Alexis Nadeau and Marie Ursule Gueret dit Dumont are Spencer Chamberlain’s grandparents. This is based on recently discovered DNA evidence which I will explain later in this post. This new DNA evidence connects two life stories, solves a 250-year-old mystery and shatters a cherished Chamberlain family tradition. My conclusions for this report are based on scientific evidence, historic facts and recorded family history.

On October 22, 1758, Alexis Nadeau married Marie Dumont. They lived in Kamouraska, a beautiful village in Québec, nestled on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River. The name “Kamouraska” is an Algonquin word which means “where rushes grow at the water’s edge.”¹

The Battle of Quebec

Less than one year after their marriage, there was an historic battle for the control of North America. Fifty British warships and 150 transports sailed up the Saint Lawrence past Kamouraska. They were heading toward Quebec City 100 miles further up the river. On July 12, 1759, three thousand British troops, under the command of General James Wolfe, scaled the cliffs to the Plains of Abraham. The British formed their battlelines in traditional European warfare manner. The French regulars and French Militia also formed their lines. The French’s allies, the Indians, picked off British troops in the flanks from cover in the nearby brush. The French charged but were mowed down by the British who held their fire until the enemy were only a few paces away.²

After the defeat at Quebec, the power of the French in North America was on the decline and the bond between the French and Indians began to weaken.

The Nadeau Family

Alexis Nadeau was 25-years-old and likely served in the French Militia at that time. The Nadeau family were French. The Catholic Church maintained excellent records, and all their family lines trace back to Mother France. They had 13 children, 7 boys and 6 girls. All had a baptism record. Their infant baptism date gives us an approximate date of their birth. All these children lived their entire lives close to their home in Quebec, Canada. That is, all except for one child, Marie Rose Nadeau.

Marie Rose Nadeau is their first child. She was born in 1761 and some believe she died sometime before 1775. Her parents definitely believed she died because in 1778 they gave their 11th child her name, Marie Rose. It was customary, at the time, to repeat a name of a deceased sibling.

What really happened to Marie Rose Nadeau?

Chamberlain legends and family history paint a picture of what happened to Marie Rose Nadeau. We don’t know the details, and can only imaging the grief of her parents when Marie Rose disappeared. One thing we do know, however, is that she was not dead. We know this because she is my 4th great-grandmother.

DNA results combined with our recorded family traditions give powerful evidence that Rose Marie Nadeau was captured by Indians when she was a baby or very young child. They gave her a new name by which she became known to the Chamberlain family as “Winona”.

I believe that Spencer Chamberlain’s mother, Winona, was a French girl raised by Indians. She probably believed she was an Indian. It is certain that her family believed that she was.

Spencer Chamberlain’s family believed Winona was and Indian

Spencer Chamberlain’s daughter, Jeanette Chamberlain Phillips, described her father in a poem she wrote in 1860. “Though fair in the face and soft was his hair, the blood of the red man still lingered there”.³

In 1927, Jeanette’s son, Alonzo Chamberlain Phillips, sent a package of information and photos to his “cousins in the west”. At the end of a two page, type written family history, he wrote by hand, “Spencer Chamberlain’s mother was a full blooded Iroquois.”⁴

Harry Alonzo Phillips’ 1929 poem about Runaway Pond indicates that he also believed Winona was 100% Indian. He wrote of Spencer, “Was born in seventeen-eighty-six, Half Red, half white, as blood did mix.”⁵

In 1815, Spencer Chamberlain’s Army discharge paper described him as “6 feet high, Light Complexion, Blue eyes and Black hair.”⁶  Since Spencer Chamberlain had blue eyes, I have always believed his mother Winona was part French. However, like everyone else in my family I believed she was an Indian. I now believe, based on new DNA evidence and our strong family traditions, that Winona was a French girl raised by Indians. Also, that she lived the way of the Indians, spoke their language and that she believed she was an Indian.

How John Chamberlain met Winona

This unpublished tradition about John Chamberlain is further evidence that Winona was raised by Indians. My uncle Robert Chamberlain revealed this information in a family interview. We met at the home of Robert and Louise Chamberlain on March 5, 2019. In attendance were: Robert Chamberlain and his wife Louise, my brother Lyle Brent Chamberlain, my sister Deanna Chamberlain Grant, my daughter Lara Chamberlain and myself Dennis Chamberlain.

Robert reported what he remembered from his father Harry Chamberlain. Harry lived with his grandfather Alonzo Chamberlain until he was 10 years old. Alonzo was the son of Spencer Chamberlain, the son of John and Winona.

“John Chamberlain, he was a frontiersman, dad said. He did not like people very well and if the frontier came within 50 miles, he would move. He just liked being by himself, well I can see why he married an Indian. But he was very, very respected because he was a super sharp shooter and John was also a super runner….  He dealt a lot with the Indians, dad said, and they more or less accepted him in the tribe.  But he was so fast that he would out run the braves, so John had to slow down a little to make sure the Indians would win sometimes. So I guess that carried on, on to Spencer.”

“Dad told me too that…. the villagers respected him so much because he would be able to communicate between the Indians and them. But apparently they feared John, the Indians feared John, so in him to their little community he was their life guard. He was such a sharp shooter and knew the Indian’s style….  That is about what he told me.” – Robert Chamberlain

My eight-year DNA search for Winona began in 2017

In 2017, my daughter, Lara, took the “23andMe” DNA test which showed she has a small amount of Indian ancestry. This encouraged me to send in my own DNA sample with the hope I could discover more about my 4th great grandmother’s Indian heritage. The report was very disappointing. It said I had zero indigenous American ancestry. It turned out that Lara inherited hers from her mother. My wife thought this was hilarious.

I was confident of my Indian ancestry. Therefore, I dismissed the 23andme report as some kind of sampling error. About 1% to 2% of my DNA comes from Winona, so I continued my search to find DNA matches who were descendants of Winona’s family.

The Descendants of Chief Madockawando

In July 2017, I published a hypothetical story about Winona based on family history in Maine which suggested that the Penobscots of Maine might be her family.

