Charles A. Chamberlin Biography


	This biography appears on pages 999-1000 in "History of Dakota 
	Territory" by George W. Kingsbury, Vol. V (1915) and was 
	scanned, OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net.

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				CHARLES A. CHAMBERLIN. 

	Charles A. Chamberlin, one of the most extensive landowners, 
farmers and prominent citizens of Moody county, was born in McHenry 
county, Illinois, August 27, 1855, a son of Warner E. and Elizabeth J. 
(Reed) Chamberlin. The father, who was a native of Williamstown, 
Massachusetts, born October 28, 1829, removed to Illinois in 1847 and 
joined the California gold seekers in 1849. He spent two years on the 
Pacific coast, returning to the east ill 18;;1, after which he married 
Elizabeth J. Reed, who was a native of northeastern Ohio. In 1857 the 
family removed to Dodge county, Minnesota, and on the outbreak of the 
Civil war Mr. Chamberlin tendered his services but his physical 
condition rendered him ineligible for service at the front. However, he 
was in the government employ during most of the Civil war and remained 
a most loyal advocate of the Union cause. His death occurred in Dodge 
county, Minnesota, March 14, 1913, while his widow now lives in 
Portland, Oregon. 

	Charles A. Chamberlin was the second in order of birth in their 
family of eight children, five sons and three daughters. He pursued his 
education in the district schools of Dodge county and afterward taught 
school for two years. In 1877 he came to Dakota territory and was among 
the early homesteaders of Moody county, where he also availed himself 
of the tree claim and preemption privileges. To his holding he has 
added until he is the owner of nearly two thousand acres in Moody 
county, including some of the most valuable farm land of South Dakota, 
and in addition he has other real-estate interests in other sections of 
the state. For many years he has been a large breeder of horses, cattle 
and hogs and he was one of the first of the progressive farmers of 
South Dakota to abandon wheat raising in favor of forage crops suitable 
for stock-growing purposes. His breeding and feeding enterprises are 
carried on according to the most scientific methods and splendid 
results reward his efforts. Moreover, he has demonstrated what can be 
accomplished along this line and has set a standard and furnished an 
example which others have profitably followed. He is one of the 
organizers and a stockholder of the Farmers Elevator Company and of the 
Flandreau Creamery Company of Flandreau and thus his business interests 
are of wide extent and importance. 

	On the 14th of December, 1878, Mr. Chamberlin was joined in 
wedlock to Miss Mary Antoinette Coleman, whose birth occurred in Orange 
county, New York, May 18, 1855, her parents being Ferdinand and Phebe 
(Doty) Coleman. They were Wisconsin pioneers and subsequently came to 
reside in Moody county, South Dakota, where the mother, who was born in 
1827, passed away in 1896. Ferdinand Coleman, who was born in 1829, is 
still an honored resident of Moody county, living in the home of our 
subject. Mr. and Mrs. Chamberlin have five children, as follows: Guy 
F., who wedded Miss Nina Rowe, by whom he has two children; Clarence 
W., who married Miss Belle Hook and has one child; Mary A., the wife of 
Hugh Stokes, by whom she has three children; Thomas R., who married 
Miss Hazel Moon; and Davis C., who wedded Hannah Tregloan. 

	A republican in his political views, Mr. Chamberlin has served on 
the school and town boards almost continuously through many years and 
in 1893 was elected to represent his district in the state legislature, 
where he made so creditable a record that in 1895 he was chosen by 
popular suffrage a member of the state senate. He studied closely the 
measures up for enactment by the general assembly and left the impress 
of his individuality upon laws that found place on the statute books of 
the state. He attends and is a liberal supporter of the Methodist 
Episcopal church. He maintains a progressive stand in everything 
relating to the development of the county and commonwealth and is an 
ardent advocate of good public highways and of improved schools. In a 
word, his influence is always on the side of progress, advancement and 
improvement. His success is attributable to industry, good business 
judgment, adoption of efficient methods and an abiding faith in the 
future of South Dakota which has prompted him to invest his surplus in 
lands wherever opportunity has offered, his judgment in this regard 
being amply justified by the fact that aside from the profit of 
operation his investments have paid uniformly ten per cent per annum in 
increasing land values. Mr. Chamberlin may justly be accounted one of 
Moody county's most stable, highly respected and prosperous citizens.