Finley Chamberlin & Emily Hoy

FAMILY LINE AND HISTORY

FINLEY McLAREN “FRANK” CHAMBERLIN
1st of 5 children of Harrison Chamberlain & Caroline Van Surdam
Born: Sep 22, 1845, Wyoming Co., New York
Died: Aug 9, 1905 (age 59), Rifle, Garfield Co., Colorado; stomach hemorrhage due to stomach cancer
Buried: Rose Hill Cemetery in Rifle, Garfield Co., Colorado
Military: Civil War, Union Army
Occupation: Railroad Conductor/Contractor, mine superintendent
Affiliation: Order of Railway Conductors, Division 338
Married: Aug 28, 1871, EMILY S. HOY, in Garnett, Anderson Co., Kansas
Separated: circa Dec 1898, Colorado
Six children: Nellie Belle Chamberlin, Frederick Lawrence “Fred” Chamberlin, Ada Agnes Chamberlin, Roy Valentine Chamberlin, Mary Agnes “Mamie” Chamberlin, Willard Joseph “Joe” Chamberlin

EMILY S. HOY
4th of 6 children of Henry Hoy, Jr. & Mary Ann Smith
Born: Jul 24, 1850, Hoy’s Gap, Centre Co., Pennsylvania
Died: Feb 18, 1940 (age 89), Los Angeles, Los Angeles Co., California; chronic nephritis and acute uremia
Buried: Calvary Cemetery in Los Angeles, Los Angeles Co., California
Occupation: Restaurant keeper, innkeeper
Married (1): 1868, Frank M. Davis, in probably Iola, Allen Co., Kansas
Annulled: Sep 16, 1870, Garnett, Anderson Co., Kansas
(Frank Davis: b. abt 1847, Michigan – d. poss abt 1871, prob Kansas)
One child: Winifred M. “Winnie” Davis
Married (2): Aug 28, 1871, FINLEY McLAREN “FRANK” CHAMBERLIN, in Garnett, Anderson Co., Kansas
Six children: Nellie Belle Chamberlin, Frederick Lawrence “Fred” Chamberlin, Ada Agnes Chamberlin, Roy Valentine Chamberlin, Mary Agnes “Mamie” Chamberlin, Willard Joseph “Joe” Chamberlin

1. Winifred M. “Winnie” Davis (aka Chamberlin)
Only child of Emily S. Hoy & Frank M. Davis
Born: Aug 22, 1869, Iola, Allen Co., Kansas
Raised by Emily’s second husband, Finley “Frank” Chamberlin, as his own
Died: Mar 26, 1882 (age 12), Fremont, Dodge Co., Nebraska;  cause unkn
Buried: Ridge Cemetery in Fremont, Dodge Co. Nebraska

Six children of Finley McLaren “Frank” Chamberlin & Emily S. Hoy:
1. Nellie Belle Chamberlin
Born: Mar 7, 1873, Kansas City, Jackson Co., Missouri
Died: Jan 2, 1956 (age 82), Chico, Butte Co., California; excess choler
Buried: Chico Cemetery in Chico, Butte Co., California
Married: Dec 26, 1894, Charles Henry (Charley) Chatfield, Grand Junction, Mesa Co., Colorado
Ten children: Charles Joseph (Charlie) Chatfield, Leo Willard Chatfield, Howard Francis Chatfield, Roy Elmer Chatfield, Nellie Mary “Nalla May” Chatfield, Gordon Gregory Chatfield, Verda Agnes Chatfield, Arden Sherman Chatfield, Jacqueline “Ina” Chatfield, Noreen Ellen “Babe” Chatfield

2. Frederick Lawrence “Fred” Chamberlin
Born: Apr 17, 1875, Garnett, Anderson Co., Kansas
Died: Aug 4, 1955 (age 80), Hollywood, Los Angeles Co., California; heart attack
Buried: Calvary Cemetery in Los Angeles, Los Angeles Co., California
Married (1): after 1914, Ida unkn, (died before 1918)
No children
Married (2): Oct 2, 1920, Clara Alice “Callie” (Stingle) Fenner, Mesa Co., Colorado
No children

3. Ada Agnes Chamberlin
Born: Nov 6, 1877, Fort Worth, Tarrant Co., Texas
Died: Jul 15, 1960 (age 82), Baker, Baker Co., Oregon; pneumonia
Buried: Mount Hope Cemetery in Baker, Baker Co., Oregon
Married (1): early 1898, William James “Doc” Chambers, Colorado
One child: Howard James Chambers
Married (2): Apr 22, 1902, Edward Lawrence Whitaker, Grand Junction, Mesa Co., Colorado
Seven children: Vera Stanislaus Whitaker, Leonard F. Whitaker, Zelda Beatrice Whitaker, Donald Edward Whitaker, Melvin Lawrence Whitaker, Thelma Marie Whitaker, Edward Joseph Whitaker

4. Roy Valentine Chamberlin
Born: Aug 22, 1881, Fort Worth, Tarrant Co., Texas
Died: Nov 19, 1923 (age 41), Los Angeles, Los Angeles Co., California; pernicious anemia
Buried: Calvary Cemetery in Los Angeles, Los Angeles Co., California
Married: Jan 28, 1914, Mary “Irene” Schaller, Rapid City, Pennington Co., South Dakota
One child: Harold Valentine Chamberlin

5. Mary Agnes “Mamie” Chamberlin
Born: Jan 6, 1887, Longview, Gregg Co., Texas
Died: May 17, 1980 (age 93), Aberdeen, Grays Harbor Co., Washington; old age
Buried: Olympic Memorial Gardens in Tumwater, Thurston Co., Washington
Married: Nov 28, 1911, Thomas Herbert Rosborough, Los Angeles, Los Angeles Co., California
Three children: Mildred Emily Rosborough, Ada “Arlene” Rosborough, Willard Joseph Rosborough

6. Willard Joseph “Joe” Chamberlin
Born: Aug 12, 1889, Cleburne, Johnson Co., Texas
Died: Dec 10, 1971 (age 82), Lakeside, San Diego Co., California; emphysema, arthritis
Buried: Dec 20, 1971, Willamette National Cemetery in Portland, Multnomah Co., Oregon
Married: April 12, 1917, Frieda Lois Jones, Corvallis, Linn Co., Oregon
Four children: Mary “Hope” Chamberlin, Willard Joseph Chamberlin, Jr., Marcella Joan “Jo” Chamberlin, Roy Morgan Chamberlin

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Timeline and Records

Five children of Harrison Chamberlain & Caroline Van Surdam:
1. Finley McLaren “Frank” Chamberlin
1845 – 1905
2. Adelaide “Addie” Chamberlain
1848 – 1935
3. Grace E. Chamberlain
1851 – 1936
4. Adah Melissa Chamberlain
1858 – 1927
5. Irene Anna Chamberlain
1866 – 1902

Six children of Henry Hoy, Jr. & Mary Ann Smith:
1. Benjamin Franklin “Frank” Hoy
1845 – 1883
2. James Smith “J.S.” Hoy
1846 – 1925
3. Valentine Shade “V.S.” Hoy
1848 – 1898
4. Emily S. Hoy
1850 – 1940
5. Adea Adam “A.A.” Hoy
1852 – 1926
6. Henry “Harry” Hoy
1855 – 1906

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NOTE: The spelling and punctuation in the following letters, census records, certificates, newspaper articles, and documents HAVE BEEN COPIED AS WRITTEN. Periods have been added on occasion to have the writings make more sense.

Sep 22, 1845: Birth of Finley McLaren “Frank” Chamberlin, 1st of 5 children of Harrison Chamberlain & Caroline Van Surdam, in Middlebury Township, Wyoming Co., New York

Feb 18, 1848: Birth of Adelaide “Addie” Chamberlain, 2nd of 5 children of Harrison Chamberlain & Caroline Van Surdam, in Middlebury, Wyoming Co., New York

Jul 24, 1850: Birth of Emily S. Hoy, 4th of 6 children of Henry Hoy, Jr. & Mary Ann Smith and future wife of Finley Chamberlin, in Hoy’s Gap, Centre Co., Pennsylvania

1850: Daguerreotype of Emily Hoy taken by Chas. Dorey in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania

Aug 31, 1850: Federal Census for Middlebury, Wyoming Co., New York:
Chaberlain, Harrison: age 36, M, Farmer, Value of Real Estate Owned $3,200, born New York (Chamberlain)
Caroline: age 27, F, born New York
Finley: age 5, M, born New York
Adalaid: age 4, F, born New York (Adelaide)
Reuben: age 81, M, no business, born New Hampshire (Reuben Chamberlin, father of Harrison)
Nancy: age 72, F, born New Hampshire (Nancy Chamberlin, step-mother of Harrison)
Bump, Andrew: age 16, M, Farmer, attended school within the year, born New York (Caroline’s maiden name is Bump, unknown relationship to Andrew)
Note: Reuben and his second wife Nancy are living in the household of his son, Harrison Chamberlain

Sep 1, 1851: Birth of Grace E. Chamberlain, 3rd of 5 children of Harrison Chamberlain & Caroline Van Surdam, in Middlebury Township, Wyoming Co., New York

May 24, 1855: Death of Henry Hoy, Jr. (age 42), father of Emily S. Hoy, in Marion Township, Centre Co., Pennsylvania. Henry is buried in the Jacksonville Cemetery in Jacksonville, Centre Co., Pennsylvania

1857: Mary Ann Smith Hoy, “widow & relict of Henry Hoy, Jr.” requests the Orphans Court of Centre Co., Pennsylvania to appoint a guardian for her six children and lists the children by ages: Franklin age 12, James age 11, Valentine age 9, Emily age 7, Adea age 5, Henry age 2.

Feb 23, 1858: Birth of Adah Melissa Chamberlain, 4th of 5 children of Harrison Chamberlain & Caroline Van Surdam, in Middlebury Township, Wyoming Co., New York

Jul 7, 1860: Federal Census for Middlebury, Wyoming Co., New York:
Name: H Chamberlain (Harrison Chamberlain)
Age: 48
Birth Year: abt 1812
Gender: Male
Birth Place: New York
Home in 1860: Middlebury, Wyoming, New York
Post Office: Wyoming
Occupation: Farmer
Real Estate Value: 5000
Personal Estate Value: 1600
Attended School: 3
Household Members: Name and Age
H Chamberlain: age 48 (Harrison Chamberlain)
Caroline Chamberlain: age 38 (wife)
Finley Chamberlain: age 15 (son)
Adalade Chamberlain: age 13 (daughter)
Grace E Chamberlain: age 8 (daughter)
Ada Chamberlain” age 2 (daughter)
Julius Palmater: age 17 (farm hand)
Nancy Chamberlin: age 82 (stepmother, Nancy Chamberlain)

Jul 11, 1860: Federal Census for Omro, Winnebago Co., Wisconsin:
Name: Emily Hoy
Age: 10
Birth Year: abt 1850
Gender: Female
Birth Place: Pennsylvania
Home in 1860: Omro, Winnebago, Wisconsin
Post Office: Omro
Dwelling Number: 947
Attended School: Yes
Household Members: Name Age
Mary Ann Hoy: age 37, born Pennsylvania (mother)
Franklin Hoy: age 15, born Pennsylvania (brother)
James Hoy: age 13, born Pennsylvania (brother)
Valentine Hoy: age 11, born Pennsylvania (brother)
Emily Hoy: age 10, born Pennsylvania (self)
Ada Hoy: age 8, born Pennsylvania (brother)
Henry Hoy: age 5, born Pennsylvania (brother)

Nov 6, 1860: Abraham Lincoln is elected the 16th President of the United States

Dec 20, 1860: South Carolina secedes from the Union

Secessionists: When Lincoln was elected, there were thirty-three states in the Union, and a thirty-fourth, free Kansas, was about to join. By the time of his inauguration in March of 1861, just twenty-seven remained, and from the Executive Mansion rebel flags could be seen across the Potomac on Arlington Heights. In 1860, most of the nation’s 31 million people lived peaceably on farms and in small towns.
Source: The Civil War, An Illustrated History by Geoffrey C. Ward, Ric Burns & Ken Burns

Feb 8, 1861: Jefferson Davis becomes the provisional president of the Confederate States

Mar 4, 1861: Inauguration of President Abraham Lincoln
Lincoln’s inaugural address was stirring. He appealed for the preservation of the Union. To retain his support in the North without further alienating the South, he called for compromise. He promised he would not initiate force to maintain the Union or interfere with slavery in the states in which it already existed. Soon after, Lincoln received word that Fort Sumter, located in Charleston harbor, South Carolina, would have to be resupplied. The situation presented a problem, as tensions between the North and the South were very high. Resupplying the fort might inflame the situation because it was located in a slave-holding state. Yet Lincoln, in his inaugural address, had promised that the Union would not give up control of federal territory, such as Fort Sumter. The fort was resupplied, and Lincoln refused to evacuate it. The Confederates attacked the fort on April 12, 1861. The Civil War had begun, and President Lincoln was thrust into the middle of one of this country’s greatest crises.
Online source: The Library of Congress Represents America’s Story from America’s Library
www.americaslibrary.gov/cgi-bin/page.cgi

Map Source: The Civil War, An Illustrated History by Geoffrey C. Ward, Ric Burns & Ken Burns, Sep 12, 1990, Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.

Mar 21, 1861: Letter from Finley Chamberlin (age 15) to unidentified uncle:
Mar 21st, 1861
Dear uncle,
I now take this opportunity to let you no how I am a getting along. Father & I are agready to build a barn, it is cold enough here, yet I should like to come of here next fall, but I don’t no as I shall. I can’t tell til I see how things turn out. I want you to writ me soon.

I am now going to write a few lines for aunt Lorry. Aunt lorry says she wants to come back in June & that you sid if She wanted money you would send hir some & she wants you to send hir some. About $6 she says. She thought you had property enough of hirs in your hands to make you good. She say is you disappoint hir in coming after hir, you must not disappoint hir in sending hir money. Adalaid rote in hir letter but she did not get any answer. She says if you ant a going to sen hir any money you must let her no it in time. She says you must let hir no before you send it. She says you told hir you would send hir money before she come away to come back with us. I think you had better come down and see us once more, write soon.
good By
Finley Chamberlin
Wyoming, Wyoming Co, NY
Note: Finley was 15 and a half when he wrote this letter to probably either his uncle Orson Sumner Chamberlain or Luther S. Chamberlain; his sister Adelaide was 13. His aunt, Laura Chamberlain, was about 50 and probably could not read or write.

Apr 12, 1861: Start of the American Civil War, also known as the War of the Rebellion. Confederate troops attacked Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina.

Source: www.usa-civil-war.com

Jul 28, 1861: Letter from A. Chamberlin to a cousin George:
July 28, 1861
Cousin George,
Although it is your turn to write I take my pen in hand to write you a few lines. We have not heard from you since Aunt Laura went away from here the 21 day of June. She promised to write but we have not received anything from any of you here. She got there so why did you not write. We looked for a letter every day and Laura thought it would take 2 wks for a letter to get here, but Sarah Higgens got a letter in 2 days from the time it was dated. We did not know but that you had sent the money and it had got lost. Have you heard from Edward and how he is, was he in that battle. We hear from our boys every week in the western New Yorker. Write as soon as you receive this and let me know how you all are. We are well, only mother, she is not very well. Tell Aunt Laura that Finley has another war fit, he was asked to go to Rochester to enlist with the horse company but he did not go.
No more – So – Good-Bye,
A. Chamberlin
Note: This letter is most likely written by Adelaide (age 13), Finley’s younger sister
Note: In Aug of 1861 Finley volunteers in the Civil War
Note: Their Aunt Laura Chamberlain (sister of Harrison Chamberlin) dies in Michigan in Nov of 1863

Aug 15, 1861: Finley “Frank” Chamberlin (age 15 yr, 11 mo) enlists in the Union Army, 9th Regiment Michigan Infantry, as a Private in Company I out of Brighton Township, Livingston Co., Michigan. The records state he is 18 years of age.

9th Michigan Infantry:
The Ninth Infantry was organized at Fort Wayne, near Detroit, and was mustered into the United States service on Oct. 15, 1861, with an enrollment of 913 officers and men. Immediately upon its completion the Regiment was ordered to Kentucky, being one of the first Michigan regiments to report for duty in the Western Department.

