BIO: Daniel CHAMBERLAIN, Huntingdon County, PA

Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Denise Phillips

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Commemorative Biographical Encyclopedia of the Juniata Valley: 
Comprising the Counties of Huntingdon, Mifflin, Juniata and Perry, 
Pennsylvania, Containing Sketches of Prominent and Representative 
Citizens and Many of the Early Settlers.  Chambersburg, Pa.: J. M. 
Runk & Co., 1897, pages 124-127. 
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  DANIEL CHAMBERLAIN, postmaster, Warriors Mark, Huntingdon county, was 
born March 20, 1842, in Spruce Creek valley, Huntingdon county, son of 
James and Susan (Ginter) Chamberlain.  The Chamberlains came to America 
from Holland, but were originally of English extraction.  Daniel 
Chamberlain's great-grandfather, Jacob Chamberlain, a native of Bedford 
county, was parted from his parents during the Revolutionary war.  His 
father was a Tory, while Jacob cast his lot with the revolutionists, 
for which he was disinherited by his father.  All through the war he 
fought, attaining the rank of captain, and receiving a wound in the 
hip.  After the war he married and settled in Bedford county, where he 
erected a grist-mill and continued milling until his death in 1819, at 
the age of sixty-three.  In his later years he was a cripple, because 
of the wound received in the service.  His son, Eli Chamberlain, was 
born in Bedford county, and there was engaged in general work.  He died 
in 1813, leaving a widow, Susan (Smouse) Chamberlain, who was again 
married to David Martis, by whom she had several children.  The 
children of Mr. and Mrs. Eli Chamberlain were:  John, who died in 
Baltimore in 1892; Henry, deceased, accidentally shot in Texas; 
Rebecca, deceased; Christiana (Mrs. William Ryan), who with her husband 
settled in Texas in 1827, where Mr. Ryan was killed by Indians; and 
James.  Mr. Martis, second husband of Mrs. Chamberlain, died in Indiana 
county, after which she resided with her son, James, until her death at 
the age of eighty-two.
  James Chamberlain, son of Eli and Susan Chamberlain, was born March 
17, 1811, in Bedford county, four miles from Bloody Run, now Everett.  
His father died when he was but two years old, leaving five children, 
who were all bound out.  He grew up at the home of his grandfather, 
Jacob Chamberlain.  When he was eight years old his grandfather died, 
and he remained with his grandmother until he was sixteen, when he 
started out for himself.  He bound himself for three years to a man 
named Joseph Gates to work at the forge, but left at the end of 
eighteen months, thinking he understood the trade well enough to work 
as a journeyman.  He was in the business in Blair county for nineteen 
years, working for the first four at Franklin Forge.  There, in 1831, 
he married Susan, daughter of Conrad Ginter.  In 1843 he moved with his 
family to Warriors Mark, opened a hotel at the Warriors Mark Exchange, 
and has remained there ever since.  His children are:  Harry, at home 
and aged sixty-three; Elizabeth, widow of Jacob I. Keefer, of Altoona, 
Pa.; Rebecca Jane, widow of Joseph J. Keefer, of Warriors Mark 
township; Daniel; Susan (Mrs. Daniel Fetterhoof), of Spruce Creek; 
Catharine (Mrs. William States), residing in Illinois; Margaret (Mrs. 
George Fetterhoof), of Spruce Creek; James and John, twins, who died 
young; Adeline C. (Mrs. Justice Stahn), of Baltimore, Md.; and Fanny 
(Mrs. David Funk) of Warriors Mark.  Mr. Chamberlain is a firm 
Democrat; he cast his first vote for Andrew Jackson, and has cast a 
vote in every presidential contest since that time.  He is a member of 
the Lutheran church.
  Daniel Chamberlain was educated in the public schools of Warriors 
Mark, to which place his parents removed when he was one year old.  He 
remained at home until 1861; on May 29, 1861, he enlisted for three 
years in Company I, Fifth Pennsylvania Reserve, and went to the front.  
He took part in the battles of Mechanicsville, Cold Harbor, Charles 
City Cross Roads, Gettysburg, Fredericksburg, the Wilderness, 
Spotsylvania, and Bethesda Church.  He was not engaged in the battles 
of South Mountain and Antietam on account of sickness.  At Harrisburg, 
June 11, 1864, he received his discharge and returned home.
  In 1867, Daniel Chamberlain married Miss Elizabeth, daughter of David 
Goodman.  Their children are:  W. Henry, employed by the American 
Telephone and Telegraph Company, of Illinois; John, a plumber and 
gasfitter in Altoona; Blanche E. (Mrs. C. C. Mong), of Warriors Mark; 
and Lottie J., at home.  Ever since his marriage he has resided in 
Warriors Mark doing general work.  In the fall of 1893 he was appointed 
postmaster of Warriors Mark.  Like his father, he is a Democrat, ardent 
and true, and is always found ready to advance the best interests of 
his party.