21- John Harry Chamberlain, Pioneer Life on the Prairie

Homestead act of 1862

It certainly was a great opportunity, but feelings were mixed in the Chamberlain house. On May 20, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Homestead Act to encourage Western migration. Under this act, settlers were provided 160 acres of public land for a small filing fee. Homesteaders who met the requirement of five years continuous residence, received ownership of the land. When young Harry turned 21 in July 1870, he qualified to apply for his own land.

Harry Chamberlain qualified at age 21 to apply for land under the homestead act.

Alonzo and his son Harry were considering another pioneer adventure, homesteading in Jewel County Kansas.  However, a neighbor in Illinois received some “boom” issues of the Clay County News from his brother George Huggins. Their neighbor’s hot tip convinced them that Clay County, Iowa was their new “El Dorado”!

Harry’s step mother Lydia was skeptical.

On April 18, 1871, the Chamberlains packed up their belongings into two prairie schooners. Harry brought his only property, a horse and buggy. They headed west traveling along side of the Illinois Central railroad through Dubuque. After they were 100 miles into Iowa it began to rain.1

There were no roads or bridges and travelers faced danger crossing the wet marshy swamps that mired down their wagons. A couple of areas became especially note worthy, Hell Slough and Purgatory Slough. According to rumor, a wagon and team of oxen disappeared from sight as its driver attempted to cross Purgatory Slough, and were never seen again.2

“It rained almost every day,” Harry later recalled. “It was just out of one mud hole and into another… by the time we got to Pocahontas County we were well qualified to tackle Hell Slough and the two Purgatories.”1

Arrival at the county seat, Peterson, Iowa.

After three weeks of travel through dust and mud they arrived in Clay County where they spent their first night sleeping under a cottonwood tree.3 Their first sight of Peterson did not impress them. There was one store, a small hotel and a blacksmith shop. No problem. They came to homestead the land.

Alonzo Chamberlain settled  on the Clay County homestead in 1871.

The next morning they drove five miles northeast to see Mr. Huggins. “He gave us a real pioneer welcome.” This apparently included the notice that there were no land claims available.

What? No land claims? All they could see was land in every direction. Nevertheless, all the claims had been filed. They found that “land sharks” had covered up all the vacant homestead claims by putting fictitious filings on them. These filings were good for six months. Then they would relinquish their claim and immediately slap on another bogus entry until they could find some immigrant to sell it to.1

At this point in his story Harry begins to use the personal pronoun “I” instead of “we.” Alonzo and Lydia came to Clay County with him, but apparently they were now on the road back to Illinois. Alonzo eventually settled on Harry’s homestead, but Lydia returned to, and remained in Shirland.4,5

The Last Indian Scare

Harry went out, and for the next few days he explored the country to look for land locations. One night at about midnight, when Harry was sleeping alone in his prairie schooner, he was awoken when he heard someone shouting, “Fly for your life, Indians are upon us!”

He poked his head out of the covers and saw a man on a white horse armed with a rifle, knife and ax. “Where are they?”

“No time to visit,” came the reply. “You may be scalped in ten minutes, get on your best horse and go!”

He knew his farm horse would not stand a chance against a horde of Indian ponies. Also, according to family tradition, he was a direct descendant of the Chamberlain who had killed the Indian Chief Paugus at the battle at Lovewell’s Pond. Therefore, he figured, he would get his rifle and shot gun, hide under his schooner and wait for the Indians. The long night wait was tense, but the Indians never came.

It was with feeling of great relief to see the bright and glorious sunrise welcome a new day. He climbed upon his wagon and looked over the horizon. Nothing living or moving could be seen on that whole expanse of prairie. Some homestead seeking families left that night, he was told, and they never returned. He cooked up a pioneer breakfast and continued looking for land.

Finally, he traded his horse and buggy for a claim in Clay Township on section 29-95-ZS.1

About a year after the Chamberlains arrived, William Warren and Amanda Chamberlain Warren brought their three young daughters, Elnora 5, Florence 4, and Clara 1 to Clay County. They settled on a homestead in Clay Township about seven miles NE of Peterson.6

Living off the land

In the Spring of 1871, 2600 emigrants came in to settle Clay County. Six hundred houses were built and 18,000 acres were turned over.7 The land only offered the homesteader a place to camp and grass for their livestock. There were no railroads within about 50 miles.

The homestead act required that homesteaders make improvements on the land. Fortunately, the government made an order accepting  the sod house and sod barn as an improvement. Otherwise, compliance would not be possible. The prairie was covered with an abundance of very tough sod.1

Homesteaders would hitch up a plow and turn a furrow in the sod for a half mile or so. Then the sod was cut with a spade into about two foot lengths. The walls were made about two feet thick by alternately laying the pieces lengthwise then cross ways. They filled the cracks in the walls with grass and soil.

When the walls reached the desired dimension they covered the structure with poles and thatched them with slough grass. They then covered the roof with grass, sod or both. When they managed to get enough lumber they would make window frames, a door frame and a door. One or two small windows were framed and cheap windows were made that would swing on hinges.