In November 1861, the regiment was at West Point, Ky., where it assisted in fortifying Muldraugh Hill, building roads and bridges. Detachments of the Ninth were sent to Elizabethtown, Ky. and other places surrounding West Point, Ky., where their presence was necessary to gain information, while protecting the countryside from marauding Confederate forces. Colonel W.W. Duffield, having been assigned the 23rd Brigade, Army of the Cumberland, Lieutenant Colonel John J. Parkhurst assumed command of the Ninth and assembling his Regiment at West Point, where it embarked on the Ohio river, proceeding to Nashville, arriving there on Jan. 23, 1862.

The Regiment participated on the march through Kentucky after the Confederate General John Morgan, assisting the 23rd Brigade in driving the notorious raider from the state. In June, the Ninth formed a part of a force of 9,000 troops under command of General Negley, then commenced a movement to capture Chattanooga, Tenn.

After numerous conflicts with the Confederates, Negley’s troops arrived before Chattanooga on June 8th, then after a spirited contest, drove the Confederates out of the city. Not having a force sufficient to occupy and hold the works, General Negley divided his forces, placing them at strategic points in the vicinity. In July, four companies under Major Dorus M. Fox were stationed at Tullahoma, the other six companies were under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Parkhurst at Murfreesboro. Here the six companies of the Ninth, together with the Third Minnesota, assisted by a squadron of Kentucky cavalry, were furiously attacked by the Confederate General Forrest at 4:00 A.M. on the morning of July 13th, by a force of 2,500 cavalry.

The attack fell heavily upon the detachment of the Ninth, consisting of about 250 men. The Confederates rode with reckless bravery into the camp of the Ninth, where a hand to hand encounter took place, then after prolonged struggle, the attackers were driven back, the Ninth recovering their overran camp. No support was sent to the Ninth, though Lieutenant Colonel Parkhurst sent messengers to the commander of the post, calling for reinforcements to help him in this desperate condition. The isolated portion of the detachment of the Ninth furnished ample opportunity for General Forest to bring an overwhelming force against it. The obstinate contest lasted from 4 a.m. until 1 p.m., when with no prospect of aid, with one-third of his men killed, wounded or captured, Lieutenant Colonel Parkhurst was most reluctantly obliged to surrender his command to the Southerners. Lieutenant Colonel Parkhurst and his adjutant Henry M. Duffield were taken prisoners in this engagement, the former being held until Dec. 3, 1862, when he was released, the latter August 15, 1863.

During the month of November, the Ninth entered upon the campaign under General Rosecrans, who was operating against the Confederate troops that culminated in the battle of Stones River and the capture of Murfreesboro. During the campaign, but before, the battle of Stones River the Ninth was detailed by General Thomas as a special guard at his headquarters, as Provost Guard for the 14th Corp.

When the Union right was crushed at Stones River, the Ninth did most gallant service in checking the stampede to the rear, by firmly holding the Nashville Pike, the disorganized forces were stopped and returned to their commands. Major General Thomas complimented Colonel Parkhurst and the Regiment for the very important service rendered at this critical point of battle. The Regiment also was engaged in provost duty at the battle Chickamauga, Ga., and by its prompt action gathered up the stragglers from the commands that were broken up by the furious onslaught of the Confederate columns, returning them to the firing line, where they helped repel the Confederate assaults.

Lieutenant Colonel Parkhurst was commissioned Colonel Feb. 6, 1863, being made Provost Marshal General of the Army of the Cumberland, with Lieutenant H.M. Duffield as his Adjutant General.

The Regiment passed under the command of Colonel Wilkinson, then in November and December, the Ninth was doing provost duty at Chattanooga.

Here the Regiment veteranized, 306 of its members re-enlisting, then were sent to Coldwater, Michigan, where they were furloughed for 30 days. After the expiration of the 30 days furlough the Regiment left Coldwater on Feb. 10, 1864, with 500 men, reporting to General Thomas, then started out on the Georgia Campaign. They were on provost duty in all of the battles from Chattanooga to Atlanta and when Atlanta fell, did provost duty in that city.

The Ninth returned to Chattanooga, then proceeded to Nashville with General Thomas, performing provost duty there until Sept. 15, 1865, when it was mustered out and returned to Jackson, Michigan, where it arrived on the 27th, was paid off and disbanded.
Source: Michigan in the Civil War 1861-1865, website of Don Harvey http://www.michiganinthewar.org/infantry/9thinf.htm

Oct 22, 1861: Pony Express service, which began on April 3, 1860, comes to an end. Telegraph service now spans the Continent with their wires.

May 27, 1862: Death of Mary Ann (Smith) Hoy (age 40), mother of Emily S. Hoy, in Omro, Winnebego Co., Wisconsin, leaving six orphaned children. Benjamin Franklin, the oldest is 17, Emily is 12, and the youngest, Harry, is 7. Absolom Shade Tipton, a cousin of Mary Ann, is named by the court to become the guardian of Hoy children and administer the financial affairs of the Hoy estate. The estate is settled on Oct 19, 1876, according to court records; guardianship of minor children to end Oct 19, 1876, when the youngest child, Harry Hoy, becomes 21 years of age. Mary Ann is buried in the Omro Cemetery in Omro, Wisconsin.

Sep 1862: The Emancipation Proclamation, issued by President Abraham Lincoln, proclaims slaves free in all Confederate states

Feb 27, 1863: Civil War letter from Finley McLaren Chamberlin (age 17 yr, 5 mo). Finley pens a 20-page letter to his family living in Middlebury, Wyoming Co., New York, covering a period from the end of February through April 5, 1863. The letter in its entirety will follow in the next post.

Apr 5, 1863: End of Finley Chamberlin’s (now age 17 yr, 7 mo) Civil War letter
Copy of the last page of Finley’s letter:

I made a mistake here and wrote on the rong side of the sheet but this is only one of the many you will find in reading this if you can read it at all, the writing is poor and the spelling to.
(F. Chamberlin)
Co. I, 9^th Mich
Inft. – Vol
Murfreesboro
Tenn
I Finished April 5^th
Ad 1863

Note: Finley McLaren Chamberlin and an Isaac Willard Chatfield are in the battle at Stones River, Tennessee. Some 30 years hence, Nellie Belle Chamberlin (the oldest child of Finley McLaren “Frank” Chamberlin & Emily S. Hoy) will marry Charles Henry Chatfield (a son of Isaac Willard “I.W.” Chatfield & Eliza Ann Herrington).

Jan 1863: Finley Chamberlin is in combat in a major battle at Stones River, Tennessee

Stones River Campaign, December 1862:
After Gen. Braxton Bragg’s defeat at Perryville, Kentucky, October 8, 1862, he and his Confederate Army of the Mississippi retreated, reorganized, and were redesignated as the Army of Tennessee. They then advanced to Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and prepared to go into winter quarters.

Major General William S. Rosecrans’ Union Army of the Cumberland followed Bragg from Kentucky to Nashville. Rosecrans left Nashville on December 26, with about 45,000 men, to defeat Bragg’s army. He found Bragg’s army on December 29 and went into camp that night, within hearing distance of the Rebels.

At dawn on the 31st, Bragg’s men attacked the Union right flank. The Confederates had driven the Union line back to the Nashville Pike by 10:00 am but there it held. Union reinforcements arrived from Rosecrans left in the late forenoon to bolster the stand and before fighting stopped that day, the Federals had established a new, strong line. On New Years Day, both armies marked time. Bragg surmised that Rosecrans would now withdraw, but the next morning he was still in position.

In late afternoon, Bragg hurled a division at a Union division that, on January 1, had crossed Stones River and had taken up a strong position on the bluff east of the river. The Confederates drove most of the Federals back across McFadden’s Ford, but with the assistance of artillery, the Federals repulsed the attack, compelling the Rebels to retire to their original position.

Bragg left the field on January 4-5, retreating to Shelbyville and Tullahoma, Tennessee. Rosecrans did not pursue, but as the Confederates retired, he claimed the victory. Stones River boosted Union morale. The Confederates had been thrown back in the east, west, and in the Trans-Mississippi.
Source: American Civil War.com

Army Organization of the Civil War:
The Federal government and the Confederate government both had war departments, which oversaw the organization, supply, and movements of their respective armies. Civil War-era armies were organized according to military manuals including those adopted by the Federal War Department prior to 1861. Because the war had to be fought over a large area of the South, the Union and the Confederacy both had several armies, each fighting in different “theaters” or sections of the country. Each army was a structured organization that included a general headquarters, infantry, artillery, cavalry, signalmen, engineers, quartermaster and commissary departments. The largest single organization of an army was a corps. The Union Army at Gettysburg had seven infantry corps and a cavalry corps, each commanded by a major general. The Confederate Army had three infantry corps, each commanded by a lieutenant general. Typically, a Confederate corps was much larger than a Union corps. A corps included three infantry divisions and an artillery brigade in the Union army or an artillery battalion in the Confederate Army.

The infantry division was commanded by a major or a brigadier general and composed of two to four infantry brigades. The brigade, commanded by a brigadier general, was composed of four to six regiments, and was the primary organization used by commanders in battle. A brigade with good officers and good training was a formidable fighting force and often advanced or defended positions in cooperation with fellow brigades.

For the infantryman, his regiment was the most important unit. Led by a colonel, lt. colonel and major, a full strength regiment numbered over 1,000 officers and men. Attrition due to disease and battle losses meant considerably lower personnel in each regiment by the time of the Battle of Gettysburg, where some regiments mustered only about two-hundred. A regiment was divided into ten companies of 100 men each at full strength. One company was divided in half as two platoons. One company was led by a captain with two lieutenants who each commanded a platoon. Platoons were divided into squads, led by a sergeant or corporal. Regiments fought in a “battle line” or in some cases a “skirmish line”, which was a general open rank tactic used to feel out the strength of an enemy force.

At the outbreak of the Civil War, there was a standing force of “regular” units in the United States Army. State militias were called into service, but there was a need to Federalize these units so that they could muster pay from the United States government and serve outside of state borders. Each state was given a quota of “volunteer regiments” to be raised for service lasting from three months to three years. The South faced a similar dilemma. Southern states raised and supplied the Confederate armies with volunteer regiments. By 1863, many of the regiments in both armies had been in service since 1861 and were still composed of mostly volunteer soldiers, though the first “conscripts” or men required by state law to serve in the military defense of a state, had begun to appear in Southern units. A regiment’s flag, or “regimental colors”, were painted with the regiment’s number and state affiliation, usually followed by “VOLUNTEER INFANTRY”. The term volunteer was a symbol of pride for soldiers on both sides.

The artillery was usually organized by regiments as well, except that each company was called a battery. A battery consisted of over 100 soldiers, armed with six cannon per battery. Confederate batteries were smaller, some having only four cannon. Batteries were assigned independently from their regiments to specific artillery brigades (Union) or battalions (Confederate) or to the artillery reserve of an army. Both of the armies had an artillery reserve which was an organization of extra batteries to be placed where needed. The Union army had one large artillery reserve force. The Confederate army had one reserve group per corps, but the number of guns was still smaller than the number of Union cannon.

A cavalry regiment was organized in a similar fashion to the infantry and artillery. Ten to twelve companies or “troops” made up one regiment. The regiment was divided into three battalions, each composed of four companies. A company was divided into “squadrons” for easy maneuvering on the field. The cavalry regiment was much more expensive to sustain while in service due to the amount of equipment carried by each cavalryman (carbine, saber, pistol, belt set, and equipment for the soldier’s mount) and the requirement for horses and their care.

Both armies also had a compliment of quartermaster, engineer, and signal units as well as supply wagons organized as “trains”. An army on the march was usually followed by miles and miles of wagons loaded with the equipments of war including food, ammunition, and medical supplies. At the top of the organizational list was the Army Headquarters. The commanding general required a personal staff to dictate orders and keep records of army movement. There were also clerks and assistants. The commanders of armies also had the privilege of a headquarters cook. Every army headquarters usually had a large complement of staff officers, couriers, and a headquarters guard, which included an infantry battalion and a cavalry escort.
Online source: Gettysburg National Military Park Virtual Tour

Dec 6, 1863: Finley Chamberlin is honorably discharged and musters out of Company I, 9th Regiment, Michigan Infantry at Chattanooga, Tennessee

Dec 7, 1863: Finley Chamberlin re-enlists in his same company of Veteran’s Volunteers, ranked as a Sergeant. The record states he was born in Wyoming Co., New York and is 20 years of age; 5 feet, 6 inches, dark complexion, hazel eyes, dark hair, farmer by occupation, given at Chattanooga, this date, December 1863.
Note: Finley was born Sep 22, 1845, so he was actually not yet 18 years of age

Jul 2, 1864: President Abraham Lincoln signs into legislation the Pacific Railroad Act, assuring a railroad line spanning the continent

May 26, 1865: The American Civil War ends, the last of the Confederate troops surrendering in Mississippi

1861-1865: New York, Town Clerks’ Registers of Men Who Served in the Civil War:
Name: Finley Chamberlin
Mother: Caroline Snydam (aka Surdam)
Father: Harrison Chamberlin
Birth: 22 Sep 1844 Middlebury, New York (born 1845)
Military: 10 Sep 1861 Middleburg, Wyoming, New York, United States
Residence: Detroit, Michigan, United States

Aug 15, 1866: Birth of Irene Anna Chamberlain, Finley’s sister and 5th of 5 children of Harrison Chamberlain & Caroline Van Surdam, in Middlebury, Wyoming Co., New York

1868: Marriage of Emily S Hoy (age 17) Emily & Frank M. Davis (age 21). They are living in Iola, Allen Co., Kansas
Note: In the 1930 Federal Census Emily, states her age at first marriage is 17 years.

Mar 4, 1869: Ulysses S. Grant becomes the 18th President of the United States (Republican Party)

Aug 22, 1869: Birth of Winifred “Winnie” M. Davis, the only child of Emily S. Hoy & Frank M. Davis, in Iola, Allen Co., Kansas

NOTE: Census records were transcribed as written.
Bracketed memos in (italics) are my notes.

Jun 16, 1870: Federal Census for Kansas City, Jackson Co., Missouri:
Chamberlain, F: age 25, M, R.R. Breakman, born New York (Finley)
Note: Finley Chamberlin is in a boarding house, working for the railroad, as are most of the residents on this census page

Jun 24, 1870: Federal Census for Middlebury, Wyoming Co., New York:
Chamberland, Harrison: age 56, farmer, value real estate $6250, value personal property $680, born New York (Chamberlain)
Caroline: age 46, keeping house, born New York
Grace: age 19, at home, born New York
Ada: age 11, attends school, born New York
Irene: age 3, born New York

Jun 27, 1870: Federal Census for Garnett, Anderson Co., Kansas:
Davis, Emily S.: age 19, birthplace unkn, occupation keeping house
Winis R. Davis: age 9 months, born Kansas (Winnie M. Davis)
Note: There are 29 others listed in the household; her husband Frank M. Davis is not listed

Aug 11, 1870: Federal Census for Iola, Allen Co., Kansas:
Davis, Frank M.: age 23, born Michigan, occupation keeps livery stable
Note: there are listed 16 people in the household

Sep 12, 1870: Emily (Hoy) Davis (age 20 yr, 2 mo) files in court for legal annulment of her marriage to Frank M. Davis

Sep 16, 1870: Emily (Hoy) Davis is granted an annulment of marriage plus custody of their daughter, Winifred M. Davis (age 13 months); she is restored to her maiden name of Emily S. Hoy by the court in Garnett, Anderson Co., Kansas. Frank M. Davis is found by the court to be guilty of adultery with one Ann Farris and charged with court costs for the annulment.

Aug 23, 1871: Marriage of Finley McLaren “Frank” Chamberlin & Emily S. Hoy, in Anderson Co., Kansas, by Rev. Father Gunther.
Note: Finley is a month short of age 26 and Emily is age 21. This is her second marriage, the first having been annulled from Frank M. Davis with whom she had a child, Winifred M. Davis.

