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Classification: Query
Message Board URL:
http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/an/AUI.2ACIB/239.1
Message Board Post:
Robin has previously posted queries in
Ancestry.com and GenForum sites, but this is the
first mention of Alfred's second family! I've been helping Robin trace her
Chamberlain/lin ancestry over the past month or so, and a detailed account of our
surprising findings can be found in my GenForum Chamberlain posting dated 22 Dec 2004,
listing the ancestral line of descent as Alfred Hilton(9), Benjamin(8), Ephraim Elliot(7),
Nathaniel(6), Nathaniel(5) [Rev. War Soldier in VT], Richard(4), Nathaniel(3), Joseph(2),
Richard(1) Chamberlain of Braintree, MA, one of the five original immigrant ancestors in
New England in the early 1600s. Considerable other information about this extended family
is also listed in my posting. Persons seeking additional information about this
Chamberlain/lin line are requested to contact me via Email.
Regarding Robin's search for Alfred's second family, she never mentioned it
to me during our correspondence, so I haven't worked on this issue, of course, and
have nothing to offer her now other than rather standard advice that her research be
continued in available U. S. & Canadian census and other records in the areas listed,
for traces of this second family. I'm going to search the 1930 U. S. census next, to
see what I find... In addition to Railroad records from 1941 (which Robin believes were
destroyed), it is also possible that a lawsuit might have ensued over conflicting claims
to Alfred's pension or property, or over monetary damages involved in Alfred's
accidental death in 1941, so court records should be checked, most likely right there in
Winnepeg. Newspaper accounts of his death, etc., may also reveal more, and published
telephone and residential directories might reveal traces of this second family there in
the Winnepeg area, or the other locations Rob!
in mentioned where Alfred or other family members were known to have resided.
Alfred's probate record should also be examined, of course. Since he died, most
likely intestate, with underage children, it is almost certain that probate records are
available, which would also, almost certainly make reference to any other persons making
claims on Alfred's estate.
Alfred's marriage to Muriel Grawbarger was dated 6 Jun 1912, Sudbury, Sudbury,
Ont., Canada, with 8 known children listed after that, some of whom have been traced.
Robin has begun to obtain information from living descendants, including one living
daughter Gloria, whose memory is no longer good, but more of these descendants have yet to
be contacted, any of whom might know more. By way of a time frame, since Alfred and
Muriel were married when he was only 20, it stands to reason that his other family came
later - with children somewhat younger.than his first family, perhaps born after 1930 or
so, some of whom should still be alive, one would think. This is speculation on my part,
of course. Perhaps someone in this second family line will respond to Robin's posting
here - hopefully so!
Some of Robin's close relatives attended a family Reunion in Ottawa in 1984, but
have been unable to locate any records of it among their effects. However, accounts of
this Reunion have been published, and republished in recent years, partially because this
Philemon Wright - Chamberlin family (several intermarriages) of Hull, Quebec, and Ottawa,
Ont. (across the river from each other), were early pioneers there in 1801, and prominant
in the early history of the area. Robin is in the process of trying to contact these
knowledgable persons who wrote these histories (evidently her distant cousins), as well as
to other contact persons who have been researching various branches of this family (as
listed in my own research records here). It is unlikely, of course, that any of these
persons would know the actual identity of Alfred's other family (evidently kept a
secret from other family members while he was living), but certainly possible that other
persons in this extende!
d family would have heard about the Alfred Chamberlin who was killed in a railroad
accident in 1941 and had a second, secret family. One would suppose that such rather
dramatic information would have been grist for discussion at a family Reunion, even 43
years later!
I'll continue to help Robin, as best I can, trace various branches of her
family, to the extent I can do so, but I do hope I hear back from other persons belonging
to this family!