outside the fort. In these skirmishes, they killed or captured several settlers, and took them as prisoners to Canada.²

Thomas and sons signed the Westmoreland Charter

On January 30, 1750, officials determined that the area of Town No. 2 was under New Hampshire Jurisdiction. Adult male citizens* of the town signed a petition and sent it to the New Hampshire Governor et al. Forty-one men including five Chamberlains, Thomas, Isaac, Joshua, Jedidiah and Job signed this document.²

February 12, 1752 The new charter named sixty grantees of Westmoreland including Thomas Chamberlain, Isaac Chamberlain, Josiah Chamberlain, Jedediah Chamberlain and John Chamberlain.²  “John Chamberlain, one of the original grantees of this town was born in Newton, Mass.”⁴  This John Chamberlain is the son of Thomas who came from Newton Mass.

*Adult male citizens- It appears that all who signed the charter or were grantees were males, 12 years old or older at the time.

March 31, 1752 Thomas Chamberlain held the first meeting of the proprietors of the township of Westmoreland at his house. The proprietors chose a committee to lay out the the house lots.² They also voted to give anyone who would build a gristmill the sum of 150 pounds and 50 acres of land on Mill Brook. Thomas Chamberlain and Samuel Minot accepted the offer and built the first Mill in town⁵

The final French and Indian War

1754-60 The French and Indian War, (aka the seven year war), was heating up again. Residents built a second fort at the Great Meadows made of yellow pine. It was rectangular (120′ by 80′) with the backs of fifteen dwellings forming the outside walls with a square open court yard at their front.  There were two watch towers at the northeast and southwest corners and a large gate on the south side and small gate on the west. The residents included thirteen individuals/families including Thomas and his son Isaac Chamberlain. The danger from the French and their hostile Indian allies remained high until about 1760.^6,7

“In 1755 another horrible Indian war was in progress where people were killed, scalped and carried away prisoners from all the towns in all this region around about. These two forts were private property, but were garrisoned in times of peril so that these posts were kept through the wars, but could not accommodate all the settlers with their families and a great many left N.H. and went back to Mass. to await better times. It would not be safe to try to live in Westmoreland before 1760. After that settlement progressed rapidly.” – June 17, 1927⁸

February 10, 1763 A peace treaty formally ended the French and Indian War. It ceded Canada and the American mid-west to the English and tightened the control of Great Britain’s colonial administration of North America.

Thomas Chamberlain transferred his church membership from Newton, Massachusetts

September 26, 1764 Thomas Chamberlain signed the covenant of the new Westmoreland Congregational Church. “Thos Chamberlain Chh at Newtown.”⁹

April 7, 1765 Thomas Chamberlain officially transferred his membership to the new church. “Thos Chamberlain April 7, 1765 from Newtown.”⁹

October 7, 1765 Nine American colonies held a Stamp Act Congress in New York where they adopted a Declaration of Rights against taxation without representation. This was in response to the British Government requiring a revenue stamp tax to pay for British troops.

November 20, 1767  British Government’s Townshend Acts placed additional levies on goods in the American colonies. This included levies on such things as glass, painter’s lead, paper, and tea. The American colonies greatly opposed these taxes.

May 18, 1769 Thomas Chamberlain’s wife Abigail died at Westmoreland at age 63.⁵

March 5, 1770 In Boston, about fifty patriots demonstrated against the British troops at the customs office. The troops opened fire into the mob killing five. The Boston Massacre incident furthered the colonists cause of rebellion.

April 12, 1770 The British parliament repealed the Townshend Acts, except for the one on tea. British Prime Minister Lord North and the parliament maintained the tea tax to show their supremacy.

A plague of army worms swarm down the valley

In July through September, 1770, an army of worms invaded the Connecticut River Valley. They called them the Northern Army because they appeared in Lancaster, NH in July, and continued their ravage, advancing south-west to Northfield, MA.

Some whole pastures were so covered with worms that that, “no single spot could be touched with a finger without placing it upon a worm”.

They had brown bodies with a black, velvet like stripe on their back and yellow stripes on each side.  Sometimes they were no larger that a pin, but quickly grew to be as long as a man’s finger. They filled the houses, marching up the side and over a house in such a compact column that one could not see the boards or shingles.

