Thomas Jefferson Chambers (1840 - 1929)

Born 22 Mar 1840 in Culpeper, Virginia, United States

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 24 May 1929 at age 89 in Houston, Harris, Texas, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: John Voltz [send private message]

Biography

CHAMBERS, THOMAS JEFFERSON (1840–1929). Thomas Jefferson Chambers, newspaper printer, editor, and proprietor, as well as state representative and county official, was born in Virginia on March 22, 1840, the son of Landon Gore and Mary Green (Allan) Chambers.

His uncle—also named Thomas Jefferson Chambers and the namesake of Chambers County—was an early Texas pioneer who participated in the Texas Revolution.

Chambers himself immigrated to Texas in the 1850s, settling in Liberty County. He married Mittie Smith in 1858; this couple had five children. He established himself as a printer and engaged in the newspaper business.

Chambers edited the Liberty Gazette from 1858 until 1861 when the paper suspended operations at the outbreak of the Civil War.

By 1860 Chambers had prospered, boasting $1,000 in personal and real estate property.

On March 17, 1862 Chambers enlisted as a private in the Confederate Army at Liberty, Texas. He was assigned to Capt. Edward Bradford Pickett's Company, Third Regiment, Carter's Brigade, Texas Mounted Volunteers of the Twenty-fifth Texas Cavalry Regiment on May 3, 1862. He was captured at the battle of Arkansas Post on January 11, 1863 and was sent to Camp Butler, Illinois. By September 1863 Chambers was back with his regiment as part of the Army of Tennessee. He took part in the battle of Chickamauga where he was captured again in September 1863. Chambers was sent to a military prison in Louisville, Kentucky before being moved to Camp Douglas in Illinois on October 2, 1863. On May 4, 1865 he was sent to New Orleans and was exchanged there on May 23, 1865.

Following the war Chambers returned to Liberty County where he resumed printing and editing the Gazette. In 1869 he left this paper and began editing the Liberty Observer, a role in which he continued through 1871. Chambers prospered during this period, increasing his estate to $1,500 in property, winning election as representative as a Democrat for Liberty County to the Twelfth Texas Legislature, and serving as county postmaster.

His brother, William Morton Chambers also of Liberty County, was the Republican gubernatorial candidate in 1876.

Thomas Chambers's first wife died early in the 1870s, and he remarried to Francis or Fannie Nolan in the mid-1870s; this couple had seven children.

In 1887 Chambers returned to the newspaper business to become editor and publisher of the Liberty Vindicator, a publication dedicated to Southern rights and empowerment. In 1921 he turned over editing duties for the paper to a son.

Chambers died on May 24, 1929, in Liberty and was buried there at Old City Cemetery. Chambers was a trustee of Liberty County Methodist Episcopal Church.

Aragorn Storm Miller, "CHAMBERS, THOMAS JEFFERSON [1840-1929]," Handbook of Texas Online (http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fchab), accessed February 09, 2014. Uploaded on June 12, 2010. Modified on June 8, 2012. Published by the Texas State Historical Association.

Thomas Jefferson CHAMBERS

BIRTH: 22 MAR 1840, Culpeper County,Virginia CHRISTENING: 1857, Arrived in Texas DEATH: 24 MAY 1929, Houston,Texas BURIAL: 2 AUG 1858, Partnered with H BAPTISM: 5 DEC 1861 ENDOWMENT: 1869 Father: Landon Gore CHAMBERS Mother: Mary Green ALLAN

Family 1: Mittie SMITH MARRIAGE: 1858

Ella J. CHAMBERS Elder W. CHAMBERS +Edna Earle CHAMBERS Mary CHAMBERS Philip S. CHAMBERS Family 2: Frances NOLAN MARRIAGE: ABT 1875

Jefferson W. CHAMBERS Katie CHAMBERS Pearly CHAMBERS +Clarence Allan CHAMBERS Ulma CHAMBERS C. Cumberland CHAMBERS Karl CHAMBERS Theresa CHAMBERS

Sources

• http://pt109.tripod.com/d0000/g0000035.html#I1385
• "United States Census, 1870", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MXGS-BDJ : 29 May 2021), Thomas J Chambers, 1870.
• http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=124864296
• Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/124864296/thomas-jefferson-chambers : accessed 21 November 2021), memorial page for Thomas Jefferson Chambers (22 Mar 1840–24 May 1929), Find a Grave Memorial ID 124864296, citing Liberty City Cemetery, Liberty, Liberty County, Texas, USA ; Maintained by Capt. Dave (contributor 48029001) .