JULY 2010 CHANDLER NEWS by Carol May

Happy Fourth of July! We have had a month of discoveries, updates and corrections, so lots of news. The Edmund Chandler Family Association is a research group open to anyone interested in Edmund Chandler and his family so we welcome discoveries and corrections.

Next time I hope to bring you the news from the Southern California Genealogical Society Jamboree which I attended. Instead of the story about Duxbury and the Stamp Act as, which was one of the events leading up to the Revolutionary War, we have update on Medal of Honor recipient, John B. Chandler.

JOHN B. CHANDLER MEDAL OF HONOR RECIPIENT UPDATE NEWS

John Chandler's Grave at Find A Grave.com - Photo by Don Morfe

John Chandler's Grave at Find A Grave.com - Photo by Don Morfe

John B. Chandler (mistakenly called James B. Chandler by the military authorities) was a Medal of Honor recipient for his Navy service during the Civil War. One receives or is awarded, but never “wins” a MOH as it is not a contest.

A recap of the Nov. 2009 story about him written by Russ Dodge:

“Civil War Congressional Medal of Honor Recipient. Served in the Union Navy during the Civil War as a Coxswain on board the “USS Richmond”. He was awarded the CMOH for his bravery during action against Confederate forces in Mobile Bay, Alabama on August 5, 1864. His citation reads “Cool and courageous although he had just come off the sick list, Chandler rendered gallant service throughout the prolonged action as his ship maintained accurate fire against Fort Morgan and ships of the Confederacy despite extremely heavy return fire. He participated in the actions at Forts Jackson and St. Philip, with the Chalmette batteries, at the surrender of New Orleans and in the attacks on batteries below Vicksburg”. His Medal was awarded to him on December 31, 1864.”

Here is John B. Chandler’s lineage going back starting with John B. Chandler, our MOH recipient: John B. Chandler>Samuel Chandler+Jerusha Bartlett>John B. Chandler+Hannah Sturtevant>Samuel Chandler+Nancy Brown>Samuel Chandler+Margaret Philips>Benjamin Chandler+Elizabeth Buck>Edmund Chandler, the immigrant. I got bogged down trying to trace his parents, Samuel and Jerusha (Bartlett) Chandler. I mistakenly tried to trace him back to Thomas instead of his brother Samuel. Samuel, Thomas, Martha and Abigail were the children of Samuel and Margaret (Philips) Chandler. The younger Samuel, and James B.’s ancestor, was the executor of his father’s estate and inherited the homestead, but we know very little about him, his wife or his descendants.

When I was at the Southern California Genealogical Jamboree, I went up to the NEHGS booth and asked one of their genealogists and to look John Chandler up, and  he confirmed that lineage. They may have been a family of seafarers as was John B. Chandler, our MOH recipient, which could explain why there are not many records. Also, somewhere along the line, the family moved from Duxbury to Plymouth, so more information may be found in Plymouth.

SOURCES:

Find A Grave (listed under James B. Chandler)

“Ancient Landmarks of Plymouth” by William T. Davis (can be found online at the Plymouth US Gen Web project) for Samuel’s line.

Edmund Chandler Family Association “Edmund’s main lineage” database, Members’ Only section

US censuses

“Burial Hill Plymouth, Massachusetts…” available on line for the grave information for Samuel and Hannah.

Massachusetts marriages 1633-1850 http://www.familysearch.org (pilot section) for the marriage of John B. Chandler and Nancy Sturtevant

WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?

The genealogy TV show entitled “Who Do You Think You Are?” will be returning next season on NBC. When I hear when, I will let you all know. Last season, Lisa Kudrow, of the TV show “Friends”, Susan Sarandon, Spike Lee, Sarah Jessica Parker and others were profiled.

I know that many genealogy buffs in the audience groaned when the highly detailed and verified research was brought out instantly by a librarian or genealogist. “They make it look so easy,” was a common complaint.

They may have made it look easy, but it was not. I was told by a librarian/genealogist at the Jamboree that he was one of 40 people working on just Sarah Jessica Parker’s Gold Rush ancestor alone. Yes, forty. That was not a typo. Ancestry, who is one of the shows sponsors and does the research, really pulled out all of the stops making that show. Maybe the cure for that brick wall is to get famous and be invited to “Who Do You Think You Are?” and then have their Ancestry staff solve it for you!

Actress Brooke Shields, in a TV interview, explained how the process worked. She, along with several other famous people, was asked if they were interested. After replying “yes,” she heard nothing back for quite some time so she assumed that she wasn’t chosen. She said that she thought that her ancestors were probably too boring.

