Hiram Sanborn Chamberlain Collection

Hiram Sanborn Chamberlain, Jr. (1882-1923) was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee His father Captain H. S. Chamberlain (1835-1916) who resided in northern Ohio and attended Hiram College had served in the Second Ohio Volunteer Cavalry and served in the Civil War with Gen. Ambrose Burnside. Following the Civil War, Hiram Sr. relocated to eastern Tennessee where he made a career in iron and coal manufacturing. He was a friend of U.S. President James A. Garfield. He is credited as the founder of the modern iron industry in the South. In 1871 Hiram Sr. with five Welsh iron masters created the Knoxville Iron Co. which manufactured railroad spikes, nails and iron bars. He moved to Chattanooga, Tennessee and was president of Roane Iron Company from 1880 to 1916. In 1882, he created Citico Furnace Company and served as vice-president of the Columbian Iron Works. According to the Tennessee Historical Society, the football stadium at University of Tennessee where he was president of the Board of Trustees is named for him. Hiram Sr. married Amelia I. Morrow and together they had six children - four daughters and two sons. Hiram Jr. (1882-1923) and his older brother Morrow (1879- 1959) were sent to Lehigh University. Morrow graduated Lehigh in 1900 with a BS in Metallurgy, went to work for Roane Iron Co., and eventually was chairman, Board of Directors of Knoxville Iron Company located in the Chamberlain Building, Chattanooga, TN. Hiram Jr. graduated Lehigh in 1903 with a Engineer of Mining degree and went to work with Citico Furnace Company at 42 Chamberlain Building, Chattanooga as secretary and treasurer. He married Emily Wright and their son Hiram III (1913-1996) also attended Lehigh in the Class of 1935.

The collection comprises three items: one football-shaped metal plaque commemorating a November 22, 1902 football game between Lehigh and Lafayette where Hiram Jr. is listed as manager of the team that year measuring 22 x 16 cm;

1903 Lehigh metallurgy notebook -- 200 pages, February 9 1903 to May 14, 1903,

1903 Epitome, vol. 27 yearbook editor-in-chief Hiram S. Chamberlain Jr.

Collection arranged chronologically.

Material sent to Special Collections by Hiram S. Chamberlain Jr.'s granddaughter, Ava Chamberlain, 26 December 2018.

Use

Collection is open for research.

Please inquire about copyright information.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item] Hiram Sanborn Chamberlain Jr. 1882-1923, SC MS 0365, Special Collections, Linderman Library, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA

Publisher

Lehigh University Special Collections

Sponsor

Lehigh University Library and Technology Services.

Finding aids author

Eleanor Nothelfer.

Date

2019-01-31

Creator

Chamberlain, Hiram Sanborn, 1882-1923

Subject

Metallurgy

Organization

Lehigh University

Occupation

Mining engineers

Language

English

Form

Notebooks.

Lehigh memorabilia