Robert Chambers was most likely born in Northern Ireland and came to this country in about 1726 along with three brothers, James, Joseph and Benjamin. Benjamin is credited with being the founder of Chambersburg. According to family lore, the parents of these siblings were James Chambers and Sarah Castle Chambers. The grandfather was Benjamin Chambers.
Robert settled near Middle Springs in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, where he purchased 350 acres and established a farm and mill. He married first to a woman whose christian name is no longer known, but may have had the last name of McNight. With his first wife, Robert had a son named William who died in the Battle of Sideling Hill during the French and Indian War.
After his first wife's death, Robert married again, at the age of 47, to a neighbor's daughter, Mary Caldwell, who was 18. Robert and Mary had nine children: James, who died as an infant, Robert Jr., Mary (who married Jeremiah McKibbin), James, Keziah (who married Hugh Brady), Rebecca (who married Nicholas Clopper), Joseph, Benjamin and John.
On April 4, 1756, Robert, along with his eldest son, William, fought in the Battle of Sideling Hill, which marked a turning point in the French and Indian War. Robert and William joined the local militia to rescue a group of settlers who had been captured by a band of the Delaware Indians. The rescue was a failure, but after this, the Pennsylvania colonial government took a more proactive, aggressive stance in protecting the settlers along the frontier.
In 1779, Robert sold his farm at Middle Springs and moved to the Buffalo Valley. Here he purchased two tracts of land and planned to built another mill. On May 10, 1780, the local Indians became a threat, and Robert's son James was killed at French Jacob's Mill, five miles north of their home. As a result, Robert abandoned plans for the mill and returned with his family to Cumberland County, where Robert died.
His remains were most likely laid to rest at the Falling Springs church grave yard (see the note below).
Biography written by his 5th great grandson, David Pierce.
Note on burial: No marker, see below.
Robert "died in Cumberland County in 1782 and there is good reason to believe that he was buried in Falling Spring churchyard in Chambersburg, even though the church has no record of his interment. His granddaughter, Rebecca Chambers Clopper of Cincinnati, paid a brief visit in May of 1835 to Chambersburg (which was her birthplace), when on her way home from Baltimore, and has recorded in her journal that she spent most of the Sabbath there with Margaret (daughter of Joseph Chambers and wife of Rev. John McKnight of Chambersburg) and 'visited in the evening the burial ground, a very romantic spot, where repose the mould'ring dead—some pensive thoughts while gazing on the various tombstones around—here lie a number of friends and relatives, my grandfather and three little brothers.' Her paternal grandfather, Cornelius Clopper II, was buried in Baltimore, hence she was referring to her maternal grandfather, Captain Robert Chambers. No stone marks his grave nor does Falling Spring Presbyterian Church have a record of his burial, but interment without record or marker was not uncommon in the eighteenth century in eastern Pennsylvania."
"From An American Family; its ups and downs through eight generations," by Edward Nicholas Clopper, 1950, pages 26 – 27.
Robert settled near Middle Springs in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, where he purchased 350 acres and established a farm and mill. He married first to a woman whose christian name is no longer known, but may have had the last name of McNight. With his first wife, Robert had a son named William who died in the Battle of Sideling Hill during the French and Indian War.
After his first wife's death, Robert married again, at the age of 47, to a neighbor's daughter, Mary Caldwell, who was 18. Robert and Mary had nine children: James, who died as an infant, Robert Jr., Mary (who married Jeremiah McKibbin), James, Keziah (who married Hugh Brady), Rebecca (who married Nicholas Clopper), Joseph, Benjamin and John.
On April 4, 1756, Robert, along with his eldest son, William, fought in the Battle of Sideling Hill, which marked a turning point in the French and Indian War. Robert and William joined the local militia to rescue a group of settlers who had been captured by a band of the Delaware Indians. The rescue was a failure, but after this, the Pennsylvania colonial government took a more proactive, aggressive stance in protecting the settlers along the frontier.
In 1779, Robert sold his farm at Middle Springs and moved to the Buffalo Valley. Here he purchased two tracts of land and planned to built another mill. On May 10, 1780, the local Indians became a threat, and Robert's son James was killed at French Jacob's Mill, five miles north of their home. As a result, Robert abandoned plans for the mill and returned with his family to Cumberland County, where Robert died.
His remains were most likely laid to rest at the Falling Springs church grave yard (see the note below).
Biography written by his 5th great grandson, David Pierce.
Note on burial: No marker, see below.
Robert "died in Cumberland County in 1782 and there is good reason to believe that he was buried in Falling Spring churchyard in Chambersburg, even though the church has no record of his interment. His granddaughter, Rebecca Chambers Clopper of Cincinnati, paid a brief visit in May of 1835 to Chambersburg (which was her birthplace), when on her way home from Baltimore, and has recorded in her journal that she spent most of the Sabbath there with Margaret (daughter of Joseph Chambers and wife of Rev. John McKnight of Chambersburg) and 'visited in the evening the burial ground, a very romantic spot, where repose the mould'ring dead—some pensive thoughts while gazing on the various tombstones around—here lie a number of friends and relatives, my grandfather and three little brothers.' Her paternal grandfather, Cornelius Clopper II, was buried in Baltimore, hence she was referring to her maternal grandfather, Captain Robert Chambers. No stone marks his grave nor does Falling Spring Presbyterian Church have a record of his burial, but interment without record or marker was not uncommon in the eighteenth century in eastern Pennsylvania."
"From An American Family; its ups and downs through eight generations," by Edward Nicholas Clopper, 1950, pages 26 – 27.