Aug 28, 1871: Marriage Record for Anderson Co., Kansas:
Name: F M Chamberlin (Finley McLaren “Frank” Chamberlin)
Birth Year: abt 1845
Age: 26
Marriage Date: 28 Aug 1871
Marriage Place: Anderson, Kansas
Spouse: Emily G Hoy (Emily S. Hoy)
Spouse Age: 22

Finley now goes by the name of Frank in nearly all the following records:

1872: Kansas City Directory, Kansas City, Jackson Co., Missouri (pg 99):
Frank M. Chamberlin, conductor, res Summit, bet. 14th and McCoy.

1872: Photo of Finley McLaren “Frank” Chamberlin (age 27) taken by C. de La Potterie, 618 Main St., Kansas City, Jackson Co., Missouri. Frank is working as a conductor for the railroad. Frank, Emily, and daughter Winnie are living in Kansas City, Missouri.

1873: Kansas City Directory, Kansas City, Jackson Co., Missouri (pg 96):
Frank M. Chamberlin, conductor, LL & GRR, res Broadway, bet. 15th and 16th.
Note: LL & GRR: Leavenworth, Lawrence and Galveston Railroad runs through Missouri, Kansas & Texas

1872: Kansas City Directory, Kansas City, Jackson Co., Missouri:
Frank M. Chamberlin, conductor, res Summit, bet. 14th and McCoy.

1873: Kansas City Directory, Kansas City, Jackson Co., Missouri:
rank M. Chamberlin, conductor, LL & GRR, res Broadway, bet. 15th and 16th.
Note: LL & GRR: Leavenworth, Lawrence and Galveston Railroad runs through Missouri, Kansas & Texas
Note: In most of the following records Finley goes by Frank

Mar 7, 1873: Birth of Nellie Belle Chamberlin, 1st of 6 children of Finley McLaren “Frank” Chamberlin (age 27) & Emily S. Hoy (age 22), in Kansas City, Jackson Co., Missouri. Frank is employed as a railroad conductor (both passenger and freight) for the LL & GRR.
Note: The Leavenworth, Lawrence & Galveston Railroad runs through Missouri, Kansas, and Texas, the three states in which their six children are born

Apr 20, 1873: Baptism of Nellie Chamberlin at Immaculate Conception Catholic Parish in Kansas City, Jackson Co., Missouri

1873: Two older brothers of Emily (Hoy) Chamberlin, James Smith “J.S.” Hoy and Valentine Shade “V.S.” Hoy, are cattle ranching in Brown’s Hole, Routt Co., Colorado. Her younger brothers Adea and Harry are living with uncles in Pennsylvania. Unknown where Benjamin, the oldest brother who was wounded in the Battle of Vicksburg, is living at this time.

Circa 1873: Emily (Hoy) Chamberlin and her five brothers, the Hoy boys:

Standing l to r: James Smith Hoy (abt age 27)
Valentine Shade Hoy (abt age 25)
Adea Adam Hoy (abt age 21)
Seated l to r: Henry “Harry” Hoy (abt age 18)
Emily S. Hoy (abt age 23)
Benjamin Franklin Hoy (abt age 29)

Feb 16, 1874: Letter from Frank Hoy (age 30) to his sister Emily (Hoy) Chamberlin (age 23):
Rock Grove, Ill.
Feb. 16, 1874
Dear Sister
I arrived here last friday at noon and have been enjoying myself hugely. I never was among any of our relatives that I found such a welcome as I have here with Uncle Solomon’s family. They are very kind and try to make one as comfortable and as much at home as though it was home.

I find Uncle in good circumstances. He has a very nice home. He has a farm here of about two hundred acres or more. All under good cultivation. He has a very fine house. Large and handsome it is, built of brick and everything about looks so neat & trim. Aunt is a large portly woman. She weighs considerable over two hundred pounds and is very kind to her family and trys to make all happy that are about her. She is a woman that if she does not like one, she will tell them so very quick. There is at present five of a family, Aunt and Uncle and two boys and one girl. The girl is the youngest of the family, is so very quiet, has but little to say. The boys are very much liked here. They are very generous. Uncle also has a half interest in a store here. His son in law is his partner. His name is Kaup. They are doing a very good business. Kaup is married to his oldest daughter. They have three children, the oldest about thirteen and the youngest about ten. They are three bright children.

Mrs. Kaup, our cousin, is a very fine woman. She tries to make one feel at home. Uncle Solomon lives better than any place I ever was at. If a person could not satisfy his appetite here, he could no where. Kaup also lives well. They say that is the great thing of this world is plenty to eat.

I got in to Buffalo that evening at six o’clock and left at nine fifteen the same evening for Erie, arrived at one fifteen in the morning and lay there until four twenty Wednesday morning about twenty seven hours. Did not meet Lillie, could not account for her not being on hand. She could not have left Lock Haven as she wrote. I considered not to wait any longer.

I shall leave this state some time next week for Iowa. I find quite a number of relatives and acquaintences in this part of Illinois. I could spend a month here very nice. I wish you would answer this as soon as you receive it and address Mount Vernon, Sims County, Iowa.

Kiss Nellie for me, give my best regards to Mr. Chamberlin and family.
your Bro.
Benj. F. ­Hoy

Should there be any mail for me in Wyoming forward it to Mount Vernon, Sims County, Iowa.
Frank
Note: Benj. F. (Franklin “Frank”) Hoy signs as Frank at bottom of the letter; Nellie was born Mar 7, 1873.

Jun 24, 1874: Frank and Emily Chamberlin are living in Garnett, Anderson Co., Kansas where he is working as a railroad conductor. He receives a letter of recommendation for a job as a conductor for a job in Parsons, Labette Co., Kansas.

Recommendation letter to L.S. Hamilton Esq. for Frank Finley Chamberlin:
Paola and Fall River Railway
Engineering Department
Garnett, Kansas June 24, 1874

L.S. Hamilton, Esq
Asst. Supt. M.K. & T. Ry-
My dear Sir –
The bearer of this, Frank Chamberlin Esq. is a conductor both Freight & Passenger, of many years experience. I had employed him to take the first train on our road, but temporary embarrassment in our finances have delayed the laying of iron longer than was anticipated. He goes to Parsons for employment.

I believe you will find him capable and efficient in any position you may place him.
Respectfully yours,
D.W. Darrow
Chief Engineer
Note: L.S. Hamilton was the Asst. Superintendent of the M.K. & T. Railway. The town of Parsons was founded in 1870 as a railroad town and incorporated in 1871 and named after the President of the M.K. & T. Ry. Co. (Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railway Company).

Mar 1, 1875: State Census for Garnett, Anderson Co., Kansas:
Name: F M Chamberlin
Residence County: Anderson
Residence State: Kansas
Locality: Garnett
Birth Place: New York
Gender: Male
Age: 30
Birth Year: abt 1845
Race: White
Household Member(s): Name and Age
F M Chamberlin, age 30 (Finley/Frank, head)
E S Chamberlin, age 24 (Emily S, wife)
M M Chamberlin, age 5 (Winifred “Winnie” M., daughter)
Nellie Chamberlin, age 2 (daughter)
Freddie Chamberlin 1/12, age (Fred, son)

Feb 16, 1876: Letter from James S. Hoy (age 31) to his sister Emily (age 25):
Evanston Wyo, Ter.
Feb. 6th, 1876
My Dear Sister
As I feel well toward all human creatures to night I thought I would write to you and ascertain if you share the same feelings. I am not mad at you, and if I have ever been I don’t know it. It seems to bad to me for a fellow to have but one sister and not be on friendly terms enough to write to her. It is hard for me to bear malice. I can forgive the worst enemy I have. Of course I wrote the last letter and I know you received it, but nevertheless I will write again, and then if I find we cannot be reconciled I will know it is no fault of mine.

I am going East in the spring if nothing hinders, and at present everything looks favorable. I intend to start about the 1st of June, and I intend to visit everybody that I am sure would like to see me. I will not write a lengthy letter until I get an answer to this.

My health is perfect. This high mountain country agrees with me and I expect to live and die somewhere in the Rocky Mountains.

Adea is liked very well as a teacher in Evanston, but I think he would rather be with the herd in the mountains than where he is. Adea is a first rate fellow. I think I have a splendid lot of brothers. Valentine is as big and as rough as a grizzly bear, but a more whole souled and better hearted fellow never lived.

Poor Frank’s hair is quite gray; it is a pity to see what a wreck he is. I guess he is getting along very well where he is. I intend to go down to Browns Park sometime in April and drive out some beef cattle and then straighten up our affairs here and then start East. Let me hear from you soon.
Affectionately your Brother,
James S.H.

Apr 17, 1875: Birth of Frederick Lawrence “Fred” Chamberlin, 2nd of 6 children of Finley McLaren Chamberlin & Emily S. Hoy, in Garnett, Anderson Co., Kansas

Jul 4, 1876: The United States of America celebrates 100 years of independence

Aug 1, 1876: Colorado becomes the 38th state of the Union

1877: Tintype of Nellie Chamberlin (age 4)
Nellie is the 1st child of Frank & Emily (born Mar 7, 1873)

The paper backing on the photo states:
C.E. MELK(?), Photographer
5 HOUSTON STREET
UP STAIRS
PHOTOGRAPHS IN EVERY STYLE
BEST PLACE IN THE CITY
FORT WORTH, TARRANT COUNTY, TEXAS

1877: Fort Worth City Directory, Fort Worth, Tarrant Co., Texas:
Chamberlain, r. 12th bet. Pecan & Terry
Note: Emily & Frank Chamberlin are living in Fort Worth, Tarrant Co., Texas; the population is about 10,000

Sep 11, 1877: Letter from Adea Adam “A.A.” Hoy (age 25) to his sister Emily (age 27):
Evanston, Wyoming Territory
Sept. 11, 1877
Dear Sister,
Your letter was received today. I was very glad to hear from you. I wrote to you two or three times – directing to Fort Worth – the first I wrote you there, I sent you my photograph. The letter was returned, by way of the dead letter office, “unclaimed”, and then I did not know where you were – however, I wrote several times since.

Well, your letter finds us all well. James, Frank, Harry, and myself are here together. We do our own cooking – no women about. The one of us that gets hungry first does the cooking, and the one last done eating washes the dishes. Harry is in for most all the dish-washing, and does most of the cooking, to his own displeasure.

James and I intended to drive cattle to Cheyenne, and ship from there to Chicago this fall, but he sold his beeves here and will not get to. Very likely he will drive next spring, if so, we will make you a visit.

Last Tuesday, Sept. 4th was election day in Wyoming. We elected our members to the fifth Legislative Assembly: Councilmen and Representatives. James was a successful candidate for Representative, on the Republican ticket. The Wyoming Legislature meets at Cheyenne in December, and after they adjourn I think James will go on east – visiting.

James and Valentine have been very successful in their financial affairs in the past three years. Since I came to Wyoming they have sold about $7000 worth of cattle. They have one of the finest herds of cattle in this part of the country. After this spring’s sale their herd numbers six hundred head of the finest native cattle. They are now so situated that they need be at but very little expense, and sales hereafter will be clear gain.

Valentine stays with their cattle off in the mountains. He doesn’t seem to care much whether he ever leaves the mountains, where he has his home for the past twelve years, completely isolated from civilization, as it were, and all decent society.

He told me, when I first came to Wyo. that he intended to go east to visit you and he still says he will go east in a couple of years. You might be surprised to learn how well informed he is – by the way he has never failed to improve his mind. He is a very fine politician, in fact a scholar on any subject to which he could gain access. He is way ahead of the rest of us, mentally, or intellectually. He has a powerful and retentive mind – he reads a good deal and remembers the same, though he has but a very small portion of his time to devote to study.

James and I had some photographs taken a short time ago. I’ll enclose a couple. I’ll enclose two of mine, if I can, or if there is not room in this envelope I’ll send you one in my next, and I want you to answer this as soon as you get it.

I would excuse you, with all your troubles and trials, from answering my letters promptly, but it takes only a few minutes for you to write a letter and therefore I can’t think that you ought to be excused. Is Frank still conductor on the railroad? By referring to the map, I believe he is on the Texas Pacific R.R.

What kind of people do you find down there – agreeable? And what kind of a looking country is there – and what business is done there outside of railroading?

Has Winnie ever been to school? I hope she may be able to attend regularly. I presume you will soon think of sending Nellie and Fred to school – Fred especially, since he is so precocious. I should like to have his picture. Has Winnie grown much since I saw her? She was very small for her age. While Nellie grew so fast that I thought she would get as large as she.

I received a letter from Pa. some time ago in which I was informed of the death of Aunt Betsy Orndorff. She died last June. I couldn’t help but feel sad on learning of her death, for from her I received kindest treatment than from any other mortal. The poor soul has ended a long, long life of troubles, which generally originated from superstition.
Answer soon – Direct to Evanston.
Very truly, your brother
A.A. Hoy
James is not at home tonight and I cannot find his pictures, but I’ll get one and send it in my next post.

Note: Picture of Adea Hoy is taken in Apr of 1877
Adea, Frank, Harry and J.S. appear to be living in Brown’s Hole, Colorado. Evanston, Wyoming is the post office serving the area. Valentine is living in Fremont.

Nov 6, 1877: Birth of Ada Agnes Chamberlin, 3rd of 6 children of Finley McLaren “Frank” Chamberlin & Emily S. Hoy, in Fort Worth, Tarrant Co., Texas

Nov 21, 1877: Death of Caroline (Van Surdam) Chamberlain (age 54), mother of Finley McLaren “Frank” Chamberlin (age 32), in Middlebury, Wyoming Co., New York. She is buried in the Village Cemetery in Middlebury.

Jun 8, 1880: Federal Census for Precinct #5, Travis Co., Texas:
Chamberlain, Frank: age 34, born New York, father born NY, mother born NY, Contractor on RR (Chamberlin)
Emily: wife, age 29, born Pennsylvania, father born Pa, mother born Pa, keeping house
Winifred: daughter, age 10, at home, born Kansas, father born NY, mother born Pa
Nelly: daughter, age 7, born Missouri, father born NY, mother born Pa
Frederick: son, age 5, born Kansas, father born NY, mother born Pa
Ada: daughter, age 2, born Texas, father born NY, mother born Pa

Jun 8, 1880: Federal Census for Middlebury, Wyoming Co., New York:
Chamberlain, Harrison: age 68, widowed, farmer, born New York, father born N.H., mother born Conn
Grace: age 27, daughter, single, keeping house, born New York, father born New York, mother born Mass
Ada: age 22, daughter, single, at home, born New York, father born New York, mother born Mass
Irene: age 13, daughter, single, at home, born New York, father born New York, mother born Mass, attended school within the census year
Note: Harrison is Frank’s father, the 3 girls, his sisters. The mother Caroline (born New York) died in 1877

Nov 5, 1880: Letter from Valentine Shade “V.S” Hoy (age 32) to his sister Emily (age 30):
Fremont, Neb
Nov. 5, 1880
My dear Sister,
Your welcome letter was received 4 days ago just as I was leaving town with the last lot of cattle (to be fed) that I drove through this summer. It is the first letter that I have received from you since last spring. I thought of you a great many times and wondered what you were adoing those hot days last summer, and wished a thousand times you were here. I wish you was here to keep house for us. James and I are both boarding at a hotel, cost us $14 a week. We bring about our washing and other incidental expenses connected with a bachelors life, and I hate to be around a hotel to board. I am agoing to hunt up a private boarding house just as soon as I can get time.

Will not you and Frank come up here and live. You can do better here than there and be where your children can go to school. If Frank wants to go into business here we will give him all the assistance we can, and I believe you never will get ahead a dime in that Rebel Region. If you say you will come we will find a house and fix up things for you.

2 weeks ago James and Ade shipped some fat cattle to Chicago and Ade went on east to Penna. on a visit. How long he intends to remain, I do not know. We have not heard from him since he left. Harry went out to the ranch on Green River and is there with Frank looking after the cattle. We have got through with all business connected with our drive except our horses. We have some 460 head on hand that we intend to sell or get fed through the winter. We drove through 1350 head of steers this summer. The price of cattle have fell this last year. The crops are very good this year, although they are not as good as usual on account of drought. But businesses of all kinds are flourishing and that with those splendid victories for the Republicans on the 2nd have made the people feel good – put them in good humor.

