Jeremiah Chamberlain (1794–1851) was an American Presbyterian minister, educator and college administrator. Educated at

Dickinson College , mottoeng = Freedom is made safe through character and learning , established = , type = Private liberal arts college , endowment = $645.5 million (2022) , president = J ...

and

Princeton Theological Seminary Princeton Theological Seminary (PTSem), officially The Theological Seminary of the Presbyterian Church, is a private school of theology in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1812 under the auspices of Archibald Alexander, the General Assembly of ...

, he served as the president of

Centre College Centre College is a private liberal arts college in Danville, Kentucky. It is an undergraduate college with an enrollment of approximately 1,400 students. Centre was officially chartered by the Kentucky General Assembly in 1819. The college is ...

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

from 1822 to 1825. He was founding president of the Presbyterian-affiliated Oakland College, near

Rodney, Mississippi Rodney is a former city in Jefferson County in southwest Mississippi, approximately northeast of Natchez. Rodney was founded in 1828, and in the 19th century, it was only three votes away from becoming the capital of the Mississippi Territor ...

, serving from 1830 to his death in 1851. Known to favor

abolition of slavery Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The British ...

, he was a co-founder with major planters of the Mississippi Colonization Society. Affiliated with the

American Colonization Society The American Colonization Society (ACS), initially the Society for the Colonization of Free People of Color of America until 1837, was an American organization founded in 1816 by Robert Finley to encourage and support the migration of freebor ...

, it was formed to relocate

free people of color In the context of the history of slavery in the Americas, free people of color (French: ''gens de couleur libres''; Spanish: ''gente de color libre'') were primarily people of mixed African, European, and Native American descent who were not ...

from the state to West Africa, in the colony that developed as

Liberia Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...

. In 1850 Chamberlain still owned three slaves. The following year he was murdered during an argument with a pro-slavery planter.

Biography

Early life

Jeremiah Chamberlain was born on January 5, 1794, in Pennsylvania.Dickinson College: Jeremiah Chamberlain (1794–1851)
/ref>
/ref> His father, James Chamberlain, had served as a colonel in the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

of 1775–1783. He grew up on a farm near

Gettysburg, Pennsylvania Gettysburg (; non-locally ) is a borough and the county seat of Adams County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The Battle of Gettysburg (1863) and President Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address are named for this town. Gettysburg is home to th ...

. He was educated in York County and graduated from

Dickinson College , mottoeng = Freedom is made safe through character and learning , established = , type = Private liberal arts college , endowment = $645.5 million (2022) , president = J ...

Carlisle, Pennsylvania Carlisle is a Borough (Pennsylvania), borough in and the county seat of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, United States. Carlisle is located within the Cumberland Valley, a highly productive agricultural region. As of the 2020 United States census, ...

, in 1814. Chamberlain was a member of the first graduating class of

Princeton, New Jersey Princeton is a municipality with a borough form of government in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton and Princeton Township, both of whi ...

, in 1817. He returned to Pennsylvania, where he joined the Carlisle Presbyterian Ministry.

Career

Chamberlain served as a Presbyterian missionary in the Southwest in 1817. The following year, he began serving as a Presbyterian minister in

Bedford, Pennsylvania Bedford is a borough and spa town in and the county seat of Bedford County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It is located west of Harrisburg, the state capital, and east of Pittsburgh. Bedford's population was 2,861 at the 2020 census. His ...

. He served as president of

Danville, Kentucky Danville is a home rule-class city in Boyle County, Kentucky, United States. It is the seat of its county. The population was 17,236 at the 2020 Census. Danville is the principal city of the Danville Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes ...

, from 1822 to 1825. The college was in grave financial straits. To improve the situation, Chamberlain negotiated for the control of the college to be relinquished by the state to the Presbyterian Church, which was effected in 1824. The Presbyterian Church was responsible for the election of the Board of Trustees and the finances of the college. Chamberlain moved South, serving next as the president of the

College of Louisiana A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offering v ...

Jackson, Louisiana Jackson is a town in East Feliciana Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 3,842 at the 2010 U.S. census, down from 4,130 in 2000; the 2020 population estimates program determined Jackson had a population of 3,707. It is part of ...

, from 1826 to 1828. That year, in 1828, he attempted to found a new Presbyterian academy in Mississippi. Meanwhile, he served as the minister at

Bethel Presbyterian Church Bethel Presbyterian Church may refer to: ;in Singapore * Bethel Presbyterian Church, Singapore ;in the United States * Bethel Presbyterian Church (Alcorn, Mississippi), listed on the NRHP in Mississippi * Bethel Presbyterian Church (Bay, Misso ...

Alcorn Alcorn is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: In arts and entertainment * Coco Love Alcorn, Canadian jazz singer * John Alcorn (singer), Canadian jazz singer * John Alcorn (artist) (1935–1992), American artist * Michael Alcorn ...

. Two years later, in 1830, Chamberlain was appointed as the president of Oakland College near Rodney, Mississippi. The college closed down in 1861 because of the outbreak of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

, as its students left for war. Never recovering after the war, the administrators sold the property to the state in 1870. The state legislature established

Alcorn University Alcorn State University (Alcorn State, ASU or Alcorn) is a Public university, public Historically black colleges and universities, historically black land-grant university adjacent to Lorman, Mississippi. It was founded in 1871 and was the fir ...

there, the first black

land grant institution A land-grant university (also called land-grant college or land-grant institution) is an institution of higher education in the United States designated by a state to receive the benefits of the Morrill Acts of 1862 and 1890. Signed by Abraha ...

in the country. The old

Oakland Memorial Chapel Oakland Memorial Chapel is a historic church and academic building on the campus of Alcorn State University in rural southwestern Claiborne County, Mississippi. Built in 1838 as part of Oakland College, it is one of the oldest surviving build ...

