History 1

SURNAME
The origin of the Chalmers family begins with a clan in the north of Scotland, the Chameron Clan. Its earliest origin was 404 A.D. at the time of the restoration of a Denmark royal family Fergus II, and their progenitor was called Cameron for whose name his descendants adopted. Prior to the time of Hadrian's Wall (140 A.D.) factions of Clan Cameron or Clan Chameron originated from the tribal ancestors of the Picts descendants of Caledonii (a mysterious warrior people located in northern Britannia called Caledonia). The original sept in the Cameron Clan for Chalmers was Chambre and the development of a clan's armor, shield and coat of arms helped identify friend and foe. When the Chalmers began crossing the sea to France, their surname changed from Chambre to de Camera, the Latin version. Several generations remained in France before returning to Scotland when the surname reverted back to Chambre. The origin of the meaning is one of Chamber, one who is in charge of the house, head of the treasure of the chamber.

In and around the time of William the Conqueror (1066), a surname was required in France for the head of the household. The law later spread to Scotland. A dispute among the Chambre and the de Camera affiliations in different septs of the Cameron clan began because they had different coat of arms and all wanted to take the same surname. Thus, the differentiation of the surname evolved from Chambre, then de Camera in France, back to Chambre in northern Scotland, then to Chamber, then Chamer, then Chalmer, and finally the more modern version Chalmers.

POPE
In south England in 1100A.D. there was born a son, Nicholas, to Robert de Camera. In later life Robert's wife gave him permission to join St. Alban's Abbey as a monk. His son, who took his mother's maiden name, Breakspear, was later turned away by this abbey and went to France to join St. Rufus near Avignon. Nicholas Breakspear's success founding of Norway's Christianity in the Catholic Church lead him to be named Pope in 1154 and took the name Adrian IV; "Father of the Poor." He had influence in naming Fredrick I, nicknamed Barbarossa, as Emperor in Germany, and in negotiating the merger of the Roman east and west church during the Byzantine period which failed to unify the church. He granted Ireland to the English monarch. He is to this day the only Pope from England. He died in 1159.

NEW WORLD
Life in the New World began with the arrival of the Chalmers in 1690. Subsistence farming persisted until the invention of the cotton gin in 1790. Some Chalmers arrived having been thrust into political bondage, but for the most part famine and the control of the Church of Scotland by England and there oversight brought forth a migration. This major immigration did not become strong until the late 1820's.

In the first United Sates census of 1790, there were five Chalmers families living in South Carolina: James Chalmers (b. 1766) in Abbeville, SC; two John Chalmers living in Abbeville, SC; and David Chalmers (b.1765-) and William Chalmers living in Newberry, SC. In 1810, David Chalmers is living in Colleton County, South Carolina near Charleston. In this cencus, there was not another Chalmers family registered in the state of South Carolina. In 1820, David Chalmers had moved to Williamsburg, Va., and James Chalmers and John Chalmers have moved to Halifax, Va.

The family recollection is that half the family went north and the other half went south-west. In 1830, there was no other census information on any of the original members of the Chalmers clan. Their children's age were listed in the 1840 census. William Chalmers(1752) can best be determined to be the father of A.W. Chalmers (1793)who was living in Newberry, SC, born in Elie, Fife, Scotland. Dr. A.W. Chalmers was listed as physician in the 1850 census with his wife Frances, J.D. (James David) Chalmers (b 1831) age 15(farmer), R.L. Chalmers age 13, D.C. Chalmers age 11, S.S. Chalmers age 8, and Thomas B. Chalmers age 22 (farmer)(1824-25abt.).

In 1850, both James Chalmers' Family (1766-1826) of Halifax, Va. and his brother's family David Chalmers(b.1765-), and Dr. A.W.(Alexander) Chalmers' Family (b. 1793-1860+) of Newberry, SC, have sizeable farming operations with the advent of cotton gin. Family legend is the families were related by grandfathers which were brothers..(James Chalmers, 1766, grand-father and WilliamChalmers,1752, grand-father are brothers). Further family information reveals James Chalmers (1766-1826) parents were Ronald Chalmers and of Janet Hamilton, Straiton, Ayr, Scotland as recorded in One World Tree. Also, Ronald Chalmers' parents were John Chalmers(abt.1700-) and Sarah, of Straiton, Scotland. David, James and John Chalmers of Straiton Ayr, Scotland moved to Maybole, Ary, Scotland before going to the New World. Further insight connects them to the clan "Chalmers of the Ashentrees", a part of the "Chalmers of Gadgirth", Chalmers of Balnacraig", and "Chalmers of that Ilk"clan.

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