I would like to have you and Frank come up here and make your home. Frank need not be afraid of not finding anything not to do here. If there is no business here that he can do well at, there is money in cattle and he can go at that. One thing, you can’t do any worse here than there, you will admit that. Will you have the means to come with. I want to see you well enough, but I don’t want to come down there. I don’t like Texas. And I am satisfied you will do better here, feel better and like the country far better than Texas. Let me know when you write again how matters stand with you, and if you can’t sell out and come up by the 1st of the month. There will be one of us here all time and both of us all winter and Ade will be back in a month or two for he will get sick of that country by that time. Tell the children that they will spend their Christmas in Neb instead of Texas and old Santa Claus will be sure to visit here.
Your Affectionate Bro
V.S. Hoy
When I got your last letter last spring, I sent you $25 in a registered letter to Russells Gap, Bosque Co., Texas. I don’t think you got it and I have never heard from it. If you are anywhere near there you might make enquires. I have written to P.O. Dept. about it but have not yet received any answer.
Note: Emily and Frank, working as a railroad conductor, are living in Russells Gap, Bosque Co., Texas.

Jul 11, 1881: Letter from Winnie Davis Chamberlin (age 11 yr, 11 mo) to her father, Frank:
July the 11
My dear papa, I have not been going to school much I was sick for too weeks in bed and doctor stayed four nights with me. Ball is as fat as ever. I wish you could be here to ride with us. There is a lady lives sight (sic: right) across the street from us had a little girl that was out a walking one day and got sick the next day and died the same day. The doctor says it is to hot to go to school so mama says I need not go to school until fall. There are so menny pepel killed on the cars at the roundhouse. Is old jack with you yet and does he seam to miss us much. We have a little brown puppy and a little kitten and mama wishes that it would die because it dose so many bad tricks. Yesterday we had one of our young chickens for dinner and nelly had your part of the chicken but nelly sid she wished you was here to have the haid because it was so fat. We go every morning to the river to water Ball. We have a hen with ten little chickens about two weeks old and they gro so fast. My pullet lays all the time. Those little chickens that we brot with us from camp the roosters crow and the pullet go around a singing just like the old hens. Papa writ to me when you have time, ada is better then she was when mama wrote. I am going to take a ride now so.
I will close for this time.
your loving
Winnie
Note: Nelly (age 8) and Ada (3 yr, 8 mo) are Winnie’s half-sisters. This letter may have been written in the Colorado/Wyoming/Nebraska area where Emily may have been staying with her brothers. However, Winnie’s brother Roy is born the following month in Fort Worth, Tarrant Co. Texas. Winnie dies 7 months later in Fremont, Dodge Co., Nebraska.

Late 1880 or early 1881: children of Frank & Emily Chamberlin:

Frederick Lawrence Chamberlin (abt age 6)
sister Nellie Belle Chamberlin (abt age 8)
The picture was taken in Fremont, Dodge Co., Nebraska

Aug 22, 1881: Birth of Roy Valentine Chamberlin, 4th of 6 children of Finley McLaren “Frank” Chamberlin & Emily S. Hoy, in Fort Worth, Tarrant Co., Texas

Mar 26, 1882: Death of Winifred M. Davis “Winnie” Chamberlin (age 12), child of Emily (Hoy) Chamberlin and Frank Davis, in Fremont, Dodge Co., Nebraska. Winnie was small for her age and apparently a rather sickly child as noted in a number of family letters, and family lore has the young girl died while skipping rope. Winnie is buried in the Ridge Cemetery (block 143, lot 4, grave 11) in one of the twelve family plots in Ridge Cemetery owned by Emily’s brother, James S. Hoy.

Mar 30, 1882: Fremont Weekly Tribune, Fremont, Dodge Co., Nebraska:
Died—In this city, on Sunday March 26th, Winnie, oldest child of Frand(k) and Emily (Hoy) Chamberlin, aged 12 years, 7 months, and 3 days. The funeral services were held at the Catholic church Monday at 3 p.m.
Note:Emily and her children were staying for a time with her brothers in Fremont, Dodge Co., Nebraska

Sep 1883: Frank (age 38) and Emily (age 33) Chamberlin move to Savanna, Carroll Co., Illinois, another major railroad center. Their four older children, Nellie (age 9), Fred (age 8), Ada (age 5), and Roy (nearly age 2) were born in towns along the MK&T line (Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railway).

1. Nellie Belle Chamberlin
Born: Mar 7, 1873
Kansas City, Jackson Co., Missouri
2. Frederick Lawence Chamberlin
Born: Apr 17, 1875
Garnett, Anderson Co., Kansas
3. Ada Agnes Chamberlin
Born: Nov 6, 1877
Fort Worth, Tarrant Co., Texas
4. Roy Valentine Chamberlin
Born: Aug 22, 1881
Fort Worth, Tarrant Co., Texas

MISSOURI-KANSAS-TEXAS RAILROAD
The Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad Company (M-K-T or Katy), the first railroad to enter Texas from the north, began its corporate existence in 1865, when its earliest predecessor, the Union Pacific Railway Company, Southern Branch, was chartered by the State of Kansas to build from Fort Riley, Kansas, to the state’s southern boundary. Levi P. Morton, Levi Parsons, August Belmont, J. Pierpont Morgan, George Denison, and John D. Rockefeller became interested in the road after the federal government announced that right-of-way through Indian Territory and a liberal bonus of land would be given to the railroad that first reached the Territory’s northern border. Texas was also interested in the project. In 1866 the first legislature after the Civil War passed a resolution recommending that Congress adopt means to insure the building of the Union Pacific, Southern Branch, through the state, as at that time none of Texas’s railroads connected to those in other states. In 1870 the railway’s name was changed to the Missouri, Kansas, and Texas Railway Company, a change which defined both the company’s strategic intent and its service area. The newly named railroad was intended to funnel business from Missouri, Kansas, and the north and east to a new rail route across Indian Territory to and through Texas. The Katy, touted in advertisements as the Gateway to Texas, breached the Texas frontier near the site of present Denison, where the first regular train arrived on Christmas Day, 1872.
Source: BIBLIOGRAPHY: Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad Company, The Opening of the Great Southwest, 1870-1970 (1970), Donovan L. Hofsommer
Source: Handbook of Texas Online – Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad, http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/MM/eqm8.html

1883: Emily (as Mrs. F. Chamberlain) represents the wives of the Railway Conductors and presents a gift of a bible to the “Order of Railroad Conductors” in Savanna, Carroll Co., Illinois

œRESPONSE BY E.B. GARR. 
Ladies: As Chief Conductor of Robinson Division, No. 78, Order of Railway Conductors, it becomes my pleasant duty to acknowledge your kind donation, and to thank you in behalf of the members for this beautiful token of your friendly regard, and for you kind words of encouragement.

Your very thoughtful consideration of our needs at this particular time, leads me to believe that the individual members of the Order of Railway Conductors are not the only ones interested in its welfare, but that in the lady members—I might say—we find we have more faithful friends than we anticipated, and that you appreciate the good influence exerted by the teachings of the Order. In evidence of your appreciation you bring us to-day this beautiful copy of the Holy Scriptures to show us we have your sympathies in our efforts to raise the occupation of the railroad conductor to a higher level of social importance, and it should encourage us—one and all—to more closely follow the requirements made upon us as men and brothers in order that we may retain the confidence and respect of those who have evidenced their good will toward us to-day: so that the good teachings of the Order of Railway Conductors may not only be felt and appreciated among ourselves, but in our families and in the community in which we live. It is not necessary for me to enumerate the many benefits arising from a membership in this Order; suffice it to say the principles of right taught in its instructions were all taken from the Good Book; that in it this Order recognizes the foundation-stone of good society and honest law, and it shall be the aim of the members of Robinson Division to show you in the future that your beautiful donation has not fallen into unworthy hands; that we are proud of the kindly interest that you have manifested in us, and I am sure we can show our appreciation in no plainer way than by a faithful fidelity to our obligations.

I assure you ladies that you visit here to-day has been heartily enjoyed by every member present, and we shall not very soon forget this pleasant occasion nor the object of your coming; and I desire again to say on behalf of Robinson Division, No. 78, Order of Railway Conductors, that you present is more highly appreciated than any words of mine can express, and for it you have our heartfelt thanks.

1884: The United States endures severe financial depression, leaving two million out of work

1886: Nellie Belle Chamberlin (abt age 12), the oldest child of Frank and Emily Chamberlin, taken circa 1886 while the family was living in Texas

Jan 6, 1887: Birth of Mary “Mamie” Agnes Chamberlin, 5th of 6 children of Finley McLaren “Frank” Chamberlin & Emily S. Hoy, in Longview, Gregg Co., Texas

Aug 12, 1889: Birth of Willard “Joe” Joseph Chamberlin, 6th of 6 children of Finley McLaren “Frank” Chamberlin & Emily S. Hoy, in Cleburne, Johnson Co., Texas

abt 1889: Nellie Belle Chamberlin (abt age 16):

Photo of Nellie Chamberlin, the oldest daughter of Frank Chamberlin & Emily Hoy taken in Cleburne, Johnson Co., Texas by Lindgren and Kennedy Photography studio

Sep 22, 1890: Death of Harrison Chamberlain (age 78), the father of Finley McLaren “Frank” Chamberlin, in Wyoming, Wyoming Co., New York. Harrison is buried with his wife, Caroline, in the Village Cemetery in Wyoming, Wyoming Co., New York.

Nov 1890: Frank Chamberlin is working as a conductor for the Denver & Rio Grande Railway. He suffers an accident while coupling trains, and has his left index finger amputated. Frank and Emily are living in Fruita, Mesa Co., Colorado.

History of the Denver & Rio Grand Western:
The Denver and Rio Grande Railway was chartered in 1870 by General William Jackson Palmer in order to build a railroad from Denver south to El Paso, Texas. The line was completed narrow gauge up to Pueblo by 1872 and a branch line was built to west to Canon City the same year connecting some coal mines.

In 1878 the Rio Grande Western fought two railroad wars against arch rival Santa Fe. The Rio Grande won the territory of the Royal Gorge, west of Canon City along the Arkansas River but lost the route over Raton Pass in the south. Soon afterwards the Rio Grande came under control of the Santa Fe through a lease agreement but control was regained by 1879 by joint management of Gen. Palmer and Jay Gold. An agreement was made that the Santa Fe and the Rio Grande would head off in different directions, the Rio Grande to the West and the Santa Fe to the South.

In 1881 lines where completed to Gunnison and Durango. The same year a third rail was added on the line from Pueblo to Denver to accommodate standard gauge traffic as well. Construction also started on a branch line from Leadville north over Tennessee Pass and along the Eagle River to Glenwood Springs, but this would take almost 6 years to complete.

In 1882 the Denver and Rio Grande leased the Denver and Rio Grande Western which was building southeastward from Salt Lake City and approaching the Denver and Rio Grande fast. In 1883 the two lines met near Green River in Utah – thus forming a narrow gauge connection from Denver, via Pueblo and Marshall Pass (not Tennessee Pass) to Salt Lake City.

By 1887 the line to Glenwood Springs was finally completed. Two years later it was continued to Rifle. Soon another little war erupted between the Denver and Rio Grande and the Colorado Midland (again one of the Santa Fe affiliates). Both railroads were secretly planning to complete a cross Rocky Mountain network and both where missing the piece from Rifle to Grand Junction. It turned out there was only room enough for one line geographically and so the line was completed and owned by both in 1889. The fact that it was built narrow gauge was not of an advantage to the standard gauge Colorado Midland whose passengers would have to change trains in Grand Junction and again at Rifle.

1888-91: Standard gauge train:

Meanwhile the Denver and Rio Grande was adding a third rail for standard gauge operations starting at Leadville and working eastwards to Pueblo. The lines west of Grand Junction were converted to standard gauge completely and by 1890 the entire route between Denver and Ogden, Utah was passable for standard gauge trains the mainline being via Tennessee Pass.

For financial reasons (narrow gauge is cheaper to construct than standard gauge) this was by far not the end of narrow gauge operations on the Rio Grande. In 1880 a line was built from Antonito, Colorado to Espanola, New Mexico, Silverton and Durango were connected by 1882 and in 1890 a line was completed from Alamosa to Salida, all being narrow gauge. In 1895 the Rio Grande acquired the Santa Fe Southern, a narrow gauge line from Santa Fe to Espanola.

Realizing that local traffic would not be enough to keep the railroad in business forever, the next project was completion of a transcontinental line and for this reason the Rio Grande involved itself deeply in financing the Western Pacific, a route from Salt Lake City west via the Salt Lake to San Francisco.

This proved to be too much for nearly all investors and even though the Western pacific was completed in 1910 it went bankrupt by 1915. Since the Rio Grande was so involved in it, it soon followed into receivership.
Source: Colorado Railroad Station: www.daeunert.com/Colorado/index.htm

In response to my query regarding conductor and train information in the 1870s:
Dear Catherine, I will try to fill you in on some of your questions: a conductor is the “boss” of the train. He is mainly responsible for the safe operation of the train and the crew. On passenger trains, he is responsible for the safety of the passengers and collects the tickets and any fares the riders need for their transport. He oversees the overall operation until the train reaches its destination or to a crew change point (usually a division point) where another crew will take over and continue the train further.

All railroads, both past and present, established crew change points along the railroad based on 100 miles distance (usual distance a train would travel in 8 hours). Some locations were midpoints, others were terminals, larger rail operations, or just a convenient place for a switch job to be based due to the demands of the customers on the line. Your Great-Grandfather was subject to seniority, which is the time/day he first started working on the railroad. That day would be used to determine what other jobs he could work; i.e. if he decided a job in another place was to his liking, he could “bump” a junior man off the job. Then if he stayed awhile, he probably moved his family so he would be close to home. Subsequently, if a senior man wanted the job he worked, your Great-Grandfather would be “bumped” himself and he would have to find another job to move onto. If he were on a long run, he would get to the “away-from-home” point and stay overnight and return the next day on another train in the opposite direction.

The Order of Railway Conductors (and later & Brakemen) was a predecessor union to the UTU or United Transportation Union. This was also made up of the BRT (Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen), SUNA (Switchmen’s Union of North America) and RYA (Railroad Yardmasters Association), and was unified in 1969. You might be able to find some information there at www.utu.org.

Back in your Great-Grandfather’s day, the device used to attach the railcars together was called a “link and pin” coupler. You had to be precise and fast or your fingers would be crushed by the impact of the coupling. Google that term and you may get a nice diagram to show you what I am describing.

I hope this will help you. I have 35 years experience on the rails and am still learning. I usually check this site so please feel free to ask away. Good luck.
Walt Rogers, Feb 14, 2008
Source: http://www.railroadforums.com/forum; Walt Rogers, Yardmaster CSX Transportation, Tampa Florida

Dec 14, 1891: Warranty Deed from Frank D. Kiefer to Frank Chamberlin for $850 lots 18 & 19, blk 4, in Fruita, Mesa Co., Colorado

Apr 22, 1892: General Affidavit for Civil War Disability Pension for Finley “Frank” Chamberlin:
GENERAL AFFIDAVIT
State of Colorado,

In the matter of Disability Pension of Finley Chamberlin – age 47, late of Co “I”, 9 Regt. Mich. Infa; resident of Fruita, in the Co. of Mesa, and state of Colorado Post office address is Fruita, Mesa Co., Colo.:

The injury to index finger of my left hand was injured in November 1890 while I was working for the Rio Grand Western R.R. Finger was mashed while I was making a coupling, it was so badly injured it had to be amputated, and applicant further states, also that he has no recollection of his having signed his name as Finley M Chamberlin + he always signs his name in the true and proper manner Finley Chamberlin.

I enlisted under the name of Finley Chamberlin

Fruita, Mesa Co Colo
(signed) Finley Chamberlin

Jun 20, 1892: Warranty Deed from C.B. Masser to Frank Chamberlin $50 plus trust deed of $1,200 plus taxes for lot #20, blk 4, the town of Fruita, Mesa Co., Colorado. Recorded Jan 3, 1895.

Jun 30, 1892: Emily grants Warranty deed for commercial land in the town of Fruita, Mesa Co., Colorado to her husband Frank on which they ran a store and the Chamberlin Hotel.