The houses were very cheap but quite comfortable. Homesteaders had no other option, since there would be no money until they could raise a crop of wheat.1,8

Harry related a story of the fuel problem they had the first couple of years on the prairie:

“The fuel question was quite a problem at first, but we so on—regardless of our religious training— learned to—  well, they would call it stealing wood. We did not call it stealing; we just went and took it. But when we were too busy to steal wood we twisted hay and got through that way. it was not a bad fuel. We had one preacher whose conscience hurt him a little to steal wood, and he said that he would either have to stop preaching or quit stealing wood, but I saw him down in the timber the next day just the same.”1

The first school house in Clay County

There was no public money for a school but they had to have one. They built a respectable sod school house in the geographical center of Clay Township, section 26 about 18 miles southwest of Spencer. There were only three sod houses and two farm houses between Spencer and Peterson at the time. The neighbors came to Harry and wanted him to teach school the first winter.1

Harry needed to have a certificate to qualify to teach. To take the examination, he traveled to Spencer and then went west down what later became Fourth Street past the cemetery. There he turned off the road and went up the river bottom northwest about a mile. He then forded the river where he found the county superintendent, Charles Carver, out in the field digging potatoes.1

The school opened on a cold winter day. Harry had to dismiss class so that the neighbors could pile on a few loads of hay and add sod to the roof to keep out the wind.1 “The school house where I taught had its stovepipe going right up through the thatch,” he later mused, “I don’t know why the roof didn’t burn off two or three times that winter.”8

Harry taught every thing from the ABCs up to and including Algebra. His duties for his thirty-seven dollars per month salary also included building the fires to keep the place warm. One morning after a fearful storm, he had to sweep out about three inches of snow. He built a wood fire in the stove and continued sweeping. In a few minutes, he looked over at the stove. The heat had melted the snow from the top and it ran down and froze in a fringe of icicles all around the edges of the stove. It was about twenty degrees below zero that morning.1

One of the worst blizzards that Harry remembered came in January, 1874. It had been a beautiful forenoon, but the storm hit at about 1 o’clock. Soon people began to come for their children. They all had been picked up but two young men and three small girls. Harry knew that the girls’ father was out working in the timber. He took them out into the storm and somehow got them through to their homes. The young men made two attempts to get a mile to their home. Each time they got lost in the storm and were forced to return to the school where they stayed until the next day.1,3

Harry later said of his pupils that he never saw any work as hard as they did, and as far as he knew, they did well in the world. One of his students was sixteen-year-old Mary Eva Ellis.9

Mary Eva Ellis

Harry Chamberlain and Mary Eva Ellis. Both were teachers at the little sod school house in Clay Township

Mary Ellis was born in Rising Sun, Polk County, Iowa on December 15, 1855. There she obtained her early education in rural Polk County. She moved with her parents, Walter Ellis and Clarissa Nichols Ellis, to Clay County where they settled on their homestead in Clay Township section 6.

Mary attended school in the little sod school house in Clay County, under the instruction of her 22-year-old teacher, and future husband. She also attended for a while at the private school of Mrs. Phoebe Lincoln in Spencer.9 After finishing her education, she was hired as a teacher at the Clay Township school.3

She married Harry Chamberlain on June 20, 1875, and they began married life together on the groom’s Clay County farm.

In 1876, Mary’s older brother the Reverend Dennis R. Ellis came from Des Moines to lead in the establishment of the first Christian Church in Clay County.5 Harry Chamberlain1 and William Warren10 and others organised a Sunday School and built the Church. Mary Ellis Chamberlain became united at that time with this church being baptized by Rev. D. R. Ellis.9

Grasshoppers

Grasshoppers wiped out wheat fields in Northwestern Iowa in 1876.

It looked like a bumper crop of wheat during the spring of 1876. Harry Chamberlain was about to begin harvest in late July when a flight of grasshoppers clouded the sun in Northwest Iowa and Western Minnesota. They then began devouring every vestige of vegetation.11 “We had a wonderful crop but they took it all“, Harry wrote, “They clustered on everything like swarms of bees. Even the dog and the chickens had to stay in the barn. The only thing we had left in our garden was a castor bean. They stayed eleven days. Then the wind changed to the northwest and they all left in two hours.”1

This was a real disaster for Harry and his young bride. The future looked bleak. This year’s whole crop was destroyed and the grasshoppers had laid their eggs. It seemed likely that next year might be just as bad. There were some who believed that Northwestern Iowa would soon become a desert. On top of this, it was about this time when Mary realized that she was pregnant with their first child.

Alonzo W. Chamberlain, First child of Harry and Mary Chamberlain was born February 6, 1877

Political Intrigue

In the early days, Clay County was unified as Republican on national questions, but county politics was a fight between two factions, both of which claimed the name Republican. The main issue that divided the county was the location of the county seat. Peterson took it away from Spencer in 1860 by ten votes. One faction was led by M. E. Griffin. The other was led by Dr. Charles McAllister.

Harry Chamberlain riding bicycle through Spencer, Iowa.

In 1871 Harry Chamberlain, Dr. McAllister and County Treasurer S. W. Dubois fought for Peterson. Generally, the south part of the county was with them. However, Mr. Griffin defeated Dubois for county treasurer, 359 to 200, and therefore, the treasurers office and county seat was moved back to Spencer on January 1, 1872.

The treasurers safe was small enough for one man to carry it, so security precautions were put in place for its transfer to Spencer. John Copper, a public spirited citizen who had been sheriff, was persuaded to guard the safe. After they brought it up from Peterson he vigilantly stood guard protecting the little safe all night. He did not know that it was empty.

Griffin and his associates started The Spencer Reporter in the late seventies because the existing paper, The Spencer News, was controlled by McAllister, and it would not print the Griffin faction’s political arguments. The first Reporter office was on the west side of Main street between Second and Third.

There was a county election every year and the recorder and clerk of courts were elected in the even numbered years. The elections for other county offices were held in odd numbered years. In 1876, after his devastating crop loss due to the grasshopper plague, Harry Chamberlain decided to run for the office of Clerk of Courts.