They spared pumpkin-vines, peas, potatoes, and flax, but wheat and corn vanished before them. There were fields of corn standing thick, large and tall. However, ten days from the first appearing of the Northern Army, nothing remained but the bare stalks!

The battle of man against the worm

The inhabitants tried everything to protect their fields of corn, but all in vain. They dug trenches around their fields a foot and a half deep, but the worms soon filled the ditch until millions in the rear went over the worms in the trench and took possession of the field.

Some farmers took round, smooth sapling sticks, six or eight inches in diameter, and six or eight feet in length, sharpened them to a point, and with these made holes in the bottom of their trenches. In these meadow bottom lands, they were able to extend these holes three feet deep below the bottom of the ditch.

The sides of these holes were smooth, and when the worms fell from the precipice, they landed at the bottom. Their fellow worms soon buried them alive. Now, the farmers went around their fields and plunged the pointed levers into the holes filled with the crawling invaders and destroyed everyone of them in a single thrust. In this way, some farmers reserved for themselves corn enough for seed the next year.

Pigeons, pumpkins and potatoes

The worms destroyed the principal grains of that year and all the settlements severely felt the loss. Their bread and feed for growing their pork was lost, and fodder for their cattle decimated.

On the bright side, there was an extraordinary crop of pumpkins. The untouched pumpkins grew astonishingly in the fields, overtaking the land where the corn once stood.

Swarms of pigeons flew in to feed on the army worms. They were too late to save the grain crops. However, thousands of pigeons were dressed, dried, and preserved for the winter. They were very palatable and nutritious, and proved a good substitute for other meats.

Pigeons, pumpkins and potatoes saved the inhabitants from starvation. The inhabitants recognized “the Divine Goodness in this providential supply, when the ordinary means of subsistence were cut off”.^2,10

This must have been a devastating time for Thomas Chamberlain who was a miller, as the grain crops were completely wiped out.

Chamberlain brothers occupations before the War

In 1775 three of Thomas’s sons held an office in the town of Westmoreland. Isaac Chamberlain (44) was one of seven highway surveyors, Job Chamberlain (40) was one of two town constables, he also served as a sealer of weights and measures, Jedediah Chamberlain (39) was a hog-reeve.¹¹

A hog-reeve was an 18th century animal control officer with the responsibility of preventing damage to the town by stray swine. Wandering domestic pigs rooting in farms and gardens could do great damage.

Owners were responsible for yoking their pigs by placing rings in their noses. If they got loose and became a nuisance, one or more hog-reeves would capture and impound the animals.

If a nose ring was absent, the hog-reeve performed the chore. The owner was then legally responsible for a small service fee. Other fines including a four shilling fee per head would be charged to reclaim their animals.  If unclaimed, the live stock could be sold at public auction after the owner was given 48 hours written notice.

The noble occupation of the hog-reeve originated in Saxon England where there was a need to station men at the doors of the cathedral to prevent swine from entering church during services.¹²

To be continued…. Chapter 12- The Chamberlains During the Revolutionary War

© 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- Familysearch.org, Thomas/ Chamberlain/
2- History of Westmoreland, Cheshire County, New Hampshire, www.nh.searchroots.com
3- Hamilton Child, Gazetteer of Cheshire County, N. H. 1736-1885 Syracuse, N. Y. August 1885, p.371.
4- Abid., p.519.
5- Thomas Chamberlain (3) Daniel (2), William (1), Born at Billerica, Mass. Aug. 1703; died in Vermont. (Type writer document, undated and unknown author) from The Historical Society of Cheshire County

6- Roberts, Robert B., Encyclopedia of Military Forts, The Military, Pioneer, and Trading Posts of the United States, Macmillan, New York, 1988, 10th printing, page 799.
7- Childs Gazetter of Windham Co. VT, 1724-1884 p. 275
8- Ella E. Abbott, Letters to Mrs. Chamberlain, provided by Alan Rumrill director of the Historical Society of Cheshire County.
9- Westmoreland Congregational Church (Park Hill) records. Email from Alan Rumrill, Historical Society of Cheshire County.
10- Grant Powers, Historical Sketches of the Discovery, Settlement, and Progress of Events in the Coos County and Vicinity Principally Included Between the Years 1754 and 1785 (Haverhill: Henry Merrill, 1880), 103-109. www.dartmouth.edu

11- History of Westmoreland, Cheshire County, New Hampshire, www.nh.searchroots.com
12- Hog-reeves, https://en.wikipedia.org

 

Harry Ellis Chamberlain knew Spencer’s father was named John

In 1934, Harry Ellis Chamberlain hired a genealogist, Merton T. Goodrich, to search the records for “the discovery of the parentage of Spencer Chamberlain, born in Westmoreland, N. H.”¹ He was looking for a John Chamberlain, who according to tradition, may be the son or grandson of “Paugus” John.

