Benjamin Chambers

Benjamin Chambers. . , Benjamin Chambers, the founding father of Chambersburg, was born in County Antrim, Ireland in the year 1709. In 1730, a twenty-one year old Benjamin and his two brothers, James and Robert, sailed to America. They settled in what is now known as Cumberland Valley. They then split apart and beaded their own ways. James traveled to the head of Big Spring. Robert settled at Middle Spring. Benjamin, influenced by the confluence of the Conococheague, chose to settle here at the Falling Spring., In 1734, he was granted 400 acres of land at the Falling Spring. Benjamin laid out a plantation and built himself a cabin. He constructed a sawmill and gristmill on this land. Eventually he became an extensive landowner, not only in Chambersburg, but in other parts of the Conococheague area. During that same year, Benjamin was able to see his town, Chambersburg, become the seat of Franklin County., In 1742, he married Sarah Patterson. They had one son, James. Shortly after James birth, Sarah died. Seven years later he married Jane Williams, the daughter of a Presbyterian minister. together they had eight more children: Ruhanna, William, Benjamin, Jane, Joseph, George, Hadassah and Charles., Benjamin was very active in the defense of the community during the French and Indian War. On the day before the attack on Big Cove, at a meeting in Shippensburg, it was determined that five large protective forts for the Cumberland Valley should be built. He decided to build a stockade around his house. This stockade is now known as Fort Chambers., colonel Chambers was known for having a kind personality, and being a caring friend, a devoted father, a diligent worker, a devout Christian and a patriot. These qualities, in turn, gave him the respect of others., Benjamin Chambers granted property to three churches– Falling Spring Presbyterian Church, The First Lutheran Church and Zion Reformed Church. He generously did not accept payment, but required one rose as rent per year conveyed to him or his descendents in perpetuity. This traditional payment of Rose Rent has been honored to this day on three successive Sundays in June., Colonel Benjamin Chambers and a number of his family are laid to rest across the creek in the Falling Spring Graveyard.