On my visit home in about 1980, my Grandma Annie Chamberlain was sitting alone in the living room of my parents home in Holladay, Utah. She was about 87 years old. This would be a great time, I thought, to learn more about her life.

How are you doing Grandma? I asked.

“I’m just doing,” she answered.

“Grandma, I would like to talk to you for while. Could you tell me a little about yourself?  I would really like to learn more about you.”

“Oh no,” came her sorrowful reply, “my life was just too sad.”

I later regretted that I had not been a more skillful and patient conversationalist. Was her story really that sad? Or were these merely the words from the heart of a lonely old woman who lost her loving husband Harry in 1973?

Childhood visits to Grandma and Grandpa Chamberlain

I always loved our family’s monthly visits for Sunday dinner at Grandma and Grandpa Chamberlain’s home in Bountiful, Utah. Home made ice cream was always the main attraction. If I was lucky, I got to add the salt and ice, turn the crank and then watch the liquid as it became a creamy frozen blend.

Grandma was a wonderful cook and the food was great. As the family sat around the long dinning room table, Grandpa would tell stories. I don’t remember those stories but I do remember Grandpa’s jovial laugh as he told them which brought me great joy.

Our uncles Richard and Robert were still living at home as they were 18 and 20 years younger than my father. Richard was a very serious student and would usually be busy working on his home work. He loved cars and I was amazed that he knew the year, make and model of every car we could see in the distance. Robert would often play with Martin and me, and being six years older than me, he was able to teach us a lot of cool stuff.

For about an hour after dinner, Dad would spend time with Grandpa, while Mother would sit in the living room conversing with Grandma. I would usually explore the small farm full of fruit trees, and small animals such and rabbits and chickens. Or the basement, which had a washroom and bedrooms with model airplanes hanging from the ceiling.

Grandma had a long row of beautiful tulips growing between her front yard and their large tomato field. They were great for target practice with my Daisy BB rifle. With almost every shot I could pop the head off a tulip. Dad came out of the house and said, “Dennis, what are you doing?”

“Aaaa, target practice.” I said.

Target practice? Oh, he said. “Well… let me try that!”

Soon Mom came out and we were both in trouble.

My memories of Great Grandma Ankarstrand

Sometime before she moved to live in the home of her daughter Annie and Harry, we visited her in her cottage on Hazel Avenue. She lived there alone and I remember, even to a five-year-old, the place was very small. She had her kitchen utensils and a lot of cool old stuff hanging around the room. And unlike my mother’s modern electric iron, hers were made of solid… well, iron. She was heating them on her small wood burning stove to press her clothes.

By 1948 she had moved in with Grandma and Grandpa. I remember visiting her there when she gave Martin and me each a brand new Benjamin Franklin silver half-dollar. 1948 was the first year these coins were minted.

Uncle Robert, when about 12, was quite mischievous and liked to tease almost everyone. One time Grandma Ankarstrand was standing in the living room looking out the large plate glass window. Robert climbed up on a step ladder on the front lawn and pretended to fall off which gave the old lady a good scare.

Nevertheless, Grandma Mathilda Ankarstrand lived until she was 98-years-old.

Maria Mathilda Erikson Ankarstrand (Annie’s mother)

July 14, 1855, Maria Mathilda Erikson was born in the small community of Axberg, Orebro, Sweden. Her father Erik Larson and mother Maria Person had a small farm where they raised a few crops and small animals to provide food for the family. Mathilda loved the animals and often made them her pets. The farm life was not for her as she could not stand to see the animals butchered for food. Therefore, she left her home on the farm and went to Stockholm to make a life the city.

In Stockholm she became employed by a doctor who happened to be the physician to the royal family. While attending visits to the palace she became acquainted with the staff. They liked her and asked if she would like to work for them there. She accepted their offer and they sent her with the countesses to France to learn cooking and sewing from top chefs there.¹

She worked in the palace for a while for the King of Sweden and Norway, King Oscar II. He was a down to earth type man who liked to do things for himself.

“May I take off your coat?” Mathilda asked.

“No Mathilda, I can,” the king replied.²

Life was quite exciting for Matilda to work in the palace for the royal family where they called her by her first name. After a while, however, this became routine and she had no personal life. Therefore, she requested to return to work as an aid for the doctor. They granted her request.¹

During this time she met the missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Her father was horrified that she was meeting with the Mormon Missionaries. He told her he would rather see her buried than to see her join with them.²

Nevertheless, she continued to learn about the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. She was baptized in the Stockholm Branch of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by E. Johansson on November 20, 1881.³

At this time, the growth of the church in Sweden was slow. Swedish born missionaries were sometimes arrested and missionaries from Utah were driven out. “New converts suffered persecution at the hands of some of the clergy, civil authorities, and even from neighbors in the communities”. The Church encouraged members in Sweden to emigrate to Utah.⁴

Mathilda arrives in Utah

In 1883 Mathilda emigrated to America. She made friends with other immigrants on the ship including a married couple Martin and Bentga Ankarstrand who were also heading to the Latter-day Saint Zion in Utah territory. The last part of her journey to Utah was by railroad.¹

Mathilda’s arrival in Salt Lake City, Utah was a traumatic experience. The lady she expected to meet her was not there.² She was greeted by several scraggly clad men who wanted to marry her and set her up to work to support them.¹ She was now alone and could not speak the language and had no job. On her first night she slept in a haystack.² This was a time that really challenged her testimony.¹

She got a job at Salt Air Resort and enjoyed swimming every night. However, her training in sewing and cooking for nobility provided her a better opportunity.² Many foods such as cow tongue, liver and kidney were considered delicacies in Sweden. These items were not appreciated by the Mormon population and were thrown away as waste by Utah butchers.¹

Her skills, however, were in demand.  Wealthy gentile (non-Mormon) families hired her. She waited tables, cooked and sewed working in large homes and got acquainted with some of the richest families in Salt Lake City including the Walker Brothers.²

The Walker Brothers of Salt Lake City

Mathilda became acquainted with the Walker brothers who played a prominent role in Chamberlain family history.

