Sarah Lim: Chamberlain House one of Merced area’s many historic homes

There are a number of historic homes from Merced’s early days that longtime residents can remember and describe.

One such home is the Chamberlain House. When we talk about the Chamberlain House today, what comes to mind is the house that was located at 538 W. 22nd St. next to the Kane Building, which currently houses public defender and probation offices. The house was moved to Le Grand in 1976 when the area was turned into a county parking lot.

However, in an earlier era, the Chamberlain House that was often featured in publications as the epitome of idyllic country living was the “big house” that once stood on the northwest corner of Canal and 26th streets.

Built in the late 1890s, this beautiful house was the residence of James F. and Celina Chamberlain, Merced County pioneers. James’ father, Adolphus Wilmarth Chamberlain, was a native of Rhode Island whose family lineage went all the way back to the historic Mayflower. He came to San Francisco around Cape Horn in 1849. His wife Eliza and their two children James and Melissa joined him in California a few years later.

Adolphus engaged in mining, building construction, general merchandising and farming before he came to work in the dairy business for Miller and Lux in Merced County in 1865. It was no accident that Adolphus found employment with Miller and Lux, since he was a cousin of the wives of Henry Miller and Charles Lux who married the Sheldon sisters of Rhode Island. Beginning in 1869, he started to purchase property and built up his homestead while working for Miller and Lux. He left Miller and Lux sometime in the 1870s and became a full-time rancher and dairyman in the El Nido area.

When he died in 1893, he left all his 9,000 acres to his son James and daughter Melissa Potter. Melissa was married to Jesse Sheldon Potter, the son of Miranda Wilmarth Sheldon Lux and stepson of Charles Lux. Part of the original Chamberlain homestead would later become the Potter Ranch which was sold to Newhall Land and Cattle Co. in the 1950s. During his lifetime, Adolphus made a name for himself as the “Dairy King” because he developed a way to better preserve butter by packing it with brine instead of salt, a major innovation to the dairy industry.

James, who had the Chamberlain House built in Merced, did not just inherit the family wealth from his father. He was his own man. When James was 16 years old, he also went to work for Miller and Lux. In 1881, he bought the Healy Ranch on Healy Road, which was about 6 miles from Merced. It was at this ranch that his only child Fenner Adolphus Chamberlain was born in 1882.

James moved to Merced when Fenner was about 6 years old. They first lived on 19th Street and eventually moved to the big house at 509 W. 26th St. There were not many houses in that area when the house was erected in the late 1890s. In an interview conducted by Robert Hall in 1968, Fenner A. Chamberlain recalls, “There was the Huffman house on the creek there across from the hospital. Right down where the fountain is now there was one house that belonged to E.T. Dixon, the druggist, and a little house on the next block, a brick house – Tiny Small lived there – and that was all.”

As a Merced resident, James was active in community and civic affairs. He was elected to the city board of trustees in 1906. He was a founding member of the Merced Brass Band and his home was often full of music from the sounds of different instruments. To this day, his granddaughter Claire Hartman still owns many of these heirlooms. James was a great supporter of the fire company and made several donations throughout the years, including two horses named “Prince” and “Dan” to pull the hose wagon.

In 1901, James became one of the first Merced residents to own an automobile; ironically, he was run over and killed while cranking a car in 1908. By this time, Fenner had finished his education at the University of California and picked up his first job with the San Joaquin Light and Power Co. in Merced. After James’ death, his widow Celina and son Fenner continued to live in the big house until 1925.

In 1925, Our Lady of Mercy Church purchased the big house and the rest of the lots on 26th Street. The house was used as a convent for the Ursuline Sisters and became Merced’s first Catholic school in 1927. The sisters lived on the upper floor and the classes were held on the ground floor. Within a year, Our Lady of Mercy Parish was able to raise funds to have a new school building erected next to the Chamberlain House. Dedicated by Bishop MacGinley of Fresno on March 19, 1930, the school welcomed 120 students in April. Meanwhile, the Chamberlain House remained the home of the sisters until the early 1960s and then it was torn down.

The other Chamberlain House, at 538 W. 22nd St., was the home of Fenner and his wife Naomi from the 1930s to 1970s. Naomi was a resident of El Nido whose brother August Rolfes owned the Rolfes Store in El Nido. To this day, there is a road known as Chamberlain Road in El Nido, off Highway 59.

For more information about the Chamberlains and El Nido, visit our current exhibit, entitled “Centennial Celebrations: El Nido School and Gustine City.” Don’t forget to purchase your ticket to our 25th annual Bill Kirby Western Barbecue and Auction on Sept. 8. All proceeds benefit the Courthouse Museum programs and scholarships.

This story was originally published August 13, 2015 at 9:28 PM with the headline "Sarah Lim: Chamberlain House one of Merced area’s many historic homes."