Genetic Chandler Family Group 8

Earliest known ancestors of Group 8

Robert Chawner, b Leicestershire England 1590, d Leicestershire England 1653

Robert Chandler, b NC USA 1775, d Carroll Co VA USA abt 1848

CFA descendants of Group 8

In April 2008 the Chandler DNA Project’s Group 8 had a major breakthrough when a close DNA match was found between the four group members who reside in the USA and testee John Anthony (Tony) Chandler in England. Tony’s earliest known ancestor is Robert Chawner born about 1590 in Leicestershire (pro­nounced Lestershire), England, and the earliest known ancestor of the Americans is Robert Chandler, born 1775 in North Carolina. The connection between the Americans' Robert and Tony's English lineage has not yet been identified, but that search should be significantly assisted by the geographic focus provided by this intercontinental match.

Efforts are underway to, first, reexamine existing evidence and seek new evidence about the earliest known ancestors of the USA testees and, second, explore the family tree of the Gilmorton Chandlers, hoping to identify the family member who emigrated to Virginia. It is notable that several descendants of Robert Chawner disappeared from UK records, including a couple of Williams, one of whom could have migrated to Virginia to be the progenitor of Group #8.

Tony has roots in Gilmorton, Leicestershire, reaching back to the late 1500s. It is quite possible that Robert Chawner’s father was William Chawner whose name appears as a Church Warden of All Saints Church, Gilmorton in Leicestershire, in 1585 and 1605. Existing papers of the Gilmorton Chandlers include not only vital event records, deeds and wills, but also a number of letters between family members who moved to London to conduct a successful undertakers business and relatives at home in Leicestershire. These letters, more than 200 years old, provide a fascinating insight into family life of that period. Click the image at right for a glimpse into the life of the Gilmorton Chandlers in the late 1700s.

Lineage of John Anthony (Tony) Chandler:

1. Possibly William Chawner, who was a Church Warden at All Saints, Gilmorton in 1585 and 1605.
2. Robert Chawner died 1653. His wife, Elizabeth, died 1655 in Gilmorton.
3. Simon Chandler, 1617-1697, married Alice. She died 1698 in Gilmorton.
4. Edward Chandler was born 1669 in Gilmorton and died 1730. In 1705 he married Mary Green of Croft, who died in 1731. Both died at Peatling Magna.
5. Simon Chandler was born in 1709 at Ashby Parva and died in 1776. In 1733 at Bruntingsthorp he married Lydia Hoball. She died in 1782. Both died in Gilmorton.
6. Edward Chandler was born in 1743 in Gilmorton. In 1784 he married Latitia Strong in Broughton Astley.
7. John Strong Chandler was born 1770 in Thurlaston and died before 1821. His wife, Mary Green, died after 1881. Both died in Broughton Astley.
8. John Chandler was born 1805 in Narborough and died in 1875. In 1827 in Broughton Astley he married Mary Kenny, who died in 1882. Both died in Broughton Astley.
9. William Strong Chandler was born 1830 and died in 1919 in Broughton Astley. In 1856 he married Sarah Dudgeon, who died 1904.
10. James Chandler was born 1860 in Broughton Astley. He died in 1927 in Hove. In 1887 he married Mary Caffyn Lewes. She died in Lewes in 1943.
11. Harold James Chandler was born in Lewes in 1824 and died in 1980 in the Canary Isles. In 1924 he married Mary Elvira Burnett in Lewes. She died in 1986 in Church Stretton.
12. Tony Chandler.

In Gilmorton, Leicestershire, and surrounding areas there are many Chandlers and even a school named Gilmorton Chandler, founded in 1774 by Edward Chandler to educate children within a Christian atmosphere. Read a narrative of Tony's family — beginning with Tony’s grandfather James, born 1860, up to the present day.

The earliest known reference to Chandlers in Leicestershire is the gift of King Henry II on 8 July 1262 to his beloved servant William le Chaundeler of 47 shillings and 9 pence (modern value 28,000 pounds or 45,000 US dollars) issuing out of two carucates of land and their appurtenances in Medbourne. A carucate was an area of land that could be ploughed by one man in a season. Medbourne is about 16 miles east of Gilmorton. Analysis of English tax records for 1381 reveals a baker named Johannes Chaundeler at Hallaton, about 3 miles north of Medbourne. Both these men could be forebears of genetic family 8.