A French Barron, Jean-Vincent D’Abbadie-de-St-Castin, was adopted into the tribe and married two of Chief Madockawando’s daughters. They had a large progeny, all of whom likely carried the recessive blue-eyed allele, which, I speculated, may have been passed down to Spencer Chamberlain.

In 2019, Harold Myshrall invited me to join his new Facebook group  “The Descendants of Chief Madockawando.”. The members of the group were very kind. They were interested in my story and were willing to help me. Many listed their pedigree through various family lines back to Chief Madockawando.

I did not find a direct connection to any of these lines. However, many of my DNA matches had French names like the members of this Facebook group. When the French converted the Indians to the Catholic faith, they gave them Christian (French) names. Their recorded French names became permanently established. Since all of my other pedigree names are British or Swedish, this gave me an important lead.

Ancestry.com DNA Matches

I have 64,581 Ancestry.com DNA matches, 26,854 of these matches were from my father’ line. (Matches are persons who have at least one segment of DNA on their chromosomes that matches my DNA). This indicates we have an ancestor in common. About 3% of matches from my fathers line should be descendants of my 4th great-grandmother Winona’s family.

I selected matches from my father’s line who were distant relatives with very large, publicly available, family tree charts, (5000 names or more). When I found French names, I expanded the chart to the sixth or seventh generation. Any DNA segment or segments that we have in common will pass down the pedigree chart through at least one person in every generation.

I was looking for the generation of Winona’s parents. Since Spencer Chamberlain was born in 1786, my estimate for Winona’s birth year was between 1740 to 1770. Couples bearing children within this range were the generation of Winona’s parents.

Then I analyzed and printed out the pedigree charts of several different DNA matches. Names of some couples in these pedigree charts reoccurred several times on different people’s charts. One of these reoccurring couples, in the right generation, was likely Winona’s parents.

Ancestry.com ThruLines

Thru Lines is a program that uses Ancestry customer pedigree charts, linked with customer DNA results, to predict ancestry. Customers who have DNA segments which match yours can help predict your ancestry pedigree.

I found about 10 to 15 couples who possibly were Winona’s parents. I began to enter these in my pedigree chart as Winona’s parents one couple at a time. It takes Ancestry’s ThruLines computers about 24 hours to calculate and show the number of matches for each couple.

Winona’s parents are my fifth great-grand-parents. All of my matches through Winona’s parents are descendants of one of Winona’s siblings. Most of these matches are my sixth cousins. Closer cousins are not available because none of Winona’s direct ancestors know who her parents are. Therefore, they are not recorded in Ancestry.

Husband and wife are rated individually. Since both biological parents are related to their children, they generally have the same number of matches. On the other hand, uncles and aunts will show more matches for the DNA relative. Couples that show O or 1 match are distantly related or unrelated.

DNA will not tell us which child of the family is Winona. We can only guess this by determining which sibling best fits what we know about her.

Results

A different set of possible parents were entered each day into my Ancestry pedigree chart. The matches were observed 24 hours later in Ancestry “ThruLines”.

Most couples showed 0 to 1 matches. However, the following couples have 4 to 9 matches, showing they have a strong relationship to Winona.  All of the following couples have children born between 1740 to 1770 which is Winona’s likely birth range.

Names, birth years and number of matches:

1- Michel Gueret Dumont 1708  (9 matches), Marie Rose Levasseur 1711 (9 matches)

2- Jean Baptiste Gueret Dumont 1711 (7 Matches), Madeleine De La Bouitier 1730 (0 matches).

3- Alexis Nadeau 1701 (4 matches), Marie Ann Albert 1709 (4 matches).

Husband and wife #1 have equal number of matches, as does couple #3. Therefore, these couples are candidates as Winona’s possible parents. In couple #2, Jean Dumont has 7 matches and his wife has 0. This indicates he could be Winona’s uncle. As it turns out, Jean Dumont is Michel Dumont’s brother.

Couple #1 had three sons and five daughters. Two daughters died as infants and have death and burial records. The other three daughters were married and raised a family and died in Canada. Therefore, none of these are strong candidates to be Winona.

Couple #3 had five sons and six daughters. Five daughters raised families in Kamouraska, three of these women were too old to be Winona. One daughter died as a child and has a recorded death date. Likewise, none of these daughters are strong candidates to be Winona.

However, I was electrified to find that a daughter from couple #1 married a son of couple #3. This is a strong indication that couples #1 and #3 are Winona’s grandparents!!!

Winona’s family

Alexis Nadeau and Marie Ursule Gueret dit Dumont are the son and daughter of couple #3 and #1 respectively. I entered their name in my pedigree chart as Winona’s parents. Ancestry DNA ThruLines showed that I have 9 DNA matches for both of her parents! That means that I have 9 sixth cousins who are descendants from both her mother and her father through four different siblings. Also, I have a total of 13 sixth or seventh cousins who are descendants of their parents, Winona’s grandparents.

Next, I had to determine if they had a child who matches what we know about Winona. I had to find a daughter born between 1740 and 1770.

They had thirteen children. Twelve of the children have a record of their specific location and date they died. Ten of twelve were married and raised a family. Two boys died as children. All twelve lived and died in Quebec.

Six of their children were daughters, three are too young to be Winona. Five were married and raised a family. Only one of these daughters stand out as one who could be Winona.

Their oldest child was Marie Rose Nadeau. Her infant baptism date is July 21, 1761. However, that is the only record of her. There are no marriage, death or burial records for her. Somehow, she just disappeared.

They assume she died sometime before 1775. But, that is not correct. She gave birth to Spencer Chamberlain eleven years later when she was 25-years-old.

Conclusions:

The Nadeau family is well documented in Family Search. To my surprise, every line goes back all the way to France.

I was looking for an Indian girl who’s family had been given a French name. Ironically, I found a French girl who had been given and Indian name. The Chamberlain family knows her as “Winona”.

I am sorry this discovery may be quite a shock for some, as it was to me. Perhaps, like myself, you may even experience a minor identity crisis. I believed I was part Indian all my life. Nevertheless, new DNA evidence combined with our family tradition tells us that Winona is a little French girl who was raised by Indians.

On the other hand, I am very happy that I found Marie Rose Nadeau, my French 4th great-grandmother, who has been missing for over 250 years.