When the four brothers and their mother arrived in Salt Lake City in 1852 they were destitute. Their father and two sisters died in Saint Louis after contracting tuberculosis on their voyage. The four boys had attended the best schools in England, however before emigrating, their father lost his fortune in an English stock market crash.⁵

On their arrival in Salt Lake City, they were given a few food provisions and 20 acres of farmland along Willow Creek. They paid their commitment to the Perpetual Emigration Fund, but eventually left the Church over tithing and other issues with Church leaders.^5,6

William Nixon became their first steady employer. The Walker brothers were excellent merchants and helped make Nixon wealthy. In 1859 Patrick Hickey, who freighted goods out of San Francisco, helped the brothers establish a store in Fairfield, Utah near camp Floyd. The U.S. Army had established Camp Floyd during the 1857-58 Utah War.⁶

Wagon trains selling goods would regularly stop in Salt Lake City, but they accepted only federal currency or gold dust as payment for basic necessities such as nails, shovels, and cooking utensils. The Walkers brothers saw this as an opportunity. They acquired a heavy iron safe to store items such as gold dust, coins and currency for other merchants and soldiers. The community trusted them to handle deposits and withdrawals of their funds. Their popular safe opened their way into the banking industry, and in 1860 they set up a banking section in their store.^5,6

In 1861 the soldiers went off to fight in the Civil War and Camp Floyd closed. The corrupt and wasteful Secretary of War, John B. Floyd, had built three hundred structures and stockpiled them with goods. Floyd was a confederate sympathizer taking kick-backs on every purchase and intentionally making huge unnecessary expenditures. This incredible waste for the federal government proved to be a great blessing for the community.  Especially the Walker Brothers who would realize a massive windfall.  They were able to buy at auction stockpiles of shovels, fence rails, and rifles at huge discounts, thus allowing them to greatly expand their business.⁵

When Zion’s Cooperative Mercantile Institute (ZCMI) was incorporated, Brigham Young discouraged “good” members of the church from shopping at the Walker Brother’s store. Therefore, the Walker’s allowed their loyal LDS customers to enter a backdoor and disguised their shopping bags so they could continue shopping there. Nevertheless, store sales plummeted. By this time, however, the brother’s mining and banking businesses were highly profitable allowing them to keep their dry good store doors open until conditions improved.^5,6

The Walkers speculated and made a fortune in the Silver mining industry. They invested $30,000 in the Emma Mine in Little Cottonwood Canyon. It proved to be an incredibly rich mine with a nearly 4 foot wide vein of almost pure silver. The mine was in operation for over three years. They sold their shares before a scandal broke of mining shares sold in England at inflated prices.^5,6

The banking business continued as the center of the Walkers ventures. They secured a national charter in 1885, and became incorporated as Walkers Brothers Bankers in 1903. They purchased the Salt Lake City branch of Wells Fargo in 1905 and made important loans to Utah Sugar and Idaho Sugar companies in 1906. In 1912 they built the sixteen-story Walker Bank Building at Main and Second South. At the time it was the tallest skyscraper between San Francisco and the Missouri River. In 1921 the corporation bought McCormick Bank and owned twelve million dollars in resources.⁶

Martin Trulson Ankarstrand (Annie’s father)

On July 1, 1851, Martin Trulson Ankarstrand was born in Ankerod, Brosarp, Kristianstad, Sweden. He was the son of Truls Olsson and Anna  Martenson. He married a young woman from Evenrod, Kristianstad, Sweden, Bengta Hansdotter,  in 1878.

On April 20, 1880, Martin became a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He and his wife then emigrated to America in 1883, and headed for Zion in Utah.

Their only son, Victor, was born in Salt Lake City on January 4, 1884. (Victor’s family spells their name Anchorstrand)

Martin’s beloved wife, Bengta, died on December 24, 1886, at age 29 years.

Maria Mathilda Erikson had been friends with Martin and Bengta in Utah’s Swedish community since they met on the voyage from Sweden. Mathilda married Martin Ankarstrand in Salt Lake City on October 7, 1887.⁷

Martin became a citizen of the United States of America on December 31, 1891.

The Salt Lake Temple

A powerful motivation for Latter-day Saint emigration to Utah was to be near a temple. Immigrants came from all over the world. When the Ankarstrands arrived in Utah in 1883 there was only one temple in operation. However, three more temples were under construction. All of these were in Utah.

The gospel of Jesus Christ, restored to the earth in this dispensation, is for the redemption of all mankind. In the temple the things of this earth are joined with the things of heaven and all generations will be united through the saving ordinances of the holy priesthood.  Vicarious work for our ancestors who lived before us, as well as ordinances for the living generation are performed in the sacred house of the Lord.⁸

According to Isaiah, nations would flow to where the Lord’s House would be established in the top of the mountains, where the people would learn of God’s ways and learn to walk in his paths.

It shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. (Isa. 2:2-3)

On July 28, 1847, four days after his arrival in the Salt Lake Valley, Brigham Young pressed his walking stick into the desert sod and declared, “Here we shall build a temple to our God.”

The corner stone for the Salt Lake Temple was laid in 1853, and after forty years of work and sacrifice, the six-spired, solid granite structure was completed and dedicated to the Lord on April 6, 1893.

Martin and Mathilda Ankarstrand were married in 1887. The ongoing construction of the Salt Lake temple would take six more years. However, on July 6,1893 exactly three months after the dedication, their marriage was solemnized in the Salt Lake temple for time and for all eternity.