At the time the 1777 Land Enclosure Act became law in England, Gilmorton records show "William Chandler as proprietor of the residue of the said open and common fields and commonable grounds" and "Principal landowners are the Chandlers, a respectable family of which there are several branches who possess by far the greatest part of the Lordship."

The 1846 edition of White's directory contained the following:

GILMORTON. A large village, on a bold eminence, 3 miles N.E. of Lutterworth, it has in its parish 2,230 acres of land, and 866 inhabitants, many of whom are frame-work knitters. Sir W W Dixie, Bart. is the lord of the manor; but a greater part of the soil, which is mostly freehold, belongs to John Tebbs, Esq.; Wm. and Allan Bent, W Coltman, W Chandler, W Warden, T Woodcock, and several smaller owners.

Sources: Except where otherwise stated, the source of all birth, marriage and death information contained herein is the baptism, marriage or burial register of the parish church in the place where the event occurred, or a transcript thereof. These registers, together with wills, estate papers and other Chandler-related records, were viewed at the Leicestershire Record Office.

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USA Group 8 originated in Virginia

It has long been speculated that all the USA Group 8 members descend from a William Chandler who resided in Amelia County, Virginia, where (prior to the setting up of Amelia in 1735) he christened sons Isaac and Abraham in 1733 and 1734, respectively, in Bristol Parish Church in Prince George County. However, concrete evidence has not been found connecting William of Amelia County and the known ancestors of the USA testees.

The generations of descendants of William and Elizabeth Chandler presented below include some that are not yet proven.

1. William Chandler, Jr., a son of William and Elizabeth, was born c1730. There is no birth record, but he was “bound out” at about age 16-18 to Benjamin Dixon of Halifax in 1748. William was back in Amelia with his brother Isaac in 1749. In 1751 he and Elizabeth Nelson were charged with adultery. There is no certain record of him after 1752. He had sons Thomas and John Chandler, proven by a 1774 Halifax County Court ordering them to be bound out as sons of “William Chandler, a poor man . . . .” In 1772 his daughter Fanny was bound out.
   
   
2. Isaac Chandler, born 15 April 1732 and baptized 7 April 1733, was a son of William and Elizabeth Chandler. He died in 1797. Isaac was living with older brother William in Amelia County 1749-1751 and in his own household in 1752. Isaac’s son George was born before 1760. The family also lived on the Appomattox River. In 1781 he patented 124 acres in Buckingham County, Virginia, on the north side of the river, a few miles from his brother Abraham’s home in Prince Edward County, Virginia. He remained there through 1792, then moved to Surry County, North Carolina, just over the Virginia line. All of Isaac’s children were born in Buckingham County, Virginia, a “burned-out county.” It is of record that son George was born before 1760. Three of his children can be found in Buckingham County, Virginia:
   1. George, the eldest, was born before 1760. He lived in Buckingham on the north side of Appomattox River, near his father’s farm until 1813. After 1813 he continued to pay tax on his land, noting he was living in Tennessee. George is found in Sevier County, Tennessee, in 1830; Blount County, Tennessee, in 1840; and adjoining counties near the North Carolina border.
   2. Obediah Chandler was living next to his father in Buckingham County in 1787, then no further record.
   3. Jesse Chandler lived in Buckingham until 1890. Land records list his wife as Sarah. After 1802 he left Buckingham. Tax records show Jesse living near Isaac and George, which suggests he is an older son of Isaac’s, but he may possibly be a son of Abraham.
   