Jun 30, 1892: (recorded July 9, 1892) Warranty deed from Frank Kiefer to Emily S. Chamberlin for $50 lot #21, blk 4, in the town of Fruita, Mesa Co., Colorado, subject to 1891 taxes and trust deed of $1,200 on lots 18, 19, 20 & 21, blk #4, in Fruita, Mesa Co., Colorado.

Jul 9, 1892: Warranty deed Emily S. Chamberlin to Frank Chamberlin, lots 18, 19, Blk 4, Fruita, Mesa Co., Colorado.

Jul 9, 1892: (recorded July 19, 1892) Frank Chamberlin grants a quitclaim deed for $1 to Emily S. Chamberlin for lots 18 & 19, Block 4 in the town of Fruita, Mesa Co., Colorado. Emily takes the responsibility for the property.

Sep 21, 1892: Envelope addressed to Miss Nellie Chamberlin (age 19). Two cent postage; postmarked Robbinsdale, Minn. The smudged bottom corner reads: ?a Co, The handwriting looks to belong to Nellie’s mother, Emily S. (Hoy) Chamberlin.

Oct 17, 1892: Emily releases deed of trust for commercial hotel property to Courtland Bliss for deed of trust held by Mesa County Building & Loan Co., Lots 18 & 19, block 4 in town of Fruita, Mesa Co., Colorado (perhaps she paid off property).

Oct 17, 1892: Emily Chamberlin grants a trust deed for $14,000 to Courtland Bliss.

Feb 7, 1894: Emily Chamberlin files a quitclaim deed to Charles B. Massier for $500 on residential property, block 25 in Oakland subdivision near the town of Fruita, Mesa Co., Colorado.

Circa 1894: Photo of Chamberlin sisters:

Circa 1894: Assuming this photo was taken about the time the family lived in Fruita, Colorado
Mamie Chamberlin: (born Jan 6, 1887) would be 7
Nellie Chamberlin: (born Mar 7, 1873) would be 21
Ada Chamberlin: (born Nov 6, 1877) would be 16

Dec 24, 1894: The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel, Grand Junction, Mesa Co., Colorado:
Fred Chamberlain, a young man from Fruita, fell in a faint in front of Bedwell & Smith’s this afternoon. He was soon revived by an application of water.
Note: Fred Chamberlin (age 19), son of Frank & Emily, is living in Fruita, Mesa Co., Colorado.

Frederick Lawrence “Fred” Chamberlin, eldest son of Frank and Emily Chamberlin wearing typical miner’s attire; taken in Grand Junction, Mesa Co., Colorado. The name of the photographing company at the bottom reads BARNHOUSE AND WHEELER, GRAND JUNCTION,·COLO

Dec 26, 1894: Marriage of Nellie Belle Chamberlin & Charles Henry Chatfield at the Catholic parsonage by Rev. Father Carr, in Grand Junction, Mesa Co., Colorado. Her mother, Emily (Hoy) Chamberlin (age 44) signs their marriage certificate as one of the witnesses. Nellie lists her home at time of marriage as Fruita, Mesa Co., Colorado and Charles lists his home Aspen, Pitkin Co., Colorado.
Note: Nellie is age 21, Charles age 23 yr, 10 mo.

Dec 1894: Grand Valley Star-Times, Grand Junction, Mesa Co., Colorado:
MARRIED–On the 26th instant at the Catholic parsonage, by the Rev. Father Carr, Charles H. Chatfield, of Aspen, to Miss Nellie B. Chamberlin, of Fruita.
Mr. Chatfield is the son of the well-known I.W. Chatfield, president of the board of live stock inspection. He is a very promising and worthy young man. Miss Nellie is a very bright, popular young society lady of Fruita, the eldest daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Chamberlain, proprietors of the well-known Chamberlain Hotel at Fruita. The young couple left for Glenwood, where they will spend a few days, after which they will visit Aspen and other points. The STAR-TIMES wishes them every happiness.

Dec 24, 1894: The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel, Grand Junction, Mesa Co., Colorado:
Fred Chamberlain, a young man from Fruita, fell in a faint in front of Bedwell & Smith’s this afternoon. He was soon revived by an application of water.
Note: Fred Chamberlin (age 19), is living in Fruita, Mesa Co., Colorado

Jan 3, 1895: Emily Chamberlin grants a warranty deed to Thomas Caldwell, Jr. (of Mesa Co., Colorado) for lots 18, 19, Block 4 in Fruita, Mesa Co., Colorado for $5,425. (Caldwell is the purchaser.)

Jan 3, 1895: Emily Chamberlin grants a trust deed to Thomas Caldwell, Jr.

Sep 16, 1895: Emily Chamberlin grants a warranty deed for $1,170 to Thomas Caldwell, Jr. (of Uintah Co., Utah) in Fruita, Mesa Co., Colorado. (Caldwell is the purchaser.)

1896: Emily Chamberlin and her five younger children are living in Anaconda, El Paso Co., Colorado. She is listed in the Cripple Creek & Victor City Directory in Anaconda, a booming gold mining town in the Cripple Creek district of Colorado. Emily is running the Colorado House, a small hotel. Frank is not listed, so they may be living apart. Charles Chatfield, Nellie’s husband, is running a meat market out of the F&CCRR (Florence & Cripple Creek Railroad) station.

1896: Charles Joseph Chatfield (born Nov 18, 1895) Emily & Frank Chamberlin’s first grandchild and firstborn Charles & Nellie (Chamberlin) Chatfield:
Photo was taken in Cripple Creek by Ideal Photo Company, D.P. Morgan, Manager, 1896

1896: Cripple Creek & Victor City Directory, Anaconda, El Paso Co., Colorado (pg 98):
Chamberlin, Ada A, bds Colorado House. (daughter of Frank & Emily)
Chamberlin, E S, propr Colorado house, res do. (Emily S. Chamberlin)
Chamberlin, Frederick L, miner, bds Colorado House. (son of Frank & Emily)
(pg 99):
Colorado House, E S Chamberlin propr, s s Main, 15 w Victor.
(Note: Colorado House, Emily S. Chamberlin, proprietor, south side of Main at 15 west Victor Street)
Colorado House is also listed under Hotels
Chatfield. Charles H, meat market, s s Main, 2 (husband of Nellie Chamberlin)
F&CCRR, res do.

1896: Cripple Creek & Victor City Directory, Anaconda, El Paso Co., Colorado (pg 98):
Chamberlin, Ada A, bds Colorado House. (Ada, daughter of Frank & Emily)
Chamberlin, E S, propr Colorado house, res do. (Emily S. Chamberlin)
Chamberlin, Frederick L, miner, bds Colorado House. (Fred, son of Frank & Emily)
(pg 99):
Colorado House, E S Chamberlin propr, s s Main, 15 w Victor. (Emily S. Chamberlin)
(Note: Colorado House, Emily S. Chamberlin, proprietor, south side of Main at 15 west Victor Street)
Colorado House is also listed under Hotels
Chatfield, Charles H, meat market, s s Main, 2 (husband of Nellie Chamberlin) F&CCRR, res do. (husband of Nellie Chamberlin Chatfield)

Florence & Cripple Creek Train Engine:

Photo courtesy of Denver Public Library, Western History Collection OP-11590; on display at Colorado Western Museum
Note: The F&CCRR (Florence & Cripple Creek Railroad) is a small narrow gauge railroad with 42 miles of track operating from 1892 to 1917, running from Florence through Phantom Canyon to Cripple Creek.

1896: Cripple Creek Train Depot:

Photo Courtesy of Denver Public Library Western History Collection X-852 1960
Note: Exterior view of Florence & Cripple Creek Railroad station, Cripple Creek, Colorado; engine with passenger train is parked at the station.

1897: Frank & Emily Chamberlin children, photo by Marshall, 1637 Larimer St., Denver:

Handwritten on the back of the photo:
“Anaconda, Colorado, 1897” 
Note: estimated ages according to date on the back of the picture:
Roy Valentine Chamberlin (abt 15)
Willard Joseph Chamberlin (abt 7)
Frederick L. Chamberlin (abt 22)
Nellie (Chamberlin) Chatfield (abt 24); Nellie was married in Dec 1894
Mary “Mamie” Chamberlin (abt 10) (although she looks younger)
Ada Agnes Chamberlin (abt 19)

1897: Emily Chamberlin (age 46) and youngest child, Willard (abt age 6)
Taken in Cripple Creek, by Ideal Photo Company, D.P. Morgan, Manager

Jun 21, 1897: Emily, as Mrs. E.S. Chamberlin (almost age 47), signs and records a 6-month lease (with 6-month renewal privilege in case the property does not sell) to G.W. Richardson for the 1^st floor and the south and northwest room of the 2^nd floor of hotel in Fruita, Colorado (lot 18, blk 4) for $10 per month. Emily is living in Anaconda, Cripple Creek District, Colorado.

late 1897: Marriage of Ada Agnes Chamberlin (age 19 or 20) & Dr. William James “Doc” Chambers (abt age 31), in probably Cripple Creek, El Paso Co., Colorado

Dec 6, 1898: Birth of Howard James Chambers, the only child of Ada Agnes Chamberlin & Dr. William James “Doc” Chambers, in Cripple Creek, El Paso Co., Colorado (Teller County is created from El Paso and Fremont counties in 1899)

Circa 1898-99: Annulment of Ada Agnes Chamberlin & Dr. William James “Doc” Chambers. Their marriage is not recognized by the Catholic Church as William James Chambers was married before. As her beliefs stand before her marriage, Ada, along with son Howard Chambers, leaves Doc Chambers.

Mar 31, 1898: Warranty deed from Mrs. E.S. Chamberlin to Colvin R. Beach: block #25 in Orchard Subdivision, Mesa Co., Colorado by E.S. Chamberlin of El Paso Co., Colorado. (Recorded Apr 14, 1898)
Note: It appears Emily is no longer with Frank as the property title is in Emily’s name only. Frank also does not appear with Emily and the family in the 1896 Anaconda City Directory.

Apr 9, 1898: Warranty Deed from Mrs. E.S. Chamberlin of El Paso Co., Colorado to Frank Chamberlin of Mesa Co., Colorado; Lot 21, blk 4, in Fruita, Mesa Co., Colorado.
(Recorded April 14, 1898)

Apr 9, 1898: Warranty deed from Emily to Frank Chamberlin for $25, plus the trust deed on the property in Fruita. On this warranty deed, Emily is listed as a resident of El Paso Co.and Frank Chamberlin as a resident of Fruita, Mesa Co., Colorado.
Note: It appears Emily and Frank are splitting up properties.

Apr 9, 1898: Warranty Deed from Mrs. E.S. Chamberlin granted to Frank Chamberlin for $25 plus trust deed, lot #21, blk 4, in Fruita, Mesa Co., Colorado.
(Recorded April 14, 1898)

circa 1898: Emily S. (Hoy) Chamberlin:

Dec 6, 1898: Emily S. Chamberlin appoints Frank Chamberlin her lawful attorney by power of Attorney for $400 and deed of trust on her 5 3/4 acres of land and 2 story house near town of Fruita, Mesa County, Colorado (recorded Dec 10, 1898):
File #28448
Know all Men by these Presents, That I, Emily S. Chamberlin of the county of Arapahoe in the State of Colorado, reposing special trust and confidence in Frank Chamberlin of the County of Mesa in the State of Colorado have constituted, and appointed, and BY THESE PRESENTS do constitute and appoint the said Frank Chamberlin lawful Attorney for me and in my name, and stead for my sole use and wish to secure a loan of four hundred dollars $400.00 and to executive my promissory note therefore payable on or before two years from the date said with interest at the most favorable rate by him obtainable and for the purpose of securing the payment of said note to make and execute, acknowledge and deliver a mortgage or deed of trust upon my five and three quarters (5¾) acres of land situated in said County of Mesa and State of Colorado about half a mile from the town of Fruita and bordering on what is commonly known as the “Salt Wash” also to include in said mortgage all my right, title and interest in my two story frame dwelling house and store adjoining together with the land upon which said dwelling house are located situated in the town of Fruita in said county of Mesa: also to collect any and all indebtness due and owing to me from any person or persons in said county of Mesa and to give proper receipts and acquittances therefore.

Hereby giving and granting unto my said Attorney, full power and authority to do and perform all and every act and thing whatsoever requisite and necessary to be done in about the premises, as fully to all intents and purposes, as I might or could do if personally present, with full power of substitution and revocation, hereby ratifying and confirming all that my said Attorney, or his substitute, shall lawfully do or cause to be done by virtue herof.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal the sixth day of December one thousand eight hundred and ninety eight
State of Colorado, Arapahoe County

(signed) Emily S. Chamberlin

I, George N. Hurd a notary public within and for the county aforesaid in the State aforesaid do hereby certify that Emily S. Chamberlin is personally known to me to be the person whose name is subscribed to the within POWER OF ATTORNEY appeared before me this day in person and acknowledged the execution thereof of her voluntary act and deed.

Witness my hand and notarial seal the 6^th day of December AD one thousand eight hundred and ninety eight. (Signed) George N. Hurd, Notary public. I certify that my commission expires Nov. 12, l900. Filed for Record the 10^th day of Dec., 1898, at 10:06 o’clock A.M. Henry Nichols, Recorder

Dec 8, 1899: (recorded Jan 21, 1900) Warranty deed from Frank Chamberlin to Barton Owens for $150 plus trust deed for lots 20 & 21, blk 4, Fruita, Mesa Co., Colorado. The property is in downtown Fruita in the commercial district.
Note: Emily Chamberlin is listed as a resident of El Paso County. Frank is listed in Mesa County.

Dec 8, 1899: Frank Chamberlin records trust deed on Fruita, Mesa Co., Colorado property

Jun 1, 1900: Federal Census for Eddy, Eddy Co., New Mexico:
Chambers, Ada: head of household, born Nov 1877, age 22, born Texas, father born Vermont (New York), mother born Pennsylvania, married 1897, one child born, one child living, can read, can write, house owned
Chambers, Howard J: son, born Dec 1898, age 1, Colorado, white, male, single, born Colorado, father born New York, mother born Texas
Chamberlin, Findley M: father, born Sep 1841, age 58, birthplace Vermont (New York), white, male, married, Supt of Mines (Ada’s father, Finley Chamberlin)

Jun 5, 1900: Federal Census for Eldora Town, Boulder Co., Colorado:
Chamberlain, E.S.: head, born Jul 1851, age 48, widow, 6 children born, 6 children living, born Pennsylvania, father born Penn, mother born Penn, restaurant keeper, owns home
Roy: son, born Aug 1881, age 18, single, born Texas, father born New York, mother born Pennsylvania, waiter in restaurant
Mamie: daughter, born Jan 1887, age 13, born Texas, father born New York, mother born Pennsylvania, at school
Wilford: son, born Aug 1890, age 9, born Texas, father born New York, (Willard) mother born Pennsylvania, at school
Note: Emily’s (E.S) birth year is listed as 1851 rather than 1850, so would be age 49. She is listed as the owner of the property without a mortgage and is running a restaurant; her son Roy is working with her as a waiter. She is not a widow as her husband Frank is still alive and Frank is in the above 1900 Eddy, New Mexico census living with their daughter Ada (Chamberlin) Chambers. Emily’s 1st child, Winnie, is not accounted for in the number of children born or deceased.

Jun 13/14/15, 1900: Federal Census for Fruita, Mesa Co., Colorado:
Chamberlain, Fred: head, born 1875, age 25, single, born Colorado, father born Missouri, mother born, New York, stock herder, rents
Note: Fred is the son of Frank & Emily Chamberlin

1900: Photo of Finley McLaren ‘Frank” Chamberlin:

Apr 10, 1901: Emily S. Chamberlin signs her last recorded real estate deed in Fruita, Mesa Co., Colorado for downtown Fruita commercial property (hotel). She released lots 18 & 19 in Fruita to U.G. Ramey for $500.

Apr 22, 1902: Marriage of Ada Agnes Chamberlin & Edward Laurence Whitaker (her 2nd marriage), in Grand Junction, Mesa Co., Colorado
Note: Edward and Ada remove to Baker City, Baker Co., Oregon, where their six children are born

Mar 21, 1904: Letter from Ada (Chamberlin) Whitaker(age 26) to her mother Emily (age 53):
Baker City, Ore.
March 21, 1904
My dear Mamma,
I will send these papers to you to be signed, which I should have done some time ago. You keep one of them and send the other back, sign them both under Ed’s name and put that little funny business around the word “seal” but I guess you have signed enough of them to know all about it.