, built in 1838, remains on its campus. Oakland College was reopened as a secondary boys' school in nearby Port Gibson in 1879 and named Chamberlain-Hunt Academy (CHA) after the Oakland Founder and Mr. David Hunt, a local planter and the most generous benefactor of Oakland. C.H.A. was a college preparatory school until 2014, when it closed its doors. Mitchell Map Liberia colony 1839

Chamberlain was opposed to

slavery Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

. In the 1830s, together with planters

Isaac Ross Isaac Beattie Ross (born 27 October 1984) is a New Zealand rugby union player. He plays in the lock position for the Austin Gilgronis of Major League Rugby (MLR) competition. Professional career Ross is of Māori descent, and played for New ...

(1760–1838),

Edward McGehee Edward McGehee (November 8, 1786 – October 1, 1880) was an American judge and major planter in Wilkinson County, Mississippi. He owned nearly 1,000 slaves to work his thousands of acres of cotton land at his Bowling Green Plantation. In the 183 ...

(1786–1880),

Stephen Duncan Stephen Duncan (March 4, 1787 – January 29, 1867) was an American Planter class, planter and banker in Mississippi during the Antebellum South. He was born and studied medicine in Pennsylvania, but moved to Natchez District, Mississippi Terr ...

(1787–1867), and

John Ker John Ker (8 August 1673 – 8 July 1726), born John Crawford in Crawfurdland, Ayrshire, was a Scots Presbyterian linked with Cameronian radicals who between 1705 and 1709 acted as a government informer against the Jacobites. Dogged by financi ...

(1789–1850), he was a member of the

Mississippi Colonization Society Mississippi-in-Africa was a colony on the Pepper Coast (West Africa) founded in the 1830s by the Mississippi Colonization Society of the United States and settled by American free people of color, many of them former slaves. In the late 1840s, s ...

, an auxiliary of the

whose goal was to send

and freed slaves to their colony in West Africa known as

Mississippi-in-Africa Mississippi-in-Africa was a colony on the Pepper Coast (West Africa) founded in the 1830s by the Mississippi Colonization Society of the United States and settled by American free people of color, many of them former slaves. In the late 1840s, so ...

.Dale Edwyna Smith, ''The Slaves of Liberty: Freedom in Amite County, Mississippi, 1820–1868'', 1999; Routledge, 2013, pp. 15–2

/ref>Mary Carol Miller, ''Lost Mansions of Mississippi'', Jackson, Mississippi: University Press of Mississippi, 2010, Volume II, pp. 53–5

/ref> The planters believed that free people of color destabilized slave society. The colony eventually merged with the Colony of Liberia, Liberia in 1842. In 1850, Chamberlain still owned three young slaves aged 24, 17, and 15, according to the census slave schedules. They likely served his family as domestic servants.

Personal life

He married Rebecca Blain (1792–1836).William L. Sanders, ''Carved in Stone: Cemeteries of Claiborne County, Mississippi'', Dorrance Publishing, 2014, pp. 11–1

/ref> They had four daughters: *Susan Ann Chamberlain (1820–1834). *Sarah Matilda Chamberlain (1830–1833). *Isabella Chamberlain (1825–1846). She married William S. Hyland in 1844. *Rebecca Clarissa Chamberlain (1827–1857). She married Fabius H. Sleeper in 1851.

Death

On September 5, 1851, Chamberlain was stabbed to death by George A. Briscoe, a pro-slavery planter, after he spoke out against the "peculiar institution." He was buried in a cemetery on the campus of Oakland College. A week after the attack, his killer Briscoe committed suicide. Chamberlain's grave and a memorial obelisk still stand on what is now the campus of

Alcorn State University Alcorn State University (Alcorn State, ASU or Alcorn) is a public historically black land-grant university adjacent to Lorman, Mississippi. It was founded in 1871 and was the first black land grant college established in the United States. O ...

. His wife and four daughters were later buried beside him.

Legacy

In 1879, the

Chamberlain-Hunt Academy Chamberlain-Hunt Academy was a boarding school in Port Gibson, Mississippi. The school was founded in 1830 as Oakland College and closed in 2014. The campus, with its buildings in brick Georgian Revival style, is listed in the National Registe ...

Port Gibson, Mississippi Port Gibson is a city in Claiborne County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 1,567 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. Port Gibson is the county seat of Claiborne County, which is bordered on the west by the Mississippi Ri ...

, was named after him and David Hunt (1779–1861), a millionaire planter and philanthropist.Samuel J. Rogal, ''The American Pre-College Military School: A History and Comprehensive Catalog of Institutions'', Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 2009, p. 16

/ref> Chamberlain's papers are preserved in the

Mississippi Department of Archives and History Mississippi Department of Archives and History (MDAH) is a state agency. It is the official archive of the Mississippi Government. Location The Mississippi Department of Archives and History is located in Jackson. The William F. Winter Archives ...

Jackson, Mississippi Jackson, officially the City of Jackson, is the Capital city, capital of and the List of municipalities in Mississippi, most populous city in the U.S. state of Mississippi. The city is also one of two county seats of Hinds County, Mississippi, ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chamberlain, Jeremiah 1794 births 1851 deaths People from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania People from Carlisle, Pennsylvania People from Jefferson County, Mississippi Dickinson College alumni Princeton Theological Seminary alumni Centre College faculty Centenary College of Louisiana faculty American Presbyterian ministers American abolitionists American murder victims People murdered in Mississippi Male murder victims American colonization movement Presbyterian abolitionists Presidents of Centre College 19th-century American clergy American slave owners 1851 murders in the United States