   
3. Abraham Chandler, another son of William and Elizabeth, was born 26 February 1734 and died 1812. His wife Elizabeth died in 1811. Abraham was bound out to Capt. Mathew Talbot of Bedford County, Virginia. Talbot’s will (1758) left 400 acres to Abraham Chandler, his “godson.” Abraham served in the county militia in the French & Indian wars and, about ten years later, moved from Bedford to the Appomattox River area. In 1774 he was living on the north side of the river in Buckingham County. Most of his land was on the south side in Prince Edward County. The 1785 tax records list ten people in his household. At his death a widowed daughter-in-law, Nancy Chandler, and her children were in his household. Issue:
   1. Thomas Chandler was born before 1760. His wife was named Rachel. By 1782 Thomas was married with property in Prince Edward County and had a family of six by 1785. His children had left home by 1810. Known sons, James and Sterling Chandler, were gone from Virginia by the 1820 Census.
   2. Martin Chandler was born before 1760 and married by 1780 to Sarah Old, daughter of James Old of Amelia County. Martin lived in Amelia at Lunenburg County line until his death in 1834. Sarah died earlier. The marriages of daughters Patsy, Nancy, Elizabeth, Lucy and Polly Chandler are all in Amelia County records. One son, Spencer Chandler, served in the War of 1812 and later moved to Davidson County, Tennessee. He died in Logan County, Kentucky, in 1870.
   3. Claiborne Chandler married Elizabeth Dodson in Amelia County in 1783. He is found intermittently in Amelia and Prince Edward (P-5) records through 1805. He either died between 1805-1810 or left Virginia.
   4. Jane Chandler was underage when she married Ambrose Inge on 14 August 1789 with the consent of her father. They lived near her parents. Ambrose died in 1804 leaving the estate to Jane and then their children. The oldest, Claiborne Inge, born 1790, was still living in Appomattox County with his family in 1850.
   5. Several other Chandlers are mentioned in Prince Edward County records. In a lawsuit in 1808, Paton Chandler was co-defendant with Jane Inge which suggests he may be her brother. There is a John Chandler in the 1788 Tax Rolls who is probably a son of Abraham, but it is difficult to distinguish this John from other John Chandlers found in nearby counties.
   
   
4. Mary Chandler, William and Elizabeth’s daughter, was born in 1724 and bound out at age 12 to Mathew Talbot in 1736.
   
   
5. Some have considered that another possible descendant of William and Elizabeth was Thomas Chandler who died in 1795. His wife was named Catherine. Thomas first appears in Amelia County records in 1747 when he bought land. They lived in the part of Amelia that became Prince Edward County until 1760 when he patented land in what became Pittsylvania County, lived there briefly, and then moved to Dinwiddie County where he died. However, this Thomas and Catherine are also claimed by genetic Chandler group #4, and until other evidence is produced they will be discounted as members of family #8.
   
   

Of the four USA testees in Group 8, two are descendants of Robert Chandler born c1775 in what is now Surry or Rockingham County, North Carolina. Robert, who died about 1848/49 in Carroll County, may have been a member of the William Chandler family of Amelia County, Virginia c1725-1775. He may have also spent time in Randolph County at some time during his life.

Robert Chandler is first found in Rockingham County in the 1800 Census and again in 1820. Property transactions and the 1810 census indicate that he also resided in the adjacent township in Stokes County, North Carolina. In turn, both these townships adjoin the state line with Patrick County, Virginia. Further complicating the situation is the fact that Stokes County was part of Surry County, North Carolina, until 1789.

Group 8 member Charles Thomas (Tom) Chandler, testee #26107, is the brother of CFA vice-president Jacqueline Chandler Cahoon. Tom (and Jacqueline) and Lon A. Chandler, #24275, are descendants of Robert born c1775. Lon is a descendant of Robert’s first wife, Judith, while Tom and Jacqueline descend through Robert’s second wife, Elizabeth.

Lon Chandler and Tom Chandler have a 36/37 DNA match, the mismatch being on marker 607.

Lineage of Charles Thomas (Tom) Chandler, #26107:

1. Robert Chandler was born c1775, probably in North Carolina; he died c1848 in Carroll County, Virginia. By his second wife Elizabeth Amos (b. 1802 North Carolina, died after 1870 in Tazewell County, Virginia), he had four sons: James, Hiram (from whom Tom and Jacqueline descend), Joseph and Jackson.
2. Hiram A. Chandler was born c1823 in Patrick County, Virginia. He married Nancy Nicholson, born 1827 in Stokes County, North Carolina. Both died after 1884, in Cabell County, West Virginia.
3. John W. Chandler was born 7 January 1849 in Carroll County, Virginia; he died in 1914. In 1871 he married Arena Hall (born April 1851, Giles County, Virginia; died 1934). Both died in Princeton, West Virginia.
4. Lester Norman Chandler was born February 1880, in Bland County, Virginia, and died 12 February 1944, Rich Creek, Virginia. He married 9 October 1901 in Bland County, Virginia, to Nina Jane Wright (born 1884, Bland County; died 1970, Newport News Virginia).
5. Walter Bowman Chandler was born 21 September 1907, Bland County, Virginia, and died 20 May 1987, Roanoke, Virginia. He married 14 June 1932, in Hampton, Virginia, to Elsie Wade Drummond (born 29 November 1910; died 9 November 1982, Clifton Forge Virginia).
6. Tom Chandler.

