- T. C. CHAMBERLIN. The subject of this biographical notice
was born at Mattoon, Ill., on the
- 25th of September, 1843; his father, Rev. J. CHAMBERLIN,
a clergyman of the Methodist Episcopal Church, was one of the
pioneers of Illinois and of Wisconsin, and to him most of the
customary opportunities for education and culture were denied,
but in spite of this, through the force of his natural abilities,
singleness of purpose and strength of religious conviction, did
much of good, if not of celebrity, in his life-work, and transmitted
to his descendants his own sterling qualities of mind and heart,
which, under the more favorable opportunities for development,
have won for them a wide recognition of merit. The family moved
to Beloit in the year 1846, and here twelve years of the young
son's life were occupied with such duties as he was capable of
performing upon the farm and in attendance at the district school;
at the age of 14, he began his preparation for college; the eight
succeeding years were mainly spent in the preparatory and collegiate
departments of Beloit College, his course of study being somewhat
interrupted by an occasional term of teaching; he graduated from
the College in 1866, at the age of 22, and taught the two succeeding
years, being Principal for that time of the High School at Delavan,
Wis.; while engaged in this work, his attention was first strongly
drawn toward scientific pursuits, and, in order to prepare for
this line of work, he resigned his position in Delavan in 1868
and took a special course at the Michigan University; completing
this in one year, he returned to Wisconsin, and in 1869 was elected
to the Chair of Natural Sciences in the State Normal School at
Whitewater; he held this position for four years, and here, by
his success in building up a system of scientific instruction,
and through he abilities which he manifested as an original investigator,
he won a reputation which called him at once to the filling of
two very important positions, viz.: Professor of Geology and
Zoology in Beloit College, and Assistant Geologist Wisconsin
Geological Survey; resigning his position at Whitewater, he returned
to Beloit and performed the duties devolving upon him from these
two positions, until the spring of 1876, when he was appointed
Chief Geologist, a position which he still holds; the exhausting
duties imposed upon him by the acceptance of this position compelled
him to relinquish for a time his collegiate duties, which, however,
were resumed in 1879; although but now 36 years of age, and still
ranking among the young men of our State, the records of his
past work furnish an enduring monument to his abilities; while
at Whitewater, his first work was published, entitled "An
Outline of a Course of Oral Instruction, the Result of the Author's
Own Successful Labors as an Instructor in This Department;"
he was also, during this time, the author of several papers,
published by the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters;
during the period of his connection with the Geological Survey,
his labors in this direction have been much greater; he has been
the author, during this time, of three annual reports upon the
progress of the Survey, one large volume of Final Reports, a
treatise upon the Kettle Moraine of the Great Lake Region, and
of several papers published by the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences,
Arts and Letters, the State Agricultural Society and the Northern
Wisconsin Agricultural Society; he has now in progress of completion
three additional volumes of reports upon the geological survey;
besides these scientific and educational labors, Prof. CHAMBERLIN
has not been oblivious to civil and business affairs; he is actively
interested in two of the leading manufacturing institutions of
Beloit, being a Director in the Rock River Paper Company and
Vice President of the MERRILL & HOUSTON Iron Works; he has
for some time been a member of the School Board of Beloit, is
one of the original members of the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences,
Arts and Letters and has long been one of its Vice Presidents.
Undoubtedly, the most distinctive trait of character displayed
by Prof. CHAMBERLIN is his clear insight into the relations of
things, which enables him to so classify and present the truths
with which he deals, that they are easily comprehended as an
organic, harmonious whole, and not as a heterogeneous mass of
ill-digested facts; added to this, are abundant resources of
expression, an affable manner and an integrity of motive and
action that instinctively draw to him the best men and the best
side of all men.
-
- Taken from "The History of Rock County, Wis."
(c)1879; pp. 740-741.
-
- Courtesy of Carol
|