Robert Chambers was most likely born in Northern Ireland and came to this country in about 1726 along with three brothers, James, Joseph and Benjamin. Benjamin is credited with being the founder of Chambersburg. According to family lore, the parents of these siblings were James Chambers and Sarah Castle Chambers. The grandfather was Benjamin Chambers.
Robert settled near Middle Springs in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, where he purchased 350 acres and established a farm and mill. He married first to a woman whose christian name is no longer known, but may have had the last name of McNight. With his first wife, Robert had a son named William who died in the Battle of Sideling Hill during the French and Indian War.
After his first wife's death, Robert married again, at the age of 47, to a neighbor's daughter, Mary Caldwell, who was 18. Robert and Mary had nine children: James, who died as an infant, Robert Jr., Mary (who married Jeremiah McKibbin), James, Keziah (who married Hugh Brady), Rebecca (who married Nicholas Clopper), Joseph, Benjamin and John.
On April 4, 1756, Robert, along with his eldest son, William, fought in the Battle of Sideling Hill, which marked a turning point in the French and Indian War. Robert and William joined the local militia to rescue a group of settlers who had been captured by a band of the Delaware Indians. The rescue was a failure, but after this, the Pennsylvania colonial government took a more proactive, aggressive stance in protecting the settlers along the frontier.
In 1779, Robert sold his farm at Middle Springs and moved to the Buffalo Valley. Here he purchased two tracts of land and planned to built another mill. On May 10, 1780, the local Indians became a threat, and Robert's son James was killed at French Jacob's Mill, five miles north of their home. As a result, Robert abandoned plans for the mill and returned with his family to Cumberland County, where Robert died.
His remains were most likely laid to rest at the Falling Springs church grave yard (see the note below).
Biography written by his 5th great grandson, David Pierce.
Note on burial: No marker, see below.
Robert "died in Cumberland County in 1782 and there is good reason to believe that he was buried in Falling Spring churchyard in Chambersburg, even though the church has no record of his interment. His granddaughter, Rebecca Chambers Clopper of Cincinnati, paid a brief visit in May of 1835 to Chambersburg (which was her birthplace), when on her way home from Baltimore, and has recorded in her journal that she spent most of the Sabbath there with Margaret (daughter of Joseph Chambers and wife of Rev. John McKnight of Chambersburg) and 'visited in the evening the burial ground, a very romantic spot, where repose the mould'ring dead—some pensive thoughts while gazing on the various tombstones around—here lie a number of friends and relatives, my grandfather and three little brothers.' Her paternal grandfather, Cornelius Clopper II, was buried in Baltimore, hence she was referring to her maternal grandfather, Captain Robert Chambers. No stone marks his grave nor does Falling Spring Presbyterian Church have a record of his burial, but interment without record or marker was not uncommon in the eighteenth century in eastern Pennsylvania."
"From An American Family; its ups and downs through eight generations," by Edward Nicholas Clopper, 1950, pages 26 – 27.
Robert settled near Middle Springs in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, where he purchased 350 acres and established a farm and mill. He married first to a woman whose christian name is no longer known, but may have had the last name of McNight. With his first wife, Robert had a son named William who died in the Battle of Sideling Hill during the French and Indian War.
After his first wife's death, Robert married again, at the age of 47, to a neighbor's daughter, Mary Caldwell, who was 18. Robert and Mary had nine children: James, who died as an infant, Robert Jr., Mary (who married Jeremiah McKibbin), James, Keziah (who married Hugh Brady), Rebecca (who married Nicholas Clopper), Joseph, Benjamin and John.
On April 4, 1756, Robert, along with his eldest son, William, fought in the Battle of Sideling Hill, which marked a turning point in the French and Indian War. Robert and William joined the local militia to rescue a group of settlers who had been captured by a band of the Delaware Indians. The rescue was a failure, but after this, the Pennsylvania colonial government took a more proactive, aggressive stance in protecting the settlers along the frontier.
In 1779, Robert sold his farm at Middle Springs and moved to the Buffalo Valley. Here he purchased two tracts of land and planned to built another mill. On May 10, 1780, the local Indians became a threat, and Robert's son James was killed at French Jacob's Mill, five miles north of their home. As a result, Robert abandoned plans for the mill and returned with his family to Cumberland County, where Robert died.
His remains were most likely laid to rest at the Falling Springs church grave yard (see the note below).
Biography written by his 5th great grandson, David Pierce.
Note on burial: No marker, see below.
Robert "died in Cumberland County in 1782 and there is good reason to believe that he was buried in Falling Spring churchyard in Chambersburg, even though the church has no record of his interment. His granddaughter, Rebecca Chambers Clopper of Cincinnati, paid a brief visit in May of 1835 to Chambersburg (which was her birthplace), when on her way home from Baltimore, and has recorded in her journal that she spent most of the Sabbath there with Margaret (daughter of Joseph Chambers and wife of Rev. John McKnight of Chambersburg) and 'visited in the evening the burial ground, a very romantic spot, where repose the mould'ring dead—some pensive thoughts while gazing on the various tombstones around—here lie a number of friends and relatives, my grandfather and three little brothers.' Her paternal grandfather, Cornelius Clopper II, was buried in Baltimore, hence she was referring to her maternal grandfather, Captain Robert Chambers. No stone marks his grave nor does Falling Spring Presbyterian Church have a record of his burial, but interment without record or marker was not uncommon in the eighteenth century in eastern Pennsylvania."
"From An American Family; its ups and downs through eight generations," by Edward Nicholas Clopper, 1950, pages 26 – 27.
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