Annie Ankarstrand, born October 23, 1893

The Ankarstrand family grew to four with the arrival of  Annie Mathilda Ankarstrand, born on October 23, 1893. Martin 42, Mathilda 38, Victor 9 and baby Annie lived on Euclid Avenue about 8th West in Salt Lake City.

About two years later they moved to Provo, Utah where Martin opened a tailor shop.⁹ An ad in the Provo Daily Enquirer, May 13, 1895 introduced his new business:

NO HUMBUG!
Suits made of home or imported
goods in First Class Style.
Perfect Fit Guaranteed, and
prices to suit the times.
M. Ankarstrand, Center Street,
Provo, near Factory race.

Martin’s business was very successful. However, a larger tailoring shop soon moved in to Provo which cut into his business. Therefore, the Ankarstrands moved back to Salt Lake City to the 2nd Ward, near 3rd East and 8th South. Then about 1899, they moved again to the 9th Ward on the block between 5th and 6th East and between 4th and 5th South.⁹

Annie’s prize at the Swedish Festival

On June 24, 1903, 3000 Swedes came from all over the state and from as far away as Idaho and Montana. They gathered at Lagoon to celebrate the mid-summer day festival, a national Swedish holiday.

There was an excellent program of literary and musical performances. They gave prizes for various contests: Youngest child 3 months; oldest man 88, oldest woman 88. The shortest man and the tallest man in attendance also won a prize. Mr. and Mrs. Bergquist and their nine children won the award for the largest family.

Sporting events included boat races and running races. Runners competed within separate age categories for men and women, girls and boys. Fourteen categories in all from under age 8 to age 60 and over.

Nine-year-old Annie Ankarstrand won the race in the category: Girls 8 to 10.¹⁰

From a dream to a nightmare

Martin was an excellent and successful tailor. He and Mathilda were very frugal, living in a humble cottage while they worked hard and sacrificed to build a future. They built their dream home up on the Avenues over looking the beautiful Salt Lake Valley. They completed the construction on their lot located within the block between 5th and 6th Avenues and E and F streets East.

Martin however, as a matter of principle, believed that they should not move into their newly completed home until it’s mortgage was paid in full. Therefore, they continued to scrimp and save to soon fulfill their dream without the evil bondage of debt.¹¹

Annie Ankarstrand was at the very sensitive age of 13 when the family’s dream turned into a terrible nightmare.

In March, 1907 Martin began to have strange delusions. His family and friends knew something was wrong when Martin set out on a Sunday evening to buy a sewing machine. His delusions continued over the next few weeks. He believed he owned all the land in Utah and tried to sell it. On April 2, 1907 he was examined by two county physicians. A judge and a commission declared him insane and ordered him sent to the state mental hospital in Provo.¹²

These are classic symptoms of a brain tumor. However, in 1907 there was no way to diagnose such a problem.  At this time mental illness was misunderstood and it carried a terrible stigma. I am sure the family was devastated and publicly humiliated. However, that was the least of their problems. They had lost their husband, father and provider.

They could no longer afford the payments on their house on the Avenues and had to sell the property quickly. On May 8, 1907 the property, plat D, block 76, lot 4 (72.5 feet by 21-3 rods) was transferred from M. Ankarstrand to the Salt Lake Real Estate and Title Company for $2100. The real estate company immediately sold it to Eliza F. Spencer for $2500.¹³

Martin T. Ankarstrand died on Christmas day 1908 in Provo, Utah.

Maude Adams

Annie took a speech class from Mrs. Ann Kiskadden, the mother of Maude Adams. Maude, born in Salt Lake City, had become the most successful and highest-paid actress of her day. 

Mrs. Kiskadden was also an actress and Maude had been performing on stage with her from the time she was two months old. She took her mother’s maiden name, Adams, as her stage name.

Maude Adams became a star with her performance as Lady Babbie in The Little Minister. which opened at the Emporium in New York in 1897. A tremendous success, it ran for 300 performances in New York. Usually there was standing room only. It set a new all time box office record of $370,000, and then ran for another 65 performances in Boston. The role which Maude Adams was most closely identified, however, was Peter Pan which opened October 16, 1905. She was the first actress to play the role of Peter Pan on Broadway.¹⁴

In about 1911, Annie and Maude “became very good friends and had many interesting times.”⁹ This friendship ignited a passion in 17-year-old Annie for stage performance. Maude was about 38 and openly helpful to aspiring young actors and actresses.

Annie became very interested in the stage and acting and Maude encouraged her. However, Annie’s mother disapproved. She considered stage actors immoral which was a common assumption at that time. “Mother didn’t approve of actors on stage so after Mrs. Kiskadden died I gave up this interest,”  Annie wrote.⁹

Many years later Annie’s son Ernest Chamberlain wrote of his mother:

Mother was excellent in giving readings. She gave many of them in Emerson Ward and other wards. I remember her rehearsing “The Other Wise Man” and “The Blue Bird of Happiness”. From some talk she would extend both her arms forward and upward and with feeling say, “Mercia, Mercia”. I took a liking to this and I would go about the house dramatizing this. After a while it provoked mother.

Mother used to tell me how much she enjoyed acting… From some remarks she made, I feel she at times wished she had at least given acting a try.¹⁵

Annie, in her 80th year wrote: “I gave up this interest but always remained stage struck to this day.”⁹

When Harry met Annie

Harry Chamberlain went to Polytechnic College for six months in California, and then he and his mother went back to Iowa to be with his father. In 1912 his father asked him, “Do you want to go to Des Moines to school or to Salt Lake City? Harry chose to go to Salt Lake City.

He got room and board in downtown Salt Lake City and later at 3rd Avenue and M street. This was the first time he had been away from his family and he got quite homesick. He attended Henager’s Business College and took more courses in shorthand and typewriting.

