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Last Updated: 12/07/2009
By
Carol May
It seems like most of the Chandler men were named either John or Joseph. This is very confusing for researchers, especially when the early records of them were sketchy, incomplete or lost. People trying to research their families would confuse one John with another or the facts about one John would be misapplied to another. Edmund, the immigrant, had only two sons, Benjamin and Joseph, who were known to have had descendants that carried on the Chandler name. Both had many descendants named John. While this is not a complete list of the John Chandlers, that would be web site in itself, this is an attempt to clarify some of the early ones. No descendants from Edmund’s other two sons, John and Samuel, have been found. Any new information or corrections would be greatly appreciated as this is an ongoing area of research.
JOHN, EDMUND’S SON
We do not know who his mother was, but he is believed to be the son of Edmund’s, second wife. The only record that we have of him is his Will. He died probably shipboard, as his Will was written on the way to the Barbados in 1653. He is not believed to have had a wife and children, because he left everything to his father or to his siblings if his father was not living. His Will is in the Barbados archives and was proved July 11, 1653. He was listed has a planter of St. Phillip’s parish, Barbados. Here is the abstracted version of his Will from the Barbados archives:
“All my estate to Edmund Chandler my father, living at New Plimouth (sic) in New England, if father is dead to my brothers and sisters. Father to be Executor. Goods in ship “Seaflower”, Capt. Miles Canaton Commander; friend Lt. John Dixon is to see that goods get to father, brothers or sisters.”
However, there was ANOTHER John Chandler, a servant, who emigrated from Bristol, England to the Barbados on April 28, 1662. This John Chandler was listed in the Barbados census of 1680. The information on the John Chandler from Bristol was compiled by Terri England of the Chronicle Barbados, Center for Barbados Studies History and Genealogy on Rootsweb. There is no connection that we know of, with this John Chandler of Bristol and John Chandler, son of Edmund of Duxbury, Massachusetts.
JOHN, WHO LOST HIS HAND, (JOSEPH, EDMUND): He is often been confused with Edmund’s son John, who died on the way to the Barbados, but he was his nephew. John, who lost his hand, was the son of Joseph and the grandson of Edmund. See the only mention of him in the Town Records of Duxbury below.
On June 2, 1687, “The Town did give unto Joseph Chandlers son John who by Gods Providence has lost his hand 50 Acres of land Lying on the Easterly side of the South River & Northerly side of the Place Called the Rockes Provided that his Father shall have liberty to sell or other wise improve sd Lands for the benefit of afore sd child”, as related by Lora Altine Woodbury Underhill author of “Descendants of Edward Small of New England and the Allied Families with Tracings of English Ancestry.”
John may have married and had children, or he may have died young. There is no record of him other than being given the land. He probably died before his father, Joseph, wrote his Will as he is not named in it. If he did have issue, could he have been the father of the John Chandler who was mentioned in Joseph Chandler’s Will? (See below)
JOHN, JOSEPH’S GRANDSON (?, JOSEPH, EDMUND): We know who his grandfather was, but not his father. He was named a beneficiary in Joseph’s Will (Plymouth County Probate, Book 4: 309-311 as related in “Small”.), but there was no mention of who his parents were. Joseph died in 1721 a couple of months after he wrote his Will. There is a debate about whether this John was the son of Joseph’s son, Edmund and wife Elizabeth (Alden) Chandler. Joseph’s son Edmund died intestate circa 1717.
Elizabeth (Alden) Chandler, widow of Edmund, was also one of Joseph’s beneficiaries, but there was no explanation of how Elizabeth and John were related. This John has been the subject of debate for decades. Was he the son of Joseph’s son Edmund and his wife Elizabeth Alden? Or was he the son of John, who lost his hand? Or was he the son of a still unknown son of Joseph? Neither George Ernest Bowman, the great Mayflower researcher, nor Lora Altine Woodbury Underhill author of “Small” solved this puzzle.