At that time ballets were not provided by the government. Instead, various party organizations printed their own tickets. It was up to any candidate interested in being elected to personally see to it that the ticket with his name on it got into the hands of the voters. The voters handed in the ticket of their choice as their ballot. They could “scratch” it by crossing out and filling in a different name if desired, but it was the fashion to vote a straight ticket.12

Harry Chamberlain explained his political strategy:

“I drove all over the county before election handing McAllster tickets to the voters. I also put barrels of apples and boxes of cigars at strategic points for the use of electors. They ate Chamberlain’s apples and smoked Chamberlain’s cigars and then they voted for Chamberlain.”12

Harry Chamberlain served as clerk of courts for ten years, 1877-1886. He began his first term on January 1, 1877.

Who voted for Alonzo?

In the 1884 election, Harry Chamberlain the incumbent ran unopposed for the office of county clerk of courts. There were thirteen hundred and sixty-seven votes cast, of which Harry Chamberlain received 1366. A. Chamberlain received one vote.13

Post Office Box 31

When Harry became the clerk of courts he moved into Spencer. In February 1877 he rented Post Office Box 31 which was located in Post Master Jim Haskin’s “Justice of the Peace and Realty Office.”  He  held that box for many years with one slight interruption.

Harry Chamberlain

In the late 1880s the Post Masters owned the postal equipment including the boxes. Also, they were directly connected to the national presidential administration. Glover Cleveland won the US presidency in 1884. He was the first Democrat in the White House since before the Civil War. The new Post Master did not buy the PO boxes which were currently in use. Therefore, Haskin’s placed a sign on his PO Boxes: “THIS OFFICE CLOSED DURING DEMOCRATIC ADMINISTRATION.”

When Republican Benjamin Harrison won the presidential election in 1888, Haskins changed his sign: “OPEN FOR BUSINESS.” Thus, Chamberlain once again had his Post Office Box 31.8

Law Practice and Mayor of Spencer, Iowa

Harry was defeated in the election of 1886 and succeeded in by A. H. Cheney. However, he had been reading and studying law during his ten years as clerk of courts. He had prepared himself well and was admitted to the Iowa Bar in 1886. On January 1, 1887, Harry opened a law office on the second floor of the Hanson building in partnership with E. C. Hughes.3,5

In 1892 Harry Chamberlain served his first term as Mayor of Spencer. He served as Mayor through 1896.

Spencer vs Emmetsburg

On Thanksgiving day in 1895 excitement was high in anticipation of the big high school football game between Spencer and Emmetsburg. The Emmetsburg boys arrived on the 10:45 train and were accompanied by a great crowd of Emmetsburg enthusiasts, among them was noticed a goodly number of ladies.

At 12 o’clock the boys entered the field. Spencer’s team captain Hirleman won the toss and judiciously chose the south goal to take advantage of the wind.

The teams prepared for the kick off. As the teams lined up, the superior weight of the Emmetsville boys was particularly noticeable. They were larger and heavier than the Spencer boys.

Freeman’s kick sent the ball flying into the air. It hit well down in Spencer territory, but it was at once carried back to the center and downed. The game was on and for the next twenty minutes the ball was forced back and forth near the center. It was now some fifteen yards into Emmetsburg territory.

Alonzo W. (Lonnie) Chamberlain graduated from Spencer High School in the Class of 1896

Captain Hirleman called out, “x, y, z, c, b, m, n, o, p, q, five thousand, seven hundred and eighty-six.” That was it, the signal for the criss-cross. Eckley took the ball and feigned the left end then passed the ball to Chamberlain.

Chamberlain made a desperate run toward the right, and with the aid of interference made it around the right end. The field was now clear except for one man who was brushed off and Chamberlain made the most exciting run of the game carrying the ball over the line and behind the goal. It was the first touchdown of the game scoring Spencer 4 points. The ball was carried out ten yards, Chamberlain kicked a goal and the score stood at 6 to 0.14

Note: In 1895 the rules for football were different than today (2018). A touch down was 4 points, kick after touch down was 2 points, a safety was 2 points and a field goal was 5 points. The forward pass was not yet a part of the game. It is believed that the first forward pass occurred on October 26, 1895 in a game between Georgia and North Carolina when out of desperation, the ball was thrown instead of punted. It did not become part of the rules of American football until 1906.15

In the second half, Emmetsburg drove the ball down to five yards from the goal line. However, it was there fumbled and recovered by Spencer.16 SHS made two touchdowns in the second half, but the kicks after the touchdowns failed. “By this time the ball had become very wet and slippery, which, together with the strong wind made it no wonder Chamberlain missed the goal”.14

The Emmetsburg paper wrote of the action after the early 20 minutes of stale mate, “then Chamberlain, the star half back on the Spencer team was given the ball and made a splendid run of 35 yards around the end and made the first touchdown for Spencer”.

The final score was Spencer 14, Emmetsburg 0. In Emmetsburg the newspaper headline read:

“A BIG GOOSE EGG- THAT IS WHAT OUR FOOTBALL TEAM GOT AT SPENCER”16

Alonzo W. Chamberlain, the son of Harry Chamberlain, graduated from Spencer High School in the class of 1896. He was known to all of his friends as “Lonnie”. Perhaps a sign of Chamberlain modesty, I have never seen a write-up of him where he was mentioned as a star high school athlete. My grandfather, Harry Ellis Chamberlain was only 5-years-old at the time and probably didn’t remember Lonnie’s high school days.

