Chauncey Lamb, Clinton

CHAUNCEY LAMB, capitalist and lumber merchant, was born at Ticonderoga, Essex county, New York, on the 4th of January, 1816. He is the son of Alpheus and Sophia Bailey Lamb, whose ancestors were among the first settlers of the State of Connecticut.

His grandparents on both sides are of good old Saxon stock, having early emigrated to this country from England. His father participated in the war of 1812; and the inherited patriotism of the son was not weakened by having his birth near the spot where Ethan Allen, in revolutionary times, demanded the surrender of the fort in the name of the " Great Jehovah and the Continental Congress."

His early education was such as could be obtained at the common schools of that period. His parentage, although worthy and respected, belonged to that numerous class whose worldly means were very limited. The undeveloped resources of the country immediately subsequent to the war of 1812 left many families destitute, and the heroes of "many a well-fought battle-field " found it quite difficult to keep the "wolf" from the door of their humble dwelling.

At the age of fourteen years he began not only to earn his own living, but contributed liberally to the support of his father's family. At the age of nineteen years he made, with his father, a profitable investment in the purchase of a lumber lot, devoting the proceeds arising from this property to the necessities of the parental home. He continued as a laborer in lumbering and farming, in various capacities, until the age of twenty-two, when he left home.

Having determined from observation that mechanics enjoy many advantages over other classes of the laboring community, he resolved to learn a trade. An old friend advised him to learn the carpenter trade, which he did, but soon exchanged it for that of a wagon-maker. In this vocation his peculiar mechanical tastes and his wonderful inventive and constructive talents enabled him to make and finish completely an entire wagon during the first week of his apprenticeship.

In six months he relinquished this occupation and embarked as a contractor in building saw and grist mills, and continued in this business till 1843. During the latter year he and his father's family came west and located in Carroll county, Illinois. In this locality he continued, improving and cultivating the farm until 1850.

In 1847 he invented and built the self-reaper known as the Manning machine. Having, however, been anticipated in his invention, he was compelled, to avoid litigation, to forego the benefits resulting from his own genius.

In 1850 he engaged in the lumber business in the State of New York, and continued in it until 1856. He then returned to Iowa, and during the following winter, with very limited means, built a saw-mill and run it during the three subsequent years, when it was destroyed by fire, leaving him at the time penniless. The disaster may have been a blessing in disguise, as it brought forth the latent strength and capacity of his nature. The same year (1869) he rebuilt his mill with renewed hope and energy; but the failure of his partner, early in 1860, involved him again in temporary difficulty. In due time, however, his indomitable energy and perseverance extricated him from embarrassment, and enabled him fully to discharge his obligations and completely re-establish his business, and to some extent repair his broken fortune.

In 1865 he enlarged his business in the same locality. He built a mill of several times the capacity of the former, and continued to enlarge and extend his mill enterprises till 1868, when he bought the entire property known as the "Lamb and Byng mill," in the vicinity of Clinton, Iowa, one and one-quarter miles distant from his other works, and one of the largest and finest in this section or state.

The capacity of the above mill is over two hundred and fifty thousand feet of lumber, one hundred thousand feet of shingles, and fifty thousand feet of lath. The planing mill is likewise of immense capacity. The entire business has increased to upward of fifty million feet of lumber annually manufactured.

In summer he employs in his mills about one thousand men, exclusive of a large number engaged at labor in his lumber regions in other localities.

Mr. Lamb's wonderful intuitive knowledge of mechanics has enabled him to successfully introduce many valuable improvements in saw-mill machinery. He was the first to introduce and put into practical operation in the State of Iowa the gang-mills, he having made the application of a gang of saws in his own establishment in 1859, being the only one below Stillwater, Minnesota, on the river.

In his steamboat enterprises he has been equally successful, having built and launched several for river traffic.

In all his undertakings he has manifested public spirit, and has contributed materially to the improvements of the city and county in which he resides.

His talent for invention seems to have exhibited itself in every step of his business career. Whenever he observed a defect in any mechanical construction, his mind involuntarily would suggest some improvement, and he could not rest until the hand had put in tangible form the idea mentally conceived and entertained. Many of these valuable inventions, after having been patented and applied to use in his own establishment, he has generously bestowed on some deserving individual for his exclusive benefit. His benevolence and generosity are proverbial. Having himself experienced the vicissitudes of life, his sympathies are not withheld from the unfortunate, nor his charities from the children of poverty. His success in life is attributed to his being as true to all as it is possible to be,—never making a promise that he cannot perform, and always keeping his word if once given.

As a developer of the resources of the west, great credit must be awarded to him. It is through the agency of men of his nature and energy that the material interests of our county are forwarded and expanded.

At this time he is largely interested in the First National Bank, of Clinton, Iowa, being one of its heaviest stockholders and principal directors.

In politics, he is a decided republican, though not a partisan. In religious sentiment, he may be regarded as orthodox. He is neither a skeptic nor sectarian. He believes all religion relates to life, and that the life of religion is to do good.

He was married in 1839 to Jane Bevier. They have four children now living, and one died at the age of thirteen years. In the family burying-ground, in York, Carroll county, Illinois, are interred thirtyone of his immediate relatives.

Mr. Lamb is now in the maturity of life, full of vim and activity. The unswerving integrity which marks all his transactions, and the kindliness of his manners to the numerous employes in his various enterprises, render him at once respected and loved throughout a wide circle of acciuaintances.

Source:

The United States Biographical Dictionary and Portrait Gallery of Eminent and Self-Made Men. Iowa Volume.

Chicago and New York: American Biographical Publishing Company, 1878