Harry knew from Spencer Chamberlain’s grandson, Alonzo Chamberlain Phillips and other relatives, that Spencer’s father was named John, and his mother was an Indian named Winona. Spencer was born about 1786 and according to his army discharge record of 1815, he was born in Westmoreland, New Hampshire. However, there were no birth records for either Spencer or his father John in Westmoreland.

The existence of another John Chamberlain, the son of Henry, was well established in Westmoreland. He was married to Eunice Edson, there are birth records of their children, and they all appear neatly in the 1790 U. S. Census. Goodrich studied the available vital records and cross referenced them with census. In his report he wrote: “these records prove that Spencer Chamberlain… could not be the son of this John Chamberlain” ¹

Although there were six Chamberlain households found in the Westmoreland U. S. Census record of 1790, Spencer and his father could not be found. It was quite a challenge at the time to sort out these six Chamberlain families to find who was related to whom.

There were two Chamberlain families in Westmoreland

A huge break came when The Chamberlain Story recently received some letters by Ella E. Abbott, from Historical Society of Cheshire County.  This new information tells us that between 1750 and 1790 there were two Chamberlain families living in Westmoreland. These two families were separate, distinct and unrelated. Thomas Chamberlain’s family lived on the west side of town and Henry Chamberlain’s family lived on the east. Both families had a son named John.

Thomas Chamberlain and Abigail Pierce and their family came to Westmoreland from Middlesex County, MA. Thomas signed the covenant of the new Westmoreland Congregational Church in 1764 and transferred his membership from the church in Newton, Mass.

Henry Chamberlain and Susanna Hinds and their family came from Bridgewater, Plymouth County, MA. He was a descendant of Henry Chamberlain who emigrated from England. Henry’s family were Baptists. “The members of this (Baptist) society mainly came from Middleborough, (Plymouth) Mass.” ²

If Spencer is related to one of these families, it has to be the Thomas Chamberlain family. Our family’s Y-DNA test proves that we are not related to the Henry Chamberlain line.

John Chamberlain was born in Newton, Mass. about 1739

In 2016, internet sources listed a John Chamberlain born about 1734 as one of the sons of Thomas Chamberlain of Westmoreland. However, this information was not confirmed. Did John, the son of Thomas, really exist? Where did this information come from? And, on what basis was his birth year “about 1734” estimated?

I found that there were two John Chamberlains living in Westmoreland, but in the historical record, their identities had been combined into one, as if they were the same person.

The only published record I could find about Thomas’ son John was in the 1885 Cheshire County, NH Gazetteer. The following convoluted paragraph of the Gazetteer tells everything we know about him.  It is full of errors and is incredibly confusing, nevertheless, it contains some very valuable information when decoded:

“Thomas Chamberlain, a descendant of John, who came to this country in the Mayflower,” (this is not true),“was one of several who united in signing the church covenant, September 26, 1764, the first step taken towards forming a Congregational church in Westmoreland,” (this is correct and Thomas transferred from the church in Newton, Mass). “John Chamberlain, 3d, one of the original grantees of this town, was born in Newton, Mass.” (Yes! John is the son of Thomas and Newton is where Thomas came from! However, the term “3d” is nonsense.) “September 17, 1767, and married Eunice Edson.” (What??? That is the marriage date of John Chamberlain and Eunice Edson, but we are now talking about a different John Chamberlain. This John Chamberlain’s father was Henry and they  were Baptists!) “His fourth son, John, was born August 13, 1773.”³ (Obviously, now talking about the son of John and Eunice.)

Here is the corrected paragraph:

“Thomas Chamberlain was one of several who united in signing the church covenant, September 26, 1764, the first step taken towards forming a Congregational church in Westmoreland. John Chamberlain, one of the original grantees of this town, was born in Newton, Mass.”³

“His fourth son, John” is a phrase from the confusing paragraph above, which has given some the false impression that John was the fourth son of Thomas. However, this piece of information is irrelevant since it was referring to an entirely different person.