Harry Jr. wrote of his brother, “Alonzo belonged to the band and had different instruments he practiced on. Alonzo (Lonnie) was a wonderful brother to me and I love him very much”.17

This is possibly a photo of nine members of the 1895-96 Spencer High School football team. Lonnie Chamberlain is seated, second from the left.

1895-96 Spencer High School football, names and team positions: Dubois center, Bitsen right guard, Griggs left guard, Greaves right guard, Hendricks left tackle, Eckley right end, Tryon left end, Hirleman quarter back, Chamberlain right half back, Eckley left half back, Wiesen full back, and substitutes Verharen, Tayler, Crandall and Stokes.16

The grandchildren of Alonzo Chamberlain

Children of William Warren and Amanda Chamberlain:
1- Elnora Idelia Warren b. 18 September 1867, d. 2 October 1931
2- Florence Elmira Warren b. 15 May 1869, d. 8 February 1957,
3- Clara Edith Warren b. March 1871, d. December 1969
4- Betty Norris Warren b. 16 February 1874, d. 1941
5- Arthur Irwin Warren b. 2 November 1878, d. June 1974
6- William Roy Warren b. 16 August 1883, d. 5 July 1969
7- Nellie Warren b. 14 March 1885, d. 8 July 1979

Children of Harry Chamberlain and Mary Eva Chamberlain:
1- Alonzo Walter Chamberlain b. 6 February 1877, d. 15 November 1930
2- Myrtle Mae Chamberlain b. 22 January 1882, d. 20 January 1928
3- Ernest Clarence Chamberlain b. 2 October 1883, 21 September 1904
4- Harry Ellis Chamberlain, Jr. b. 21 December 1890, d 23 February 1973

Alonzo W., Myrtle M., and Ernest C., Children of Harry and Mary Chamberlain. Photo taken about 1888.

 

Harry Ellis Chamberlain, Jr. Photo taken about 1893

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Auntie Betty” (Betty Norris Warren) center, Ernest C. Chamberlain, back row 6th L to R. (photo about 1891)

Mary Ellis Chamberlain

To be continued…

Chapter 22- Mary Ellis Chamberlain: The Mormons Return to Iowa

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

© Copyright Dennis D. Chamberlain, The Chamberlain Story, 2018. 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- Harry Chamberlain- Memoir of Harry Chamberlain. (Family copy) published in the Spencer Reporter, December 16, 1985.
2- Cheryl Mullenbach/Iowa History, 
3- Newspaper clipping from Spencer Iowa titled “Harry Chamberlain- Can Recall First Fair Ever Held in County Over Fifty Years Ago”
4- 1880 U. S. Census
5- The Spencer News-Herald, Spencer Iowa, February 1, 1935
6- Obituary Elnora Warren, October 8, 1931
7- The Philadelphia Inquirer, Friday, July 14, 1871
8- Spencer Reporter, Wednesday, December 17, 1924
9- Obituary of Mary Eva Ellis, Spencer Reporter, Wednesday, October 24, 1917.
10- Two Homesteaders of County Die, Spencer News Hearld, Thursday, February 25, 1926
11- The Gazette, Cedar Falls, Iowa, Friday, August 4, 1876
12- The Spencer Reporter, December 24, 1924
13- Clay County News Supplement, November 20, 1884
14- Spencer Herald, December 4, 1895
15- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_American_football
16- Emmetsburg Democrat, Wednesday, December 4, 1895
17- Life Story of Harry Ellis Chamberlain, (Given to Martin and Genene Chamberlain in October, 1972, Unpublished)

 

D1- The Chamberlain’s in America Y-DNA Link to William de Tancarville.

Three predominant Chamberlain families immigrated to America in the 1600s. These were the 1- Thomas, Edmond, William Chamberlain, presumably brothers; 2- Henry Chamberlain, known as the Black Smith, and 3- Richard Chamberlain of Braintree, MA.

Y-DNA tests show that these three families are unrelated. However, in my study of the Y-DNA data, I have found that in these three divergent lines of the Chamberlain family, at least two can be traced back to a single source. According to history, this might be the family of Lord Chamberlain to the Duke of Normandy and to King Henry I of England, William de Tancarville.

The origin of the Chamberlain surname

In January 1066, King Edward on his death bed granted the kingdom to Harold Godwinson, the head of a very powerful noble family in England. When the king died, Godwinson was proclaimed King Harold II. On the other side of the English channel, William Duke of Normandy was outraged.

Fifteen years earlier, William visited England and met with his cousin King Edward. According to Norman historians, the childless English King promised to make William his heir to the throne.

William was of Viking origin. The Vikings pillaged northern France in the late ninth and early tenth centuries. However, they eventually accepted that their territory of Normandy become part of France in exchange for peace. William and other Normans were descendants of these Scandinavian invaders. They grew up in Normandy loyal to the French kingdom.1

The Battle of Hastings 1066

On September 28, 1066, William, determined to have the promised throne, landed with thousands of troops and cavalry on Britain’s southeast coast. He seized the village of Pevensey.  He then marched on to Hastings where he paused to organize his forces.

King Harold soon arrived near Hastings with his army. The day after his arrival, October 14, 1066, William led his forces in to battle. It ended in a decisive victory. Harold was shot in the eye with an arrow and died and his forces were destroyed. After his victory at Hastings, “William the Conqueror” marched on to London which submitted to his army. There, crowned on Christmas day in Westminster Abbey, he became the first Norman king of England.