When he finished the college courses, they sent him to Remington Typewriter Company to apply for a job. As he went in the door, a young lady was just leaving. He had seen her before but didn’t know her. The lady at the desk said, “If the lady who just left does not take the job you may have it”. She didn’t take it, so Harry got the job.

Harry dated a Catholic girl and they were engaged to be married. One day, however, Harry’s girl told him that she thought they should not get married but part as good friends. So they did.¹⁶

Annie Ankarstrand also had taken a few business courses. Unfortunately, because of her father’s death, she could not afford to attend the University. In high school she took sewing and loved home economics more than business.⁹

In June of 1914, Harry’s Mother was living with him in Salt Lake City. One day Mrs. Knight a dear friend and neighbor came to visit Mrs. Chamberlain. Annie came with her.⁹

Harry was attending a church meeting that evening, but when he returned home he had quite a surprise. When he came through the door he saw Annie sitting on the front room couch. There she was, the beautiful young lady he had seen at Remington Typewriter Company. When they left, Harry said to his mother, “I wish I would get a girl like her.”¹⁶

Annie was feeling bad at this time because she had just broken up with her fiance, Mrs. Knight’s nephew. A short time later another neighbor invited both Annie and Harry over where they became acquainted. Harry made a date with Annie “and it turned out to be a date for time and all eternity.“¹⁶

Marriage in the Salt Lake Temple

Harry Chamberlain and Annie Ankarstrand were married in the Salt Lake Temple on December 16, 1914. “How happy I am… for such a wonderful girl for my companion forever.“¹⁶

Annie brought all she owned in a single suit case and moved into their home on 1431 South, 10th East. Annie’s mother, “a wonderful person” prepared a wedding dinner in their home for a few close friends. Harry’s family was back in Iowa and Annie’s only family was her mother and half-brother Victor.¹⁶

The newly weds enjoyed riding the train together to Salt Air, sitting on the steps of the open car, having a picnic lunch and bathing in the Great Salt Lake.

In the Spring, Harry’s Dad and Mother took them on a Honey Moon trip to California. They went to San Francisco and then took the Balloon Route down the coast to to Los Angeles. They then traveled to Visalia where Annie met Harry’s sister and brother-in-law Myrtle and Harry Keese.¹⁶

It is believed that Harry’s father purchased the home at 1431 South, 10th East and gave it to them as a wedding gift. They raised their five children there over the next 32 years.

Perhaps Annie’s mother, Matilda Ankarstrand, gave them an equally valuable gift. She knew the Walker brothers and their families personally. In 1914, Mathew Walker was still living, his son-in-law John Wallace became chairman of the board in 1916. It seems plausible that Harry’s mother-in-law connection somehow led to his employment with Walker Brother’s Bank. In any case, his position with Walker Bank provided for his family through the Great Depression, through World War II and through Harry’s retirement.^9,16

I am very grateful for my great-grandmother Mathilda Ankarstrand and Grandmother Annie Chamberlain. Their choices and sacrifices charted the course and blessed the lives of their family forever.

To be continued….

The story no one knew about Grandpa Chamberlain. Chapter 25- Harry Chamberlain, Key Witness in Salt Lake Murder Trial

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, 2016. 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- Robert Chamberlain, Maria Mathilda Erikson Ankarstrand, a biography written by Robert most of which he learned from his mother Annie Ankarstrand Chamberlain.

2- Annie Ankarstrand Chamberlain, “Great Grandma” Hand written “reminder notes” written in short, often incomplete phrases, perhaps an outline for a biography. She wrote it on the back of a church program dated November 16, 1975.

3- Robert Chamberlain served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Sweden. After his release from service as a missionary, he was able to see the old church records in Stockholm where he received this information.

4- The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Sweden. (The Church encouraged Swedish members of the Church to emigrate to Utah up until about 1910). https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/

5-Richard Markosian, The Walker Brothers, Utahstories.com, 2015

6- Brian F. Hahn, The Walker Brothers, www.uen.org/utah_history_encyclopedia

7- Familysearch.org

8- Howard W. Hunter, Teachings of the Presidents of the Church, The Church of Jesus Chirst of Latter-day Saints, SLC, Utah, 2015. p. 190.

9- Annie Ankarstrand Chamberlain, A brief auto biography hand written in a journal on pages dated Sunday May 1 through May 3, 1973. Transcribed by Deanna Chamberlain Grant.

10- Swedes Observe Festival, Salt Lake Telegram, June 25, 1903

11- My mother, Fay Barney Chamberlain told this story to me and my daughter Lara. Grandma Annie Chamberlain had told it to her. In the 1990s, my mother drove with Lara and me through the Avenues to show us the house. She had a very hard time locating it. I recently found the location of the property and now know why she couldn’t find it. A Smith’s Market had been built there which covers the entire block.

12-  The Salt Lake Telegram, TAILOR IS INSANE; HAS QUEER DELUSIONS, Wednesday, April 3, 1907.

13- Salt Lake Inter-mountain Republican, Real Estate Transfers, Wednesday, May 8, 1907.

14- Maude Adams https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

15- Ernest M. Chamberlain, Sr., Autobiography of Ernest Martin Chamberlain, (47 page story of his early life up to about 1940)

16- Life Story of Harry Ellis Chamberlain, recorded by Martin and Genene Chamberlain, October 1972. Unpublished

Harry Ellis Chamberlain was born in Spencer, Iowa on December 21, 1890. He was Harry and Mary’s fourth child. When little Harry Ellis arrived his brother “Lonnie” was 13, Myrtle almost 9 and Ernest 7. Harry’s “Mamma” was a wonderful mother who devoted her life to her family and home. His “Papa” was an attorney who provided the family with many of the good things in life. In a tribute to his father he wrote, “Dad spent many days and nights sitting with sick friends, a wonderful credit for his love for his friends”.¹

In 1893, a three year old girl in Spencer died of the dreaded black diphtheria, a disease particularly deadly to young children.² Harry’s compassionate father served his own family at that time when their two-year-old Harry contracted the disease. No one expected him to live through the night. His father threw his medicine away, stayed by his bed side, and nursed him back to health.