Chatfields have gone to Rifle to live. Nellie sent a paper from there and it told about selling their ranch and buying in town etc.

I have started me a new suit but I have no idea when I’ll get it finished. We are having snow just at present, of all the disagreeable months that any one could experience, Feb. and this much of March certainly take the premium here.

Well I have nothing else to write so must stop.
All here are well and I hope you are also.
Lovingly, Ada

1905: Emily (Hoy) Chamberlin (age 55) is living in Santa Ana, Los Angeles Co., California with her son Fred (age 30). Her husband Frank Chamberlin (age 59) is living a few miles away in the Sawtelle Veterans Home in west Los Angeles. Sawtelle existed as a separate city up until 1922, when it merged with Los Angeles County.

The Soldiers’ Home, along with a cemetery and hospital for former soldiers and sailors, was established in 1888. The community of Sawtelle grew up after the veterans’ home was established. It was at first served by a Santa Monica horsecar line, which was later electrified.

“The Victorian hospital was at the front of what seemed like an ocean of headstones of veterans’ graves dating to the 1880s. Even in California you could get a sense of the magnitude of the Civil War by counting the graves of the Grand Army of the Republic.”
Source: Dan Kreiger

1905: U.S. National Homes for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, 1866-1938:

U.S. National Homes for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, 1866-1938
Name: Finley Chamberlin
Birth Year: abt 1846
Birth Location: New York
Birth State: New York
Birth City: New York
Admitted Year: 1905
Age at Admission: 59
State: California
County: Los Angeles
City: Sawtelle
Branch: Pacific Branch

Apr 12, 1905: Letter from Frank Chamberlin (age 59) to his daughters Ada Chamberlin Whitaker (age 27) and Mamie Chamberlin (age 18) living in Baker, Oregon:
Sawtelle, Cal
Apr 12, 1905
Dear daughters,
I was glad to get your letter & that you are all well. I am doing fairly well but I wish I could get along faster. We are having a great building boom here, houses going up in every direction since they have started work on the new electric line. They had quite a time here on Saturday, 40 years since Lee surrendered. All the shoulder straps were out showing themselves (?). I didn’t take it in as it didn’t interest me much. The weather has been cloudy for several days but have a little sun today. How did Frank James get such a good job & what is he to do besides the drilling. Yes, I wish you could all get to be in the fair as you are so near & I hope you can go and get something to do to pay expenses. Well, I suppose Ed wont have to leave anything on the books. The ? ? ? and he will be out his time & expenses, hope he will have better luck buying horses. I suppose payment can be stopped on the last check. Well you so seem to have hard luck all around, maybe it will change after awhile, I hope so. At least I believe that all I can think of this time.
PS Mamie,
I wish you would send me that medicine, don’t see why you have not sent it before. Well, write as often as you can, love to you both,
your Father, FC

May 8, 1905: Letter from Frank Chamberlin (age 59) to daughters Ada (age 27) and Mamie (age 18) in Baker, Oregon:
Soldiers Home
May 8, 1905
Dear daughters,
I just got your letter & will ans. right away for I like to hear from you as often as I can. I got admitted yesterday, that is what they call F.A.O., that is admitted temporarily & we get a second hand suit of clothes. From here I will be admitted regularly & assigned to some co. & then I get a suit of new clothes while I am at FAO. I am liable to be called on to work every day but I went to the Dr. & got excused till first of March. I am not getting well very fast, my stomach won’t stand the grub they have in the dining room. The grub would be all right if I had a stomach like an Ostrich but I cant go it now. There is a good restaurant here at the home & if I can make my money hold out I shal get most of my meals there. Things are very reasonable. I won’t get any more pension till June as I have to be transferred to San Francisco & I expect I will go broke before that time.

The weather is fine here since the rain and the home is a beautiful place, so much shrubbery, so many flowers. We can see the ocean from here. Its four miles away. We are 14 miles from Los Angeles & 4 miles from Santa Monica. Electric cars pass every 10 or 15 minutes. They have a big cage of birds here, something like San Francisco only on a smaller scale. There are parrots, cocatoes, China Pheasants, quail, bobwhite & California canaries, red birds and half dozen different kinds of birds from tropical countries – a black eagle and a dozen others that I don’t know what they are. Certainly use the telescope.

I hope you will like the job & do well. No, Mamie did not say anything about Nelley at all. They raise bananas and dates here & things look beautiful here now. Well, I don’t think of anything else this time, if there is anything you want to know about let me know & I will try to let you know. Love to you both & give my regards to Mrs. Whitaker.
Your Father
FC
Note: Mrs. Whitker is Ada’s mother-in-law

May 19, 1905: Letter from Frank Chamberlin (age 59) to his son, Willard Chamberlin (age 15):
Sawtelle, Calif
May 19, 1905
Dear Son Willard.
I haven’t much to write as usual. The weather here is foggy every morning & I don’t think that is very healthy. I feel fairly well except I have a bad cold & have some bad spells coughing nearly tares the insides out of me. I got a couple of Roy’s pictures a few days ago & I think they are fine & he is fine looking & I guess he is as fine as he looks.

One of the Philipene soldiers here shot himself last Monday. Think he had been drinking pretty hard & guess he was bug house.

I suppose you have more hay than you will need to feed. What is it worth a ton there. There is a fine crop here, but it is the first good crop for several years, how much stock have you got to feed, well you have got quite a collection of bird eggs, how are your chickens coming on, do you have any water for irrigation. They are finishing the work on new electric line & they have begun building on the new town site.

Guess that’s all there is to write this time.
Love from your Father
FC
Note: Frank’s sons Willard “Joe” (at left below) and Roy (at right)

Jun 3, 1905: Letter from Frank Chamberlin (age 59) to daughter Mamie Chamberlin (age 18):
Sawtelle, Calif
June 3, 1905
My Dear Daughter,
Got your letter & the suspenders this PM & think they are very nice. We had quite a big time here, big crowds from outside, they fed about 600 outsiders here at the home. Well, the grub don’t get any better but I am doing fairly well, have got back some of the flesh I lost before I came here only I don’t get strong very fast. There is talk here that we are to have a change for the better in the grub line the 1st of July. I will have to see it before I believe it. I hope its true.

Well, pay day is about all the old Soldiers have to look forward to. I think we will get paid between the 13 & 16 & then I will send you a little money. My teeth have got so bad I want to get some made if I can after pay day. We are about 4 miles from the beach, I walked down there once since I have been here. Yes, they irrigate here where they can get water on the land. Yes, the home is very pretty to look at but thats about all. There is a graft on nearly everything here. Don’t like the mornings here, its nearly always cold & foggy till about 10 Am but after that its quite nice. I don’t know when hot weather begins here, haven’t had but one hot day yet & it was cold enough the day after to make up for it. I have never been to Los Angeles since I have been here but am going after my pension day to have my teeth attended to. They are so bad I can hardly eat anything any more. I am sorry Ada & Ed are going to Alaska. I am afraid it wont be a success.
Love, from your Father FC
Note: Frank’s son-in-law, Ed Whitaker, makes a living as a miner, apparently unsuccessfully

Jun 29, 1905: Letter from Frank Chamberlin (age 59) to his daughter Ada Whitaker (age 27):
Sawtelle, Calif
June 29, 1905
My Dear Daughter,
I don’t know of anything going on here. There will be a big rush to Long Beach & Ocean Park & other resorts, don’t think there will be anything here. The mornings still continue to be foggy, We had a shooting scrape here at the home the day before yesterday, one old soldier shot another, did it about noon and the man died the next day. I believe it was an old grudge, they had trouble once or twice before. The one that did the shooting they took to Los Angeles to jail & I heard this morning that he hung himself in jail, don’t know if insane or not.

I think the suspenders are fine. Are you going to Portland or what are you going to do? You know how Roy is going along? I hope he will get all right without an operation. I think the pictures are good. How does Billy & Gordon look? Is Will making anything on his contract? I suppose Frank is at Portland.

I wish you would find out for me if Mr. Dean & Dr. Parker have been paid what I owe them. Ed has never said a word about it. I promised Mrs. Dean I would pay the bill as soon as I got my pension & Ed promised to pay it out of my check he got & I don’t like it if he didn’t do it. What has been done with the shotgun? Has Vera got so she can talk yet? Suppose you all had a good time up at Washington. I am feeling farely well at present. The teeth I got don’t do very well, the plate on one side comes down too far & makes the gums sore, but I can have that fixed all right when I go to have the other one made, or at any time if I go into Los Angeles. Don’t fail to answer the questions I asked you. I don’t think of anything more this time.
Love, from your Father
FC

Jul 3, 1905: Letter from Frank Chamberlin (age 59) to his son Willard (nearly age 16):
Sawtelle, Calif
July 3, 1905
Dear Son Willard,
Just got your letter, am sorry I can’t see you & Fred. I have got furlow & leave here tomorrow for Rifle to go to Casper with Nelley & Charly. Will write you on the road somewhere when I have a chance & tell you about the trip & how we are getting along.

Nothing to write about here. I am feeling pretty well at present.
Love from your Father
FC

Jul 14, 1905: Letter from Frank Chamberlin (age 59) to his daughter Mamie Chamberlin (age 18), in Oregon:
Sawtelle, Calif
July 14, 1905
Dear Daughter Mamie,
Just got your letter & may as well answer at once. I am glad to hear Roy is getting along all right. Ada doesn’t say anything about coming to Calif., talks like they are going to leave Baker & going over near Weaver were she says Ed has a contract. Things are about the same old thing here. They have a new R.R. to the home & I suppose will soon be running trains to the grounds to haul all the supplies for the home. They will save money for themselves as they have to pay for the hauling from town. I am going to take a trip to Ocean Park next month if nothing happens. It is a great resort. I don’t expect to see much of Calif while I stay here & that wont be long.
Love from your Father
FC

Jul 30, 1905: Letter from Frank to daughters Ada (age 27) and Mamie (age 18) in Baker, Oregon:
Sawtelle, Calif
July 30, 1905
My Dear Daughters,
Well we are not bothered here with hot weather & don’t think we are likely to be. Well I think I will go & stay with Nelly for a while & see how it goes & if I don’t like it I wont have to stay. She has asked me to come three or four times, sent me a letter shortly before they were to leave Rifle & wanted me to come & make the trip with them, said they had two wagons & were well fixed to make the trip. I would have liked to have made the trip but could not get away from here till after pension day as I had no money. I think I will take a furlow for six months & I can renew it at any time if I want to, or think I can get transferred to another home if I like.

I am sorry you cant both go to Portland. So there is another Sheny in Baker, well one more or less don’t matter. It seems like Ed (Ada’s husband) cant get at anything but it goes wrong some way. It would be nice if you could be at the mine, this hot weather the huckleberries would be fine now if there are any out. Suppose the mine has gone to the dogs before now. I was in hopes we might get something out of it after a while. What is Ed doing now?

I have a letter from Willard – he said Bessy McCasky had been there and staid a few days. Her husband has a grocery in Los Angeles. He says they are trying to sell out. Fred says he wont stay there another year anyhow. They have had bad luck as they always have. He says Fred is coming to Los Angeles the 10 of Aug & is going with Bessy & her husband to the grocers picnic.

I think we will have the electric line running to the home in a few days, they are putting up the pole now. Figs are ripe here now, that is the black ones, but I don’t think they are any good, they are to sickeny to suit me, guess they would be fairly good with sugar & cream. I think the white ones will be better but they are not ripe yet.

Well I dont get along very well here, have had three or four bad days lately but feel some better just now. One of the Drs. gave me an examination yesterday & said had intestinal medicine an(d) he is giving me a course of treatment now & said for me to see the head of surgeons & get a special diet of milk three times a day, the head surgeon is the only one that can make out the diet list. I went twice to see him today but its Sunday & missed me but think I can catch him tomorrow & if I do I am going to live on crackers & milk.

Well I hope it has cooled off a little by this time. I see they are having terrible hot weather everywhere. I suppose you have seen the account on the gunboat (USS) Bennington blown up (due to a boiler explosion) at San Diego harbor, 60 or more were killed and nearly everyone was hurt. I believe the blame is on the officers of the boat. Guess that’s all this time,
Love from your Father
FC

Aug 9, 1905: Death of Finley McLaren “Frank” Chamberlin (age 59), unexpectedly at the home of his daughter Nellie in Rifle, Garfield Co., Colorado, from a stomach hemorrhage due to stomach cancer. Nellie is 5 months pregnant with her sixth child, Gordon Gregory Chatfield.

Aug 9, 1905: Nellie Chatfield wires word at 4:30 p.m. of their father’s illness to her sister Mamie Chamberlin in Oregon. Nellie’s husband, Charles Chatfield, sends a second wire at 1:43 a.m. for Nellie, notifying Mamie of her father’s death.

Aug 11, 1905: Death Certificate for Finley McLaren “Frank” Chamberlin:

Aug 11, 1905: Sgt. Finley McLaren “Frank” Chamberlin is buried in Rose Hill Cemetery Cemetery in Rifle, Garfield Co., Colorado with a Civil War military headstone.

Aug 11, 1905: The Rifle Telegram, Rifle, Garfield Co., Colorado:
Died
Mr. Frank Chamberlin, who has been visiting his daughter, Mrs. Chas. Chatfield, died very suddenly Wednesday afternoon at 6 o’clock. His demise so unexpectedly was a great shock to his daughter and family. In the morning Mr. Chamberlin attempted to go down town, but was overcome by an attack of dizziness when in front of Munro’s store. He was assisted home and after a rest became considerably better.

About 4 o’clock in the afternoon he was seized with another sinking spell and in spite of all the physician could do he passed away an hour later.

Mr. Chamberlin has been troubled some years with catarrh of the stomach and while in poor health none of his family or friends anticipated his sudden death. The deceased was a member of the Order of the Railway Conductors, Division 338, but had not been in active service for some time.

Mrs. Chatfield had not seen her father for eleven years.

He had been making his home in Fruita lately and was intending to go north with his daughter and family. Besides his daughter Mrs. Chatfield, he leaves a son Roy in Denver and several sons and daughters in Los Angeles, Calif. Owing to the distance it is not likely that any of the latter can be present at the funeral which will be held this afternoon at 2 o’clock. Rev. Low Thomas will have charge of the services. The sympathy of the entire community is extended to Mrs. Chatfield and the other relatives to whom has come this sudden blow.
Note: His wife Emily, living in Los Angeles, California, is not mentioned in the obituary

Aug 21, 1905: Finley “Frank” Chamberlin is dropped from military pension roles

Oct 18, 1905: Emily S. Chamberlin (age 55) now of Santa Ana, Orange Co., California, applies for a military pension as the widow of Civil War Veteran, Sgt. Finley Chamberlin.

U.S. Civil War Pension Index: General File to Pension Files:

Dec 22, 1905: Adelaide “Addie” (Chamberlain) Kinne, sister of Finley “Frank” Chamberlin, files a statement in support of Emily (Hoy) Chamberlin for a widow pension, stating he is the husband of Emily S. (Hoy) Chamberlin:

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, BUREAU OF PENSIONS.
In the Matter of Widow’s claim for Pension, No. 834124, EMILY S. CHAMBERLIN, widow of FINLEY CHAMBERLIN, deceased, late a member of Co. I, 9^th Reg. Michigan Inft.
STATE OF MICHIGAN
SS.
COUNTY OF INGHAM
ADDIE KINNE being duly sworn, deposes and says:—

That I am 68 years old. That my Post Office address is Williamston, Box 520, Ingham County, Michigan. That I am a Sister of the deceased soldier, FINLEY CHAMBERLIN. That we were raised children together in the same household. That I know him well from the time that he was of marriageable age until he was married to the claimant, EMILY S. CHAMBERLIN. And that I know of my own personal knowledge that he was never married to any other person until he was married to her. And my acquaintance and relation with him was of such a character that if he ever had of been married, I am sure that I would have known of it.

That I have no interest direct or indirect in the prosecution of this claim for pension.

Further deponent sayeth not.
(signed) Addie Kinne
Subscribed and sworn to before me this 22 day of December, 1905, by the said ADDIE KINNE, and I certify that the affiant is a reputable person and is entitled to due credit.