References:

(1) https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/kamouraska-que

(2) The Battle of Quebec, Full Movie, (2009) Noel Burton, Arthur Holden, Marcel Jeannin https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Osj47uHJkUs

(3) Poem by Jeanette Chamberlain Phillips, daughter of Spencer Chamberlain, written in 1860 to defend her father as the hero of Runaway-Pond.

(4) Alonzo Chamberlain Phillips packet of family information sent Dec. 21, 1927. His letter began “Dear cousins in the West”. He apparently sent this information to the families of Amanda Chamberlain Warren and John Harry Chamberlain. Both families lived in Spencer, Iowa at the time.

(5) From Harry Alonzo Phillips poem about Runaway written in1929. Harry Phillips is the grandson of Spencer Chamberlain.

(6) Spencer Chamberlain’s Army discharge papers, 1815

“Were sub-Saharan Africans part of the court of James IV, King of Scots?”

Mairi Cowan, a lecturer at the University of Toronto raised this question in 2013.¹ Her question and study helped answer my own question, “Where did my 0.1% sub-Saharan African DNA come from?”

Using a 23&me program, and Family Search, I traced my small fragment of African DNA on my chromosome 11 to my fifth great-grandmother, Jean Mitchell, born in 1755, Alloa, Clackmannanshire, Scotland. The story of how my African ancestors arrived in Scotland began centuries earlier.

War on the high seas

In 1476, Capitan John Barton and his crew were voyaging from Flanders, homeward bound toward Scotland. His merchant ship, the Juliana, was laden with valuable cargo. Suddenly, two armed Portuguese vessels launched an attack upon them. Barton and his crew put up substantial resistance. Nevertheless, the pirates captured the ship.² Some of the crew were killed and many were wounded. They thrust Barton and other survivors into a fishing boat and cut it adrift.³

Barton went to Lisbon to seek redress for his losses.² The court trifled with or evaded the matter.  John persisted in the effort and was murdered.³

King James III, also made attempts to persuade Alfonso V, King of Portugal in the case. These efforts also were unsuccessful. The king, therefore, granted a letter of marque to John Barton’s three sons, Andrew, Robert and John Jr. Thus granting them authority to seize Portuguese vessels and cargoes until they had made good their father’s losses valued at £6,000.² Today (2021), about £4,485,000 or $5,750,000.⁴

Andrew was the most active brother capturing richly laden Portuguese ships returning from India and Africa. Of course, the Portuguese were quick to retaliate and for years, a war on the high seas ensued between the Barton privateers and the Portuguese.²

“Moor Taubroner” an African drummer taken from a Portuguese ship

The Barton brothers imported into the port at Leith, damask cloth, timber and other valuable cargo for King James IV.⁵ Their raids on Portuguese ships built their reputation as famous privateers.

Historians believe that the privateers captured Peter the Moor during a raid of a Portuguese cargo ship.⁶ The earliest reference to “the Moreyn” in Scotland was in 1501.¹ “Moore Taubroner”, an African drummer, is often mentioned in the accounts of James IV. Historians believe he is Peter the Moor.⁷

King James IV was a fun-loving, enthusiastic king with numerous interests. He welcomed and enjoyed the company of popular artists and singers. His official records provide accounts of “lively entertainment” that took place in the royal court.⁶ The drummer travelled with the king to provide entertainment at various locations in the country. The shows also included fiddlers, lutists and four Italian “menstrales”.^1,5

Peter the Moor was free to travel. At one time he was given five French crowns, at the king’s request, for a journey to France. Moor Taubroner had a family, and records mention a payment to the his wife and child.⁵ They also paid a doctor 35 shillings to attend to his needs for two weeks. Peter the Moor continued to appear in royal records until August 1504, when he received a large and final payment of £3, presumably to go find work elsewhere.^1,6  (£3 has a 2021US equivalent of about $2875.)⁴

“Moorish lasses” presented to King James IV in 1506

In 1506, the Barton privateers created quite a sensation when they arrived a Leith with their prize. Some historians believe that within their capture were two negro maids carried off from the west coast of Africa to be sold as slaves.² According to contemporary records, they had been “rescued” from a Portuguese ship.⁵ The two “Moorish lasses”, as they were called, were presented to the king. Though considered slaves, in keeping with other European courts,¹ a much more kindly destiny was in store for them.²

King James IV accepted them as a gift and took great interest in their welfare. They were incorporated into the queen’s household, converted to Christianity and baptized as Margaret and Hellen. One of the women, (Hellen it is believed), became an attendant of the queen described as the “Quenis blak madin”.⁵

The exotic lady then won a position reserved for the most beautiful member of the court. She won the leading role in the medieval play, “The Justing of the Wild Knight for the Black Lady”.  The king himself played the part of the Wild Knight.^1,5 He overcomes the opposing forces to win her hand. The kings tournaments were magnificent and expensive spectacles held in June 1507 and again in May 1508.⁵

The Moors at Stirling Castle, 1549

Kings, James IV, V and VI of the Stewart Dynasty constructed Stirling Castle between 1490 and 1600. James IV died in battle and his successor, seventeen-month-old James V, was crowned in 1513.

James V grew up in Stirling Castle under the guardianship of Lord Erskine. He also died young, and his widow, Mary of Guise continued the unfinished work. Their infant daughter, Mary, Queen of Scots, was brought to Stirling Castle for safety. She was crowned queen there on 9 September 1543. In 1548, the five year old queen was sent to France while Scotland was ruled by regents.⁸

The “Morys”, (Moors) were living at Stirling Castle in 1549. Historian John Harrison studied “The Bread Book” at Stirling Castle. The book tells how white rolls “pain de bouche” and light brown wheaten rolls “pain commun” were made daily by the queen’s baker. They distributed bread loaves to lords and ladies, military officers, servants, muleteers and the palace cleaner. Records show that they often granted a loaf of bread to the Moors.⁹

In a 2010 article, Harrison said he believed these Moors were black Africans or Arabs from North Africa. He said that historians dismissed previous hints of Africans in Scotland’s pageants as Scots just costumed and blacked up. “Just who the Moors were, and what they were doing is difficult to say. They were quite low in the court hierarchy, but were part of the household and getting bread at royal expense”.⁹

Earl of Mar became hereditary governor of Stirling castle in 1566.

