Silas Luster “S Luster” Chambers
S Luster has a weathered stone, a pension index card, and an 1860 place in James and Prudence’s household. The census reports Indiana as his birthplace. His connection to James and Prudence is strongly supported by the household, the marriage index, and his sister Cynthia’s death certificate; the marker’s worn letters are a separate question.
A supplied photograph shows a Chambers marker with worn inscription. A prior family reading gives October 24, 1844 for birth and an age at death of 27 years, 2 months, 22 days. Both transcriptions remain provisional pending comparison with the original photograph or cemetery record.
ProvisionalThe 1860 Daviess County census reports Silas L. born in Indiana. That is the reviewed birthplace evidence for him; Tennessee is not established as his birthplace.
DocumentedSilas L. is in the 1860 James and Prudence household. Cynthia Ann’s death certificate identifies James Chambers and Prudence Moore as her parents, and the 1840 index records their marriage. These independent pieces make the parent connection strongly supported.
Strongly supportedMatilda Ellen Laughlin — Granny ’Tilda
The pension index names Matilda E. Chambers as Silas’s widow. A family-located December 6, 1867 marriage entry remains to be inspected in its original form. The new Nugent–Chambers–Sinclair timeline is preserved in Matilda’s Research Notes, with original-record checks still needed. Widow named in index
S Luster and the 143rd Indiana
You remembered right: the pension index names Silas L. Chambers in Company K, 143rd Indiana Infantry. It also names Matilda E. Chambers as his widow. Silas’s own pension filing is dated October 16, 1869; Matilda’s widow filing is dated February 10, 1873. The matching names, unit, and widow entry make this a strong piece of evidence for his military service and for their connection. Strongly supported
The image is an index card, not his portrait or the complete pension file. We have not yet reviewed his service record or full pension papers, so his enlistment, duties, injuries, and exact service dates remain open questions. Still researching
One family, two possible connections
Working hypothesis—not established: the 1870 West Bethlehem Township household includes Mary Hartman, 18, and Joseph, 10, with Robert and Elizabeth Hartman. Joseph Robert’s death certificate names Robert Hartman and Eliz. Couts. Ida Jane Toland’s marriage register names her mother Mary J. Hartman. If that Mary is the census Mary, Joseph Mart married Mary’s daughter Ida while his proposed sister Elizabeth Etta married Mary’s brother Joseph Robert. Mary’s identity and Elizabeth Etta’s parentage still require independent corroboration. No confirmed double-family link is drawn in the tree.
Well-supported research hypothesis · not confirmedMeet Elizabeth Etta Chambers Hartman · Meet Joseph Robert Hartman
Joseph Mart and Elizabeth Etta
Joseph Mart Chambers and Elizabeth Etta Chambers Hartman have separate family cards under Silas and Matilda. The Sinclair obituary excerpt adds support to Etta’s identification alongside the memorial and related original Hartman records. Source qualifications are preserved in their Research Notes.
Mrs. Wayman Sinclair’s surviving children
An obituary excerpt supplied in Sandy’s research names Mrs. Joe Hartman of Washington, Pennsylvania and Joseph Chambers of Johnstown, Pennsylvania among Mrs. Wayman Sinclair’s surviving children. This provides valuable additional support for Elizabeth Etta Chambers Hartman and Joseph Mart Chambers as Matilda’s children.
Source status: obituary excerpt reported by Sandy; full original clipping, newspaper title, publication date and page still needed for inspection. “Mrs. Joe Hartman” is the wording of the excerpt; identifying her as Elizabeth Etta is supported by the related Hartman records. This is additional evidence beyond Find a Grave contributor statements, not a claim that the original clipping has been inspected here.