Sep 2, 1906: Letter from James Smith “J.S.” Hoy (age 60) to his sister Emily (Hoy) Chamberlin (age 56):
Lodore, Colo.
Sep. 2nd 1906
My Dear Sister
It rained yesterday, about all last night and is a drizzling day today and I have time to write you. I have a big crop of grass to cut for hay but up till now couldn’t get any help. Couldn’t get help to brand colts & calves, and no hay up either. I work from daylight till dark, 365 days in the year. I am in debt and intend to die but if I have to work nights, when I look at other men of my age and see the old, toothless, dried up, watery eyed, rheumatic, drooling old idiots, I am surprised at myself. I tell these young whelps: “don’t call me old until you get up in the morning before I do, and take and keep the lead all day as I do, and never let the (?) trees dangle on your heels, don’t say old to me.” I don’t believe hard work kills people. If “it” did I would have been dead long ago. V.S. was more tireless and on the go than I am. He never rested except when asleep. Harry was a great worker. Work is the best medicine for all disease. It is what keeps me young and our duty.

Now to answer your letter. This is not “a far off place.” It is you that is far off. I live in the center of the Rocky Mountains. We have about all that anyone needs except Society. and I don’t need Society. We have an abundance of water, wood, pastures, free, and the best climate in the U.S. I am surprised to read what you say about life and death. Long ago, I concluded what we think amounts to little or nothing, and what beats me is: that bible believing people fear death more than the so called infidels. Life is as much of a mystery to me as death, both unsolvable. Nature is kind: ushers us into life without pain and opens the door and we go out without knowing it. Frank, V.S. nor Harry didn’t know they were dying, and I don’t think they know that they are dead. Harry was stricken with the paralysis in Alaska six years ago and suffered ever since. He never could be made to believe that he was seriously ill. He got hold of a fool book something like “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures” named “Perfect Health by one who has it How to get it, How to keep it” and the fool book killed Harry Hoy. If you can, get the fool thing & read it and see what a crank Harry was. V.S. & Harry were both cranks in my opinion. V.S. had his pockets full of Mrs. Mary Cheyneunth pamphlets when he was killed. I may be a crank too but I don’t have to follow the lead of crazy people, whose advice leads to death in this world. Harry fasted 36 days and then gorged himself on carrots, stewed chicken and other food that only a cowpuncher or grubber could digest, it ended in a violent case of bowel trouble, so that he dared not eat any more, didn’t dare lie in bed, didn’t dare eat nor drink, and for four nights the horrible pain kept him awake and for days, he suffered all the tortures of the orthodox damned and at the end of the fourth day and beginning of the 5th day and night when human endurance and nature was exhausted he breathed his last. Pain, suffering is cruel, death is a relief. I could do nothing much for him. An hour before he died he said “I am going to follow out the advice of the Book!” He didn’t know he was dying but everbody else did. The end came peaceful. Half hour before pain ceased and the end of all began, at last he raised his head, looked around, (??) his chin sank on his breast and he was at rest. I wasn’t sorry, I wasn’t glad, but if I had been in his condition I would wanted somone to kill me. It was hell.

You talk of a merciful God. God shows no mercy to anyone. His only begotten Son cried: My God, My God, why has thou forsaken me. Let us let up on God and attend to business for we will be a long time dead where the sun goes down on our sight the last time. How silly for you to think your turn will come next. Would you rather see me and Adea die than you to die? It is foolish to be a fatalist or anything else so far as belief is concerned. I am going to live to be 103 years old. Now what is to hinder you coming here and we will go into partnership and raise poultry? I like ranch life, I like all live creatures (except men). You can move into Harry’s shack, hut or whatever you may call it and that is a darned sight better than canning stuff in Los Angeles. I wrote to Fremont and I think we will soon hear from Ade, and I want you and him to come and we will run and manage Harry’s estate together. We ought to be old enough to live in peace, but, although this ranch is seven miles long and a mile wide with Green River an unfordable stream through the middle, it is not big enough to hold Fred Chamberlin and me. He is vicious, cowardly and mean, he hated Harry and tried his best to send me to the penetentuary and to hell with him and all his kind of people!
J.S. Hoy
Note: The first book J.S. refers to is by Mary Baker Eddy (published 1875); the second is by Charles Courtney Haskell (pub 1902/1903), with the end of the title True Scientific Living.
Note: The Fred Chamberlin whom J.S. refers to in this letter is Emily’s oldest son

Dec 25, 1906: Photo of Fred, Charles Chatfield, Willard, Rafty baby, and Roy:

Brothers: Fred Chamberlin, brother-in-law Charles H. Chatfield (Nellie’s husband), Willard Chamberlin, baby Rafty baby, Roy Chamberlin

1907: Los Angeles City Directory, Los Angeles Co., California (pg 291):
Chamberlin, Mrs Emily S fur rms 226 S Bunker Hill av
Chamberlin, Fred L 226 S Bunker Hill av (Emily’s son)

Oct 17, 1907: Emily sends a letter to her attorney in Colorado regarding her brother Henry Hoy’s estate. She is living at 226 South Bunker Hill Los Angeles, California.
Note: Bunker Hill was where the well-to-do lived in their Victorian houses at the turn of the century. In 1901 an open cable railway was constructed to make it easier for the residents to climb the eastern part of its hill, nicknamed “Angels Flight”.

Angels Flight is a landmark funicular railway in the Bunker Hill district of Downtown Los Angeles, which claims to be the “shortest railway in the world.” Angels Flight operated from 1901 until it was closed in 1969. It consisted of two carriages pulled up a steep incline by metal cables powered by engines at the top of the hill. As one car ascended, the other descended, carried down by gravity. The two cars were named Sinai and Olivet.

1909: Los Angeles City Directory, Los Angeles Co., California (pg 272):
Chamberlin, Emily S (wid Frank) fur rms 226 S Bunker Hill av

1910-1930 During these years Emily Hoy Chamberlin is a member of the Third Order of St. Francis.
Note: Third Orders signify in general lay members of religious orders, men and women who do not necessarily live in community and yet can claim to wear the habit and participate in the good works of some great order and are called to a dedicated life of service to the Lord through prayer, study, and work.

Apr 23, 1910: Federal Census for Sanders School District, Rosebud Co., Montana:
Chatfield, Chas: head, age 39, married 16 years, born Colorado, father born Illinois, mother born Texas, farmer
Nellie: wife, age 37, married 16 years, born Montana, father born New York, mother born Pennsylvania (Emily’s daughter)
Chas: son, age 14, born Colorado, father born Colorado, mother born Missouri
Leo: son, age 12, born Wyoming, father born Colorado, mother born Missouri
Howard: son, age 10, born Colorado, father born Colorado, mother born Missouri
Roy: son, age 9, born Colorado, father born Colorado, mother born Missouri
Nellie May: daughter, age 7, born Colorado, father born Colorado, mother born Missouri
Gordon: son, age 4, born Wyoming, father born Colorado, mother born Missouri
Verda: daughter, age 1, born Montana, father born Colorado, mother born Missouri
Chamberlain, Mamie: sister-in-law, age 23, single, born in Texas, father born New York, mother born Pennsylvania, saleslady
Gregory, Anson: hired man, age 19, single, born Illinois, father born Illinois, mother born Illinois
Note: Nellie’s 23-year-old sister, Mamie Chamberlin, is living with Nellie and her family

1910: Los Angeles City Directory, Los Angeles Co., California (pg 289):
Chamberlin, Emily S (wid Frank) fur rms 226 S. Bunker Hill av.

Apr 15, 1910: Federal Census for Los Angeles City, Los Angeles Co., California:
Chamberlein, Emily: head, widow, age 60, 7 children born, 6 children living, born Pennsylvania, father born Pennsylvania, mother born Pennsylvania, occupation none.
Walland: son; age 20, single, born Texas, father born Pennsylvania, mother born Pennsylvania, occupation none
Note: Listed under Chamberlein, and it is Willard, not Walland

Nov 28, 1911: Marriage of Mary Agnes “Mamie” Chamberlin (age 24) & Thomas Herbert “Herb” Rosborough (age 30), in Los Angeles, Los Angeles Co., California

1913: Los Angeles City Directory, Los Angeles Co., California (pg 429):
Chamberlin, Mrs. Emily 1131 Maple av

Jan 28, 1914: Marriage of Roy Valentine Chamberlin (age 33) & Mary Irene Schaller (age 21), in Rapid City, Pennington Co., South Dakota

Jul 3, 1915: Letter from Fred Chamberlin (age 40) to his mother Emily (age 65):
Edwards, Colo.
July 3rd, 1915
Dear Mother
I received your letter this evening & if anyone was ever surprised it was me. I had no more idea you would think of coming to this country than I had of flying. When I wrote I just thot how nice it would be to have you here but as to your coming I never dreamed it. Now I consider you first & I know you told me how lonesome & home sick you got when you were at Ada’s & now I will tell you all about this place & then if you will come I will (be) the most pleased fellow you ever saw but if (you) really don’t want to come & it is going to be a hardship back out & it will be all right. For I really think you are sacrificing your self by coming.

I am 4½ miles from the railroad up a narrow creek. There is not even a station at Edwards just a side track & section house. I live in a three room log house haven’t a carpet in the house. Have no garden as I didn’t have time to put one in this year, radishes, lettuce, peas, cabbage, turnips & onions & beets is all you can raise up here as the season is so short. I have in lots of potatoes. I have plenty of milk cows & chickens & I guess there are lots of wild raspberries here in the fall. Also gooseberries, tomatoes I will try & have shipped up from the Valley if the frost didn’t kill them.

Now if you will come & don’t like it here after I thresh my grain (if I have any, my luck is so bad that something may destroy it) this fall I will buy you a ticket to any place you want to go for I think it would get on your nerves here in the winter as we have so much snow & such long winters. If you do come bring one of your carpets & I will pay you just what you would ask for it there for you must have a carpet in your room. You had better bring a little of your bedding as mine is all rough coarse stuff. There are very few mosquitoes here & they don’t bother after sun down any way there will be screens at the windows. No I have no meat grinder but think I have plenty of dishes & cooking utensils.

As there is no station at Edwards you must ship your things to Avon Colo. But you get off your self at Edwards. You write that day you will be here & I will be there to meet you as there is only one train a day from the west that stops there & that is 5:30 in the evening. I guess you will come from the west as will you come from Denver? If you do that train is due here at 9:30 in the morning. Be sure & let me know if you come, several days ahead so I will be sure & get your letter & write as soon as you have some idea when you will start so I can make it a point to get the mail more often. Then I would be on the lookout for a letter about the time you start. I see the roads in Colo have reduced their passenger rates so maby fare won’t be so high. You bet we will eat those young roasters this summer fall & winter & some of them are about big enough to murder right now. I have 61 little chicks now & haven’t got any more here as I haven’t had the time to look after them. I av (have) a hen to a brood of ten little fellows now a coyote caught their mother yesterday. The first one this year. They are about 10 days old. I gave them to another hen but she nearly pecked them to death so I have had her under a tub ever since. Now if you are not giving up to much I sure want you to come. If you only stay until winter there isn’t very much one can do here in the winter there is so much snow.

I will close now hoping to see you soon.
With lots of love, your son
Fred

N.B.
If you need some money to come on let me know at once & I will try & get it at once.
I have one flat iron.
N.B.
If any thing should happen that you could save laying over some place by coming to Minturn you can do so & I could meet you there but it would be a much longer drive & the trains nearly all get in there in the night that don’t stop at Edwards. But all trains stop there as it is an engine division. If it will bring you into Minturn at night you had better take a train that will stop at Edwards as you will be tired enough without a long night drive in a buggy.
Note: N.B. stands for “Nota Bene,” which means “please note” in Latin

Jul 12, 1915: Letter from Fred Chamberlin (age 40) to his mother Emily (age 65):
Edwards, Colo
July 12 – 15
Dear Mother
I received your letter yesterday & I was sure tickled to know you were coming for sure for I thot when I wrote you about the place you might back out. I am very busy but if some one doesn’t come along that I can send this letter to the office by, I will take it myself in a day or so. No I haven’t a butter ladle & wish you would get one. I have been using a big bowl & a big spoon to work my butter. I am glad you had no trouble in selling your goods & hope you get here by the 5th of next month as I expect to start haying about then & I would like to have a little visit with you before I start & it would be hard to do that if I had men here & then there is always so much to do.

Yes there are a few deers here but the timber is so thick it is hard to ever see one but there are lots of grouse & they will be just about big enough to eat good when you get here. You seem to think a good deal of Irene so if I were you I should visit her for a few days before coming here if you want to go way round that way. You talk as if you were rich just because you sold those notes. How much did you lose on them? You want to be sure & give the last conductor or porter you ride with before you reach Edwards your baggage check & tell them to see that it is put off here. If you don’t as there is no agent here they will carry it by. Better ship your goods to me as the agent at Avon knows me & will notify me as soon as they come. I expect it will take three weeks for them to get through as they will come by local freight.

I am just like a little kid. I cant hardly wait for you to get here. Hoping it will be soon & that you get here safe & sound & well.
I will close with love.
Fred
Note: Irene is Emily’s daughter-in-law, Irene Schaller, married to Emily’s son, Roy

Jul 14, 1915: Letter from Fred Chamberlin (age 40) to his mother Emily (age 65):
July 14 (1915)
Dear Mother
I ans.’ your other letter day before yesterday but as it hasn’t gone yet I will tear it open & ans. the one I just got today.

You can find out from the agent where you get your ticket what the fare is to Grand Junction & then what it is to Edwards. The fare is $7.50 from Grand Jct. to Edwards. So it might be cheaper to buy your ticket to the Junction & then buy another on up here but I hardly think so. I think the best thing to do is to buy a ticket straight through to Edwards which you can do as it is on the main line of the Denver & Rio Grand about fifty miles east of Glenwood Springs. No you will not have to take a branch road at any time. For the life of me I can’t remember how long it took me to come through to Fruita from Corvallis but I think 2 days & nights & it is 6 hours ride from Grand Jct so I have an idea it would take you about 54 hours to come through from Corvallis but I haven’t the least idea how long it would take from Williams. If you come by the Jct. you will get here at 5:25 in the evening.

No I don’t think of any thing you ought to bring with you – only don’t forget to bring a drinking cup or you will get rather dry on the train & don’t fail to take a sleeper.
Love,
Fred

Apr 12, 1917: Marriage of Willard Joseph “Joe” Chamberlin (age 27) & Frieda Lois Jones (age 24), at St. Mary’s Church in Corvallis, Benton Co., Oregon

1917: Los Angeles City Directory, Los Angeles Co., California (pg 523):
Chamberlin, Emily S wid F M fur rms 120 E 12th

Photo: Emily Chamberlin with sons Fred and Roy on the front steps of Roy’s house in Huntington Park, California

Jan 3, 1920: Federal Census for Los Angeles, Los Angeles Co., California:
Chamberlin, Emily S.: head, age 69, widow, born Pennsylvania, father born Pennsylvania, mother born Pennsylvania.
Fred. L.: son, age 43, single, born Kansas, father born New York, mother born Pennsylvania, laborer on (?) farm
Note: Census has last names transcribed as Unambeer and again as Chambers

Mar 1, 1920: Photo of Emily (Hoy) Chamberlin (age 60 yrs, 9 mos) at her son Roy’s house, Huntington Park, California:

Oct 2, 1920: Marriage of Frederick Lawrence “Fred” Chamberlin (age 43) & Clara Alice “Callie” (Stingle) Fenner (the day after her divorce from Paul P. Fenner is final), in Mesa Co., Colorado.
Note: Clara, born 1864/68 in Grandview, Iowa (father Jacob Stingle born Pennsylvania, mother Margaret Gebhardt born Illinois, married 1st at age 20 to Samuel M. Swickard on Jul 13, 1884 in West Liberty, Muscatine, Iowa and had one child, Ruby M. Swickard b. Apr 12, 1885 in Iowa). Clara dies Aug 17, 1928 and is buried in Wheat Ridge, Jefferson Co., Colorado; Fred is a widow on the 1930 census

Colorado Divorce Index:
Name: Clara Alice Fenner
Divorce Date: 1 Oct 1920
Divorce Place: Denver, Colorado, USA
Spouse: Paul P Fenner (Paul Peebles Fenner)
Record Type: Divorce
Note: Clara Alice Swickard married Paul P. Fenner on Jun 18, 1904, in Denver, Denver Co., Colorado

Colorado Marriage Index:
Name: Clara A Fenner
Gender: Female
Marriage Date: 2 Oct 1920
Marriage Place: Mesa Colorado USA
Spouse Name: Fred L Chamberlin
Spouse Gender: Male
Reception Number: 163456
Document ID: 2846355

1922: Index to Register of Voters, Los Angeles City Precinct No. 185, Los Angeles Co., California:
Chamberlin, Mrs. Emily S, hswf, 233 E. Pico st, Democrat

1924: Index to Register of Voters, Los Angeles City Precinct No. 185, Los Angeles Co., California:
Chamberlin, Mrs. Emily S, hswf, 233 E. Pico st, DS

1922: Index to Register of Voters, Los Angeles City Precinct No. 185, Los Angeles Co., California:
Chamberlin, Mrs. Emily S, hswf, 233 E. Pico st, Democrat

Nov 19, 1923: Death of Roy Valentine Chamberlin (age 41), 4th of 6 children of Finley McLaren “Frank” Chamberlin & Emily S. Hoy, in Los Angeles, Los Angeles Co., California; of pernicious anemia. Roy is buried in the Calvary Cemetery in Los Angeles, Los Angeles Co., California.

