Jacob P. Chamberlain


Jacob Payson Chamberlain was a United States [House of Representatives|U.S. representative] from New York during the American Civil War.

Life and career

Jacob P. Chamberlain was born in Dudley, Massachusetts on August 1, 1802. His family moved to western New York in 1807. He was educated there and became a school teacher and farmer and served as Varick's Town Clerk before settling in Seneca Falls, New York, where he began a business career.
Chamberlain owned and operated farms, flour mills, malthouses, distilleries and woolen mills, and was one of the original organizers of the first bank in Seneca Falls.
Originally a Bucktail Democrat, he later became a Whig, and joined the Republican Party when it was founded in the mid-1850s. He served in several local offices, including school board member and village president.
Chamberlain was an active supporter of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
In 1848 he attended the Seneca Falls Convention and was one of the signers of the Declaration of Sentiments which called for equal rights for women.
He was a member of the New York State Assembly in 82nd [New York State Legislature|1859].
Chamberlain was elected as a Republican to the 37th [United States Congress|Thirty-seventh] Congress. He was not a candidate for renomination and returned to his business and farming interests.

Death and burial

He died in Seneca Falls, New York, October 5, 1878 and was interred in Restvale Cemetery.

Family

Chamberlain had an uncle named Jacob Chamberlain, and a cousin, Jacob M. Chamberlain. They lived in the same area, and they are sometimes confused with each other in records and documents.

External resources

  • Retrieved on 2009-5-12
Category:1802 births
Category:1878 deaths
Category:People from Dudley, Massachusetts
Category:People from Seneca Falls, New York
Category:New York (state) Democratic-Republicans
Category:New York (state) Whigs
Category:Members of the New York State Assembly
Category:People of New York (state) in [the American Civil War]
Category:Republican Party [United States representatives from New York (state)]
Category:19th-century members of the New York State Legislature
Category:19th-century United States representatives