Nathan Chamberlain

Background

Nathan Henry Chamberlain was born on December 28, 1828 in Sandwich ( now called Bourne), Massachussets, United States. He was the son of Artemas White and Lydia Smith (Ellis) Chamberlain. Chamberlain's early life was one continual struggle with poverty. His father was the keeper of the poor-house in Sandwich and later became a policeman in Cambridge, whither the family moved during Nathan's school-days. By mowing lawns, shoveling dirt, and snaring rabbits, the boy earned money for his needs while in Hopkins Classical School.

Education

During his college days at Harvard he taught days and studied nights in bed, being too poor to maintain a fire. He graduated from Harvard in the class of 1853 and completed his professional studies at Harvard Divinity School and at the University of Heidelberg.

Career

Ordained to the Unitarian ministry, April 22, 1857, at Canton, Massachussets, he served Unitarian churches there and in Baltimore. His convictions then led him into the Episcopal church and he was ordained priest at Middletown, Connecticut, in 1864. In 1889 he resigned from the ministry, became a teacher of elocution, and devoted much of his time to writing. He was a master in the use of the English language, lucid, direct, and graphic. His range of interests and study was broad and his themes were varied. Though keenly critical of Puritanism as a system of applied religion, he was liberal enough to see the elements of its power in the nation's life and paid a tribute to the same in Samuel Sewall and the World He Lived In (1897). A picture of life in the Pilgrim colony toned and colored by the sea is given in The Autobiography of a New England Farm House (1864) in which he analyzed the Tory mind and enunciated a philosophy of sorrow. During his last few years his health was seriously impaired, and he lived in retirement on Cape Cod until his death.

Achievements

For twenty-five years he served as an Episcopalian rector in Birmingham (now Derby), Connecticut; Morrisania; Milwaukee; Somerville and East Boston, Massachussets.

Works

The autobiography of a New England farm-house. A book. By N.H. C The autobiography of a New England farm-house. A book. By N.H. C

book
- The autobiography of a New England farm-house. A book. By N.H. C
  (This book, "The autobiography of a New England farm-house...)

Views

He protested against protection as "anti-American, anti-republican, aristocratic and the tool of tyranny, " and demanded economic as well as political freedom.

Connections

He was married twice: first, on February 19, 1855, to Hannah Simonds Tewkesbury; and, second, on April 6, 1869, to Mariette Cleveland Hyde.

Father:: Artemas White Chamberlain
Mother:: Lydia Smith (Ellis) Chamberlain
Spouse:: Hannah Simonds Tewkesbury
Spouse:: Mariette Cleveland Hyde

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The autobiography of a New England farm-house. A book. By N.H. C

Nathan Henry Chamberlain

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