However, behind the scenes, the Ancestry people were working away checking out each celebrity’s family tree. They undoubtedly chose those with the most entertainment value and without insurmountable brick walls. Then, to her surprise, she got a call and was told to “dress warm” and off they went to Europe. She thought that she was Italian, but found out that she was French and had ancestors born in the Louvre! One of the French kings, I think.

When the show is on again, and you settle down in front of your TV for an hour of entertainment and, hopefully, enlightenment, take heart to know that there were squads of genealogists behind that show and it was not that easy.

A COUPLE OF VERMONT BRICKWALLS TUMBLE

A few years back an early member of the group could not find a birth record for her ancestor, Charles Chandler, of Vermont. She thought that his mother’s name was Fanny and thought that he descended from Edmund via his son, Benjamin, but it was a guess.

Flash forward several years and there is a query on the Chandler board about Eunice Chandler of Vermont. Now, because of Familysearch’s new, but at times quirky, pilot program, I found Eunice’s birth record and her siblings’ birth records with their parents’ names. A couple of the names were familiar, Charles and his mother Fanny. So while helping out with one brick wall, inadvertently another tumbled as well.

Here is Charles and Eunice’s line: Abner+Fanny (Abbot) Chandler>Abner+Sarah (Hill) Chandler>Joseph+Deborah (Bonney) Chandler>Benjamin+Mercy (Buck) Chandler>Edmund, the immigrant

DUXBURY NEWS

Billie, having finished her research on Capt. John Chandler, is now doing a summary of that work which we believe establishes his parentage and is the position of the ECFA. She is also working on another “mystery” Chandler, Zebedee of Plympton. The four we refer to as the “mystery” Chandlers are: Capt. John., Nathaniel, Mercy and Zebedee. She researched Nathaniel and his children and Mercy and her children previously.

One project she plans to tackle in the future, which will be of interest to all Edmund descendants, is researching Edmund, the immigrant’s, home farm in Duck Hill, Duxbury.

As Billie continues with her research, we will have more information to share.

THE ZEBEDEE CHANDLERS UPDATE AND CORRECTIONS

Last year Elsie and I researched  Zebedee Chandlers including the one that Billie is now working on. There were several. However, since then I found new information and found that I made mistakes that need correcting. So here is an update on the Zebedees.

Original Zebedee was one of our “mystery” Chandlers. (See Duxbury News above) who lived in Plympton, Mass an offshoot of Duxbury. He was Lt. Zebedee, his son, also named Zebedee, was an enlisted man. I had their military service ascribed to the wrong Zebedee. Then found that I was looking for a Zebedee that did not exist! That happened to me before, but it turned out that used the name Chandler as an alias, but that is a different story.

We have original Zebedee of Plympton, #1, his son, Zebedee #2 and his son, Zebedee #3. However, Zebedee #3 did not have a son named Zebedee as I previously thought. So erase Zebedee #4 from your records. He did not exist.

The really confusing part, which was one of the reasons that led to the idea that there was a Zebedee #4, was the wives. We didn’t have it straightened out then and we have not completely straightened it out now. Zebedee #2 and Zebedee #3 were both were widowers and were getting up in years when they remarried, but which wife to which Zebedee? There were three wives in a short period of time. They were, Bathsheba Burt, Mrs. Mary Jane Wheeler and Betsey Briggs. I found an intention for marriage for Bathsheba, but no marriage record and thought that perhaps they never married; however, there was a woman age 40-50 in the 1840 census. Could that have been her?

Betsey, who I think was Betsey Briggs and not Bathsheba Burt as the nickname for Bathsheba is “Bashie,” died and was buried in Lakenham cemetery as was her child, Abby Maria Chandler. Zebedee #3 and his first wife, Ruth Cole are also buried in Lakenham. Most likely Betsey Briggs rather than Bathsheba was the mother of Abby and Zebedee #3’s wife.

Mrs. Mary Jane Wheeler probably married really old Zebedee #2. If Betsey Briggs married Zebedee #3, which Zebedee married Bathsheba Burt, if indeed they married? Zebedee #3 died a widower in 1849 so it appears that he outlived two or more wives.

This is just like the shell game trying to find the pea.

In those days there was no living together, no roommates of the opposite sex, you got married. So when there was an old widower and an old widow that couldn’t get by on their own anymore, they married.

Oh yes, as we wrote in the original story, there was also a Zebedee Chandler in Maine, but he descended from Capt. John and that Zebedee had a son named Zebedee, born April 23, 1815, but I think that he died young.

We are hoping to get gravestone pictures to help straighten this out. We will update you all again when we get the whole story.

