1927 - 1942

1927: On April 16, 1927, John Angus Chamberlain is born to Mary Francis Walker and Claude Chester Chamberlain in Rochester, Indiana. His father is responsible for the family tavern, Chamberlain's, which was originally established in 1921 by the artist's grandfather, Jesse Chamberlain.

1932 - 42 Chamberlain makes a hobby of building model airplanes. In 1937, he lives in Rochester, where he attends the fifth and sixth grades. He learns to maintain and eventually fly his father’s 1931 Curtiss-Wright pusher propeller plane and takes his first boat, a kayak he names Sugar, out on Lake Manitou, next to the Fulton County Airport. In the sixth grade, he learns to walk the high wire with his friend Ricci, a member of the Gretona family, famous for their high wire act.

In Chicago, Chamberlain regularly visits the Museum of Science and Industry, which nurtures his interest in aeronautical engineering. At 12, he hears music by Franz Schubert on the radio., and decides at this point to pursue the arts.

He drops out of school in the ninth grade.

1931: Following his parents' divorce, Chamberlain relocates to Chicago with his mother. During her working hours, he is cared for and raised by his grandmother.