Benjamin Chambers
by Gage Wease
Birth and death
Chambers was born in 1708 in Ireland. He died Feb. 17,1788 in Chambersburg, PA.
Falling Springs was first settled by Benjamin Chambers, a Scots-Irish immigrant, in 1730, who started a grist mill and saw mill by a then-26-foot high waterfall where Falling Spring Creek joined the Conococheague Creek. The creek provided power to the mills, and the settlement was known as "Falling Spring."
Chambersburg was on the frontier during the French and Indian War. The area's population dropped from about 3,000 in 1755 at the start of the war to about 300, with most settlers not returning until after 1764 when the peace treaty was signed.
Chambers built a private fort during the war, which was equipped with two cannons. Because Chambers' fort was lightly defended, the authorities attempted to remove the cannons to prevent them from being captured by Indians and used against other forts. The attempt was unsuccessful, and one of the cannons was used to celebrate Independence Day in 1840.