William and other Normans spoke French which became the language of the king’s court. It gradually blended with the Anglo-Saxon tongue to give birth to modern English.1

Tancarville Castle, Normandy

One member of the King’s court was Count William de Tancarville of Tancarville Castle. His castle was built on a spur overlooking the Seine River in Normandy. He came with “William the Conqueror” to England.  Though he returned to Normandy himself, his sons and descendants remained in England and occupied lands granted to them. William de Tancarville “is the progenitor of the Chamberlain family in England and America.”2

“John de Tancarville, son of the former Earl, was Lord Chamberlain to King Henry I”.2 Henry ruled England from 1100-1135. John “assumed his title as a surname. Richard, son of John, was also Chamberlain of King Steven and the surname Chamberlain has since his day been that of the family.”2

Famille de Tancarville

An English translation of a French record of the Tancarville family gives us a different version of the story. It is more detailed and therefore may be more accurate. It tells us that Guillaume de Tancarville (the French name for William) was the chamberlain to King Henry I.

Le Chateau Fort de la Tancrede, Picture from 1950s

Translation: “William I de Tancarville son of Raoul, chief chamberlain of Normandy and Angleterre. It seems certain that he was the chamberlain of Duke Robert Curthose, and his brother Henry Beauclerc, after his victory at the Battle of Tinchebray (1106). He was a close adviser to King Henry I of England.”3

When William the Conqueror died his oldest sons inherited the kingdom. Duke Robert Curthose ruled Nomandy and his brother William Rufus became King William II of England. Their younger brother, Henry Beauclerc, became King Henry I of England in 1100 when William II was killed in a hunting accident. Henry defeated his brother Robert for the control of Normandy in the Battle of Tinchabray.4

Rabel de Tancarville, the son of William, inherited the role of chamberlain of Normandy from his father. He refused to recognize Stephen as King of England for unknown reasons but quickly submitted. Therefore, apparently, King Steven confirmed him in his function as chamberlain.3

This French account gives us three successive chamberlains to the Duke of Normandy, Raoul, William and Rabel. The English chamberlains, John and Richard, are not mentioned in this report.

Do most Chamberlains descend from William de Tancarville?

About 100 living Chamberlain male descendants (mostly in the United States) were Y-DNA tested before 2011. Modern Chamberlain genealogist James Baldwin Parker concluded that the results of these tests  “absolutely proves that there are more than a dozen Chamberlain ancestral lines in the States and elsewhere who are completely and totally unrelated to one another. Only one of them, if any, could be a Tankerville line.”5

The Y-DNA data shows that the Chamberlain families tested are very diverse. That is certainly true. However, I am not sure what this proves and what it does not prove. The data just hasn’t been studied thoroughly enough to come to any conclusions.

Therefore, I decided to examine the Y-DNA data. I would like to find answers to a couple of interesting questions: Are any of these diverse Chamberlains related in their paternal line? And, how many of these Chamberlain families, if any, can be linked to William de Tancarville and his family?

Y-DNA genetic analysis

We all have 23 pairs of chromosomes. We receive one set from our mother which is paired with another set we receive from our father. One of these pairs, the X and Y chromosomes, are sex chromosomes which determine gender. Those with two X chromosomes are female. While males always receive an X chromosome from his mother and a Y chromosome from his father.

23 pairs of chromosomes of the human genome

Mutations in genetic markers called STRs (short tandem repeats) are used to track genetic diversity in father to son generations

When a mutation occurs in the Y-chromosome, it will also be passed on to future male progeny giving that line its own trademark.

This information can be used for many purposes including the following:

1- To identify for an individual their own Chamberlain or non-Chamberlain paternal ancestor lineage.
2- To estimate the number of different ancestral lines that exist among Chamberlain families through out the world.
3- To trace known USA Chamberlain lineages to common ancestors and locations in England or other countries.

The Chamberlain Story now has its own Y-DNA research project. Join today!

Modern Chamberlain family groups

Twenty four males with Chamberlain surname were included in a Y-DNA analysis by the Chamberlain Association in 2003. Twelve of these entries were from the Thomas, Edmond, William (TEW) family. My brother, Ernest Martin Chamberlain, Jr., was included in this data. Our family ancestor in this article is identified as Spencer Chamberlain 1786-1853 (William).

Thirty-eight additional subjects were selected from an unsorted Chamberlain surname project FamilyTree DNA chart.6 I selected only entries that identified an ancestor and which tested 25 STRs. The STRs are identified in my report with numbers 1 through 25.

All 62 tests were evaluated and divided into families.  I consider tests with 3 or less mutation differences to be the same family. There are 23 families. They usually had only 0-2 STR differences. After sorting, I assigned each family an identification letter, A through W.  The Thomas Edmond William family (family A)  was the largest with 18 individuals. The Spencer Chamberlain branch is A013.

Y-DNA Spread Sheet gives a brief ancestor description from all of the 62 Chamberlains who are organized into 23 familes. It shows the Y-DNA profile for 25 STRs for each individual.  Also, genetic divergence (the average number of different STRs) is evaluated within the TEW family and also compared to to other families.

A key to identify the letter assigned to each family and the names of the 25 STRs is also given in the Y-DNA spread sheet.

A unique allele in Thomas, Edmond and William Chamberlain’s American family

The TEW family has a unique allele not found in any of the other 22 families, STR 21, allele 32. This may be very helpful in identifying relatives of the three brothers in England and other countries.

In my own family line, one mutation occurred in one of the nine generations between William Chamberlain and Ernest M. Chamberlain, Jr. (STR 24, allele 17) This could help us identify close relatives in the United States on our paternal line.

