Genealogy and Family History Notes
About Philonzo Chamberlain
- Information on the Descendants of Philonzo and Cynthia (Wilson) Chamberlain, from Donald and Alma Avery
- On-Going Research on Philonzo Chamberlain's Parents and Ancestors
Much of the initial information on Philonzo and Cynthia (Wilson) Chamberlain and their descendants comes from Alta Pearl (Baker) Eggert, a 2nd great-granddaughter of Cynthia and Philonzo (a 4th great-granddaughter of Alexander and Jane (Armour) Wilson). Alta received notes on the Chamberlain family from Donald and Alma, whose last name was not contained in the letters. From further research, it has been learned that this couple is Donald W and Alma J Avery. Donald is the son of Eunice Oral (Chamberlain) Avery, and a 2nd-great-grandson of Philonzo and Cynthia (Wilson) Chamberlain. The notes begin:
"Philo Chamberlain, b. 26 May 1804 (1798?), Onandago Co. N.Y. His father drowned in and his body was never recovered from one of the Finger Lakes in N.Y. State. He was raised by his wife's parents [Alexander Wilson Jr and Eunice Charlotte (Seeley) Wilson]. His mother later married a man named Hunt. Chamberlains were English, coming to America between 1621-1640 by way of N.Y. City, up the Hudson to Saratoga Co. and thence on to Niagara Co. where they were pioneers. Philo married 6 Oct. 1825, Cynthia Wilson. They moved to Lenawee Co., Mich in 1836 or 37. Cynthia died 25 Dec 1885 and Phil 7 Dec 1894. They are buried in Woodmere Cemetery, Detroit. They had 8 children:
- Rosilla b. 30 Jul 1826; d. 17 Jan 1903; m. William P. Bivvins
- William Alfred b. 18 Jul 1828; d. 17 Mar 1901; m. Eunice Marie Burch
- Francis J. (Frank) b. ; d. ; m. 1st ____ Kirby, 2nd _____ Kirby
- Susan E. b. 15 Apr 1835(36); d. 3 Jan 1883; m. Sheffield? Wood
- Augustus W. b. in 1837; d. in 1924; m. Sarah _____
- Marvin W. b. ; d. ; m. Nellie _____
- Lewis b. ; d. ; m. Fanny Mead
- Alvinza b. ; d. ; m 1st Ella _____, 2nd Belle Kirby."
Several Wilson and Chamberlain lines have the preserved family tradition about the early death of Philonzo Chamberlain's father. Unfortunately, none have preserved his father's name.
What We Think We Know: The sketchy details that have been preserved, and may or may not be accurate, are that Philonzo's father drowned in one of the Finger Lakes in USA, NY, and his body was never recovered. Philonzo's mother was still living and may have later married a gentleman by the name of Hunt, or her maiden name might have been Hunt. Philonzo, who was apparently too young to be on his own, may have gone to live with Alexander Wilson Jr and his wife, Eunice Charlotte (Seeley) Wilson. Or, he might have been raised by relatives of either his father or mother. In any event, he was in Saratoga County, NY, where he met Alexander and Eunice (Seeley) Wilson and their family. Philonzo married Alexander and Eunice's eldest daughter, Cynthia, and the rest is history - our history.
Great-Grandfather in the Revolutionary War and Battle of Bunker Hill: In addition to attempting the normal means of tracing Philonzo's ancestry, we attempted to follow possible leads found in other preserved information. The History of Detroit, at pages 1049-50, contains a write-up about Philonzo's youngest son, Marvin Howard "MH" Chamberlain, who, at one time, was the Mayor of the City of Detroit, USA, MI, Wayne County. This article indicated that MH's great-grandfather was in the Battle of Bunker Hill during the Revolutionary War, and that the gun this great-grandfather used in the battle was in the possession of the Chamberlain family. With assistance from the World Chamberlain Genealogical Society, which had previously identified the four Chamberlains who fought in that battle, all of those individuals were eliminated as MH's possible great-grandfather. It now appears most likely that MH's great-grandfather who fought in the Revolutionary War was in fact Stephen Seeley, father of Eunice Charlotte (Seeley) Wilson, who married Alexander Wilson Jr. Stephen is known to have been a Revolutionary War soldier (although he later became a Quaker), and his wife, Ruth (Odell) Seeley, lived with Cynthia and Philonzo in her later years. Ruth died at their home in USA, MI, and would most likely have had her cherished possessions with her there.