Queen Mary returned to Scotland in 1561 and married Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley. They had a son, James VI in 1566. John, Lord Erskine, the Earl of Mar became hereditary governor of the castle in 1566.

After the death of Darnley in February 1567, Queen Mary married James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell. Many believed he orchestrated Darnley’s death which caused an uprising against the couple. On July 24, 1567 Mary abdicated in favor of her son, James VI.¹⁰

Lord Erskine, the Earl of Mar became guardian for the infant king. When Mary escaped from Lochleven Castle in May 1568, they ordered the Earl to step up security at Stirling around the king and expel from the castle all but his closest friends and relatives.¹⁰ It is likely the Moors had to leave Stirling Castle at this time. Even though there was a Moor associated with the royal household in the 1590s during the reign of James VI.⁹

James Frazer, “of a black complexion”, Alloa, 1777

Stirling Castle is six miles from Aloa, Clackmannanshire. John Erskine, born in Alloa in 1675, was the 6th Earl of Mar. He created industrial Alloa, developing the town as a coal-mining center. Erskine, a leader of the failed Jacobite uprising of 1715, died in exile. His brother later purchased the forfeited estates and restored them to the Erskine family.¹¹

Evidence that descendants of the Moors of King James IV lived in Alloa Clackmannanshire showed up in an ad in the Newcastle Courant, September 6, 1777. The ad offered a reward of two guineas for information leading to the apprehension of James Frazer. Frazer, a twenty-two-year-old black man, was a valuable pitman, “belonging to John Francis Erskine, Esquire of Marr” He had run away from the Alloa Colliery.¹²

“Run Off, from Alloa Colliery, Clackmannanshire, North Britain, belonging to John Francis Erskine, Esq., of Marr.”

“James Frazer, abound pitman, aged about 22, wore his own hair, of a black complexion, stout made, very much in-kneed. Whoever gives any information, so as to apprehend the said James Frazer, either to Mr Nelson, the Black Bull and Post-Boy, or William Ritchie, at the Edinburgh Tea Warehouse, Newcastle, shall have two guineas reward.” [Newcastle Courant 6 September 1777]¹²

23&me Advanced DNA Comparisons

Advanced DNA Comparisons, a 23&me program, compares and matches your DNA with  your relatives. It will show exactly where on your chromosomes you match. When two or more people match at the same location, they have a certain ancestor in common.

My West Africa DNA came from Agnes Izatt Adams

My 23&me test results show that 99% of my DNA is from Great Britain and Scandinavia. No surprise. However, the small segment of sub-Saharan African DNA on Chromosome 11 was very interesting. Where did it come from? Was my African ancestor from my father or my mother’s line?

One day while exploring my chromosome 11, I found a relative who matched with the same chromosome location and same 0.1% Western African DNA. My relative listed his family surnames, so I recognized immediately that he was my third cousin. Our common ancestors are Alexander S. Izatt and Jeanette Williamson. This means that I inherited this DNA segment from their daughter, my great-grandmother Agnes Izatt Adams born in 1866.

My family tree in FamilySearch showed that all ancestors in my Izatt-Williamson lines were born in Scotland. There were no hints of any African ancestry. After months of useless speculation, I knew I had to find a more distant ancestor.

John Dick Thomson and Agnes Izatt (4th cousins), share common ancestor.

By comparing all of my relatives who also have DNA matches with my third cousin, I found two more matches on chromosome 11. They were a brother and a sister who are my fifth cousins once removed. Their father and grandfather were born in Scotland. Their grandfather was John Dick Thomson.

There was no family tree connection between myself and John Dick Thomson. However, from the DNA matches, I was 100% certain there was a family connection somewhere beyond my second great-grandparents Izatt-Williamson. The connection was not known, so I had to find it.

John Dick Thomson’s mother was Mary Paterson. I found that my fifth great-grandmother, Jean Mitchell, had a sister, Janet. Janet Mitchell married James Paterson and they had two sons, Alexander Paterson and William Paterson.

Bingo! I then knew our common ancestors were Jean and Janet’s parents, Alexander Mitchell and Agnes Michie.

Now, all I had to do was prove it!

My task was to connect either Alexander Paterson or William Paterson with an apparent granddaughter, Mary Paterson. After several grueling hours of Scottish genealogical research, I was able to present a well documented connection.

Two hundred years in Alloa, Clackmannanshire

An act of Parliament in 1606 bound coal miners in Scotland, and their families, to the owner of the colliery in which they worked. This act made coal miners and their families virtual slaves to the land owners.¹² It stated that:

“no person should fee, hire or conduce and salters, colliers or coal bearers without a written authority from the master whom they had last served”. Therefore, a collier lacking such written authority could be “reclaimed” by his former master “within a year and a day”.

This law was class slavery and applied to all races. It continued in Scotland until 1799 when an Act was passed that all colliers were “to be free from their servitude”.¹²

Coal mining began in Clackmannanshire about 1710, which explains why our family remained in Clackmannanshire for two hundred years. Our common ancestors, Alexander Mitchell and Agnes Michie were born in 1727 and 1729. Alexander married Agnes on September 1, 1741 in Alloa, Clackmannanshire, Scotland.

Genealogical records show these two families had lived in Alloa for many generations. The Michie paternal line goes back four more generations to Alexander Mitchie born 1605. He married Margaret Wardlaw in 1626, Clackmannanshire, Scotland. The record of the Mitchell paternal line goes back five generations to John Mitchell. He was born in 1591 in Alloa, Clackmannanshire, near the foot of Stirling Castle during the reign of the Scottish King James VI.¹³

King James VI of Scotland became King James I of England on March 24, 1603.

Summary of our African ancestors

DNA evidence presented by The Chamberlain Story website confirms historical research findings that suggest sub-Saharan Africans were members of the royal court of James IV, King of Scotland.

In the early 1500s, our African ancestor was kidnapped in Africa and sold to Portuguese slave traders . According to 23&me this person was from West Africa, either Senegambian & Guinean or Nigerian.