John was the sixth son of Thomas Chamberlain. He was born between the birth of Jedediah, who was christened on 12 June 1737 in Stoneham, Massachusettss⁸, and Increase Chamberlain who was born in Westmoreland in 1741.

Newton, Mass was the last location where Thomas’s family lived before they moved to Westmoreland. Job was John’s older brother who signed the Westmoreland charter in 1750. Only “adults” over the age of 12 signed. Due to this information and the known christening dates of Joshua and Jedediah, I was able to correct the birth years of these brothers. Joshua was born 1734, Job about 1736, Jedediah 1737 and John about 1739.

Thomas Chamberlain family signers and grantees of Westmoreland²

In 1750 “adult male citizens” signed the New Hampshire petition. Those who signed were apparently 13 years old or older. Those of the Thomas Chamberlain family and their estimated age at the time were: Thomas 47, Isaac 18, Joshua 16, Job 14, and Jedediah 13.

Two years later in 1752 the Chamberlains named grantees of Westmoreland were: Thomas 49, Isaac 20, Josiah 21, Joshua 18, Jedediah 15 and John 13.

Henry Chamberlain was not among the signers nor grantees, and his son John would only be ten years old at the time.

The Letters of Ella E. Abbott to Mrs. Chamberlain

Ella E. Abbott corresponded with a Mrs. Chamberlain for several years but never revealed her writing partner’s first name.  Her letters were to answer questions about the Henry Chamberlain line, but were filled with information about both families. Here are some selected quotes which tell about herself or give information regarding the Thomas Chamberlain family. Copies of these letters and other documents were provided to me by Alan Rumrill director of the Historical Society of Cheshire County.

“My Dear Mrs. Chamberlain,…”

“You are the first one that has written to me about the Henry Sr. line. The other Chamberlain family I am very familiar with although none of them have lived in town for years and years. Most of them went to Vermont different parts of it and I have been able to follow many of them. Jedediah you mention belonged to that line and not yours. I have known all about him.” – June 17, 1927⁴

“My father, a native, of Westmoreland was a Civil Engineer, a Justice of the Peace and a local historian of some reputation. He knew more about everything pertaining to Westmoreland and its inhabitants than any man living… He and I worked together on historical and genealogical lines during his life time and I continue the work. That is how I happen to know about those old families.” – August 1, 1927⁴

“Speaking of George W. Chamberlain, I am sure he knows more about Chamberlains than any other person for no one else that I know has made such a study of the family. Not sure that he knows who was the father of Henry Sr… I gave him valuable data concerning the other family of Westmoreland Chamberlains and I know he appreciated it… I think that other family had many of the characteristics of those of your line. They did not leave records behind them that were easily followed or traced. And, he even had to jump, almost, at conclusions in regard to them sometimes. They evidently came from North of Boston and were evidently connected with the “Paugus John” the Indian Fighter.”  – June 27, 1928⁴

(Note by Author, DDC) Abbott’s comment about Paugus John is both interesting and puzzling to me. I believe George Chamberlain must have got this information from corresponding with my Grandfather Harry Chamberlain, as Harry knew about the Paugus John story in 1927 or before. The only connection between the Thomas Chamberlain of Westmoreland and Paugus John, however, is that they both came from the same area north of Boston. There is no evidence that Paugus John Chamberlain, or any of his descendants, ever came to Westmorland. Nevertheless, in 1934 Harry Chamberlain did not know, and was still searching for his Chamberlain connection to Westmoreland.

“That other family of Chamberlains who were so numerous in town in early times were mostly or all children of Thomas. They were prominent while they lived in Westmoreland but all moved away, left not a vestige behind them. As far as I know they lived in the West part of the town while the Henry line were identified with the East part.” – March 7, 1930⁴

“I have told you there was another entirely different line of Chamberlains in Westmoreland from your Henry line. I am sending some of it to you… A descendant of Thomas3 who was one of the very early settlers, wrote to me sometime and told me of the sons of Thomas and also said there was one daughter whose name was Abigail. This seems probable for the wife of Thomas was Abigail.” 

