West Brookfield, MA
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Rev. Joshua Metcalf Chamberlain
Male 1825 - 1897

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  • Title  Rev. 
    Birth  2 Oct 1825  Brookfield, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA Find all individuals with events at this location  [1, 2
    Gender  Male 
    Birth  2 Oct 1825  West Brookfield, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA Find all individuals with events at this location  [3
    Graduation  1855  [2
    Dartmouth College 
    Graduation  1858  [2
    Andover Theological Seminary 
    Census  1860  Polk, Iowa Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Occupation  1865 
    Congregational Clergyman, DesMoines, Monroe, Iowa 
    Census  1870  Grinnell, Poweshiek, Iowa Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Occupation  1870 
    Congregational Clergyman 
    Census  1880  Grinnell, Poweshiek, Iowa Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Occupation  1880 
    Minister and Treasurer, Iowa College 
    Census  1885  Grinnell, Poweshiek, Iowa Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Census  1895  Grinnell, Poweshiek, Iowa Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Death  11 Nov 1897  [4
    Died  12 Nov 1897  Grinnell, Poweshiek, Iowa Find all individuals with events at this location  [5
    Buried  Hazelwood Cemetery, Grinnell, Iowa Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Person ID  I4883  West Brookfield Families
    Last Modified  11 Mar 2024 
     
    Father  Eli Chamberlain,   b. 4 Oct 1789, Westborough, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 10 Mar 1858, West Brookfield, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Mother  Achsah Forbes,   b. 22 Jun 1794, Westboro, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 16 Sep 1880, West Brookfield, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Married  30 Nov 1815  Westboro, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Family ID  F2226  Group Sheet
     
    Family 1  Ella Fay,   b. 1 Apr 1845, New York, USA Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 30 Mar 1878 
    Married  20 Nov 1867  [2
    Notes 
    • There is a marriage record in Muscatine County, Iowa for J. M. Chamberlain and Ella Fay on Nov. 20, 1867. No further information is given.
    Children 
     1. Mary Chamberlain,   b. 28 Sep 1869, Eddyville, Iowa Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. Aft 1937
     2. Olia Chamberlain,   b. 1870, Iowa Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 5 Feb 1871
     3. Bessie Chamberlain,   b. 1 Apr 1872,   d. 3 Apr 1872
     4. Ethel Chamberlain,   b. 9 Aug 1873,   d. 7 Nov 1875
    Family ID  F2243  Group Sheet
     
    Family 2  Eliza A. Herrick,   b. 1 Dec 1825, Vermont Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 1922 
    Married  20 Jul 1881  [2
    Notes 
    • A marriage record is on file in Iowa for a J. M. Chamberlain and Eliza a Dike on July 21, 1880. [familysearch.org]
    Family ID  F2244  Group Sheet
     
  • Notes 
    • Joshua Chamberlain was a Congregational minister who worked in Dubuque, Des Moines, and Eddyville, Iowa. He did Christian Commission work and served the American Missionary Association as state agent. He was mostly identified with Iowa College in Grinnell, Iowa where he served for thirty-six years as trustee, nearly twenty years as treasurer and financial agent, and six years as librarian. He generously donated thousands to the college. A women's dormitory was built on the property where the Chamberlain home once stood. This land was also a gift to the college.

      He was at different times editor of the Grinnell Herald, the Grinnell Independent and Congregational Iowa. He also contributed to various periodicals.

      Sources:The pilgrims of Iowa; by Truman O. Douglass, Pilgrim Press, Boston, MA

      Annual reports of the Department of the Interior for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1898. Report of the Commissioner of Education. Volume 2. Containing Parts II and III.
      Date: 1899-01-01; Publication: Serial Set Vol. No. 3767, Session Vol. No.25; Report: H.Doc. 5 pt. 5.2 & 5.3;
     
  • Sources 
    1. [S1693] Vital Records of Brookfield, Massachusetts, to the end of the year 1849, p. 59.
      Joshua Medcalf, s. Eli and Achsah, Oct. 2, 1825.

    2. [S873] Forbes and Forbush Genealogy: The Descendants of Daniel Forbush, who Came from Scotland about the Year 1655 and Settled in Marlborough, Mass., in 1675, 1892, Accessed 27 July 2016; p.50.
      Achsah Forbes and her descendant information pp. 48-51

    3. [S439] Annual reports of the Department of the Interior for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1898. Report of the Commissioner of Education. Volume 2. Containin, (Name: 1/1/1899;), p. 2584 - Necrology.
      Education Report 1897-98
      Chamberlain, Joshua M. in Grinell, Iowa Nov. 12; b. in West Brookfield, Mass Oct. 2, 1825; fitted at Thetford, Vt Academy; graduated at Dartmouth College 1855 and Andover Theological Seminary in 1858.

    4. [S1621] The Pilgrims of Iowa, Truman O. Douglass, (Name: Boston :: Pilgrim Press,, 1911, 454 pgs;), p.22.

    5. [S1016] Iowa Cemetery Records, Ancestry.com, (Name: Provo, UT: Ancestry.com, 2000;).
      d. 11/12/1897