Drawing of Moses Chamberlin from his Obituary

Drawing of Moses Chamberlin from his Obituary

Moses Chamberlin is my husband’s second great-grandfather. The youngest son of Colonel William and Mary Ann (Kemble) Chamberlin, he was born in Union County, Pennsylvania, November 8, 1812, and died in Milton, July 29, 1902.

Birth

Moses was born in Union County, PA, on November 8, 1812.

Marriage

He married (first) January 15, 1835, Mary Ann Correy, born September 11, 1818, died August 13, 1838, daughter of George and Susan (Evans) Correy. Moses Chamberlin married (second) September 15, 1840, Jane Hannah (or Hammond) Watson Montgomery, a widow who survived him.

Children

Moses had eight children. Five lived to adulthood; three died as infants or young children.

With Mary Ann Correy

  1. Elizabeth Chamberlin, born April 1, 1836, in Northumberland County, PA. Elizabeth married William Henry Follmer of Watsontown on October 7, 1856. He died there on July 17, 1866, from accidental drowning while swimming his horse in the canal near his mill. Elizabeth and William had four children: two sons and two daughters. She died on June 20, 1902.
  2. Margaret (or Mary) Chamberlin, born May 22, 1838; died August 22, 1838, only three months old.

With Jane Hanna Watson Montgomery

Jane and Moses had six children.

  1. William B. Chamberlin, born December 19, 1841; died June 8, 1918. William married Margaret Strawbridge Sanderson Lawson.
  2. Harriet Chamberlin, born September 4, 1843; died January 24, 1849, at the age of six.
  3. Caroline W. Chamberlin, born May 24, 1845; died April 1936. She married Austin Owen Furst on December 17, 1878, and continues our family line.
  4. James Irvin Chamberlin, born November 13, 1847; died June 1, 1906; buried in Carlisle, PA. James married (1) Eliza Haldeman and had one child, Marie Chamberlin, who married Robert Moffett. James married (2) Jean Bosler and had one child, Jean Chamberlin, who married William H. Neely. Jean and William had three children: James Chamberlain Neely, Jean Chamberlain Neely, and Stuart McAlistar Neely.
  5. Mary Jane Chamberlin, born May 27, 1850; died July 26, 1850, only two months old.
  6. Frank Chamberlin, born July 1, 1853; died October 31, 1910.

Documents for Children of Jane and Moses

Occupation

From my Chamberlin papers:

He was a prominent lumberman and mill owner of West Branch Valley, operating mills at Watsontown and Northumberland, built primarily for cutting heavy timber used in the construction of railroad bridges and all other work where strong reinforcement was necessary. In 1856, in connection with his son-in-law William Henry Follmer, he built what was later known as Bill Mill, an important industrial enterprise, as at this time there was extensive railroad and trestle work construction taking place in that vicinity and a large part of the output of the mill was used in this work.

Residence

1850

1850 US Census PA Northumberland, Milton, for Moses Chamberlin

1850 US Census PA Northumberland, Milton, for Moses Chamberlin

1870

1870 US Census PA Northumberland, Turbot Township, for Moses Chamberlin

1870 US Census PA Northumberland, Turbot Township, for Moses Chamberlin

Death

Moses died on July 29, 1902, in Milton, PA. His obituary appeared in the Milton Standard on 7/29/1902. Below is a transcription of the obituary and further down you will find a scan of the newspaper.

Moses Chamberlin
Death of One of Milton’s Oldest and Most Revered Citizens
He Was A Grand Old Man.
His Death From Heart Failure Occurred at Half-Past Eight O’clock This Morning–A Remarkable Family History–Funeral on Thursday Afternoon at Four O’clock.

Moses Chamberlin, one of Milton’s oldest and most honored and respected citizens, died at his home on N’th Front street, this morning at half past eight o’clock, in the 90th year of his age. On Sabbath evening he had an attack of heart failure, but yesterday he appeared to rally again. During last night he began to sink and the end came at the hour indicated. His funeral will take place from his late residence on Thursday afternoon at four o’clock.

Mr. Chamberlin had a remarkable family history. He was born in Union county November 8, 1812, and has been a resident of Milton for seventy years. He was a son of Colonel William Chamberlin of Revolutionary fame, and was the youngest of twenty-three children. His ancestors were French Huguenots. His great grandfather left France about 1665 and settled in London. After the great fire in 1666, the family removed to Ireland and about the beginning of the next century his grandfather with two other brothers came to this country and located in Hunterdon county, New Jersey, where William Chamberlin the father of the subject of this sketch, was born on September 25, 1786. During the Revolutionary War Colonel Chamberlin distinguished himself for his bravery and courage and his loyalty to the cause of independence. He commanded the Second New Jersey Regiment at the Battle of Germantown in October, 1777, and his oldest son Lewis, a half brother to the deceased, was killed in that engagement. Mr. Chamberlin has for many years enjoyed the distinction of being the only man living who had a brother killed in the Revolutionary war.

In 1791 Colonel Chamberlin moved from New Jersey to the “western country,” buying a large tract of land in the Buffalo valley in Union county, where he lived until his death in 1817. Here Moses Chamberlin was born, during the second war with England and while the great Napoleon was making and unmaking empires in Europe. At the age of twenty he went to Lewisburg and served an apprenticeship of three years at the tanner’s trade. He came to Milton in 1833 and engaged in the mercantile business and in 1835 was married to Miss Mary A. Correy, daughter of George Correy, of Milton. Mrs. Chamberlin died in 1838, leaving one child, a daughter, who was afterwards Mrs. Elizabeth Follmer, and whose death occurred at Watsontown a few weeks ago. In 1840 Mr. Chamberlin married Jane H. Montgomery, daughter of John Watson, of Watsontown, by whom he had six children, four of whom survive him, William B. and Frank, of this place; James I., of Harrisburg, and Mrs. A.O. Furst, of Bellefonte. Mr. Chamberlin was actively engaged in business, milling and lumbering, until 1874 when he retired.

Moses Chamberlin was a remarkable man. Although a delicate boy, when he grew to manhood he possessed a wonderfully strong and robust physique. He had an unerring memory, was a close observer and a great reader. In spite of his four score and ten years his mind was as clear as the average man of forty. He was a most entertaining conversationalist and his fund of reminiscences and his view of public men and on public questions that belong to the nation’s history during the first half of the last century, were most interesting. He was an independent thinker and always had an opinion that was based upon his own views and convictions. He was a life-long member of the Methodist church and a liberal contributor to the church and benevolence. His last gifts to his church were the cushions for the seats in the auditorium, and the new bell.

The death of this grand old man removes another link that binds the present with several generations of the past. The vast scope of this long life is brought to mind, when we recall that he has lived contemporaneous with twenty-one of the twenty-five presidents of our country and that for seventy years he has been an observing voter.

Moses Chamberlin Obituary

Moses Chamberlin Obituary