“The Thomas Chamberlain line claim that Increase was the 1st male child born in the town in 1741 or 2 which was under the Mass. Charter, and that there had been a female child born before he was.”

“There is no record that this Thomas3 died in Westmoreland and after his wife died he might have gone to Vermont to live with some of his sons who lived in Stockbridge.”

“As a matter of reference I am sending you the other line of  Westmoreland Chamberlains. William Chamberlain1 first of Wobern, settled in Billerica, wife Rebecca. Daniel2 b. 1671, lived in Billerica, wife Mary. Thomas3 b. 1703, 4th child of Daniel lived in Newton. Was grantee of Westmoreland as well as some of his children. His Children were Isaac, Josiah, Joshua, Jedediah, John and Abigail, and perhaps Job and Increase.” – March 21, 1932⁴

This is the documentation I have been looking for to confirm that Thomas did in reality have a son named John Chamberlain. He was one of the grantees of Westmoreland proving he was alive and part of the family at age 13 in 1752. The two John Chamberlains of Westmoreland have often been confused as being the same person. However, neither the father Henry Chamberlain nor any of his sons signed the city charter in 1750, nor were they grantees in 1752.

Children of Thomas Chamberlain and Abigail Pierce

Thomas Chamberlain, b. 1703 in Billerica, MA and Abigail Pierce b. 18 May 1706, Woburn MA, d. 18 may 1769, Westmoreland, NH. They married 10 June 1730 in Concord, Middlesex, MA.¹⁰

I have done an extensive search for the source records of Thomas and Abigail’s children, their birth order and birth dates. Therefore, there are some differences in my record when compared with the prevailing records on the internet and in many genealogies. This new information, published for the first time on June 9, 2017 has cleared up earlier discrepancies.

1- Josiah Chamberlain b. 27 June 1731, Billerica, Middlesex, Massachusetts,⁶ d. 1782.
2- Isaac Chamberlain b. 30 October 1732, Billerica, Middlesex, Massachusetts,⁷ d. 1783 Westmoreland, Cheshire, New Hampshire.
3- Joshua Chamberlain baptized 22 Sept 1734 at First Church of Lynnfield, Essex, Massachusetts.⁸
4- Job Chamberlain born about 1736, location unknown. (I have found no information on the birth of Job. I chose this birth order because he was old enough to sign the petition of Jan. 30, 1750² and was considered an “adult male citizen of the town,” as was his 12 year old brother Jedediah.)² d. 22 March 1825 Brewer, Penobscot, Maine.
5- Jedediah Chamberlain christened 12 June 1737 Stoneham, Middlesex, Massachusetts,⁸  d. 1828, Stockbridge, Windsor, Vermont.

6- John Chamberlain b. about 1739, Newton, Middlesex, Massachusetts. It has been reported that John was born in Newton,³ however, a fire in Newton destroyed church records in 1770⁸ and no birth records have been found. His father Thomas moved from Newton to Westmoreland. This places his birth order between Jedediah and the youngest brother Increase. John did not sign in 1750 but apparently was old enough to become a grantee of the Westmoreland charter by 1752. This John Chamberlain is the father of Spencer Chamberlain. To see the new evidence for this, read Chapter 15- The Unusual Household of Increase Chamberlain.

7- Increase Chamberlain b. 1741, d. 24 August, 1813, Stockbridge, Windsor, Vermont.
8- Abigail Chamberlain b. 31 July 1748, d. before 1820 Stockbridge, Windsor, Vermont.

Abigail Chamberlain married Henry Chamberlain of the other Westmoreland family. They were married 26 Feb. 1767 in Westmoreland.

The Henry Chamberlain Line, Six Generations⁹

1- Henry Chamberlain b. 1595, Hingham, Norfolk, England, d. 15 July 1674, Hull, Plymouth, Massachusetts, m. 1615, Hingham, Norfolk, England, June Freeman.
2- Henry Chamberlain b.1619, Hingham, Norfolk, England, d. 3 Dec. 1678, Hull, Plymouth, Massachusetts; m. 1651, Hull, Plymouth, Massachusetts, Sarah Jones.
3- Henry Chamberlain b.1654, Hull, Plymouth, Massachusetts, d. 6 May 1706; m. 1682, Jane.
4- Henry Chamberlain b. 11 March 1686, Hull, Plymouth, Massachusetts, d. 1718, Hull, Plymouth, Massachusetts; m. 14 May 1714, Lydia Vinton.
5-Henry Chamberlain b. 1716, Bridgewater, Plymouth, MA; d. 7 Dec. 1787
m. 16 March 1722, Bridgewater, Plymouth, MA, Susanna Hinds, 1722-1811

