NJGenWeb ~ Morris County, New Jersey

Chamberlain Line
Morris Co. Up

(I) Benjamin CHAMBERLAIN, who was born about 1746 or 1747, died November 29, 1816, came from Connecticut and settled near Sparta, Sussex county, New Jersey, prior to 1767, on the farm now owned and occupied by Samuel H. MAINES, a great-grandson. It is said a brother, John CHAMBERLAIN, came with him and also settled in Sussex. Of the immediate family of these brothers we have no definite information, but it is quite probable that they were descendants of the early pioneers of this name who emigrated from England to America and settled in one of the New England States. It is not known whom Benjamin CHAMBERLAIN married. He was a farmer and shoemaker,  and of the Presbyterian faith. Tradition tells us that he was a soldier in the Revolutionary War. His tombstone is in the Sparta Presbyterian churchyard. He had children:

  1. Phebe, born April 17, 1767, died January 31, 1807; she married, in 1787, Thomas LEMINGTON, Esq., who was born at Elizabethtown in 1769; he was a school teacher in Deckertown and Franklin for a number of years, and was constable for the township of Hardiston for twenty-one years; he moved to Sparta in 1804, purchased property there, and carried on a distillery and forge business until 1814, when he sold out and purchased a property at Hamburg and lived on it five years; he sold this about 1820 and removed with his family to Ohio; he had children: Phebe, John, Elias, Isaac, Polly.
  2. Hannah, married William BUCHANAN, and removed to New York State.
  3. Elizabeth, born about 1772, died May 10, 1855; married February 11, 1790, Noah TALMADGE, born about 1761, died August 10, 1837; he was a member of the Sate troops located at Ogdensburg, now Sodom; he was a carpenter by trade, and assisted in the building of the Presbyterian church at Sparta; children: David, Phebe, Daniel, Benjamin, Samuel, Elias, Cornelius, Sarah, William, Abraham, Hannah.
  4. Polly, married Thomas HAVENS, a farmer, and lived on the farm near Sparta, later owned and occupied by John H. CHAMBERLAIN; children: Sallie, Irene, Noah, Thomas, Charles, Samuel.
  5. Isaac, died unmarried.
  6. Joseph, born on the homestead near Sparta about 1776, died near Milton, New Jersey, June 1, 1836; he opened the Hopewell Forge in Sussex county, and later purchased the forge property at Russia, Morris county, where he continued the manufacture of iron until his death; he was prosperous, and owned about 800 acres of land; in politics a Whig; his death was occasioned by a stroke of lightning, which killed him instantly, and he is buried in the Headley graveyard, near Milton; he married (first) Susan SAYRES, and had children: Almeda, Clara, Gabriel; (second) Mary DOW, who died about 1865, and had children: Mahlon, Betsey, Hiram, Marshall, Ida, Cynthia, Emeline, Joseph.
  7. Samuel, who died at Milton; owned land in Jefferson township, and also in Bergen county, New Jersey, and was a member of the Presbyterian church; he was a successful farmer; he married Martha DAVENPORT, and had children: Noah, Catherine, Phebe, Hila.
  8. Benjamin, was a farmer and lined at Russia, New Jersey; he purchased his first land in Jefferson township from Sylvanus COOPER; he married Hannah BANFORD, and had children: Esther, Amelia, John B., Ephraim, Susan, and one other, who lived at Port Jervis, New York.
  9. Abraham, of further mention.
  10. Jabez, born about 1785, died in 1821; he was a tavern keeper and farmer at Succasunna, New Jersey, owning a fine farm; he served as constable of Roxbury, and was captain of the "Light Horse Cavalry;" he was killed at a logging frolic by a tree falling on him, and is buried at Succasunna Plains; he married Eunice DICKERSON, who died in 1842, and had: Jane, Mary, Elizabeth, Joseph, Charles, Harriet, Susan, Eunice, Phebe.
  11. Elias, born January 11, 1787, died January 23, 1834; has a farm near Milton; in December, 1823, he bought of William HEADLEY the property now owned by E.N. NORMAN, and made that his place of residence; he married Sarah KEEPERS, born March 11, 1793, died April 15, 1876; children: David, Daniel, William, Johnson, Fannie, Caroline, Amelia, Albert, Nathaniel.
  12. Noah, born on the Chamberlain homestead, August 8, 1790, died there, December 16, 1872; he married (first) Ann COX, and had; Jane, Rebecca, Jehiel, Aaron, Sarah, Delia, Arthur; he married (second) Ann MAINES, born March 21, 1793, died October 8, 1867; children: Ellen, Benjamin, George; he was a farmer and a Presbyterian, and is buried at Sparta.

(II) Abraham CHAMBERLAIN, son of Benjamin CHAMBERLAIN, was born on the Chamberlain homestead near Sparta, April 10, 1783, and died at Petersburg, Morris county, New Jersey, September 3, 1852. His first business venture was the rafting of timber from the vicinity of Milford, Pennsylvania, down the Delaware river to Philadelphia. The return trips, a distance of 100 miles, were made on foot, the time consumed being two days to Sparta. After his marriage Mr. CHAMBERLAIN settled on the Shores place near Russia, Morris county, and was a carpenter there. June 1, 1821, he and Ephraim ADAMS purchased the Petersburg Forge from Peter VAN WINKLE and Thomas VAN ANTWERP, and engaged in the manufacture of iron, with which he was identified until his death. He was also a farmer, and the owner and operator of a grist mill, a plaster mill and a saw mill at Milton, and a saw mill at Petersburg. About 1840 he erected a distillery at Petersburg and operated this until his death, this being caused by a wheel in the distillery falling upon him. His property consisted of about 500 acres. He and his wife attended the Oak Ridge Presbyterian Church. He married Elizabeth KEEPERS, born September 11, 1787, died at Petersburg, July 7, 1882. Children:

  1. Caroline, born at Petersburg, September 8, 1811, died August 26, 1821
  2. Maurice, born at Petersburg, September 2, 1813, died at Middletown, New York, February 10, 1894; in early life he kept a hotel at Milton; he married Mary MC CORMICK, born at Milton, February 26, 1819, died at Campbell Hall, New York, March 30, 1896; children: Sarah, Mary, Marcus, Julia, Hattie, Ida, Minnie.
  3. Horace, a sketch of whom follows.
  4. Amos
  5. Lewis
  6. Elizabeth
  7. Almeda, married Joseph Warren HEADLEY, a sketch of whom follows.
  8. Jane, married William WINTERBOTTOM, and became the mother of John Prevost WINTERBOTTOM.
 

Copyright ©1999-2018 by Brianne Kelly-Bly, all rights reserved.