JAMES CHAMBERLIN

Main Cemetery -- Area C
Lot 44 -- Eastside

James Roswell Chamberlin was once shot in the buttocks and after that he was always seen standing in photographs because it hurt to sit!

His listing in the directory of the Grand Army of the Republic reported that James was born in Troy, New York, on September 19, 1825. However, the 1900 US Census for Rochester NY stated that James was born in October of 1824 and that he was a graduate of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

At the age of 24, James married Jane Bellows in Pittsford on December 6, 1849. The couple moved to Rochester in the fall of 1850. James and Jane had a little baby girl in 1854 and they named her Jennie. The 1870 US Census for Rochester reported that the family lived in the 32nd Ward in the City of Rochester.

Before James enlisted, he was a coal dealer. The 1890 Veterans' Schedule states that he enlisted on August 31, 1861, in the US Army 3rd NY Cavalry as a Private. The Daily Union and Advertiser issue from Friday Evening, January 30, 1863, reported that even though James held many ranks, his highest promotion was to that of Captain on June 1, 1863. James was mustered out, as a commissioned officer, on August 31,1864. The 3rd N.Y. Cavalry participated in over 100 battles while Chamberlin was serving. Most of them took place in North Carolina.

According to the Chamberlin Rubber Company Centennial, James opened Chamberlin Rubber Goods in 1866. An early location of his rubber store was 13 Buffalo Street, now West Main Street, in downtown Rochester. A newspaper advertisement in The Rochester Daily Union and Advertiser from Saturday evening, November 3, 1866, states that the store sold hoses, belts, boots, and shoes. They also sold all kinds of clothing, piano covers, notions, fancy rubber goods, stationary, drugs, and jewelry.

Jane Chamberlin's obituary stated that she died September 15, 1904, at age 73 of an illness. From the 1910 N.Y. Death Index we found out that Mr. James R. Chamberlin died on January 29, 1910, in Rochester, New York at age 84.

James served in the military and helped America, but he also came back from the war and helped his community by offering two things when he opened his store. First, he offered jobs to the public and second, he was selling supplies that people could use for bad weather. In fact, the whole reason James started his business was because he saw soldiers in the war suffering from the weather and had ideas about how to help. Captain Chamberlin was a leader, both in the army and in his community.