Scottish Privateers, the Barton brothers, attacked the Portuguese ship.  They captured the Africans, and took them to Scotland, and presented them as a gift to King James IV.

In the king’s court, they served as entertainers, traveling and interacting with the king. The king paid them were and treated quite well. After their employment with the king, they and their families lived in Stirling Castle for about two generations, where they were likely employed as servants.

The queen’s mother, Mary of Guise, was very inclusive and interacted with the commoners. The “Moors” knew and possibly cared for Mary Queen of Scots at Stirling Castle until she was five years old. The Regents sent Mary off to live in France in 1548.

Eventually, the “Moors” left Stirling Castle, probably during a time of the turmoil in 1568, and made their home in Alloa, Clackmannanshire. The Erskine family and the Earls of Mar owned the land.

Coal mining began in Clackmannanshire about 1710. Our ancestors had to work in the coal mines under the harshest conditions. Bound to the Erskine family, men, women and children had to work the mines six days a week.

Jean Mitchell was about ten generations from her ancestor kidnapped in Africa. Undoubtedly, her DNA was a blend of both black and white races.

Connection to the Izatt family line

On August 8, 1778 William Izatt married Jean Mitchell in Alloa. They were the first generation to leave Clackmannanshire. Their grandsons, William and Andrew Izatt, were Scottish coal miners. A mining explosion killed Andrew in 1850. William and his family went to America in 1862. See their story beginning with  Chapter E13.

Other Links:

Summary Page 4- Alexander Spowart Izatt Family History

Summary Page 3- Other DNA Studies

Dr. Catherine Mills’ research project about the legacies of coal mining in Clackmannanshire.

© Copyright Dennis D. Chamberlain, All rights reserved. The Chamberlain Story, 2021.

References

1- Mairi Cowan, Moors at the Court of James IV, King of Scots, https:www.medievalists.net/2013
2-Leith’s Sea-Dogs: The Fighting Bartons, https://electricscotland.com/history/leith/17.htm
3- Barton Historical & Genealogical Society Database, Capt. John Barton, https://www.bartondatabase.com
4- Measuring Worth.com
5- Jennifer Melville, Africans at the court of James IV, https://www.nts.org.uk/stories/
6- King James IV of Scotland, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_IV_of_Scotland
7- Africans in the Scottish Royal Court
8- Stirling Castle, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stirling_Castle
9- History of Stirling Castle becomes a little Moorish, The Herald, 26 Jan 2010
10- Mary Queen of Scots, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary,_Queen_of_Scots
11- The Bobbing John, https://www.jdwetherspoon.com/
12- http://www.scottishmining.co.uk/8.html Early Mining History
13- Familysearch.org

Ancestry DNA results confirm John is son of Thomas Chamberlain of Westmoreland

Six DNA matches of Spencer Chamberlain with his uncles, Jedediah Sr and Increase Sr confirm that John Chamberlain is their brother and therefore, Spencer Chamberlain’s father. John is the son of Thomas Chamberlain and Abigail Pierce of Westmoreland, New Hampshire. Thomas is the grandson of William Chamberlain who immigrated to America in 1635. Thomas’ grandmother is Rebecca Chamberlain, who died in Cambridge prison in 1692 during the Salem witch trials.

The DNA evidence for Thomas Chamberlain as my 5th great grandfather is very strong. My DNA has a match with six others who are also 5th great grandchildren of Thomas of Westmoreland. All of these matches are my 6th cousins, who descend from two children and five different grandchildren of Thomas.

Fourteen DNA Matches with Spencer Chamberlain and Millie French

It is not surprising that I have 14 matches with descendants of Spencer Chamberlain and Millie French. Records and family knowledge are very clear that he is my third great-grandfather. Eleven of the matches are through Amanda Chamberlain Warren and three matches are through John H. Chamberlain and Harry E. Chamberlain.

The problem in our genealogy line is with Spencer’s Chamberlain’s father and mother.

 

Zero DNA Matches for John and Winona

My Ancestry shows no DNA matches with John or Winona, because there are no other Ancestry public trees with linked DNA that trace their Chamberlain line to Thomas of Westmoreland.

The reason for this is that my information is very new. It was not known before 2017, and most Ancestry’s Spencer Chamberlain lines were filled in before this time.

The only thing we knew about Spencer’s father before 2017 is that his name was John Chamberlain who married an Indian woman named Winona, and that their son Spencer was born in Westmoreland, New Hampshire.

Some of the Spencer Chamberlain family held a tradition that Spencer’s father John was a son or grandson of the legendary Paugus John Chamberlain. We all tried hard to prove this connection but it never quite fit. Also, there is no evidence that Paugus John, or any of his family ever came to Westmoreland where Spencer was born.

Others of the Spencer Chamberlain family chose the only John Chamberlain known to live in Westmoreland as the father of Spencer. This John Chamberlain married Eunice Edson and is the son of Henry Chamberlain and Susannah Hinds. However, what appears to be a complete record of the births of John and Eunice’s eight children from 1768-1788 is available.¹ These do not include Spencer.

Also, it has been proven by Y-DNA that Spencer is a descendant of one of the brothers, Thomas, Edmond or William Chamberlain. John, the son of Henry, is from the Henry Chamberlain immigrant line, and therefore, cannot be the father of Spencer Chamberlain.

Ancestry DNA “Thru Lines”

I am very impressed with the feature ThruLines for those who have Ancestry DNA and a publicly available Ancestry family tree. When your public family tree and your DNA analysis are linked together, it has the ability to predict your other relatives by your DNA matches and their tree information.

My family tree was filled out only to my second great grandparents. However, based on my DNA matches, Ancestry DNA ThruLines was able to predict 114 of my 128 fifth great grandparents!

Unfortunately, Ancestry DNA ThruLines was not able to provide information on Spencer’s Indian mother Winona. This maybe because, currently, Spencer’s progeny do not follow the correct biological genetic path from Spencer through John and his father, Thomas of Westmoreland. Nor, therefore, through Winona to her unknown parents.