Finding the Y-DNA profile of the common paternal ancestor (CPA) of related families

Some individuals tested from the TEW family have no changes in their STRs. In other words, they have the same Y-DNA profile as their common paternal ancestor (CPA), Thomas, Edmond or William. Variance from the CPA was 0, 1 or 2 for each of the 18 individuals tested. The average divergence score through the generations since the brothers emigrated to America was 1. The average mutations in the Henry Chamberlain family from their common male ancestor was 1.8. 

It is helpful to know the most likely Y-DNA profile of the CPA of various groups of related families. The likely profile was calculated for each group by counting and selecting the majority allele in each of the 25 STRs. In a case where there is an equal number, either choice will result in the same score. Example: In STR 12, in B- Henry above, if  either allele 17, 26 or 27 is chosen for the CPA, the average will still be 1.8.

My goal is to separate out all families unrelated to the paternal line of William de Tancarville. This should lower the divergence average as much as it is possible. When all unrelated families are removed, the common paternal ancestor profile should be very similar to that of William de Tancarville.

Separating out unrelated families

Some families will not be related to the Tancarvilles on the paternal line. In many cases, lines directly descending from the Tancarvilles may have passed on the surname though a female relative, or through an adopted male heir. Therefore, the Chamberlain name was passed on, but an unrelated Y-DNA family was formed  Also, some unrelated families may have independently assumed the name of Chamberlain.

To separate the unrelated paternal lines, my first thought was to match the STRs of each family with those of all other families. Their scores, averaged and sorted, might separate related from unrelated families. If these differences were great enough, I thought, two distinct normal (bell curve) populations would be formed.

In the diagram below, each of the 23 families is represented by a letter. The number of different STRs between each family is presented. The averages when sorted ranged from 9.5 to 19.2. (A key to family identification for each letter is found in Y-DNA Spread Sheet)

Charting the distribution of the average scores shows a definite separation of three families from the other 20. I then checked the average number of mutations from the estimated profile of their common paternal ancestor (CPA) for the remaining 20 families.

The average number of mutations from the common paternal ancestor is now 6.8. This is down from the 8.3 average for all 23 families, but it is still much too high. Generations from William de Tancarville to the present should be approximately 2.5 times that of the early American immigrants. Therefore, compared to the average of TEW or Henry reported previously, the Tancarville average should be between about 2.5 and 4.5.

Another diagram was designed to visually observe how close or how far each family is related to every other family. Letters assigned to the various families are shown at the end of the diagram. Each family is compared to every other family. Low scores on the scale of 5 to 15 show families that are likely related. High scores show which families can not be related.

Observation of this diagram shows that seven families C, D, M, P, Q, R and S are completely unrelated. All of the families were sorted and the unrelated families (non color coded letters) appear on the bottom third of the chart. This lower third of the diagram shows that none of these families (uncolored letters) are found in the green (likely related) section, but many letters are deep in the orange and red (not related section).

The seven unrelated families were removed and a CPA Y-DNA analysis was done on the remaining 13 families.

Analysis of the 13 remaining families lowered the average to 5.5. However, this is still too high. Further observation of the spread diagram shows that in the 13 families, there are two independent groups.

Group 1 contains families A, B, E, F, N and W. These, after sorting, were placed in the top third of the diagram and colored blue. Fourteen of the “blue” families are in the “likely related” section when compared with other “blue” families. However,  there are sixteen “yellow” but no “blue” families which fall in the orange “probably not related” section of the chart.

On the other hand, Group 2 “yellow” families show that 18 are “likely related” to other “yellow” families.  While no “yellow” families, but 15 “blue” families, are “probably not related” to other “yellow” families. Families G, H, I, J, K, L and O are in Group 2. (Key to family identification for each letter is in Y-DNA Spread Sheet)

Separating the two groups of unrelated families again lowered the average mutation changes from the CPA. The CPA Y-DNA analysis for Group 1 average was 4.5, and for Group 2 it was 4.7.

Conclusions

Sixty-two Chamberlain males tested for their Y-DNA analysis were grouped into 23 families. Members of the three American families who immigrated in the 1600s have three or less STR changes in their Y-DNA profile.

Ten of the 23 families, C, D, M, P, Q, R, S, T, U and V are completely unrelated in their paternal line, based on their Y-DNA profile. However, it is highly likely that two groups of paternal families originated at about the time of the chamberlains of Normandy and England.

Thirteen of the families form two unrelated groups.  Group 1, families are A, B, E, F, N and W; and Group 2, families are G, H, I, J, K, L and O. Both of these groups have one family with ancestor ties to France. (Group 1 family W, and Group 2 family  J) Y-DNA data shows that family members of one, but not both, of these groups could be the direct line father-to-son descendants of William de Tancarville. (Learn about your paternal line with Y-DNA Analysis by FamilyTreeDNA) 

Hereditary Office of Chamberlain

The family of Tancarville was of Norman stock, of likely Scandinavian decent, originating from the Viking Tancredus (fr. Tancrède). Tancrede was a companion of Rollo in the Norman conquest of northern France. His progeny was closely tied to the royal family and became the hereditary Chamberlain’s of Normandy and of England. The family was known as being, “in the highest ranks of the Anglo-Norman aristocracy, the lords of Tancarville”7 Tancrede founded and gave his name to the castle fort built on a cliff overlooking the Seine.