Harry had a wonderful happy childhood.  He lived across the river from town on a 55 acre farm. Their large farm house set in a grove of trees back from the main road between the country and town.  They had a big red barn, pigs, chickens, cows, horses, cats, dogs and many playmates for Harry lived in the neighborhood.¹

Surviving childhood

Harry survived his bout with diphtheria and many less serious childhood diseases. However, the normal activities of a boy on the farm provided many other experiences that placed his life in peril. He recalls a number of close calls.

When three-years-old, he wandered down to the creek that ran through their property and fell in. His large dog Ben snagged him by his clothes and pulled him out.

At about age six, he was pinned against the barn between the two sharp horns of a Jersey heifer. The horns were just long enough and far enough apart that he was not injured.

On another occasion when Harry was driving in the cows for milking, the neighbors big black Angus bull came through the fence after him. Again, his dog saved him. He slowed the bull until little Harry got under another a fence and hid in the wheat field.

One day Harry and two friends thought it would be fun to hold on to his horse’s tail as it jumped over a large mud hole between the lane and the pasture. Harry took hold of Daisy’s tail, one boy grasped on to Harry’s coat and the third boy to clung to him. With the hit of a stick the horse was off and running toward the lane. She got ready to jump, but instead blasted Harry with both feet knocking him down and out.

When the circus came through town Harry’s father as mayor got free passes. However, that was too easy. Harry and some of his friends joined the circus, carrying water or what ever they could do. They decided to practice some of the impressive stunts seen there.

Harry soon learned how to ride his horse while standing on her back. He took the horse down the drive way and out to the main road. There he rode while standing on her back. They then turned around and headed the other direction. He intended to continue riding on the road past the drive way. The horse, however, had a different idea. She took a sudden and unexpected turn into the driveway. This threw Harry off balance and he fell to the gravel road on his head. A bump on his head remained through out his life as a lasting reminder. 

The boys had a favorite tree in the pasture which they often climbed. One hot day when Harry and his friends were playing in the tree, the cows gathered under the tree for shade. A big red bull wandered directly under Harry’s limb. Harry lost his balance and fell out of the tree and on to the bull straddling his back.  Harry later wrote, “I don’t know which of us was more scared, but we soon parted company and I was soon back in the tree.“¹

The first horseless carriage to pass through Spencer

Harry remembers the first automobile to come to Spencer, Iowa. On the morning of August 2, 1899 a Winton Motor Carriage passed through town and attracted a good deal of attention. The owner, A. E. Armstrong from Fort Dodge, and another gentleman were on their way to the lakes.³

The roads were muddy at the time. However, Mr. Armstrong informed the spectators, who had gathered around, that he could easily travel at a pace between ten and twelve miles per hour through mud, sand, or when going over hills. On good roads, he claims, he travels well over twenty miles per hour.³

This “automobile” was manufactured in Cleveland, Ohio. “The motive power is a gasoline engine. The rig is fitted after the style of a bicycle with large pneumatic tires, ball bearings ect. It has a top and is roomy and comfortable.”⁴

Harry later described it as, “a little chugg chugg one seat. It looked something like an old buggy which had a handle to steer it with, but it was quite a vehicle then”.¹

The French Twins

I inherited my great-great grandfather Alonzo Chamberlain’s photo album and am trying to identify each photo. Most photos are labeled “papa”, “mama”, or “papa’s mama’s sister” etc. The charming photo shown here was simply labeled “The French Twins.”

My third great-grandfather, Spencer Chamberlain, married Millie French. Therefore, I thought it would be easy to find some twins in the French family. I looked for seven years and couldn’t find any twins.

Recently, while reviewing my 23andme DNA relatives, I found that Simon Arthur French married Elnora Idelia Warren. Elnora is a daughter of Amanda Chamberlain Warren and therefore Harry’s cousin.

Aaron French (left), born  July 4, 1819 is the girls paternal grandfather, the name of his twin brother is Beuthel French. The girls are Jennie and Jeanette French born January 19, 1896.⁵

Amanda Chamberlain Warren is the maternal grandmother of the twins, and they are therefore, second cousins to my father Ernest M. Chamberlain.

The Chamberlain’s love of good food

In Harry Chamberlain’s story, he often mentions his appreciation of good food. This trait is legendary in our Chamberlain line, inflicting many of us including the author. It is interesting how Harry often associates pleasant memories of others with food.

Aunt Amanda– Harry and his family used to take the team and surrey to his Uncle Will and Aunt Amanda Warren’s. They lived in Willow Creek eighteen miles from Spencer. They had a large farm and Uncle Will was always good to him. Harry liked to buckle the sword on which William Warren wore during the Civil War. “They did not have any better things to eat than we did at home, but how I remember the pancakes Aunt Amanda used to make”.

The Missionaries- Harry’s mother joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in May, 1899. She was the only member of the Church in the vicinity. His father did not join the Church, but enjoyed talking about the gospel with the elders.  Their discussions often lasted late into the night. In those days, the missionaries traveled without purse or script and enjoyed stopping at the Chamberlain home.

One Christmas Elder Heber Wild and Elder Jensen told Harry’s mother to just relax and they would fix the Christmas dinner for the family. Elder Jensen had been a chef for a lumbering company before his mission. They went out and found a 26 pound turkey. “This they roasted and fixed all the trimmings— and what a dinner! How I can remember this Christmas, because Elder Jensen put the drumstick of this big turkey on my plate.”

