Will County IL Archives Biographies.....Chamberlain, Sempronius S 1817 - 
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Deb Haines ddhaines@gmail.com May 9, 2007, 9:32 pm

Author: Portrait & Bio Album, 1890

SEMPRONIUS S. CHAMBERLAIN, undertaker and senior member of the firm of S. S. 
Chamberlain & Sons, of Joliet and Lockport, was born in Henrietta, Monroe 
County, N. Y., August 19, 1817. He is the son of Luther C. Chamberlain who 
kept the old fashioned tavern in that rural village known as the Henrietta 
House. It was located in the midst of some of the finest farming lands of the 
famous Genesee Valley, as was also the old time Monroe Academy, which the boy 
entered at an early age and in which he received his rudimentary instruction. 
At the age of fifteen years he was taken by his father from that thriving 
neighborhood to the State of Illinois, the start being made in January, 1833, 
and this being before the days of railroading the boy rode the entire distance 
on an Indian pony. Reaching Chicago, then only an Indian station and trading 
post, they tarried a few days and then continued their journey southward 
thirty miles, to one mile and a half east of Lockport, where they located in 
Lockport and Homer Townships. The father made a claim on Government land and 
improved a farm on which he lived four years, thence removing to Peoria County 
in 1837. The young man entered Jubilee College, Peoria, from which in due 
course of time he was graduated with academic acquirements. He returned to 
Lockport in 1844 and began as an architect and builder, taking contracts for 
the erection of warehouses and other edifices. To him was committed the 
erection of the large warehouse of Messrs. Norton & Co., of Lockport, whose 
business has grown to enormous proportions, their flouring mills being well 
known as among the most extensive in the country. Four years after his 
arrival, put up a store for himself and embarked in his present business. 
During the fatal cholera season of 1854, which lasted for about thirty days, 
he worked men night and day making coffins, which was done wholly by hand at 
that time. The call was absolute, and only by putting in every hour of the 
twenty-four could the demand be supplied. In that perilous period, Mr. 
Chamberlain went personally to nearly every house where death occurred, 
sometimes as many as eight a day in a village of twenty-five hundred 
inhabitants. The coffins were made of walnut or whitewood, with walnut flat 
tops, and lined and trimmed inside with book-muslin headings. In 1873, Mr. 
Chamberlain started an establishment in Joliet, first occupying a frame 
building of his own erection on Chicago Street, but subsequently moving into 
the fine store, No. 119, (Warner Block) opposite his former site. These 
premises are expressly fitted for the business and have a depth of ninety 
feet, with a front of plate glass. The commodious office is entered directly 
from the street, being separated from the store room by a partition of walnut 
and ash panels with a glass top. The office, without any attempt at display, 
has an air of refinement and good taste. In the inner room is an elegant 
cabinet of ten samples of work, either of which can be brought to view in a 
moment by lowering a hinged panel. Beyond this room is one opening on the 
alley, which is devoted to receiving, trimming etc. The establishment is 
connected by telephone with the other establishment at Lockport, a distance of 
five miles, with the dwelling at No. 617 Clinton Street, and with the Joliet 
Telephone Exchange. Mr. Chamberlain is a man of advanced ideas and has 
exhibited throughout his long business career a remarkable degree of energy 
and tact. Although his location is near Chicago, he always carries a large 
stock of goods; he is a judicious buyer and as his trade is mostly among the 
more prosperous people of Joliet and vicinity his stock is largely composed of 
the finer grades of cloth and metallic trimmings. It is doubtful if there is a 
funeral director in the country who takes more pride in his stable or more 
pains to keep his valuable horses in good trim. He owns two spans which rank 
among the best in Northern Illinois. One is a pair of dark bays with heavy 
manes and tails; the other, a pair of Morgan Blackhawks, recently brought by 
him from Lexington, Ky. Being a lover of the equine race, Mr. Chamberlain 
becomes peculiarly attached to the steeds that have done him service. As an 
illustration of this, he has in pasture a team that had worked for a little 
over ten years and are yet in good condition. He refuses to sell them, 
saying, "They will be cared for by me through the rest of their lives." Four 
of the hearses used by our subject were built for him by Messrs. Crane, Breed 
& Co. of Cincinnati, two purchased by Merts & Ridle of Ravenna, Ohio; one 
white hearse built by Cunningham, of Rochester, N. Y. Mr. Chamberlain never 
takes part in politics but has frequently had public office tendered him. He 
invariably declines, having always felt that his most important duty was to 
attend strictly to his legitimate business. To do justice to our subject we 
ought to devote some time to his high personal character, but must content 
ourselves with a remark from the Joliet Sun:—"No man is better known or 
regarded with higher esteem in this vicinity than S. S. Chamberlain, a 
gentleman of sterling integrity. We have known him for forty years and know 
whereof we speak." With Miss Elizabeth S. Gray, of Homer, this county, Mr. 
Chamberlain was united in marriage January 19, 1842. The bride was a daughter 
of Alfred and a sister of Capt. George M. Gray, of the Pullman Palace Car 
Line. She was born in the Empire State but came to Illinois at an early day. 
For nearly half a century she shared in her husband's joys and sorrows, ever 
devoted to his comfort and the welfare of the children whom she had borne. She 
entered into rest April 9, 1889, mourned by many friends whose sympathy is 
with the family in their sore bereavement. She was a member of the 
Congregational Church. The union was blessed by the birth of two sons only. 
George N. is one of the firm and resides in Joliet; Charles G. is in charge of 
the Lockport branch of the business. The father of our subject was born in 
Columbia County, N. Y., in 1789, and took part in the War of 1812. After its 
conclusion he married Miss Thankful Talmage of Litchfield, Conn., and settled 
in Monroe County, N. Y. For a time he engaged in farming, subsequently 
embarking as a hotel keeper, a business that he followed fifteen years. He was 
a prominent man in his location, especially in educational affairs, being a 
Trustee and Director in the Monroe Academy and helping to build up the early 
schools of Western New York. He was Postmaster of Henrietta for many years. 
Upon coming to Illinois as mentioned above, he bought extensively, and built 
the first frame house in his section of country, neither in Joliet, nor 
Lockport, any other than log houses being then standing. After leaving 
Lockport he spent seven years in Peoria, thence going to Milton, Wayne County, 
Ind., where he engaged in the grain and warehouse business. There he remained 
until his death in 1878; the mother had breathed her last in 1852. Luther C. 
Chamberlain was a member of the Episcopal Church. He was the father of three 
children—Lewis L., of this county; S. S.; and Ellen M., wife of Norton Davis 
of Monroe County, N. Y., who died February 9, 1890.

Additional Comments:
Portrait and Biographical Album of Will County, Illinois, Containing Full Page 
Portraits and Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens 
of the County; Chicago: Chapman Bros., 1890 

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