Filling in the true known biological information is necessary to solve the unknown part of the puzzle. If Winona’s parents are in the Ancestry DNA database through one or more of Winona’s siblings, the progeny of Spencer Chamberlain should provide enough DNA matches to find Winona’s parents. Winona’s parents are my fifth great-grandparents and would, therefore, show up on my Ancestry DNA ThruLines.

Are you a descendant of Spencer Chamberlain?

If so, here is how you can help:

1- Read the rest of this post to see if you agree with the new information published by The Chamberlain Story. If you do, please go to step two.

2- Update your Ancestry family tree from Spencer Chamberlain to his parents John and Winona, and through John Chamberlain to his parent’s Thomas Chamberlain and Abagail Pierce. If you wish, you may use my Ancestry public tree Dennis Dean Chamberlain, The Chamberlain Family (working).

3- Be sure your Ancestry DNA and Ancestry family tree are linked, and that your family tree is public.

4- Be patient. It will take a full 24 hours for Ancestry to calculate the DNA matches and new information for ThruLines.

5- Please contact me through this post or by my email when you update your information. Let me know any DNA matches that connects you to Thomas Chamberlain.

Click here if you would like my referral for an Ancestry DNA test kit.

Chronology of the new information, published in 2017.

My daughter, Lara, and I worked on the new information about Spencer Chamberlain’s family for seven years before we published it in 2017 in my blog The Chamberlain Story. I have been filling in the new information into my Ancestry family tree The Chamberlain family (Working).

We found numerous, documents, books, letters and emails containing information not found on the internet. This new information unlocked the mysteries from the confusing history of the John Chamberlains of Westmorland and of the census records for the household of Increase Chamberlain Jr.

In June, 2010, I attended The Runaway Pond Bicentennial Celebration, (watch 5 min. video). There, I bought a copy of Glover, Vermont Westlook Cemetery, Gravestone Inscriptions & Other Genealogical Data, Glover Historical Society. This book, which was not on the internet, had tons of information about Spencer Chamberlain’s family.

At the bicentennial, I became acquainted with Joan Alexander, secretary of the Glover Historical Society. She had previously helped me to find information for my book Run Chamberlain, Run! Solving the 200-Year-Old-Mystery of Runaway Pond.

In October 2014, Joan Alexander emailed me a mysterious note from an 1810 Glover town meeting about a “widow Chamberlain” in Glover, VT. Lara and I finally figured out she was the widow of Increase Chamberlain Jr. Joan sent me more notes from town meetings about Increase and Spencer Chamberlain before 1810.

On March 9, 2017, the Historical Society of Cheshire County in Keene NH sent me a packet full of letters and document copies. These had answers to many of my questions about the Chamberlain families of Westmoreland and specifically Increase Chamberlain Jr and John Chamberlain.

The data and references for Spencer Chamberlain’s descendants are not as simple as reading a birth record or grave inscription. It is puzzle with dozens of pieces that fit together.

John Chamberlain was born in Newton, Massachusetts

On June 9, 2017, The Chamberlain Story reported that there were two distinct Chamberlain families in Westmoreland, New Hampshire in 1790. Thomas Chamberlain’s family lived on the west side of town, belonged the Congregational Church and came from Middlesex County, Massachusetts. Henry Chamberlain’s family lived on the east side of town, were Baptists and came from Plymouth County, Massachusetts. Both families had a son named John Chamberlain.

However, the historic record had combined information about the two John Chamberlains, as if they were the same person. By separating the two Johns, new important information was revealed. A decoded paragraph in the1885 Cheshire County, NH Gazetteer should read:

“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, Massachusetts.”²  (see chapter 10)

Thomas Chamberlain signed the covenant of the new Westmoreland Congregational Church on September 26, 1764 and officially transferred his membership to the new church on April 7, 1765 from Newton.³

The existence of Thomas’ son John is confirmed in a letter written by Ella E. Abbott to a “Mrs Chamberlain”. She listed John among the other the children of Thomas Chamberlain, It was members of Thomas’ family, that were the grantees of Westmoreland. Referring to the Thomas Chamberlain family she wrote:

“William Chamberlain1 first of Woburn, 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

There is no record of John’s birth because of “the destruction by fire of the records of the first church at Newton, Mass. in 1770”⁵  However, Thomas lived in Newton immediately prior to his move to Westmoreland. Therefore, John is his sixth son, born between Jeremiah and Increase. This places John’s birth in about 1739. (not 1734 as previously guessed)

The search for Spencer and his father in Westmoreland

In 1934, my grandfather, Harry Chamberlain hired a genealogist to help find Spencer and his parents in Westmoreland, New Hampshire.  Spencer Chamberlain’s army enlistment papers stated that he was born in Westmoreland.

Merton T. Goodrich studied the 1790 U. S. census record and compared it with known birth records. No records of Spencer nor his father John in Westmoreland could be found. His twenty-two page report came to this conclusion:

“All of these records prove these points. Spencer Chamberlain may have been the son of Amos, Increase Jr., or Job Chamberlain. The name of his father cannot be limited to one of these three until we can prove that his parents remained in Westmoreland until after 1790. It seems most reasonable to assume that they did. If so, Spencer’s father nor grandfather was a John Chamberlain”.⁶

Spencer Chamberlain’s father’s name was John

Harry Chamberlain, knew Spencer’s father’s name was John because he lived with his grandfather Alonzo (Spencer’s son) until he was 14. Also, A. C. Phillips, who lived with his grandfather, recorded in Westlook Cemetery, Glover, Vermont record that Spencer Chamberlain died in 1853 and was the “Son of John E. & Winona”.⁷

What they did not know, however, was that in 1790, Spencer was living in the household of Increase Chamberlain, Jr., his older cousin and stepfather. He was the head of a six member household in Westmoreland NH. The census record showed for his household: (males 16 & over = 1), (males under 16 = 2), and (all females = 3).⁸ This is an impressive family for Increase and his wife Susannah who were both 24 years old. None of these members are known to be their children.

Thomas Chamberlain’s family moved to Stockbridge, Vermont

Thomas Chamberlain’s family left Westmoreland and a large group of them moved to Stockbridge, Vermont sometime between 1795 and 1800.