Lineage of Lon A. Chandler, #24275:

1. Robert Chandler was born c1775 and died c1848. His first wife was Judah Brown. Robert’s known sons of this marriage were William, John, Isaac, Pleasant, and possibly Edmund.
2. Isaac Chandler was born in 1816, in Rockingham County, North Carolina, and died 1894 in Surry County, North Carolina. His wife was Fannie Stewart.
3. Richard Chandler was born in 1847 in Stokes County, North Carolina, and died in 1947 in North Carolina. His wife was Sarah Wall.
4. Dalton Chandler was born in 1888 in North Carolina and died 1966 in California. His wife was Edith Lord.
5. David Chandler was born 1914 in Georgia and died in 1964 in California. He married Martha Dahl.
6. Lon A. Chandler

The will of an Isaac Chandler was filed in Surry County, North Carolina, in 1797. This is almost certainly the same Isaac Chandler, son of William, who was born 1732 in Amelia County, Virginia. He left bequests to his then wife Kerrenhappuck, to his ten older children, and to his seven younger children, but only son George was named. George was to distribute the bequests to his younger siblings as they became of age.

One member of Group 8 is a descendant of George Chandler born c1760 in Virginia. This George is the right age to be the son of Isaac born 1732 and grandson of William of Amelia County, Virginia. This testee, #58353, is a 36/37 match to Tom Chandler, descendant of Robert. Tom and #58353 have a mismatch on marker 607.

George is recorded in the 1830 Census of Sevier County, Tennessee, and the 1840 Census of Blount County, Tennessee. The 1850 Census of Sevier County, Tennessee lists his son James as born in Virginia, cautious evidence that Group 8 does descend from Isaac (1732) and his father William (b. c1700) through this George Chandler of Washington, Blount and Sevier Counties of Tennessee and formerly Buckingham County, Virginia, where Isaac was residing in 1792 when he moved to Surry County, North Carolina.

Lineage of #58353:

1. George Chandler was born c1760 in Virginia. He married Margaret Lyler. She died after 1830 in Sevier County, Tennessee.
2. James Chandler was born in Virginia in 1790 and died in Tennessee. He married Barbara Kiecher. (Kiecher is spelled many ways.)
3. William Chandler was born 1820 in Tennessee and married Katherine Donaldson. He died on the way to Illinois.
4. John Kiker Chandler was born in Tennessee in 1852 and died in Texas.
5. Charlie Chandler was born in 1890 in Texas. He died in Texas.
6. Carl Parmer Chandler was born in Texas in 1910 and died in Texas in 1992.
7. #58353

The fourth USA match further confirms the tie back to Virginia. Many of the given names are very similar to those in the families of the previous matches. Terry Melvin Chandler is a 36/37 match to Tom, with the mismatch on marker 607.

Lineage of Terry Melvin Chandler, #102124 :

1. Isaac Chandler was born in Virginia in 1785. He married 1st Sally Taylor and 2nd Matilda Quarles.
2. James or Jasper Gilbert Chandler was born c1848. He married 2nd Sally Hungerford.
3. James Walter Chandler was born 9 September 1889 in Hickman County, Tennessee. On 2 August 1905 he married Ludie Buckhanon (born 2 May 1889).
4. Melvin Lee Chandler was born 25 April 1913 and died 24 February 1973.
5. Terry Melvin Chandler

This summary has been condensed from documentation provided previously by CFA vice president Jackie Cahoon (American aspects) and family historian Tony Chandler (English aspects).

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1 Editor’s note – “Bound out” was at times used interchangeably with the terms “apprenticed” and “indentured,” although “bound out” may have been more likely to be used when an orphaned or impoverished child was put in the care of a family other than his or her birth family. Local laws regulated the care and treatment of these children, who were expected to work for their keep.

2Chamberlayne, Churchill Gibson. The Vestry Book and Register of Bristol Parish, Virginia, 1720-1789 (Bowie, Md. : Heritage Books)1998, p. 299.