Children of Henry Chamberlain and Susanna Hinds⁵

1- John Chamberlain b. 11 May 1742 location unknown, probably Bridgewater.
2- Hannah Chamberlain b. 1746, Bridgewater, Plymouth, Massachusetts
3- Henry Chamberlain b. 1747, Bridgewater, Plymouth, Massachusetts (Married Abigail Chamberlain of the Thomas Chamberlain family 26 Feb 1767)
4- Lydia Chamberlain b. 4 April 1750, Bridgewater, Plymouth, Massachusetts
5- Lucinda Chamberlain b. 20 March 1751, Bridgewater, Plymouth, Massachusetts
6- Elizabeth Chamberlain b. 25 Feb. 1752, Westmoreland, Cheshire, New Hampshire
7- Ebenezer Chamberlain b. 10 Sept. 1754, Westmoreland, Cheshire, New Hampshire
8- Abigail Chamberlain b. January, 1756, Westmoreland, Cheshire, New Hampshire
9- Calvin Chamberlain b. 1760, Westmoreland, Cheshire, New Hampshire

It is believed that the danger of living in Westmoreland during the French and Indian wars 1754-1760 caused Henry Chamberlain and his family to return to Massachusetts until the danger had subsided. Therefore, the birth location of the last three children at Westmoreland may be questionable.

There were six Chamberlain families living in Westmoreland in 1790 according to US census records. Spencer Chamberlain was about 4 years-old and was indeed living in one of these households. See Chapter 15.

To be continued….Chapter 11- Thomas Chamberlain, Westmoreland Pioneer

© 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- Merton T. Goodrich, Genealogist, The Search for Spencer Chamberlain’s Ancestry, report to sent to Harry Chamberlain, November 3, 1934
2- History of Westmoreland, Cheshire County, New Hampshire, www.nh.searchroots.com
3- Hamilton Child, 1736-1885 Gazetteer, Cheshire County, N. H., 1885 Syracuse, N.Y., p.519 (my comments in brackets)
4- Ella E. Abbott, Letters to Mrs. Chamberlain, copies sent to Dennis D. Chamberlain by Alan Rumrill director of the Historical Society of Cheshire County.
5- FamilySearch.org.
6- Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Town Records, 1626-2001, Image 156 Familysearch.org
7- Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Town Records, 1626-2001, Image 207 Familysearch.org
8- Thomas Chamberlain (3) Daniel (2), William (1), Born at Billerica, Mass. Aug. 1703; died in Vermont. (Type writer document, undated and unknown author) from The Historical Society of Cheshire County.
9- Ancestry.com, Public pedigrees.
10- James Parker, Thomas Chamberlain’s wife Abigail Pierce, http://www.genealogy.com/forum/surnames/topics/chamberlain/2676/

In 1853 Spencer Chamberlain told his grandson about the naming of Chamberlain Lake and the clearing of Chamberlain farm.

Chamberlain Lake was mentioned in the first paragraph of a document titled, “Spencer Chamberlain’s Ancestors”. This document presented the best information available about his family when Alonzo C. Phillips wrote it. This undated document was mentioned in a letter from Alonzo Phillips to his Chamberlain cousins in Spencer Iowa. The letter was dated December 21, 1927, when Phillips was 81 years old.

Spencer Chamberlain lived with his daughter Jeanette Phillips and her children in Glover, Vermont in his last illness in 1853. Her son Alonzo Phillips (Spencer’s grandson) was then 8. The document he apparently wrote many years later is an intriguing puzzle from its beginning. The last sentence of the first paragraph clearly shows it was from the memory of Spencer Chamberlain:

“The first Chamberlain that landed in this country of the Spencer Chamberlain family located on the east coast of Maine in 1700. One of the boys went up north in Maine not far from Moosehead Lake on a shore of a rather large lake and put it on the map as Chamberlain Lake. There he cleared up a farm and to this day it is known as Chamberlain Farm. Nothing of any further note is attached to his memory, only the naming of the lake and farm.“¹

This is true. There is a Chamberlain Lake in the Northern Maine Woods. It is 14 miles long and 2 miles wide and covers almost 11,000 acres. Chamberlain Farm is located on the east shore of Chamberlain lake even today, (2017).

