If you’ve ever driven the southern end of Carson Valley, perhaps you’ve stumbled across Chambers Lane, off Highway 88. This charming rural byway was named for Thomas Armstrong Chambers, whose homestead once stood there.
Learn more about the fascinating folks buried at Fredericksburg Cemetery! Pick up Dustman’s book, “The Fredericksburg Cemetery,” for a virtual tour! It’s available at Carson Valley Museum & Historical Society, Dangberg Home Ranch State Park, and at www.clairitage.com .
But just who was Chambers? Well, he was a carpenter; a rancher; and father of identical twins, Myron and Byron (plus seven other kids). He was a committed community booster, helping to found Fredericksburg Cemetery Society, and serving as its first president. And he was also a proud veteran, enlisting as a private in the 6th New York Heavy Artillery during the Civil War.
Before hostilities were over, Chambers would see action at the battles Spotsylvania and Cold Harbor, and was promoted to the rank of Second Sergeant. And he’d come home from the fighting with “consumption” (tuberculosis), a highly-contagious deadly disease that swept through the ranks.
When Thomas Chambers died at the age of 74, he was laid to rest not far from his home, in the same Fredericksburg Cemetery he’d helped to form. As for twins Myron and Byron, they ranched initially in Smith Valley before eventually acquiring a ranch of their own in Carson Valley. They continued to be active and well-known ranchers in the Valley until the 1940s, and were buried beside their father when they passed away in the mid-1950s.
To learn about Thomas Chambers click here for more of the story.
Story by Karen Dustman, a local author who shares her passion for history through her fun books, blog, and free history newsletter. Contact her at www.Clairitage.com.
