Sedgwick County KSGenWeb

Portrait And Biographical Album of Sedgwick County, Kan.

Chapman Brothers 1888

Pages 235 - 236

 JOSEPH B. CHAMBERLAIN, a native of far New England and now a resident of Rockford Township, was born in the town of Exeter, Me., on the 25th of October, 1825. He was the eldest of the five children comprising the family of Stephen B. and Deliverance (Jenkens) Chamberlain, who were natives of New Hampshire and of English ancestry. The paternal grandfather of our subject crossed the Atlantic during the Colonial days, settling in New Hampshire, where he spent the remainder of his life.

      Stephen B. Chamberlain, who had been bred to patriotic principles, upon the coming on of the War of 1812, engaged in that conflict with credit to himself, and after its close was made a Captain of militia, which title he held for several years. He carried on farming all his life, and departed from the scenes of his early labors on the 17th of January, 1877. He was a man greatly respected in his community, and a member in good standing of the Baptist Church, in which he officiated as Deacon for many years. The mother died in middle life on the 25th of March, 1846. In 1867 the family removed from the East to Clinton County, Mo., after the death of the mother. Here Stephen B. Chamberlain was a second time married, to Mrs. Dorothy Purse, who died May 21, 1873.

      Mr. Chamberlain commenced farming in his native State of Maine, and accompanied his father in the removal to Missouri in 1867, continuing in the latter State for a period of ten years. He then came to this county and purchased the 270 acres of land which constitute his present homestead. Little had been done at that time toward its cultivation or improvement, and it has taken years of industrious labor and the outlay of considerable money to bring the farm to its present condition. There is now a good set of frame buildings, a fine young orchard, and the smaller fruit trees in abundance, with a goodly assortment of graded stock, mostly horses and cattle, and a considerable number of swine.

      The marriage of our subject with Miss Sarah E., daughter of William and Abigail (Nudd) Trickey, took place at the home of the bride in Penobscot County, Me., Aug. 3, 1851. Mrs. Chamberlain was born Aug. 2, 1830, in New Hampshire, and continued with her parents until her marriage. The latter were natives of New Hampshire, but afterward moved to Maine, and were the parents of eight children. Mrs. C. became the mother of four children, namely: Charles F., who was born Jan. 28, 1854, and died June 4, 1883; Jasper N., born Feb. 16, 1856; Ivory W., who was born April 12, 1859, and died Jan. 23, 1883, and Arthur S., born March 11, 1869, and died April 20, 1870. Mrs. Chamberlain departed this life Sept. 15, 1878, at her home in this township; she was a lady of many excellent qualities and a devoted member of the Baptist Church.

      Mr. Chamberlain, April 14, 1885, contracted a second marriage, with Miss Viola F. French, who was born in Exeter, Me., April 19, 1842, and is the daughter of Eben P. and Hannah (Cook) French, natives of New Hampshire and now deceased. This latter marriage was celebrated at Winter Park, Orange Co., Fla. Mrs. Chamberlain, upon leaving her native State, was for four years a resident of Boston, Mass., and subsequently went South.

     Our subject affiliates with the Republican party, and is one of its most active adherents. He officiated as Trustee of Rockford Township three years, and religiously is a communicant of the Baptist Church, in which he has officiated as Deacon for a period of seventeen years.

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