Who named Chamberlain Lake?

I searched the history of Chamberlain Lake but had no luck finding how the lake and farm got their names. However, Spencer Chamberlain’s comment to his grandson from the 1850s may hold the answer to that mystery.

A land survey in the Allagash waterway of northern Maine was conducted from 1825 to 1833. They ran a monument line south of Apmoojenegamook Lake, (the lake’s original Indian name). This formed a base line for laying out townships to the north.²  When George W. Coffin published his map in 1835 the lake was labeled “Apmoojenegamook or Chamberlin L.”. (The last few letters are unreadable due to a crease in the map).³ Someone had “put it on the map as Chamberlain Lake”. This is just as Spencer Chamberlain described it!

The earliest white settlers began settling in the Allagash area in about 1837. A number of dams and locks were constructed on the Allagash River and various lakes beginning in 1841. These were built to facilitate the movement of lumber from the woods of northern Maine to the mills in Banger. Ebenezer S. Coe built Chamberlain Farm halfway up the eastern shore of Chamberlain Lake in 1846. The farm provided a source of hay and oats for workhorses, and winter vegetables for lumber crews. It also served as a lumbering depot on Chamberlain Lake.⁴

The Chamberlain who named the Lake was likely a prominent member of the survey crew that was working in the area some twenty years earlier. The survey took eight years. It seems reasonable that this work crew would also need a headquarters and a farm to feed its men and horses while they were working in the wilderness. Spencer said that “one of the (Chamberlain) boys” went up north, “cleared a farm and to this day it is known as Chamberlain Farm.” Eban Coe expanded that farm in 1846 to meet the needs of the lumber industry and kept the name.

Chamberlains settled on the east coast of Maine

Spencer believed that the first of his Chamberlain family line who landed in this country “located on the east coast of Maine in 1700.” This is not exactly correct, because Thomas and William Chamberlain arrived in Virginia in 1635 and re-located to Massachusetts in 1644. Our family’s Y-DNA test results prove that our paternal line through Spencer Chamberlain goes back to one of the Thomas, Edmond or William Chamberlain brothers.

Therefore, to find the time and location of the earliest Chamberlain settlements in Maine, I searched genealogical birth, marriage and death dates and locations.  I found settlements in Lebanon 1751, Hallowell 1767, and Brewer 1793. None of these were satisfactory because they were much later than Spencer’s description and more important, they were not on the coast.

Then I found a Chamberlain settlement in Rye, New Hampshire. It is right on the coast adjacent to the New Hampshire-Maine border. All the early births were recorded in Rye, New Hampshire, but by the 1800s it was evident that the majority of the family lived in York County Maine, just across the river. This is the first Chamberlain family to locate on the east coast of Maine. They located there sometime between 1701 and 1704.

William Chamberlain, of Woburn Massachusetts was the son of the William Chamberlain who emigrated from England. He married Deliverance Ferguson and they had four children. Their third child, Sarah, was born about 1701 in Cambridge Massachusetts. Their fourth child, William, was born in Rye, Rockingham, New Hampshire in 1704.

William Chamberlain (the third) married Mary Rand in Rye, New Hampshire 7 Nov. 1729. They had six children, Lydia, Samuel, William, Mary, John and Thomas. William, John and Thomas died in Pepperelboro, York County, Maine in 1812, 1832, and 1798 respectively. Samuel died in Augusta, Kennebec, Maine in 1811. It is possible that a son or grandson of one of these brothers worked on the survey crew between 1825 and 1833, cleared a farm and literally put Chamberlain Lake on the map.

It is believed that Spencer Chamberlain was born about 1786 in Westmoreland, NH. There is no evidence that William (3rd) or any of his sons came to Westmoreland, nor that they are direct ancestors of Spencer Chamberlain. However, Thomas Chamberlain, who was one of the early settlers of Westmoreland, was a nephew of William Jr, the first Chamberlain to settle on the east coast of New Hampshire and Maine.