Harry’s father, the Mayor of Spencer, Iowa- Harry’s dad had a couple of acres on the bank of the little Sioux River. The river was high and formed a pond below a large rock on the bank. Harry noticed some ducks on the pond. He went home and got his horse and a shot gun. It did not enter his mind that it was not duck season. Nor did his mind grasp the fact that his father was the Mayor and he shouldn’t shoot ducks out of season!

He tied up his horse and stealthily crept toward the pond. The ducks were still there. He leveled the gun against the rock and waited for the perfect moment. The ducks gathered together and- Blam!!! Two fine ducks with one shot. He proudly brought them home tied to the horn of his saddle. “When Dad come home and saw the ducks he nearly had a fit! We lived through it and those ducks tasted just as good out of season as in”.

Grandpa Alonzo Chamberlain- One day when Harry was on the way home from school, Mr. Haleck, the shoemaker, gave him a big red apple to take home to his Grandpa. “Well, to a boy my age and that time of day when you are hungry that apple kept getting smaller and smaller until there was no apple”. When Mr. Haleck called on Grandpa to see how he liked that big apple, Grandpa was heard to say, “What apple? I didn’t get any apple! That damn boy ate it up!”

Apparently, Alonzo also had our famous Chamberlain trait. Harry described his grandfather as “six foot one inch tall, large stature, a brilliant mind, and a good appetite… For his last meal he ate 13 large pancakes and coffee.”¹

The funeral Harry’s grandfather Alonzo Chamberlain

Grandpa Alonzo Chamberlain stayed with the family of his son in Spencer after his wife died. He made wonderful gardens and was a great help to Harry’s dad and mother. In the last few years of his life Alonzo was totally blind, but he was always patient and kind. “When so young you do not appreciate what wonderful people our grandparents are”, Harry later wrote.¹

Alonzo Chamberlain died in Spencer, Iowa October 16, 1902. Reverend L. Barber conducted his funeral at the home of his son. The impressive service revealed what but a few knew about the old man.

As a young man, Alonzo was deeply impressed by the suffering of the black race. He believed that human slavery was our great national curse. And, like Abraham Lincoln he thought and said this nation could not live part slave and part free. He had the physical and moral courage to assert his convictions at a time when to do so, even in the north, would subject himself to insult an often imperil his life.⁶

He was not a classical scholar. However, few men were as versed in classical literature as he. He was an omniverous reader with a great ability to retain and assimilate what he read. Even shortly before his death he could  quote leading authors of all ages both poetry and prose.⁶

“Although brusque in manner and positive in speech, his qualities of candor, sincerity and correctness of purpose were always so evident that they made him hosts of enduring friends”.⁶

An evergreen stood on a lot in Riverside Cemetery in Spencer, Iowa. Alonzo planted that tree, and cared for it through the years until the loss of his sight made this work impossible.⁶

Lydia A. Blanchard Chamberlain

Alonzo’s second wife Lydia A. Blanchard Chamberlain did not move to Spencer, Iowa with Harry and Alonzo in 1871. She remained in Shirland, Illinois. She was living there in 1880,⁷ and apparently was still there late in her life when this photo was taken in Beloit, Wisconsin.

However, when she died on November 14, 1893 at age 68, she was buried in Riverside Cemetery in Spencer, Iowa.⁸ It is likely that Alonzo lived alternately in both locations until she died in 1893.

Harry’s brother Ernest Clarence Chamberlain

Harry Chamberlain, Sr. sold his 55 acre farm south of town in the fall of 1902. It sold for $110 per acre to Sam Youde of O’brien County. This was a record price for land in Clay County at that time.⁹ They moved to a house in Spencer on Third Street.

Harry missed the home on the farm and recalls the times he would go down to the river to trap muskrats and an occasional mink. He remembers his brother Ernest, seven years older than Harry, would make figure four box traps to catch rabbits.¹

When Ernest was in high school he became a proficient hypnotist. He had groups come over to the house where he would put on shows which were a lot of fun.

After high school, on November 26, 1901, Ernest left for Minneapolis, Minnesota to attend the Northwestern Conservatory of Music.¹⁰ He was a wonderful, clean, religious young man and became converted, and was united with the Free Baptist Church in Minneapolis in 1902.¹¹  Known for his musical ability and perfect pitch,¹² he sang in the church choir and in a male quartet.¹

After completing his course there, he came back to Iowa in April, 1903.¹³ However, he soon returned to Minneapolis where he was offered a job at a company in piano tuning and repair.¹

“I am a piano tuner”

One incident happened to Ernest while he was working as a piano tuner. This story gave his family a good laugh.

Ernest was walking in an elite part of Minneapolis to do a job. A young lady, who had seen him pass by her house several times before, hailed him to come in. He had his little  black tool case with him and he went into her palatial home. After being there a while, he asked the young lady, “Where is it?” (meaning the piano). She pulled up her dress and showed him a big boil. This startled and embarrassed Ernest, who was always quite shy. “Oh”, he said, “did you think I was a doctor?”¹

“Never… a sensation of deeper sorrow than on this occasion”

Ernest was on top of the world. Everyone who knew Ernest loved and respected him. He met a young woman named Ester Chapman and they planned to marry. They would return to Spencer for their wedding on September 14, 1904.  A success in his work, his company made him an offer to take charge of their piano house in the west.¹

The newspaper reported their marriage and hailed his achievement and good fortune:

“Yesterday eve., at 7:00 at the home of the grooms parents occurred the marriage of Ernest Chamberlain and Ester Chapman of Maryville, Missouri. Elder J. W. Ellis of Spirit Lake, an uncle of the groom, performed the ceremony. The groom is the second son of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Chamberlain and is one of Spencer’s best young men. Mr. and Mrs. Chamberlain will leave in a few days for Spokane, Washington, where the groom has secured a lucrative position in a large piano house”.¹⁴

However, tragedy struck on the evening of the wedding. He became seriously ill with a broken appendix. Ernest died one week later. Another newspaper reported the sad story:

Ernest C. Chamberlain was taken dangerously ill immediately after his marriage. A physician was called at once. Everything was done that could alleviate his suffering until 12:45 yesterday morning, (September 21). Never in the history of our city did the news that death had invaded one of our homes produce a sensation of deeper sorrow than on this occasion... 