Alvinzie Hunt: We are still looking into what we hope might turn out to be a clue that has been hiding in plain sight. Philonzo and Cynthia named their seventh child Alvinzie Hunt Chamberlain. Starting with the thought that Hunt was supposed to be the name of the man Philonzo's mother married after the death of his father, or, perhaps, was his mother's maiden name, we found very quickly that there was an Alvinzie Hunt born in USA, NY, Onondaga, Marcellus (the same county in which Philonzo was supposedly born), on 14 Nov 1809. His parents are given as John and Parley (Polly?) Hunt. Alvinzie Hunt and his family moved to USA, MI, Jackson County, in 1835, where he died on 12 Oct 1884. Is it possible that Alvinzie Hunt is the half-brother or perhaps first-cousin of Philonzo Chamberlain? And, if so, can we identify Philonzo's parents through this information? To date, this avenue of research has not yet been fruitful.
Chamberlain, Wilson & Hunt: We reviewed a document entitled Chamberlain, Wilson & Hunt, a genealogical report completed in 1901 for MH Chamberlain. This report states that Philonzo's line is: (Gen 6) Joseph Chamberlain and Susan Hunt; (Gen 5) Col. Colby Chamberlain and Margaret Hardenburgh; (Gen 4) Joseph Chamberlain and Mary Colby; (Gen 3) Joseph Chamberlain and Mercey Dickinson; (Gen 2) Thomas Chamberlain and Mary Parker; (Gen 1 - Immigrant ancestor) Henry Chamberlain and Elizabeth Clement. Not knowing the Chamberlain genealogy, we attempted to concentrate on the Wilson side of the report. However, it turned out that there was no Wilson side. Although the report contains the written document from which many Wilson family genealogies began, the report writer completely ignored this document, which clearly states that Philonzo's wife was Cynthia Wilson. Instead, the report identifies Philonzo's wife and MH's mother as a woman named Susanna Howard, with no further information. The report also states that Philonzo and Susanna had four children, when, in fact, Philonzo and Cynthia had eight children.
The Chamberlain Society reviewed this report from the Chamberlain side. The Society members who have devoted much time to researching the various immigrant Chamberlains and their descendants, emphatically stated that Joseph Chamberlain, Philonzo's father according to the report, was not the son of Col. Colby Chamberlain and Margaret Hardenburgh, for two reasons: (1) Margaret Hardenburgh was not the wife of Col. Colby Chamberlain, as asserted in the report; and (2) there is no record of any Joseph Chamberlain, son of Col. Colby Chamberlain or otherwise, who fits the description in the report.
One possible conclusion from all this is that the report writer had no more luck than Philonzo's later descendants at determining Philonzo's parents, but, for whatever reason, concluded that his wealthy and influential client needed to be given something.
Conclusive DNA Evidence: However, the exciting news is that we now have DNA evidence showing Philonzo's immigrant ancestor. With the assistance of a direct male line descendant of Philonzo (i.e., a male descendant who still has the surname Chamberlain) who did a DNA test, we now know conclusively that Philonzo is a descendant of the immigrant Richard Chamberlin, who was in Braintree, MA, by at least 1642. Richard later moved to Roxbury and Sudbury, MA. Based on the closeness of Philonzo's descendant's DNA to that of several male Chamberlains who know their Chamberlain lines, we can make reasonable guesses about the first few generations of Philonzo's line. However, the remaining problem is that there is no record of a Philonzo Chamberlain. In fact, Philonzo may have been his middle name, or even a name he chose for himself. And, so far, there is not even good speculation concerning the later generations in his line, including his parents.
We are looking for additional direct male line descendants of Philonzo and Cynthia (Wilson) Chamberlain who are willing to do a DNA test. In order to be helpful, these individuals need to be at least third cousins of the descendant who has already done the test.
If anyone has additional information, is interested in helping with this research, or is a direct male line descendant who is willing to do a DNA test, please let us know.