Ada Irene Chamberlain

Biographical Sketch from https://lib.bgsu.edu/finding_aids/items/show/515

Samuel Oscar Chamberlain was born March 19, 1844, to Scudder and Martha Wing Chamberlain, of Melmore, Ohio, in Seneca County. His father was a noted architect, responsible for such buildings as the Seneca County Courthouse and Jail. Besides Samuel, know primarily as Oscar, other children in the family were Duff and Dow.

At the start of the Civil War Oscar joined the locally raised 49th Ohio Volunteer Infantry on August 12, 1861 as a private in Co.E. In the "Official Roster of Soldiers of the State of Ohio in the War of the Rebellion" his age at mustering-in is given as 18, but he was really just past 17 at the time.

Oscar served throughout the war. He reenlisted when his initial 3-year term of service expired, and he eventually mustered-out on November 30, 1865 as a sergeant. During that period of service the regiment saw duty at such battles as Shiloh, Stones River, Chickamauga, Resaca, Picketts Mills, Kenesaw Mountain, and the Siege of Atlanta, to name a few. The collection includes the 30 original letters written home by Oscar during his war experience.

After the war, Oscar returned home to Tiffin for a short time, but then spent the next few years working as a carpenter in several locations, primarily in the post-War South, between 1868 and 1880. Letters written during this time are also included in the collection. After this period Oscar did return to Tiffin, where his father was still a successful contractor and architect, working as a carpenter, as did his brother Dow. His other brother, Duff was a postal clerk

Marrying Ada Irene Letson on March 5, 1881, Oscar settled down in Tiffin and started a small family, Martha Amelia (who died in infancy), Scudder George, and Helen Louise. He was a member of the local Carpenters Union and was also active with the Grand Army of the Republic and reunions of his old regiment. In his later years, Oscar qualified for a pension from the government for his service, and as he grew old and infirm he applied for and was admitted to the Ohio Soldiers and Sailors Home, in Sandusky, Ohio. The last letter in the collection was written February 25, 1925, while he was living there. Oscar died, at the home of his daughter Helen, on October 19, 1925, and was buried at Tiffin Greenlawn Cemetery, next to his wife Ada.

A more detailed biography of the life of Samuel Oscar Chamberlain, along with commentary on the letters he wrote, can be found in the book, Civil War Letters of an Ohio Soldier : S.O. Chamberlain and the 49th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, by Dick and Judy Chamberlain.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/2:1:MNMD-BZT