Mrs Ella Abbott wrote in her letters that the Thomas Chamberlains “were prominent while they lived in Westmoreland but all moved away, left not a vestige behind them.… and after his wife died (Thomas) might have gone to Vermont to live with some of his sons who lived in Stockbridge.⁴

The 1800 census in Stockbridge, Vermont shows eight Chamberlain households. These are Jedediah Chamberlain Sr, his sons Jedediah Jr., and Josiah; and Increase Chamberlain Sr., and his sons Amos, Thomas, Isaac and Increase Chamberlain, Jr.

The 1800 census for Increase Chamberlain, Jr., in Stockbridge Vermont  shows that Spencer Chamberlain, age 14, could be one of the males, and a 45+ female could be his mother. Increase Jr and his wife Susannah were 34 years old and their parents were living in a different household. If Spencer’s mother Winona was still living, we would certainly expect her to be with her young son.

 Increase Chamberlain Jr’s family moved to Glover, Vermont by 1802

Joan Alexander, secretary of the Glover Historical Society, helped me find records about Increase Chamberlain and Spencer Chamberlain in Glover town meeting records. They show that Increase Chamberlain Jr and Spencer Chamberlain lived in Glover, Vermont.

Dickerman family records show that Increase and Susannah’s daughter Tryphena Chamberlain Dickerman was born in Glover, Vermont on June 10, 1802.⁹ Increase Chamberlain took the Freeman’s Oath in Glover in September 1806. And in March, 1808 he was voted in as a Surveyor of the Highways.¹⁰

Increase Chamberlain Jr died in Glover Vermont in June, 1810. In notes from a Glover town meeting held on June 18, 1810 a vote was taken “that there be  a committee of three chosen to take care of Widow Chamberlain and take measure to remove her to Stockbridge if she will go.”¹⁰

Widow Chamberlain was Susannah Chamberlain, the wife of Increase Chamberlain Jr and the daughter of Jedidiah Chamberlain Sr who still lived in Stockbridge, Vermont. She returned to Stockbridge to live with her family after her husband died.

Spencer moved to Glover with Increase Chamberlain Jr.

Spencer Chamberlain was living in the household of Increase Chamberlain Jr in 1790 and 1800, and was 16 when Increase moved from Stockbridge to Glover in 1802.

He took his freeman’s oath on September 1, 1808.¹⁰ The age of 21 was required. Glover town records show that on  March 28, 1809, five men including Spencer Chamberlain were chosen town Haywards.¹⁰

In the packet of information and documents sent from the Historical Society of Cheshire County, New Hampshire in 2017, the most informative were the letters of Ella Abbott to a Mrs Chamberlain and an 1896 letter from Pamela S. Cutler of Randolf, Vermont written to her niece. In this letter Pamelia Cutler wrote:

“Your grandmother Dickerman’s (Tryphena Chamberlain Dickerman’s) father (Increase Chamberlain, Jr.) was my father’s (Jotham Chamberlain’s) oldest brother. He married my grandfather’s (Jeddediah Chamberlain, Jr’s) sister Susan (Susannah Chamberlain). She was my mother’s aunt. They (Increase Jr & Susannah Chamberlain) had five children; Lottz (Charlotte), Spencer, Tryphena, Vilors (Villars) and Milly.”¹¹

Tryphena, Villars and Milly are the children of Increase and Susannah Chamberlain. However, Spencer is not. He is the son of John and Winona Chamberlain. Charlotte may be Spencer’s older sister.

However, it is now certain that Spencer was living with them in Westmoreland when he was four years old as recorded in the 1790 census, and at age 14 in Stockbridge, in 1800.  Pamelia Cutler, in her letter, proves she is speaking of our Spencer Chamberlain when she added: “Spencer married and lived in Glover, Vt.“¹¹

The family of Thomas Chamberlain

*My DNA matches in bold

*Thomas Chamberlain was born August 9, 1703 in Billerica, MA and his wife *Abigail Pierce was born 18 May 1706 in Woburn MA. died 18 May 1769, Westmoreland, NH. They married 10 June 1730 in Concord, Middlesex, MA.¹²

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 internet genealogies. Joshua was born about 1734, Job about 1736, and John about 1739.

1- Josiah Chamberlain b. 27 June 1731, Billerica, Middlesex, Massachusetts,¹³ d. 1782.

2- Isaac Chamberlain b. 30 October 1732, Billerica, Middlesex, Massachusetts,¹⁴ d. 1783 Westmoreland, Cheshire, New Hampshire.

3- Joshua Chamberlain baptized 22 Sept 1734 at First Church of Lynnfield, Essex, Massachusetts. (This christening date places Joshua, not John, born in 1734)⁵

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, 1750¹⁵ and was considered an “adult male citizen of the town”, as was his 12 year old brother Jedediah.)¹⁵ d. 22 March 1825 Brewer, Penobscot, Maine.

5- *Jedediah Chamberlain Sr christened 12 June 1737 Stoneham, Middlesex, Massachusetts,⁵  d. 1828, Stockbridge, Windsor, Vermont.

6- *John Chamberlain was the sixth son of Thomas, born about 1739, Newton, Middlesex, Massachusetts.⁴ However, a fire in Newton destroyed church records in 1770⁵ and no birth records for John have been found. His father Thomas moved from Newton to Westmoreland, placing his birth order between Jedediah and the youngest brother Increase. John did not sign in 1750 but apparently was old enough (12-years-old) to become a grantee of the Westmoreland charter by 1752.

7- *Increase Chamberlain Sr b. 1741 in Westmoreland NH, d. 24 August, 1813, Stockbridge, Windsor, Vermont. (He was claimed to be the first white male child born in Westmoreland.)⁴

8- Abigail Chamberlain b. 31 July 1748 in Harvard, Massachusetts. She was the youngest child and only daughter of Thomas and Abigail.⁵ She married Henry Chamberlain in the Westmoreland Park Hill Congregational Church on February 26, 1767. They had fourteen Children. Abigail died at Panton, Addison County, Vermont in August 1819.¹⁶

Family of Jedediah Chamberlain Sr.¹⁷

*Jedediah Chamberlain is the son of Thomas Chamberlain , b. 1703 and Abigail Pierce b. 1706.^17a Jedediah was christened at Stoneham Congregational Church 12 June 1737. He married Ester Clark b. 4 May 1739. Jedediah and Ester were married about 1758.

