Homestead harmony: Musician, artist keeps in tune with his ancestry with the house that his great-great-grandfather built Jul 22 2000 12:00AM By Judy Hruska: New Castle News Wilbur Chambers preserves the memory of his ancestors by living in the past. The 87-year-old maintains and lives in the North Beaver Township homestead that was built by his great-great-grandfather, Samuel Chambers, in 1830. Wilbur's ancestors had settled in the area earlier, more than a decade before he was born. In 1812, William and Mary Haelton Chambers, Wilbur's third-generation great-grandparents, came to America from Belfast, County Down, Ireland. They sailed to New York City with their five children on the ship Protection and eventually trekked by conestoga wagons to Pittsburgh and onto Lawrence County. The family settled on a 200-acre farm on the south side of Hickory Creek in North Beaver Township and erected the first brick building in the area. William and several neighbors laid out the village of Mt. Jackson, naming it after Gen. Andrew Jackson, who later became president of the United States. William also helped build the first log schoolhouse there. Because he was not yet a citizen, he was not permitted to serve during the War of 1812. Instead, William commanded a company of state militia. William and Mary eventually had nine children - Samuel, Alexander, James, Robert, Isabel, John, Elizabeth, Mary and William Jr. Samuel married the former Mary Jane Smiley and they had six children - Isabel, Martha, Angeline, Elizabeth, James and Hugh Chambers. Hugh, Wilbur's great-grandfather, and his wife, Hannah, had six children - Henry, Mary, Charles, Harry Boyd, William and Harvey. Harry Boyd married the former Elizabeth Kelso. They lived on the farm Wilbur now occupies. Harry worked in a mill, was a farmer and taught at Crossroads School. Wilbur recalled a story his grandfather used to tell about an incident that occurred during his childhood. While in school one day, the marshall, who had the powers of a sheriff, came in looking for five older boys to aid in a posse on horseback. "He wanted them to help chase down three people who had shot and killed a local farmer they called Old Man Bender," Wilbur said. "My granddad was not one of the big boys, but was almost big enough, so he went along." As the story goes, Bender had sold cattle to the suspects the day before. They paid him, but returned the next day, shot him, reclaimed their money and stole the rest of his cattle. In order to steal the cattle, they had to parade through town on horseback herding the booty along. The group the marshall had gathered managed to catch the murderers on Moravia Street and hung them from trees. "That was the end of that case," Wilbur said. Harry Boyd died Jan. 1, 1940. Wilbur said he has very fond memories of his grandmother, Elizabeth. "She was a very loving person and was active in the missionary society and church," he noted. "My grandmother was a wonderful person. I loved her and was very close to her. She lived with us when I was growing up." Wilbur still has the original tombstone of Elizabeth's father, who had died when she was 11. When his original stone was replaced by one of better quality, the old one ended up on the family farm and was laid face down by the entrance to the corn crib to be used as a step. This action caused the carvings in the soft sandstone to be preserved. Harry and Elizabeth had five children - Mary, Jean, Elizabeth, Harvey, Helen and Howard Kelso Chambers - Wilbur's father. Howard married the former Hazel Shaffer in February 1911, and they had three children, Wilbur, Verna Chambers and Jessie Chambers Day, all of North Beaver Township. Before retiring, Jessie taught at New Castle High School and Verna worked for the FBI under J. Edgar Hoover in Washington, D.C. Jessie was married to the late Larry Day and they had three children - Larry Day Jr., Janice Day Thomas and Patty Day Leslie. Larry Jr. is married to Linda Barnes and has two children, Robb Day and Lara Adams. Janice is married to Bob Thomas and they have two children, Jamie and Jason. Patty is married to Rick Leslie and they have two children, Matthew and Erika. Wilbur recalled his family traveled to Ohio and Florida while his father was building highways using wagons and mule teams before the Great Depression. "In 1930 and '31, the economy went under and they had to stop building highways, so he came back and rented property, got into farming and bought a retail milk route." Howard cultivated about seven farms and in 1942, he received an award for outstanding farm service from the Pennsylvania State Committee of the Agriculture Adjustment Agency. Later he served as a director of the Lawrence County State Fair and continued to farm for the rest of his life until his death at age 91. Wilbur called his mother his "greatest teacher." "She discovered my interests. She was very musical and a painter," he said. "She encouraged me to take piano lessons and organ lessons and took me to painting classes provided by (Works Progress Administration) during the Depression. I've always had very fond memories of her." As a result, Wilbur played in his high school band and sang in the church choir. Two year after graduating from Mt. Jackson Consolidated High School in 1933, he headed to California. Having learned his way around a kitchen by helping his mother, Wilbur landed a job as a short-order cook while he pursued a career in music. While in California, Wilbur visited a psychic who astonished him by knowing his parents' names. However, she also informed him that he would have an accident that would change his life forever. Carrying this information with him, Wilbur eventually returned to North Beaver Township and began raising chickens for a living and painting in his spare time. In 1950, the psychic's prediction came true. While crafting a sled for his nephew, Wilbur fell, and the saw he held in his right hand severed all his fingers. "I died inside that day because I saw my music career go down," he said. Despite the setback, Wilbur learned to use his left hand to paint and play the harmonica. At the age of 42, he decided to enroll in Edinboro University, where he earned a bachelor's degree in art. After getting a job at Shenango Area High School, he taught art from 1959 to 1978, when he retired. Today, Wilbur continues to paint and play harmonica professionally.