Hambleton Family Collection

Hambleton Family Collection Finding Aid

by Joshua Hershey Parry, 2022

Abstract

Chalkley Jay Hambleton I was born April 1, 1829 in Oxford, Chester County, Pennsylvania and died in Chicago on November 19, 1900. He developed an interest in genealogy in his life, and having collected some information about the Hambletons on a visit to Chester County in 1884, spent the ensuing years compiling research about his family which he would publish in a book in 1887. Sarah Barlow Scantlebury was born October 10, 1832 in Albany, New York. Her husband, Joseph Webb Hambleton, was born September 15, 1827 in Coleraine Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. They were married in New York in 1855, and spent much of their lives traveling across the United States, following Joseph’s work as a builder and farmer, and to spend time with their family after Joseph’s retirement. Joseph died on December 30, 1894, and Sarah remained unmarried until her death in Paterson, New Jersey on December 10, 1921. The two items in this collection are bound volumes, both written in English, and printed (likely in small runs) in the late 19th century. Each is authored by a member of the Hambleton family living contemporaneously in the mid- to late-19th century, taking other members of the Hambleton family as their subjects.

Background Note

Chalkley Jay Hambleton I was born April 1, 1829 in Oxford, Chester County, Pennsylvania. A man of many talents, Chalkley was variously employed as a farmer, a seminary teacher, a reporter, a real estate dealer, a lawyer, a gold digger, and an education board member in the course of his life. He also wrote and published several autobiographical books. He spent his early life in the Northeast United States, primarily in New York and Massachusetts, until he moved to Chicago in the 1850s. He married Emma Lander in Dodge, Wisconsin in 1868. Chalkley had been a member of the Society of Friends up to that time, but was disowned in 1871 owing to his marriage to Emma having been performed by a hireling minister (i.e., not a recorded minister). Chalkley eventually developed an interest in genealogy, and having collected some information about the Hambletons on a visit to Chester County in 1884, spent the ensuing years compiling research about the family which he would publish in a book in 1887. Chalkley died in Chicago on November 19, 1900.

Sarah Barlow Scantlebury was born October 10, 1832 in Albany, New York. Her parents, both Quakers, emigrated from England in the early 19th century before marrying in Hudson, New York in 1826 and having their eight children. Sarah’s husband, Joseph Webb Hambleton, was born September 15, 1827 in Coleraine Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, but spent much of his early life on his parents’ farm in Morgan County, Ohio. Having learned masonry while in Ohio, Joseph worked as a contractor and builder in Cincinnati, Philadelphia, Chicago, and New York, where he and Sarah married in 1855.

After their marriage, the couple settled in Chicago, where Sarah gave birth to their only two children, Herbert and Helen. Born in 1856 and 1857, respectively, neither child survived past infancy. Joseph retired in 1882, having spent the previous 30 or so years raising buildings in several young American cities, occasionally farming, and entering the odd business deal. After Joseph’s retirement, the Hambleton couple traveled extensively, visiting friends and family in cities far-flung across the United States until Joseph took ill and died on December 30, 1894. Sarah remained unmarried until her death in Paterson, New Jersey on December 10, 1921.

The works which make up this collection deal with the descendants of James Hambleton (also spelled Hamilton or Hamelton in various records), a great-great grandfather of Joseph W. Hambleton. James was a Quaker farmer born in Solebury, Bucks County, Pennsylvania around 1692, and who died in the same county in July of 1751. He was a second-generation immigrant, his parents having been born in Scotland, his father James around 1630 and his mother Grace around 1670. James’s wife, Mary (née Greenleaf), also a native of Solebury, was born in 1696 and died in 1756. The line of Hambletons who proceeded from James and Mary remained largely pastoral for several generations, with many of their children and grandchildren owning farms in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and New Jersey. Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, Hambletons belonging to this line engaged in various trades and labors, and were spread throughout the United States, though many remained close to the patriarch’s farm in Bucks County during the span of generations covered by this collection.

Scope and Content

The two items in the collection are bound volumes, both written in English, and printed (likely in small runs) in the late 19th century. Each is authored by a member of the Hambleton family living contemporaneously in the mid- to late-19th century, taking other members of the Hambleton family as their subjects.

