--from Illustrated Popular Biography of Connecticut, by J. A. Spalding

"Franklin Chamberlain was born in the town of Dalton, Massachusetts, on April 14, 1821, and educated in the best public schools in Berkshire County and at the Harvard Law School in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He was a member of the class of 1844. Mr. Chamberlain moved to Hartford prior to the Civil War and established a prosperous legal business. In 1865 he was elected to the Connecticut House of Representatives. Mr. Chamberlain assumed the position of commissioner of the State Capitol on the death of Commissioner Barber and oversaw the construction of the State Capitol to completion. He was the head of the law firm Chamberlain, White and Mills, and he attended the Park Congregational Church. His wife was Miss Mary W. Porter prior to marriage. Their home was one of the most charming and cultivated centers in the city."