Thomas apparently lived in Rye Rockingham, NH for a while when he was a child. Records show his younger brother was born there. Therefore, it is likely that Thomas and his parents Daniel and Mary, were among the first Chamberlains who, Spencer Chamberlain said, “located on the east coast of Maine”. Daniel and his brother William may have moved there together with their wives and children to Rye, Rockingham, New Hampshire in 1703 or 1704. Daniel’s family, however, moved back to Billerica between 1708 and 1712 by the time Thomas was nine years old.

Some of Thomas’ family returned and settled in Maine before 1810. Therefore, it is possible that members of his family were the ones who cleared the farm and named the lake.

Family Line of William Chamberlain, Jr.,⁵ (Son of the William Chamberlain who came to America)

William Chamberlain, b. 3 March 1652, Woburn, Middlesex MA, d. 20 Jan. 1734, Lexington MA. Deliverance Ferguson, b. about 1656, Woburn, Middlesex, MA. d. unknown. William and Deliverance m. 20 December 1698. Children:

1- “Child” Chamberlain, b. about 1699 Lexington, MA, d 1703 Lexington, MA.
2- Rebecca Chamberlain, b 1700 Billerica, Middlesex, MA, d. unknown.
3- Sarah Chamberlain, b. about 1701, Cambridge, MA, d. unknown
4- William Chamberlain, b. 1704 Rye, Rockingham, NH. d. 3 June 1781.

William Chamberlain b. 1704 Rye, NH, Married Mary Rand b. 3 Oct 1709, Charleston, Boston, Suffolk, MA., d. 5 May 1753, Hampton Rockingham NH. Children:

1- Lydia Chamberlain, b. 3 April 1738, Rye, Maine, d. unknown.
2- Samuel Chamberlain, b. 18 August 1740, Rye, Rockingham, NH., d.1811, Augusta, Kennebec, Maine.
3- William Chamberlain, b. 17 May 1743, Rye, Rockingham, NH., d. Pepperelboro, York, Maine.
4- Mary Chamberlain, b. 20 July 1746, Rye, Rockingham, NH., d. 1819.
5- John Chamberlain, b. 14 July 1749, Rye Rockingham, NH., d. after 1832, Pepperelboro, York Maine.
6-Thomas Chamberlain, 15 October 1752, Rye Rockingham, NH., d. 1798 Pepperelboro, York, Maine.

Daniel Chamberlain⁶

Daniel Chamberlain b. 27 Sept 1671 Billerica Middlesex, Massachusetts f. William Chamberlain, m. Rebecca Addington, d. 22 November, 1725, Billerica, Middlesex Massachusetts; m. 1694 Billerica, Middlesex, Massachusetts to Mary Swain 1673-1713.

Children of Daniel Chamberlain and Mary Swain⁶

1- Isaac Chamberlain b. 3 Aug. 1695, Billerica, Middlesex, Massachusetts.
2- Ebenezer Chamberlain b. 5 September 1698, Billerica, Middlesex, Massachusetts.⁶
3- Ephraim Chamberlain b. 16 January 1701, Billerica, Middlesex, Massachusetts.
4- Thomas Chamberlain b. 9 August 1703, Billerica, Middlesex, Massachusetts.
5- Johnathan b. 21 February 1708, Rockingham, New Hampshire, d. 23 January 1790.
6- Mary Chamberlain b. 1712, Billerica, Middlesex, Massachusetts, m. 1 December 1732, Billerica, Middlesex, Massachusetts, to Johnathan Cram.
7- Dorothy b. 25 December 1713, Billerica, Middlesex, Massachusetts.

To be continued ….

 Chapter 10- The Chamberlain Families of Westmoreland

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

© 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. Alonzo Chamberlain Phillips, Spencer Chamberlain’s Ancestors, Unpublished document held by Chamberlain family.
2. Dean B. Bennett, The Wilderness from Chamberlain Farm: A Story of Hope for the American Wild. Shearwater Books, Washington, London 2001, p. 54.
3. George W. Cowen, Plan of the Public Lands of the State of Maine, surveyed under the Instructions from the Commissioners and Agents of the States of Massachsetts (sic) and Maine. 1 August 1835.
4.  Dept. of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, Allagash History, www.maine.gov
5. Familysearch.org, New Hampshire Births and Christenings, 1714-1904, & New Hampshire Marriages 1720-1920.
6. Familysearch.org