Henry Chamberlain was my 3rd great grandfather, and the only thing written about him in addition to a few civil records are his two obituaries - not an uncommon occurrence at a time when there were multiple competing papers, some issued in the morning and some after supper. Even less is written about his wife Elizabeth, her obit a mere two lines notifying the locality of her demise. Their 3rd son Lyman T Chamberlain has a little improved paper trail, as he was divorced (his second) in Arkansas and I can say from his World War I Draft Registration that he was a blue-eyed blonde man approaching middle aged, he referred to himself as "stout" and he had a "left hand badly crippled." Not knowing if he was right-handed, or if this was a congenital issue or the result of a horrific injury, there is no way to elaborate on how this affected his life.
Lyman's son, Henry Chamberlain II, shows off from his moniker that Lyman (and perhaps his first wife) revered or at least had some respect for his father, who was alive and well at the time. When Henry was born, his father was a teacher and his mother Mary, who was called May, and Aunt Viola Chamberlain were the women of the house at 146 Elm Street, Mound City, Illinois.
By July of 1906, the family is living in St Louis, Missouri, when this unfortunate incident was reported by the city paper:
Henry was actually older that Minnie, and their older sister Lillian, who may have been at home, is not named in this report. Also, the children's mother was in fact very much alive, but as the children seem to have been residing with their uncle, and Lyman was then nearby, I can only guess as to May's whereabouts.
The following year, a terrible accident befell Henry. The article portrays him as a bit older than he was at the time, it also speculates regarding his imminent demise, which thankfully did not come to pass.
Just a few short months after the above accident, an inquest is held in the death of Uncle William Allen's young wife, although what the conclusion of the investigation was, is unknown. The article does reveal that the Allen and Chamberlain families were living in the same block of Washington Street during those few years. In 1910 Henry is living with his father and new stepmother in northeast Arkansas. His sisters may have been with their mother, but this is not known. At any rate, Henry may have been left to his own devices, as the below article indicates. The identity of D.W. Chamberlain is a mystery, as there is no known relative with those initials.
The very next indication of Henry, he is back in Mound City, and he identifies himself as a carpenter by profession, but his registration for the draft is filled out with his current residence noted as "In Jail." He is 18 years old, has blue eyes like his father, and records Dad as his next of kin, also in Mound City. I do wonder if Lyman was residing in the same jail.
Further digging revealed that Henry Chamberlain had already been "home" in Illinois for at least two years. In the spring of 1916 he'd married Miss Georgia Garnett, and they had a son who must have been stillborn or only lived a few hours. The marriage must not have survived (or possibly the mother died as well), since Henry marries again in the spring of 1919 to Edith Margaret Shoat. The couple are living in Kankakee County in northern Illinois, but this marriage too is short-lived.
Henry is not found in the 1920 or 1930 Census (yet) but in January 1931 he marries Eva Theresa Eckenrod, 11 years his senior, in Ohio. Two and a half years later, she died of tuberculosis in Detroit, Michigan. In 1933 he has returned to St Louis and is busy meeting and marrying Clara "Smiles" Shinn (October 1934), who was also a many-times-married and divorced lady. Eva and Clara were both the parents of infant daughter by prior marriages, each baby lived only a few days, so it leaves open the question of whether Henry bonded with them over their shared experience.
Both the chosen city and this fourth (for both of them) marriage seems to have suited both parties, and they are still together throughout the 1940 Census and WWII. Mysteriously, sometime around the time of their marriage, Henry begins to be recorded periodically as "Harry Hamilton" or "Harry Hamilton Chamberlain." His middle name as recorded on previous documents and in his later death certificate is "Tilden," the same as his father's.
On June 11, 1945, Mary Chamberlain (now the wife of John Van Eenoo) died of breast cancer in St. Louis. Her obituary lists her three children from her first marriage. Not long after in February 1947, Lyman Chamberlain died. Henry was the informant on the death certificate and reported that his father was the widower of Mary Chamberlain! Lyman too is "remembered fondly by his three children and grandchildren."
Clara died in November 1960 of a fatal heart attack. She was buried in Memorial Park Cemetery in that city. They had been together nearly 30 years.
Henry died in June 1963 in St Louis after suffering from kidney cancer. Most of the fields in his death certificate were left as unknown. and his death certificate indicates that he was buried at Oakdale Cemetery, although Find a Grave notes he is at Memorial Park like his wife AND in Oakdale.
Perhaps this gentleman (first cousin to my Gramps Clyde) was a troublemaker in his youth and reformed in his 30s. I'd sure like to know where he was from age 21 to 31!
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