There was that irresistible quality in his make up which drew people to him, always cheerful, always happy himself and with a smile and a kind word for all he met. A source of sunshine and gladness to a man’s heart. He was a graduate of Northwestern Conservatory of Music of Minneapolis, well equipped for the work of life, and was soon to move to Spokane with his young wife to enter an unusually promising career. Rarely a more promising future opens to the young. All the bright visions have been dissipated and gladness turned to mourning.¹⁵

A vision of the after life reported in the Spencer Herald

A large number of family and friends gathered and were with him that night. In their presence, he had a remarkable vision of the after life. The Spencer Herald reported the impressive experience:

Ernest was called home September 21st, at 12:45 am, at the early age of 20 years, 11 months and 19 days. But before death claimed him, he was able to give the young wife, parents and friends the assurance of a triumphant faith and life in God and left to grow brighter in their memory the beautiful vision and blessing which he received just before death.¹¹

This experience had a profound effect on young Harry Chamberlain who was 14 years old. He later recorded his memory of that night.

Before he passed away he had a vision of the other side. Papa, who was sitting on the bed holding his hands, said to him, ‘Ernest, don’t you want to live.’ Ernest said, ‘Papa, I wouldn’t want to live now if I could, everything is wonderful and beautiful.’ And just before he died he turned to Mamma, who was sitting at his head, and said, “Mamma, your religion is true.“

I was standing by Mother and when he said those important words it was like I had taken hold of an electric wire and the hair on my head seemed to stand on end and sizzle. Of all the relatives and those in the room, not even Dad who was sitting on the bed heard him say what he did, except Mother, myself and Myrtle, who was standing at the foot of the bed.¹  

It is hard to imagine the grief and disappointment felt by the family with the tragic loss of the husband of a new bride, and of their son and brother. Ernest had often told Harry that when he got into business he would have Harry join with him, “but this was not to be”.¹

The Chamberlain’s move to California

In October, 1904 a hunter near Spencer, Iowa shot and killed a strange bird unknown in that location. It was almost black with webbed feet and a hooked bill with a pouch under it. An investigation eventually identified it as a cormorant, a coastal bird which sometimes may nest in trees near fresh water lakes. Some of these birds had evidently drifted from there normal migration pattern. The hunter’s name was Harry Keese.¹⁶

In 1901, Harry Keese married Myrtle Mae Chamberlain. They had two daughters, Bonnie Beatrice Keese born August 15, 1902 and Bernice Gladys Keese born February 20, 1904 both were born in Spencer, Iowa. Bonnie and Bernice were, at the time, the only grandchildren of Harry and Mary Chamberlain.

In his “Life Story”, Harry Ellis Chamberlain introduced his brother-in-law as, “Harry (Hal) Keese whom I loved as a brother”¹

Hal Keese got a job in Visalia, California working at a newspaper. His wife Myrtle and their girls soon followed him. Harry and his mother also decided to go along. Harry Sr. thought it not wise to leave his law practice.

They moved to Visalia, CA in 1905 and rented a house on South Garden Street. The California winter surprised Harry as the trees had no leaves where he thought trees stayed green all year. One day at this location, Harry was sitting on the screen porch reading when he heard a thump. Upon investigation, he discovered a large caliber bullet, fired from a long distance, lodged in the railing in front of him.¹

They moved two more times to locations on Goshen Avenue. Harry enjoyed baseball, being in school plays and singing in a quartet while attending Tipton Lindsay Grammar School.

The next year Harry’s father came to California. He bought a ten acre ranch three miles from town. Charlie Kinkler, who lived across from their ranch, offered to save them the expense of moving. “We will take our flat box wagon and move you,” he said. That seemed fine and they loaded the wagon. They started off when a branch of a tree caught the glass of the dresser at the front of the wagon which tipped it into the mules. Away they went spilling things all along the road until they finally got them stopped. “Was Charlie’s father mad to think that happened to those mules.”¹

Natural disasters

Early on the morning of April 18, 1906, Harry was annoyed when he thought his brother-in-law Hal was shaking his bed. But, when he opened his eyes, there was no one was in the room. Harry’s dad was up early that morning and wondered what was making the water slop out of the ditches. They later learned there had been a major earth quake in San Francisco. In Visalia, it shook dishes off the wall but there was no major damage.

The 7.9 magnitude earthquake struck San Francisco, about 220 miles north-west of Visalia. At the time, San Francisco was the largest city in California with a population of 410,000. The earthquake destroyed bout 80% of the city and up to 3000 people perished. In 2019 it remains the worst natural disaster in California history.¹⁷

in Visalia in June 1906, just two months after the earth quake, the levee on the St. John River broke north of town. It flooded Visalia with up to two feet of water and severely damaged many of the orchards.¹⁸ The ten acres that Harry Chamberlain bought had choice fruit orchards.¹ The flood killed nearly all the trees on  the Chamberlain property.¹

Harry in the Giant Forest

Living in California was a happy time for Harry. There were lot of young people his age who would come over in the evening and play games. They also had a lot of fun picking fruit in the various orchards and also to make a little money.

Harry’s experience in milking and riding came in handy. The Lowerys had a home where they went during the summer, so they hired Harry to milk their cows. This was quite a chore because some of their thirteen cows had to be tied head and foot. However, they told him they got more milk and cream when he milked them than ever before.