Geneological record of the Hambleton family was written by Chalkley J. Hambleton between 1884 and 1887, and published in the latter year. The culmination of the author’s personal research up to the time of publication, the book contains a genealogical list of members of the Hambleton family — descending from a single patriarch, James Hambleton (b. ca. 1692, d. 1751) — their spouses, and their descendents living between ca. 1700 and the year of publication. The book includes narrative histories of varying lengths of many of James Hambleton’s descendants. An introduction details the author’s interest in the subject and research methods, records oral histories of the family’s immigration to the American colonies, discusses the etymological and geographical origins of the family name, and provides a brief history of other Hambletons not related to the lineage under consideration and living in America between ca. 1654 and 1779.

In loving remembrance of Joseph W. Hambleton was written by Joseph Hambleton’s wife, Sarah B. Hambleton, and published in 1896, two years after the death of its subject. The book, copies of which were intended by the author to be sent to her husband’s nieces and nephews, is a memorial work primarily consisting of a biography of Joseph Hambleton, detailing especially his occupations, his interactions with religion and with his family, and his travels across America throughout his life. Also included in the book are a note by the author, snippets of poetry by Sir Edwin Arnold, reproductions of photographs of Joseph and Sarah Hambleton, and a print of an engraving celebrating the New Year, 1869.

Collection Information

Physical Description

2 items

Provenance

Accessioned December 2016; acquired from Roger Matile, director of the Little White School Museum (Oswego, Illinois) who received the items by donation from the Oswego Senior Center in 2015.

Note

The two items, both written in English, deal with the affairs of a family which traces its origins in the United States from a couple who emigrated from Scotland in the late 17th century. The items are concerned with personal histories of their subjects, especially their occupations and the makeup of their families, and demonstrate examples of late 19th century American interest and methods in genealogical research, as well as mourning practices of the same period.

Indexing Terms

Corporate Name(s)

Geo. K. Hazlitt & Co.

Genre(s)

Biographies.

Commemorative works.

Family histories.

Genealogical tables.

Geographic Name(s)

Brooklyn (New York. N.Y.)

Bucks County (Pa.)

Chester County (Pa.)

Chicago (Ill.)

Cincinnati (Ohio)

Colerain (Lancaster County, Pa. : Township)

Lancaster County (Pa.)

Morgan County (Ohio)

New York (State)

Oxford (Pa.)

Philadelphia (Pa.)

Solebury (Pa. : Township)

Personal Name(s)

Arnold, Edwin, Sir, 1832-1904.

Collyer, Robert, 1823-1912.

Hambleton, Chakley J., 1829-1900.

Hamilton family.

Hambleton, James, -1751.

Hambleton, Joseph W., 1827-1894.

Hambleton, Mary, 1696-1756.

Hambleton, Sarah B., 1832-1921.

Subject(s)

Architects and builders–United States–Biography.

Farmers–United States–Biography.

Hamilton family–Anecdotes.

Hamilton family–Name.

Registers of births, etc.–United States.

United States–Genealogy.

Collection Overview

Hambleton, Chalkley J., 1829-1900. Hambleton, Sarah B., 1832-1921.

Bound Volumes

2 Volumes

Detailed Inventory

Hambleton, Chalkley J., 1829-1900.

1. Genealogical record of the Hambleton family

Descendants of James Hambleton of Bucks County, Pennsylvania, who died in 1751. With mention of other Hambletons, in England and America.

1887

1 Volume

Abstract: Genealogical list of members of the Hambleton family; description of the author’s research methods, the family’s history, etymological and geographical origins of the name Hambleton.

Hambleton, Sarah B., 1832-1921.

1. In loving remembrance of Joseph W. Hambleton

1896

1 Volume

Abstract: Biography of Joseph W. Hambleton, excerpts of poetry, and explanatory note from the author; print of an engraved illustration, reproductions of photographs and signatures of Joseph W. Hambleton and Sarah B. Hambleton.

Finding aid by Joshua Hershey Parry, 2022