In “Mayflower Families through Five Generations,” (Volume 16, Part 1, John Alden, pages 119-122) this John Chandler is listed as a “Possible child of Edmund and Elizabeth (Alden) Chandler.” Because he did not share in the distribution of the estate of Edmund, they conclude that he must have died young if, he indeed, was their son.
Using their logic, if he was their son, he would have had to have died in a narrow time frame between 1721 when he was named in Joseph’s Will and 1724 when it appeared that Edmund’s widow began disposing of the assets of Edmund’s estate.
Arguments against him being their son include that there was never any mention of him, nor any children in any of the business of settling Edmund’s estate. There was no guardian appointed if he was a child. If he was an adult, why wasn’t he named co-administrator of Edmund’s estate?
Arguments for him being Edmund’s son would be that Edmund was married and was in the right place (Duxbury) and time (late 1600s to early 1700s) to have been his father. No record has been found showing John, who lost his hand married, nor has the record of his death been found. While records in those days are admittedly sketchy and not complete, no other married Chandlers have been found that could have been his father.
So, again, was he their son? Or the son of John, who lost his hand? Or was he the son of another unknown son of Joseph?
JOHN 2nd, WHO MARRIED BETHIA RICKARD: Was he Joseph’s mysterious grandson? (see above). It seems that he most likely was. He was the only John Chandler of that time period that we could find in the records of Duxbury and environs. If Joseph had another living grandson or grandsons named John Chandler when he wrote his Will and failed to properly identify which one he intended to inherit property, objections could be made by the other John or Johns and none have been found.
John Chandler 2nd married Bethia Rickard on May 6, 1724 in Plympton, Massachusetts according to Plympton parish and town records.
One would think that John 2nd’s father was John Chandler 1st. However, the designation “2nd” often means someone who was named after another relative not necessarily the father. However, in those days if there were several people in a town with the same name, the town clerk might number them whether they were related or not just so they could be kept straight. Those designated “2nd” would be older than those designated “3rd.”
“Junior” could designate son, but was often used to indicate that there was an older one and younger one of the same name. The number or the designation “junior” or “senior” was not permanent either. When the older person of the same name died, junior could be dropped from the younger one’s name, so could the number.
For a while there were three John Chandlers that we know about living in Duxbury at the same time in the 1700s. They were:
John, (Benjamin, Edmund). See John, who married Sarah Weston, see below)
John 2nd, (his parents are the subject of debate)
John 3rd, (Joseph, Benjamin, Edmund). See John, who also married a Sarah Weston, see below)
The designation John 2nd in this case seems to refer to him as being the younger one, although that would not preclude him also as being the son of a John Chandler. John Chandler 2nd was also referred to as John Chandler, Jr. in the settlement of the estate of his father-in-law, Henry Rickard (Plymouth County PR 5:491-2) on
So far, we have not found any record of John Chandler 2nd’s birth. We believe that he was Capt. John Chandler who died
DESCENDANTS OF BENJAMIN, SON OF EDMUND
JOHN CHANDLER, WHO MARRIED SARAH WESTON, (BENJAMIN, EDMUND) There were TWO John Chandlers who each married a Sarah Weston. This John Chandler married the daughter of Elnathan Weston and Desire Standish. He was baptized on Oct. 3, 1676 (Scituate vital records) and died on April 7, 1759 age 82 years and 7 months according to Duxbury vital records. He had no children and left his farm to his nephew (see below) as related in “Small”. He is often confused with John 2nd who married Bethia Rickard.
JOHN CHANDLER (JOSEPH, BENJAMIN, EDMUND), WHO ALSO MARRIED A SARAH WESTON: He was the nephew of the John Chandler described above and inherited his farm. This nephew also married a Sarah Weston (Joseph Weston+Bethiah Oldham). This John Chandler was also referred to as John Chandler 3rd in Duxbury vital records. He was born Oct. 25, 1722 in Duxbury according to “Mayflower Descendant Vol 12: 163.
For those researching this line, his son Abel Chandler, married yet another Sarah Weston (Micah Weston+Mercy Peterson).
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