The Lowerys had a herd of cattle on their ranch in the foothills. Each year they took this herd back to the to the high pastures near the Giant Forest. It took three days to make the trip. One year (about 1908), they invited Harry to bring his saddle horse and go with them. His father also went, but preferred to walk all the way rather than ride a horse.

The first night they camped at Big Meadow. They put the cattle into a corral. That night the animals got fussy. Lowery assured young Harry it was only because they sensed bears or mountain lions. Harry along with the others slept that frosty night on the ground under a canvass.

The next day they traveled through Redwood Canyon, “a most beautiful place”. They arrived and set up camp at Rowell Meadow. It was a beautiful moonlit night. As Harry was settling in for his second night of camping he raised up in his bed. The cattle saw that white canvass rise up in the moonlight and they were off and running, heading down the canyon. Both of the Lowerys jumped on their horses and headed them back. “I caused a commotion”, Harry later acknowledged.

They divided the cattle into several herds and placed them into different meadows and traveled between the various locations. One day, Harry and two others riding ahead, galloped into a little cove and caught a nest of rattlesnakes by surprise. “How they did rattle”. Harry said. Luckily, none of horses were bitten.¹

Some of the trails were very dangerous and they invited Harry along just to give him a good scare. One very narrow trail above Boulder Creek was just wide enough for one animal at a time. Several times some animal tried to crowd past and fell into the canyon to become food for the bears and other animals. Harry went along and didn’t think anything about it. They told his father he “was the damnedest kid they ever saw” because it didn’t scare him. Harry had explicit faith in his horse, and seeing them go, he thought he could too.¹

One day Harold Crismon and Harry took their rifles out for some target practice. That night as they were sitting around the camp fire his dad said, “Boy, you don’t know how close you got to your dad”. He then showed him a hole in the big hat he was wearing. He heard the bullet glance off a rock, and then went through his hat. They were more careful after that.

After two months in the forest, Harry wanted to go back to the valley where his girl was. So, one morning he strapped on his rifle, took a lunch, and was on his way. The ride was beautiful and when the sun set he rode by moonlight. He reached the foothill ranch at about nine that night. When he got home he learned that his girl had gone to the Giant Forest.¹

His two month trip into this beautiful redwood country full of huge trees, steep cliffs, bears, mountain lions and rattle snakes is one he would never forget.

President Joseph E. Robinson

In about 1908, Hal Keese moved from Visalia to Berkeley, California to work on the newspaper as a linotype operator. Harry’s father decided to sell his property and go back to Iowa. Harry’s mother decided to move to Berkeley with Myrtle and the grandchildren. This left Harry in a quandary of what he should do and where he should to go.

Mr. Burton, an elderly neighbor, wanted Harry to take care of his place for him. He promised him 80 acres of the land in California and a team of horses if he would stay until he was 21, about four years.  His father, understanding the complications that arise in families, advised him not to take the offer.

Harry took his father’s advice and decided to move with his mother to Berkeley. After being there for a while, the six members of the Keese/Chamberlain family moved to Oakland just across from the mission home for missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Harry’s mother joined that church in Spencer, Iowa in 1899. Finally, after eleven years, she lived near a branch of the church. For the first time, she could attend regular Sunday services. In 1910 there were less than 400,000 members of the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, most of whom lived in Utah or Idaho. There were no stakes in California. The first stake in San Francisco (the third in California) would be organized in 1927. While living a this location Harry became acquainted with the missionaries including Joseph E. Robinson, President of the California mission.

On Sunday, April 17, 1910 President Robinson  wrote about a meeting with Harry and his family

“I dined with Harry and his family and visited Garlicks and Kings. Afterward met with the Elders and Harry and talked with the latter until 1:30 am.”¹⁹

Harry was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on April 29, 1910 at the Piedmont Baths in Oakland, California by Elder Andrew V. Nelson.¹

On April 30. 1910 he was confirmed by President Joseph E. Robinson who recorded the event in his journal:

“Today went to Oakland early where we had a fine Priesthood Meeting. Thirty Elders including myself present and some local brethren. We had a most enjoyable time. I confirmed Harry Ellis Chamberlain a member of the church.”¹⁹

To be continued….

24- My Grandmother Annie Ankarstrand Chamberlain told me her story was too sad to tell. However, learning about her life gave me greater love and appreciation for her and her Swedish immigrant mother and father.

25- Harry Chamberlain, Key Witness in Salt Lake Murder Trial

© Copyright Dennis D. Chamberlain, The Chamberlain Story, 2016. 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- Life Story of Harry Ellis Chamberlain, recorded by Martin and Genene Chamberlain, October 1972. Unpublished.
2- The Spencer Hearld, May 10, 1893.
3- Spencer Clay County News, August 3, 1899
4- The Spencer Hearld, August 2, 1899
5- FamilySearch.org
6- Orleans County Monitor November 3, 1902, Clay County News, Obit- Alonzo Chamberlain,
7- 1880 U. S. census
8- www.findagrave.com, Lydia A. Chamberlain
9- Ottumwa Semi-Weekly Courier, October 21, 190210- Clay County News, Spencer, Iowa, April 22, 1901

11- The Herald, Spencer, Iowa. Sept, 1904. (Copy of this news clipping was sent to DDC from Mary Parsons of Spencer, Iowa)
12- Family tradition
13- Clay County News, Spencer, Iowa, April 23, 1903
14- Times Republican, Marshalltown, Iowa, September 17, 1904
15- Clay County News, Spencer, Iowa, September 22, 1904
16- Evening Times- Republican, Marshalltown, Iowa, October 29, 1904
17- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1906_San_Francisco_earthquake, (magnitude estimate, the Richter Scale was not developed until 1935)
18- Los Angeles Herald, June 15, 1906
19- Church History Digital Catalog, Joseph Edridge Robinson Papers, 1909-1910