Representative women of New England/Harriet A. Chamberlin
HARRIET AMANDA CHAMBERLIN, a Past President of Willard C. Kinsley Woman's Relief Corps, No. 21, of Somerville, Mass., was born in Freeman, Me., October 9, 1837, daughter of Bartholomew and Mary (Tarr) Clayton. Her parents were from Farmingtun, Me. Her paternal grandfather, John Clayton, a native of Manchester, England, came to America as a soldier in the British army, and .served under General Burgoyne in 1777. He received his discharge in September, 1783, and not long after settled in Augusta, then a part of Hallowell, Me. About the year 1787 he married Sally Austin. Bartholomew, above named, was their seventh child. Two sons of John Clayton served on the American side in the War of 1812, and twenty-three of his descendants fought for the Union in the Civil War, 1861-65.
Harriet A., daughter of Bartholomew Clayton and his wife Mary, was educated in the l^ublic schools of Freeman and the academy in Farmington. After completing her course of study she taught school for two years in Maine, and then came to Massachusetts.
On January 31, 1862, she was married to Russell Topliffe Chamberlin, a soldier, of the Civil War, who enlisted from Somerville in 1862 in Company B, Fifth Massachusetts Regiment. He is a member of Willard C. Kinsley Post, No. 139, G. A. R., of Somerville, also of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and other organizations.
Edmund Russell Chamberlin, born in 1863, the only son of Mr. and Mrs. Chamberlin, died in 1880. They have one daughter, Mary Emily, who was born July 28, I869. She was married February 27, 1889, to William Nelson Moore, and has since resided in Washington, D.C. Mr. and Mrs. Moore have two daughters: Ruth, born April 28, I890; and Doris, born September 15, 1893.
Mrs. Chamberlin has been a constant worker in the Woman's Christian Temperance Union since its organization, and has attended its State conventions as a delegate. Nearly forty years ago she imited with the Sons of Temperance, and is a Past Worthy Patriarch of Clarendon Division, of West Soiuerville. She has been a member of the Helping Hand Society in aid of the Working Girls' Home in Boston. She is a member of Park Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church. She assisted in organizing the Woman's Auxiliary to the Young Men's Christian Association, of Somerville, and was for many years one of its most active members, having served as a member of committees and in other helpful capacities.
The Daughters of Maine, a large and prosperous club in Somerville, selected her for its president the second year of its organization. Being thoroughly patriotic and the wife of a soldier of the Civil War, she is active in the Woman's Relief Corps and other organizations formed to assist the Grand Army of the Republic. In 1887 Mrs. Chamberlin joined Willard C. Kinsley Relief Corps, No. 21, of Somerville, and immediately entered with earnestness into its work. After serving in .several official positions she was elected president in 1891, and re-elected in 1892 for a second year. Again in membership and interest was the result to the corps, which, from the date of her administration, was recognized as one of the best in the State. She attended .several department conventions as a delegate, serving on committees and as department aide. Mrs. Chamberlin has also participated as a delegate in national conventions, and has travelled extensively in an official capacity. For the last eighteen years she has been a member of the Ladies' Aid Association of the Soldiers' Home in Massachusetts.
Her name is on the charter list of Ramona Lodge, Daughters of Rebekah, of Somerville, and she was its first Noble Grand, taking an interest in the charitable and .social work of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. For two years she was president of the Ladies' Aid Association that was formed to assist the Somerville Hospital. Mrs. Chamberlin is also a member of the Somerville Historical Society. Her brother. Major William Z. Clayton, of Bangor, is a Past Department Connnander of the Grand Army of the Republic of Maine. Mr. and Mrs. Chamberlin are respected, not only for the efficiency of their work in organizations, but for those social qualities that gain friends in public and private life.