1927: Los Angeles City Directory, Los Angeles Co., California:
Chamberlin, Mrs. E.S., 233 E. Pico, Los Angeles, California

Circa 1920s: Emily (Hoy) Chamberlin with her grandson Roy Chatfield (son of Nellie (Chamberlin) & Charles Chatfield):

Apr 12, 1930: Federal Census for Los Angeles, Los Angeles Co., California:
Chamberlin, Fred L.: head, age 54, widow, age 43 when married, born Kansas, father born New York, mother born Pennsylvania, night clerk in building materials
Emily S.: mother, age 79, widow, married at 17, born Pennsylvania, no occupation, both parents born Pennsylvania, renting, $40 a month

1935: Los Angeles City Directory, Los Angeles Co., California:
Chamberlin, Mrs. Emily S. 833 No. Stanley Ave., Los Angeles

1936: Los Angeles City Directory, Los Angeles Co., California:
Chamberlin, Emily S Mrs. r 833 N. Stanley av
Chamberlin, Fred L h 833 N Stanley av

1937: Los Angeles City Directory, Los Angeles Co., California:
Chamberlin, Emily (wid Frank) r 1200 W 74th

1940: Los Angeles City Directory, Los Angeles Co., California:
Chamberlin, Emma (wid Frank) rm 343 E. Gage av (Emily)
Chamberlin, Fred h 343 E. Gage av

Feb 15, 1940: Letter from Mrs. Grace E. Chamberlin to her cousin, Fred Chamberlin, son of Finley “Frank” Chamberlin & Emily S. Hoy::
#166 Grant Ave. East
Highland Park, Michigan
February 15th, 1940
Mr. Fred L. Chamberlain-
#343 East Gage Street,
Los Angeles, California.
Dear “Cousin”:-
For a long time I have been interested in writing up my Chamberlain family history, or at least genealogy, and locating all the members I could for the rather voluminous “family tree.” Your branch have been rather difficult to corral, and as is usual, one waits to get these family details till all have passed on who might have given aid.

I should say we are straight second cousins. Our grandfathers were brothers. You come from Harrison, and I from his brother Orson. I have often heard my father speak of his Cousin Finley, and I believe they occasionally wrote each other as boys. If I can find an old letter of your father’s I will inclose it. I know I did see some in my father’s old papers.

I had the pleasure of being quite well acquainted with your Aunt Grace, who only died quite recently, and with your Aunt Addie Kinne, whom I greatly admired. She too has been gone just a short time. I did have lovely obituaries of both these aunts and if I can find one will include it. But in all these talks with them, I tried to get their memories to go farther back than your father, so asked few questions about Finley’s family, though I did have the names of his children.

We are quite a tribe, and most of our ancestors were extremely worthy of emulation. I found we had plenty of Revolutionary ancestors. Both the Elder Henry Chamberlain, father of Reuben, who was the father of Harrison, and also Capt. Ebenezer Sumner, who was the father of Mary Sumner, the wife of Reuben C. were Revolutionary soldiers. I got all the proof, and was readily accepted. Then in going back, I found that we have a direct Mayflower lineage. I also joined this, and submitted proof, so that would know it was all authentic. They are very particular but we made the grade all right. I am delighted to pass onto you so fine a lineage and if any of you ever want to join any of these societies – I will be glad to tell you more about it. In these days, with every alien well organized, I think it might be well if we Americans were a little more conscious of our Americanism. I became quite interested, and have used it as a hobby, doing all my family lines. I think it appealed to me more because I was born a Chamberlain, and married a Chamberlain and often wondered about possible relationship. We have different emigrant ancestors: Then behold my amazement to find that our ancestor the Rev. Henry Chamberlain of Vermont, had done the same thing- he had married an Abigail Chamberlain, so I had to trace her out, and she has still a different emigrant ancestor. Whether these C’s were related before coming from England, I do not know.

I wrote up my notes for a little genealogical magazine our society gets out, and as I had extra pages, am sending you a full set, not exactly full either, for our gt. grand father Reuben Chamberlain had two wives, and in a later edition I added the descendants of the second wife. But you and I come through the first wife, Mary Sumner.

I have spent several lovely vacations in and around Wyoming, N.Y., locating old graves, records, etc, and have come to know the family of Amos Chamberlain very well. He was a splendid man, and he too was quite interested in the family tree. He just died last year, but his widow and sons live in the community still. I found the old obituary of our great grandfather Reuben, and you see he was an early settler there. This Amos Chamberlain was the grandson of Luther Chamberlain, an older brother of Harrison.

Lest I give you too big a dose of family matters at one setting, I will not write more now, but leave you to digest the outline I am sending. My idea was to write up the family of Henry Chamberlain, Sr. of Westmoreland, N.H. and his wife Susannah Hinds. It was some undertaking! What a lot of writing and researching I did. I have also visited the old ancestral home on Westmoreland, N.H., and all the places in Vermont where our Rev. Henry Chamberlain preached. He was a Baptist minister.

If your mother is living, I suppose she has heard of Hinds Chamberlain, who was the first settler in LeRoy, N.Y. I have rounded up all his family, the graves, ect. He was uncle to Reuben, tho’ there wasn’t much difference in their ages. Maybe you never knew where your father got his name- Finley of Findley. Well—–this Hinds Chamberlain married the widow McLaren. She had two children, a girl and a boy, by her first husband Malcom McLaren. The boy was named Finley McLaren. I suppose Hinds Chamberlin raised him – in fact I know he did, and Hinds C. used to go out to see Reuben and Harrison, and Harrison thought this little McLaren boy was the finest youngster ever, so he later named his own son Finley McLaren Chamberlin. Addie told me this. But the old Genesee and Wyoming county histories mention the McLarens, as Scotch, and coming from Scotland about the time Hinds C. settled in LeRoy.

Now I wish you would take some time off, and write me a big letter, tell me the names, dates of birth, etc, of your brothers and sisters, who they married, etc. Also I wish I knew more about your father’s life, after he came out of the army. This Amos C. used to have your Aunt Grace come and visit them, and she told him more of your fathers life, but I do not know it. And feel free if you are interested, to ask me anything you care to about the others. Your first cousin Bert Kinne lives in Spokane, Wash. and your first cousin Elliott Kinne (this is your aunt Irene’s boy) lives in Chicago.

If your mother is living, I shall hope she can tell more of Wyoming matters.
Sincerely
Mrs. (J.F.) Grace E. Chamberlin

Note: Grace’s husband, J.F. Chamberlain, is Joseph “Frank” Chamberlain. Fred Chamberlin is her second cousin, the son of Finley McLaren “Frank” Chamberlin & Emily Hoy. Their great-grandfather Reuben Chamberlin had two wives and both descend through the first wife, Mary Sumner: Grace descends from Reuben’s son Orson, Fred descends from Reuben’s son, Harrison.

Letter (undated) from Mrs. Grace E. Chamberlain to her cousin Willard “Joe” Chamberlin or his brother Fred:
You must have a lot of second cousins somewhere on your grandmother Surdam’s side of the family.
Your great grandfather was Seneca Surdam, and his wife was Anna. I submit this data for your family record.
Seneca Surdam was born April 27th, 1790 ) I don’t know where
Ann Surdam ” May 25th, 1790 )
Seneca Surdam died April 13th, 1859 ) I suppose they are buried around
Anna, his wife, died May 8th, 1867 ) Wyoming, N.Y. I never have looked for their graves

Children of Seneca and Anna Surdam, as follows:
Jane born June 4, 1814
Maria ” Oct 22, 1818
Melissa ” July 1, 1820
Caroline ” Jan 4, 1823 This is the one who married your grandfather, Harrison Chamberlain. They are both buried in village cemetery, Wyoming, N.Y. and have markers.
Delia ” Oct 16, 1824
Jane ” May 26, 1826
Morgan ” Nov 28, 1829
Younglove ” Feb 24, 1830
Freelove ” Feb 14, 1831
Malina ” May 8, 1832
George ” Sept 11, 1834

Quite a sizeable family! I don’t know if any one of this name still lives around Wyoming. I assume not, for I never heard either your aunt Grace or Aunt Adah speak of any such relation. Your Aunt Grace never married‚ I think lived to be 88. Think to ask me to show her your obituary. I have one of both Addie and Grace. Aunt Grace died in a Baptist home for the aged in the suburbs of Rochester, N.Y.— Fairport, where she lived for many years. She was brought back to be buried with her father and mother, Harrison and Caroline, there in Wyoming, but at the time of the funeral I did not hear of her having any relatives present except on the Chamberlain side. Yet you see she must have had Surdam relatives a plenty.

Your father’s middle name is MacLaren. He was named for Finley McLaren, a Scotchman. The first Finley MacLaren married Betsy Stewart (or Elizabeth, I suppose). I think they were married in Scotland. Came to the vicinity of LeRoy, had two children, Finley MacLaren and Helen Mary MacLaren, when their father died— one of the earliest deaths in that vicinity. His widow soon married Hinds Chamberlain, and these children were raised by him as his own. They used to visit at Reuben C’s, and Harrison C (your grandfather) thought this MacLaren boy the finest he ever knew, and gave that name later to his only son, and according to the girls nearly always called him by both names, i.e. Finley MacLaren.

Note: This letter was written to Fred Chamberlin or Willard “Joe” Chamberlin (the sons of Finley & Emily) from Grace Chamberlain, a descendent of Orson Sumner Chamberlain, the brother of Harrison Chamberlain.
Note: Seneca Surdam died in Middlebury, Wyoming County, New York
Note: Originally the name was Van Surdam, and at some point during Seneca or Reuben’s generation, the Van was dropped from usage.

Feb 18, 1940: Death of Emily S. Hoy Chamberlin (age 89 yr, 6 mo) in Los Angeles of interstitial nephritis (kidney disease) and acute uremia. The address on her death certificate is 345 E. Gage Ave., Los Angeles, California, her birthplace, Howard, Pennsylvania. Her son Fred is the informant for the death certificate and his address is also 345 E. Gage Ave., Los Angeles. Her death certificate states she lived in Los Angeles for 32 years, which would mean that she moved to the Los Angeles area in 1908. However, she was a resident of Santa Ana, California in 1905 when she applied for a widow’s military pension.

Feb 18, 1940: California Death Index:
Name: Emily S Chamberlin
[Emily S Hoy]
Gender: Female
Birth Date: 24 Jul 1850
Birth Place: Pennsylvania
Death Date: 18 Feb 1940
Death Place: Los Angeles
Mother’s Maiden Name: Smith
Father’s Surname: Hoy

Feb 21, 1940: Burial of Emily S. (Chamberlin) Hoy alongside her son Roy Valentine Chamberlin in Calvary Cemetery in Los Angeles, Los Angeles Co., California

Feb 21, 1940: Chamberlin children gathered in front of their mother’s home on Gage Street for her funeral: Mamie, Fred, Nellie, Ada, and Joe:

Feb 21, 1940: Family photo at Emily S. (Hoy) Chamberlin’s three days after her death:

Feb 22, 1940: Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, Los Angeles Co., California (pg 17):
Emily Chamberlin Funeral Conducted
Requiem mass was celebrated yesterday in St. Columbkille Catholic Church for Mrs. Emily S. Chamberlin, 89, resident of Los Angeles for 34 years and widow of Finley Chamberlin, Civil War veteran. She died Monday at her home, 343 E. Gage Ave. Interment was in Calvary Cemetery under direction of Utter-McKinley Mortuary. Mrs. Chamberlin leaves five children, Mrs. Nellie Chatfield of Chico, Mrs. Ada Whitaker of Baker, Or., and Mrs. Mamie Rosborough of Morton, Wash., Fred Chamberlin of Los Angeles, and Willard Chamberlin of Corvallis, Or.

Nov 24, 1940: Letter to Willard “Joe” Chamberlin, from a distant cousin, Mrs. Grace E. Chamberlin:
Nov 24th, 1940
Dear Cousin Joe:
We are back to “home plate” for a day or so, and as we were just talking of you, will try and get off a note, with enclosures which I hope will satisfy the Mayflower Soc. We are not through with our “project” in Williamston, but have got to a point where it is not so terribly bothersome. It was too much for either of us to take on at our ages, but once into it we must see it through for better or worse. Having had total losses with our bonds we just felt we must keep what real estate we had. Can go out and look at it, at least.

Ditto with us, for all the emotions you had over election results. I do hope FDR keeps in mind that some twenty-three million votes were against him, and give some consideration to their representatives. We surely thought Congress would change in the shuffle, but alas! How can we ever pay the debt, or how can the generations to come? Yet with it all, we must have deep gratitude that we are yet in a land not drenched with blood. I hope England may hold out. I think she will, yet I cannot see it, except with eyes of faith.

Now, I think you have enough data for Mayflower, and I hope you persist and go through. You see we of this generation can establish the proof better than generations to follow, and once in, it becomes history. Added to other worries I am heartbroken that I seemingly have lost the pages from the Harrison bible. Your Aunt Grace had simply taken the four sheets out of her father’s bible, which contained the records, and gave them to me. I have preserved them so carefully. I took them down here to have photostat copies made of each sheet, and had one each of three of the sheets. The other was all the Surdam family. Then I happened to think why not have more copies made here, as I have a friend in Williamston who is in an office that does that work. I will just take it out to him and have several copies made of each page for less than the cost of one here. I had the original at the farm, and remember having it in a large envelope all ready to take down town, but in the melee have simply mislaid or lost it. I cannot think it is lost, but “hid” as I have a faculty for doing. Maybe it will show up. BUT I am so glad I have these three, and Frank thinks you can have another photostat made from this. Please do if you can, and do include an extra set for me, for I wanted them for my family book, but wanted you to have the original, as you see it takes in even Reuben, and his second wife Nancy.

Now this bible record I think shows that Finley is the son of Harrison, as he is recorded on page with other children. The death certificate of Harrison shows him to be the son of Reuben and Mary Sumner C. Sorry Amos ever undertook to correct the record with the town clerk in Wyoming for he had it wrong. Neither Mary Sumner of Reuben C. were born in Vermont. Reuben, according to obituary, was born in Westmoreland, and Mary Sumner was born in Middletown, Conn. (Middletown Vital Records, Vol. 2, pg. 134, if you haven’t this reference). I guess it should be stated “Conn. Vital Records, Middletown Vol. 2, pg.134.” Reuben’s obituary may be referred to for a lot of proof, for it states his birthplace, his marriage to Mary Sumner, his death, etc.

With best wishes and do write if I can do anything more. I think it will be splendid to have this branch of the C’s proven Mayflower descendants. It’s a little irksome to make the proof, but you can see they have to be very exacting else many would get in who do not belong.
Grace

Note: The cemetery and headstones pictures from Find A Grave and are the property of those who photographed them.

2020. Catherine (Clemens) Sevenau and Gordon Clemens.

WCGS (World Chamberlain Genealogical Society)