Children of Jedediah Chamberlain and Ester Clark:¹⁷

1- Sibel Chamberlain, b. 3 April 1759, Westmoreland, NH.
2- Josiah Chamberlain, b. 20 May, 1760, Westmoreland, NH.
3- Ephraim Chamberlain, b. 23 Sept 1762, Westmoreland, NH.
4- Jedediah Chamberlain, Jr., b. 20 March 1764, Westmoreland, NH.
5- Susannah Chamberlain, b. 8 April 1766, Westmoreland, NH.
6- *Eunice Chamberlain, b. 29 March 1768, Westmoreland, NH. m. E. Twitchell
7- Hudah Chamberlain, b. 9 July 1770, Westmoreland, NH.
8- *Isaac Chamberlain, b. 31 Aug 1772, Westmoreland, NH.
9- Sally Chamberlain, b, 28 Sept. 1774, Westmoreland, NH.
10- Ester Chamberlain, b. 28 March 1776, Westmoreland, NH.

Children of Jedediah Chamberlain and Submit Osgood, b. about 1763. They were married about 1800, Stockbridge, VT.¹⁷

Correction: Some genealogists believe that these children belong to Jedediah, Jr. However, the census records show these are the children of Jedediah, Sr. Also, these were listed as children of Jedediah Sr. by Pamila S. Cutler in her 1896 letter. Her mother told her that Jedediah Sr. had 19 children by his two wives.¹¹

1- Abner Chamberlain, b. about 1801, Stockbridge VT.
2- Daniel Chamberlain, b. 10 January 1802, Stockbridge VT.
3- Asa Chamberlain, b. 15 December 1803, Stockbridge VT.
4- Roxy Chamberlain, b. 1 January 1807, Stockbridge VT.
5- Elijah Chamberlain, b. Stockbridge VT.¹¹

Family of Increase Chamberlain, Sr.¹⁸

Increase Chamberlain, Sr  b. 1741 in Westmoreland, NH, d. August 24, 1813, m Rachel Davis b. 1739, d. 20 March 1813 Stockbridge, VT. Children of Increase Chamberlain Sr., and Rachel Davis:

1- Rachel Chamberlain- b. 15 July 1764, m. Samuel Dean
2- Increase Chamberlain, Jr. b. 22 January 1766 Westmoreland, d. June, 1810 Glover, VT. Married his first cousin Susannah Chamberlain, date unknown.
3- Amos Chamberlain b. 10 December 1767, d. 4 July 1844.
4- Abigail Chamberlain b. 15 September 1769, d. 16 April 1819, m Joseph Packard
5- Thomas Chamberlain b.29 March 1772
6- Elizabeth Chamberlain b. 17 May 1774, m. Nathaniel Whitcomb
7- Benjamin Chamberlain b. 5 April 1776
8- *Azubah Chamberlain b. 10 April 1778, m. Lot Whitcomb
9- *Jotham Chamberlain b. 28 Aug 1780, d. 15 Aug 1847, m. Susan Chamberlain
10- *Isaac Chamberlain b. About 1781, m. Arvilla Bailey

Links:

June 6, 2021 is the 111th Anniversary of Runaway Pond.

Summary Page 3- Other DNA studies

© Copyright Dennis D. Chamberlain, All rights reserved. The Chamberlain Story, 2021.

References:

1- Willard Bill, History of Westmoreland, received from Alan Rumrill, Historical Society of Cheshire County.

2- Hamilton Child, 1736-1885 Gazetteer, Cheshire County, N. H., 1885 Syracuse, N.Y., p.519 (This is my correction of the paragraph, original paragraph.

3- Westmoreland Congregational Church (Park Hill) records. Email from Alan Rumrill, Historical Society of Cheshire County.

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- Mrs Grace E. Chamberlain, Thomas Chamberlain (3) Daniel (2), William (1), Born at Billerica, Mass. Aug. 1703; died in Vermont. (Type written, 7 page document, undated) from The Historical Society of Cheshire County.

6- Merton T. Goodrich, Genealogist, Search for Spencer Chamberlain’s Ancestry, To Harry Chamberlain, November 3, 1934.

7-  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

8- 1790 U. S. Census, Westmoreland, Cheshire County, New Hampshire

9- Edward D. Dickerman, Descendants of Thomas Dickerman, New Haven, 1897

10- Early town notes of Glover, Vermont. Email from Joan Alexander, Secretary of the Glover Historical Society, October 31, 2014

11- Pamelia S. Cutler of Randolf, Vermont,  A letter to her niece, 1896, Type written copy provided by Miss Etta Chamberlain. From The Historical Society of Cheshire County.

12- James Parker, Thomas Chamberlain’s wife Abigail Pierce, http://www.genealogy.com/forum/surnames/topics/chamberlain/2676/

13- Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Town Records, 1626-2001, Image 156 Familysearch.org

14- Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Town Records, 1626-2001, Image 207 Familysearch.org

15- History of Westmoreland, Cheshire County, New Hampshire, www.nh.searchroots.com

16- https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/33292999/abigail-chamberlain

17- Jedediah Chamberlain, http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com  Updated 2005-02-05.

17a- CORRECTION of a correction! Source #17 gave a “correction” to the parents of Jedediah Chamberlain which is wrong. It states: “Jedediah’s father was Thomas b. 1714 and his mother was Loes Waters”, yet it gives no explanation, reason or source for this information. Jedediah was the son of Thomas b. 1703 and Abigail Pierce who lived in Westmoreland. Jedediah was with his father and brothers when they signed the petition for the NH grant January 30, 1750. He was about 13 years old, so he should be still living in the same town as his father. Ella E. Abbott knew the Chamberlain’s of Westmoreland and confirmed in her letters that Jedediah was the son of Thomas Chamberlain and Abigail Pierce. (For more information, see Chapter 10 The Chamberlain Families of Westmoreland, NH.)

18- Increase Chamberlain, Sr. Find a Grave Memorial, www.findagrave.com

*DNA matches