Joshua and Fanny Chamberlain to appear in Bangor on July 28-30

Ted and Faye Chamberlain will portray Joshua and Fanny Chamberlain during Drums on the Penobscot: A Civil War Experience. Sponsored by the Bangor Historical Society, Drums on the Penobscot will take place Friday-Sunday, July 28-30, at the UMA-Bangor campus. Ted and Joshua Chamberlain are distant cousins and share a common ancestor in colonial Massachusetts. (Courtesy Photo)

Bangor and Brewer were a whole lot different when Major General Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain last gazed upon both places — and he plans to find out what has changed around his old stomping grounds while joining participants in Drums on the Penobscot: A Civil War Experience.

Sponsored by the Bangor Historical Society, Drums on the Penobscot will be held from Friday through Sunday, July 28-30 at the UMA-Bangor campus. As part of the free-admission, event-filled weekend, Ted and Faye Chamberlain of Michigan will portray Maine legends Joshua and Fanny Chamberlain.

Ted and Joshua share a common ancestor in colonial Massachusetts, so his portrayal of JLC is very personal for Ted. He and Faye grew up on opposite ends of the country, Ted in western Oregon and Faye in western Pennsylvania. In 1967, after one year into their marriage, they moved to the Midwest and, except for 10 years in California, have made their home in Michigan since then.

The Chamberlains received their bachelor’s degrees in Maryland while Ted served in the military at Walter Reed. Army Medical Center. Master’s degrees followed in Michigan and California, and Ted completed his doctoral degree at the Claremont School of Theology in California. The Chamberlains, who are now businesspeople, have both been university professors.

Faye belongs to the National Society, Daughters of the American Revolution, and Ted belongs to the Sons of the American Revolution and the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War. He is a founder of the World Chamberlain Genealogical Society.

Portraying his distant cousin, Maj. Gen. Joshua L. Chamberlain, Civil War re-enactor Ted Chamberlain will be in Bangor July 28-30 as part of Drums on the Penobscot: A Civil War Experience. (Courtesy Photo)

For more than 20 years, Ted has indulged his lifetime love of American history by portraying Civil War hero Joshua L. Chamberlain. Ted’s career has closely followed that of his illustrious cousin: soldier, clergyman, professor, and businessman. Faye has recently joined Ted with her portrayal of Joshua’s wife, Francis (Fanny) Caroline Adams.

When not traveling to Civil War venues, the Chamberlains spend their time in St. Joseph, Michigan, where Faye serves on the board of the Twin Cities Organ Concert Series and Ted has, for many years, been a member and officer of the board of the Berrien County Historical Association. The Chamberlains recently helped launch the Civil War Roundtable of Southwest Michigan.

Besides participating in Drums on the Penobscot at UMA-Bangor both Saturday and Sunday, July 29-30, the Chamberlains, Joshua and Fanny, will also mingle with guests from 7-9 p.m., Saturday, as the Bangor Historical Society presents Cognac With Chamberlain at the Isaac Farrar Mansion at 17 Second Street in Bangor. Admission will be $20 for BHS members and $25 for non-members.

For more details, log onto http://www.bangorhistoricalsociety.org/drums-on-the-penobscot-a-civil-war-experience/

Note: Much of this post was adapted from bios provided by Ted and Faye Chamberlain.


If you enjoy reading the adventures of Mainers caught up in the Civil War, be sure to like Maine at War on Facebook and get a copy of the new Maine at War Volume 1: Bladensburg to Sharpsburg, available online at Amazon and all major book retailers, including Books-A-Million and Barnes & Noble. —————————————————————————————————————–

Brian Swartz can be reached at visionsofmaine@tds.net. He enjoys hearing from Civil War buffs interested in Maine’s involvement in the war.

Brian Swartz

About Brian Swartz

Welcome to "Maine at War," the blog about the roles played by Maine and her sons and daughters in the Civil War. I am a Civil War buff and a newspaper editor recently retired from the Bangor Daily News. Maine sent hero upon hero — soldiers, nurses, sailors, chaplains, physicians — south to preserve their country in the 1860s. “Maine at War” introduces these heroes and heroines, who, for the most part, upheld the state's honor during that terrible conflict. We tour the battlefields where they fought, and we learn about the Civil War by focusing on Maine’s involvement with it. Be prepared: As I discover to this very day, the facts taught in American classrooms don’t always jibe with Civil War reality. I can be reached at visionsofmaine@tds.net.