The son of Civil War hero Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain and his wife Fanny (nee Adams), "Wyllys" was born in the Chamberlain home near the Bowdoin campus. Of the couple's four children, only he and his elder sister Grace survived infancy. After graduating from Bowdoin College in 1881, he earned a law degree at Boston University and for a time practiced in Ocala, Florida, where his father had invested in real estate. Although intelligent and creative with an aptitude for scientific invention as well as law, Wyllys seemingly lacked the business acumen to achieve great financial success in either field. His companionship never-the-less brightened his widowed father's twilight years. Wyllys died at age 69 in 1928, the elder Chamberlain having predeceased him 14 years earlier. His sister Grace Chamberlain Allen, who survived him by nine years, was buried nearby after her death in 1937.
The son of Civil War hero Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain and his wife Fanny (nee Adams), "Wyllys" was born in the Chamberlain home near the Bowdoin campus. Of the couple's four children, only he and his elder sister Grace survived infancy. After graduating from Bowdoin College in 1881, he earned a law degree at Boston University and for a time practiced in Ocala, Florida, where his father had invested in real estate. Although intelligent and creative with an aptitude for scientific invention as well as law, Wyllys seemingly lacked the business acumen to achieve great financial success in either field. His companionship never-the-less brightened his widowed father's twilight years. Wyllys died at age 69 in 1928, the elder Chamberlain having predeceased him 14 years earlier. His sister Grace Chamberlain Allen, who survived him by nine years, was buried nearby after her death in 1937.
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