Tancarville Castle

Raoul fitz Gerald le Chamberlain (c. 1008- c. 1080) was the son of Gerald II and Helisende. His was the earliest known use of the patronymic “FitzGerald”. Raoul was an Officer of Duke Robert the Magnificent and commanded his fleet in 1029.  Duke Robert placed his young son William in the trusted care of the Chamberlain’s household. Thereby, William (the future conqueror of England), was nourished, protected and educated in the skills of knighthood while in their gaurdianship.8

Guillaume I de Tancarville (c. 1045-1129) “le Chamberlain de Normandie et England”. Guillaume, son of Raoul and Avice, was the first to use the Tancarville name. He may be better known by the English version of his name – William de Tancarville.

Rabel de Tancarville (c. 1080-1140) “le Chamberlain de Normandie et England”. Son of Guillaume I and Maude d’Arques. Rabel de Tancarville remained the only chamberlain-in-chief of Normandy and England until Henry I of England created a separate hereditary office for England in 1133,9 and entrusted it to Aubrey (II) of Vere and his heirs.10

A second family held the office of Chamberlain

Aubrey de Vere II (c. 1085 – May 1141) was the eldest surviving son of Aubrey de Vere and his wife Beatrice. He may have been Norman, possibly from the region of Ver in the Cotentin peninsula of western Normandy.

Aubrey II served as one of the king’s chamberlains under Kings Henry I and Stephen. In June 1133 King Henry I awarded the office of Master Chamberlain to Aubrey and his heirs. His eldest son, Aubrey de Vere III, later was made Earl of Oxford. His descendants held that office and title which in later centuries was known as Lord Great Chamberlain until the extinction of the Vere male line in 1703.11

The ten known children of Aubrey II and his wife Adeliza include five sons and five daughters. It is unknown if any of these families took on the surname of Chamberlain.

Château De Tancarville – A Story Of Heritage In Danger

The website Normandy Then and Now recently published an article about the sad condition and need for restoration of the Chateau De Tancarville.

“The story of the château cannot be over, but now while it has stalled the buildings deteriorate and ancient carvings are lost. There are no longer open days, once hosted by the passionate local historical association.  Doors are padlocked.”

“Château de Tancarville was registered as an historic monument in 1862. Pierre Bortolussi, architect from the department of Historic Monuments is still waiting to hear from any firms employed to undertake the renovations.”

“We look forward to the day when we match our postcard of château de Tancarville and tell the full history of this fascinating place.“12

An ancient abandoned complex, viewed through padlocked gates, will chateau de Tancarville survive to open again?

TCS Surname Y-DNA Research Project

The Chamberlain Story is interested in data on the all versions of Chamberlain and other surnames including: Chamberlain, Chamberlin, Chamberlaine, Chamberlayne, Chamberland, Chamblin, Shamblin.

The following surnames may also be related: FitzGerald, Vere, De Vere, Tankersville or Tancarsville.  Or any name if you have reason to believe your genetic paternal line may be Chamberlain.

I am also interested in the surname Izatt from my maternal line.

Please let me know if you have done a Y-DNA test on any of these surnames!

Links:

Any surname is welcome to take the FamilyTreeDNA Y-DNA test. FamilyTreeDNA lab.

Key to identification of the 23 families for letters A through W: Y-DNA Spread Sheet

Summary Page 3- Other DNA studies

Thank you! Dennis Chamberlain

© Copyright Dennis D. Chamberlain, All rights reserved. The Chamberlain Story, 2019.

References:

1- https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-battle-of-hastings
2- William Richard Cutter, A.M., Genealogical and Personal Memoirs Relating to the Families of B & EM. Volume II, Lewis Histories Publishing Co., New York 1908, pp.780-81.
3-https://www.geni.com/projects/Early-Norman-Families-de-Tancerville/1473
4- King Henry I of England, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_I_of_England
5-  James Baldwin Parker, John Count of TANKERVILLE, Castle, Normandy, France,  Message Boards www.ancestry.co.uk
6- https://www.familytreedna.com/groups/chamberlain/about/background
7- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tancarville_family,  J. C. Holt, Colonial England 1066-1217.
8-  Abid,  Jacques Le Maho, Nicolas Wasylyszyn; Saint-Georges de Boscherville, 2000 ans, 1998, p. 12.
9- Abid, The Complete Peerage, vol. X, Appendix F, p. 53-55.
10- Abid, Geoffrey H. White, « Financial Administration under Henry I » Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, Fourth Series, vol. 8 (1925), p. 56-78.
11- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aubrey_de_Vere_II, Cokayne, George: “The Complete Peerage”, v. 10. St. Catherine Press, 1910–58.
12- http://www.normandythenandnow.com/the-footballers-and-forgotten-chateau-de-tancarville-a-story-of-heritage-in-danger/

E7- The Rifle and the Old Clock in Chamberlain Family Lore

As a child, I remember a story from family lore about a time when ammunition was very scarce. The husband was taking his rifle and going off to battle, so his wife melted down the lead weights from the family clock and ran them into bullets. Therefore, her husband had his needed ammunition.

It is interesting how family stories are passed down to younger generations. Sometimes certain facts and details may be forgotten or misunderstood in one’s memory over time.

There are two versions of this story in our family

Three Chamberlain generations view Spencer Chamberlain’s rifle.

Apparently,  John Harry Chamberlain and Alonzo C. Phillips both heard this story as a child. They are first cousins. Chamberlain likely heard the story from his father in Illinois. Phillips likely heard it from his mother in Vermont. Each of them recorded the story in 1926 in their later years. Chamberlain was 77, Phillips was 81.

1- Harry Chamberlain: Northwestern Iowa Its History and Traditions, 1926:

“A great-grandfather of Harry Chamberlain in the paternal line participated in the Revolutionary War. His wife melted and ran into bullets the lead weights of the family clock, replacing the weights with bags of sand. This clock and the old Queen’s Arm musket which the great grand father used are still in possession of the members of the Chamberlain family in Vermont.”