3Editor’s note – A “burned out” county, to genealogists, is a county whose records are lost, often due to a courthouse fire. The historic Buckingham County (Virginia) Courthouse was originally built in 1822 and designed by Thomas Jefferson, through correspondence with his friend Col. John Yancey of Buckingham. The courthouse burned in 1869, destroying all records kept in the Clerk's Office. www.buckinghamcountyva.org/history/historicalattractions.html, last checked 24 December 2009.

4Chamberlayne, Churchill Gibson. The Vestry Book and Register of Bristol Parish, Virginia, 1720-1789 (Bowie, Md. : Heritage Books)1998, p. 300.

5Robert Chandler, born 1775 NC (birth date averaged from 1800, 1810, and 1820 Rockingham, North Carolina, census records). Patrick County, Virginia, Superior Court Order Book May 1809-1831, page 121, 6 May 1825, adultery; page 122, May Term 1825, adultery; page 133, 7 May 1826, defendants not appearing; page 138, October 1826, adultery, pleaded not guilty; page 155, 3 October 1828, 2nd adultery charge; page 164, October 1829 term, summons to Sheriff, Grayson County; page 169, October 1830 term, not guilty. No further record after 4 January 1848 when a Carroll County deed of son Joseph to brother Jackson mentions Robert Chandler. Death certificate of son James, 27 August 1861, and marriage license of daughter Paulina, 6 August 1872, give names of both parents, Robert & Elizabeth Chandler, Tazewell County Virginia.

6Elizabeth Amos Chandler, second wife of Robert Chandler, is found in the following census records: 1850 Carroll County, Virginia; 1860 Tazewell County, Virginia; 1870 Tazewell County, Virginia.

7Hiram A Chandler, born 1823 Grayson County, Virginia, later Carroll County. Marriage bond 29 December 1846, Stokes County, North Carolina, married Nancy J Nicholson. Carroll County In a 12 December 1857 deed, his mother gave Hiram’s daughter Paulina a cow, stating the gift is to her “granddaughter and daughter of son Hiram Chandler.” Hiram is found in the following census records: 1850, Patrick County, Virginia; 1860, Tazewell County, Virginia; 1870, Bland County Virginia; 1880, Mason County, West Virginia. A deed dated 18 March 1884, Mason County, West Virginia, mentions H.A. Chandler and Nancy Chandler of Cabell County, West Virginia.

8John W. Chandler, born 1849, Carroll County, Virginia; died 1914 Princeton, West Virginia. Marriage certificate dated 26 August 1872, Bland County, Virginia. He is buried in Resthaven Cemetery, Princeton, West Virginia. John is found in census records of Bland County, Virginia, in 1870, 1880, and 1900.

9Arena Hall Chandler death certificate #17112, Princeton, West Virginia.

10Lester N. Chandler, born 1880 Bland County, Virginia. Death certificate dated 12 February 1944, Rich Creek Virginia. Marriage certificate (to Nina Jane Wright) dated 9 October 1901. Found in census records for Bland County, Virginia, in 1910, 1920, and 1930.

11 Nina Jane Wright Chandler, wife of Lester N. Chandler, death certificate dated 12 May 1970, Newport News, Virginia.

12 Walter B. Chandler, born 1907 in Bland County, Virginia. Married in Hampton, Virginia 6/14/1932. Death certificate #657 dated 20 May 1987, Roanoke Virginia.

13Elsie Drummond Chandler, wife of Walter B. Chandler, birth record #186, 29 November 1910; death certificate #82-036933 dated 9 November 1982, Low Moor, Virginia.

14 Judith Brown was the second wife of Robert Chandler. See North Carolina Marriage Index, 16 May 1798, Stokes County, Bond # 000137766. Judith is found in census records for Grayson County, Virginia, in 1830 and 1840.

15Mentions of George and his son James were found in "Reconstructed 1810 Tennessee Census," located in Tennessee Archives:

16 Early Middle Tennessee Marriages, p. 96, lists Isaac Chandler’s two marriages:

17James or Jasper Gilbert Chandler apparently went by the name of “Gilbert,” but was listed as James or Jasper in the 1900 Hickman County Census. He was “Gilbert” in the 1850 Hickman County TN Census of his father, Isaac. In the 1860 Hickman County census Gilbert is living with a Jones family. Isaac had probably passed away by this time.

18James Walter Chandler was 23 in the 1910 Hickman County Census.

19Hickman County, Tennessee, History, published by the Hickman County Historical Society, confirms the marriage of James Walter Chandler, Sr.