C. B. Chambers Biography


	This biography is from "Memorial and biographical record; an illustrated
 	compendium of biography, containing a compendium of local biography,
	including biographical sketches of prominent old settlers and 
	representative citizens of South Dakota..." Published by G. A. Ogle & 
	Co., Chicago, 1899. Pages 693-694

	Scan, OCR and editing by Maurice Krueger,mkrueger@iw.net, 1998. 

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C. B. CHAMBERS, a prominent agriculturist and real estate dealer of 
Faulk county, is well known as a pioneer settler of that region. He is 
at present county justice of the peace, and is a man of unswerving 
characteristics, loyal to his fellow men, and his name stands for 
equity and truth. His career has been marked by a spirit of 
progression, and he has gained many friends, and is gathering about him 
a competence to tide him through his earthly career. 

Mr. Chambers was born in Lancaster, Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, 
June 19, 1849. His father, Abraham Chambers, was a native of the same 
county as our subject, and was born December 12, 1819. He was an iron 
smelter by trade, followed farming during the last active years of his 
life, but is now living retired in Iowa. He was a descendant of Abram 
Chambers, who served in the Revolutionary war on the American side, and 
his uncle, General Robert Chambers, was one of the founders of 
Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. The mother of our subject, Ann Mary 
(Atkinson) Chambers, was a native of Pennsylvania, of English ancestry. 
Her father, John Atkinson, was born at Kendall, England, and was the 
son of Robert Atkinson. He came to America when a boy, previous to the 
Revolutionary war. 

Our subject was the second in a family of seven children and was reared 
in Indianapolis, where the family had moved in 1854. His father and 
oldest brother entered the service in the Civil war from Indiana. Our 
subject attended the city schools at Indianapolis, and at the age of 
seventeen years left home and went to Iowa, where he hired' to his 
uncle and remained with him two years. His father then moved to Iowa, 
and our subject went into partnership with him and engaged in farming 
in Greene county until 1883, when our subject went to Dakota and 
squatted on the northwest quarter of section 7, township 120, range 66. 
He later filed a tree claim on that land and filed a homestead claim on 
the southeast quarter of the same section. He erected a shanty, 8 x 10 
feet, on the tree claim, but lived with neighbors across the road. His 
parents went to Dakota in the spring of 1884, and resided on section 
10, township 120, range 67, and our subject established a general store 
and also was postmaster for seven years of the Roanoke postoffice, 
which was located at his store, while the father ran the mail route 
from Roanoke to Northville. 

In 1889 our subject permanently located on the homestead on section 7, 
and continued to do business until 1894, since which time he has 
engaged in farming and has been a dealer in real estate, justice of the 
peace and notary public. When he located in Dakota he had many pioneer 
experiences, among them encountering swollen streams while hauling his 
goods to his farm during the spring of 1884. His crops were hailed out 
in that year and again in 1898, but the crops averaged ten bushels per 
acre. He had two teams and some farming machinery when he started in 
Dakota, and now owns six quarter-sections of land, about five hundred 
acres of which is under plow. He has a complete set of farm buildings 
and raises wheat, cattle and horses. He has thirty four head of stock 
on his farm, including one registered Percheron stallion, named Black 
Diamond. Mr. Chambers has met with success and adversity incident to 
pioneer life in business ventures, and has become one of the 
substantial members of his community. 

Our subject was married, in 1875, to Miss Jennie Hunt, a native of New 
York, and the daughter of Aurin Hunt, a cooper by trade, who spent the 
latter years of his life as a hardware merchant at Rubin, Kansas. Mrs. 
Chambers is a lady of refined tastes and well educated, and was a 
teacher in the state of Iowa. Seven children have been born to Mr. and 
Mrs. Chambers, as follows: George, deceased; Edith, deceased; Bertha, 
now Mrs. McKinney, residing at Mt. Horeb, Wisconsin; Albert; Paul; Io; 
and Herbert. Mr. Chambers is a member of the Ancient Order of United 
Workmen, and was prominent in the organizing of the Faulk County 
Agricultural society, of which he was made one of the directors. He 
also took an active part in the organization of the Faulk County 
Farmers' Mutual Insurance Company, and was its vice-president. He has 
served as county justice of the peace for the past eight years. In 
political faith he has been a silver Republican since the organization 
of that party in 1896. Prior to that he was a Republican, and has 
served his party in several state conventions as a delegate, and has 
taken a prominent part in the movements of the new party. A flag made 
in 1861 is a valuable relic in the family of our subject. It was used 
as a school-house flag in Indiana, and was also used at Lincoln's 
funeral. It is in the possession of our subject and is prized by him as 
commemorative of important events.