2- Alonzo C. Phillips letter: Runaway Pond Again, April 20, 1926:

“Spencer Chamberlain enlisted in the 1812 war. Before he went he took the lead weights out of this grandfather’s clock and substituted the weights with bags of gravel of the same weight. His wife ran the weights into bullets and he took the bullets and his old trusty (Queen Arm) rifle and started for the front. There he fired away his clock weights in the battle of Plattsburgh. My son, Mazzini Phillips, has the old gun in his possession at the present time with the word “London” on the lock. I have no doubt that this is the same gun that Spencer’s grandfather shot the Indian chief, Paugus, with on the shore of Lovells pond, May 8th 1725.”

Who ran the lead weights into bullets?

Who melted the clock weights into bullets? Was it Sarah Blake French in the Revolutionary War, or was it Millie French Chamberlain during the War of 1812?

In the first story, Silas French would be the great-grandfather on Harry’s paternal line (his father’s mother’s father). It is a known fact that Silas served in the Revolutionary War. Harry Chamberlain’s other great-grandfather on the paternal line is John Chamberlain. However, our family has no written record of him which seems to rule him out. Silas French’s wife was Sarah Blake.

In the second version, Spencer Chamberlain’s wife Millie would be the one who ran the lead into bullets. Spencer went off to fight in the  Battle of Plattsburgh in 1814.

Not an isolated incident

I searched the internet for similar experiences and found several stories recorded in books published in the late 1800s. All but one case was from the Revolutionary war and occurring between May 1776 and the Battle of Saratoga in 1777.

The melting of clock weights into bullets was not exclusive to the Chamberlain family. The Pennsylvania Committee of Safety, May 9, 1776, and the Provincial Congress of New Jersey, July 16, 1776 passed resolutions. The government then “collected lead clock weights that they might be run into bullets”.1

Apparently many, if not all, of the colonies at this time made a requisition for lead. The following story is from Windsor, Connecticut:

“During the harvest season of 1776 labor was so scarce harvests were done by women and children as all able bodied men were in the army. Constituted authority went forth in search of lead for bullets. The tradition which preserves this fact also mentions that not a clock in the whole town marked the flight of time, their weights having been melted down and run into bullets. This is owing to a requisition. This tradition is well authenticated, both in the case of this, and surrounding towns.”2

This makes it sound like the whole nation went around not knowing the time of day. However, our family solved their time keeping problem. They replaced the lead weights with an equal weight of sand or gravel.

A universal experience of the Revolutionary war

This likely occurred in our family during the Revolutionary War since almost everyone who had a clock and a rifle at that time shared this experience. Of course, lead was scarce in other wars as well. However, I documented only one other such case. In the early 1800s, Tyrolese peasants repulsed the over whelming numbers of Napoleon’s troops. “Lead had become a scarce article with the (Tyrolese), and pewter mugs, clock weights, spoons, and other domestic utensils were melted to make bullets...”3

I attributed this family experience to Silas French and his wife Sarah Blake in Chapter 12- The Chamberlains During the Revolutionary War. The critical need for bullets came when Silas enlisted in 1775, and during a time of extreme shortages in 1776 and 1777. However, Silas French and Sarah Blake were not married until December 8, 1777. Nevertheless, they likely knew each other and may have been engaged at the time.

Spencer Chamberlain’s Rifle was handed down through the Phillips family

Spencer Chamberlain’s rifle and powder horn belonged to Mazinni Phillips in 1926

It is unknown what happened to the family clock adorned with sand bags. However, the musket pictured above is certainly the one Spencer Chamberlain used in the battle of Plattsburgh. It was still in the possession of the Chamberlain/Phillips family in 1926, (and still is). But who owned it before Spencer Chamberlain?

It is unlikely that this rifle ever belonged to Silas French or that it was used in the Revolutionary War. Nor could it be the one which was used by John Chamberlain in the duel with Chief Paugus along the shores of Lovewell’s pond in 1725.

Spencer Chamberlain’s Rifle is marked “Ketland & Company”

Joe Puleo of American Long Rifle Association gives us some information about gun locks marked with the inscription “Ketland & Company”.

“As to the name on the lock… in 1791 there was only one Ketland firm, that of Thomas Ketland with his partners and sons. They probably used the name “Ketland & Co.” from at least 1778 until they went bankrupt in 1821 but there isn’t a shread of evidence they exported anything to America until at least 1789-1790. So far all evidence suggests that the Ketland export business in guns and gun parts did not start until 1794.”4

The rifle is just not old enough to be an import from London for either the War of Independence nor for the battle at Lovwell’s Pond. Nevertheless, it would be available for Spencer or his family sometime between 1794 and 1814. It was ready when Spencer went off to fight the British at  Plattsburgh.

Rifle is inscribed “Ketland & Company” under the hammer, and the word “London” on top opposite the hammer.

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

© Copyright Dennis D. Chamberlain, The Chamberlain Story, 2018. 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- Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston 1876-1877
2- Henry R. Stiles, History and Genealogies of Ancient Windsor Connecticut 1635-1891. Hartford Conn. 1891, Page 324
3- James Knowles, editor, The Nineteenth Century, a Monthly Review, Volume 46, New York 1899
4- Joe Puleo, Technical Editor, Man at Arms for the Gun Collector, Mowbray Publishing,  54 East School Street, Woonsocket, RI  02895, American Long Rifle Association Forum, americanlongrifle.com