DNA NEWS

As we are on the subject of the “mystery” Zebedee Chandler of Plympton, the ECFA is going to offer to pay for a probably 37 marker DNA test for a documented descendant of Zebedee Chandler, of Plympton Mass, born c. 1712.

Results could either include or exclude him as part of the Edmund Chandler family. This would help, not only Zebedee descendants, but help us with our work on the mystery Chandlers as a group. There is a slight possibility that Zebedee may have been part of the early Bridgewater Chandlers, who were not descendants of Edmund, or of Roger Chandler. Bridgewater was adjacent to Plympton. I am doing more research on this.

A generous donation allowed an offer to be made for a free DNA test for a documented Roger Chandler of Concord descendant. So far we have not found a Roger of Concord Chandler descendant to test, but are looking. We would like to know if Roger of Concord was part of the greater Edmund Chandler family, i.e. shared a common ancestor with Edmund. A match would lend support to the idea that Roger descended from Roger Chandler of Duxbury. It has long been believed that Roger of Duxbury was related to Edmund and this would lend more support to that idea, too.

The more that we can prove the more precise our research can be.

Ultimately, besides being able to confirm Edmund descendants in the US, we are hoping that DNA research will be able to help us locate Edmund’s English origins which are still unknown contrary to the incorrect stories out there on the internet and in old books. As always, send in your corrections, additions or comments.

If you have an interesting story or picture about an Edmund Chandler descendant, please share.

CHANDLER NEWS by Carol May

Lots of ECFA news, including Duxbury and Maine news.  No articles this month, but Barb Chandler, our editor, says that we will probably go with the articles on a quarterly basis.  If you have an interesting story to tell about one of your Chandler ancestors, or have come across some historical information about an Edmund Chandler descendant, please share! We need writers, pictures, research hints, queries, questions, etc. I hope to be writing about the Stamp Act and the Chandlers who protested it and have a DNA Q and A about the new DNA test for a future issue.

We have two new members since last time.  Check and see if you share the same line and maybe you can share info or help each other out.  For the few that forgot to send in your dues, please send them to Bob, our treasurer.  You can e-mail him at rvchandler@aol.com to get his address if you do not have it.

WELCOME NEW MEMBERS

Our new members are, Chris Chandler, this time from the Benjamin line, and Mike McDonough from the Joseph line through Ichabod and Capt. John.

FROM THE BENJAMIN LINE

Chris descends from Edmund, the immigrant’s son, Benjamin. Benjamin’s son, Joseph, moved to Connecticut, then his sons moved to New Hampshire and Vermont.

Chris is stuck at his ancestor David Chandler.  David was born in 1853 in Vermont.  His family history notes shows David as the son of Hiram Chandler but he is looking for documentation to show the connection.  Chris’  line starting with Hiram and going back goes like this:   Hiram>Ozias>Simeon>Joseph>Benjamin>Edmund, the immigrant

Luckily for Chris, Elsie, Cornelia and I spent some time researching Hiram and Ozias of Vermont a couple of years ago so we were able to trace Hiram back to Edmund, but did not fully research his children so did not see David.  Hiram’s father, Ozias, eventually moved from Vermont and was listed in the 1850 US census for Sterling, Massachusetts where he died.

I found Hiram in the 1850 US census for Belvidere, Lamoille, Vermont. Then Hiram seems to drop off the map. I found other Hirams — Hiram of Putney, Vermont, Hiram of Chenango New York — but not the right Hiram.  He may have died, but if he died what happened to his children, especially David?  David shows up in the 1900 census and maybe the 1880 census, but that is all that I could find. I don’t have access to a full 1860 census.  So if any of you have access to the 1860 and 1870 censuses, it would help Chris if you could find David Chandler or he may have been called David Hiram Chandler. Contact Chris at gomit@verizon.net

FROM JOSEPH’S LINE

New member, Mike McDonough, has traced his line to Ichabod Chandler and Ruth Fish.  Because of the research that we all have done, I was able to fill him in from Ichabod back to Edmund. So his line starting with Ichabod goes like this: Ichabod>Jonathan>Capt. John>we believe Edmund>Joseph>Edmund, the immigrant. I know that there are several Ichabod descendants out there, so you may want to share info with Mike.  You can reach him at mcd2004@sbcglobal.net

DUXBURY NEWS

The Duxbury research continues.  For our new members, Duxbury is the hometown to all of the Edmund Chandler descendants as that is where Edmund settled circa 1630 after coming over from Leiden.

The very complicated pieces of the puzzle are coming together.  Our member, Billie, has been focusing her research on “The Old Chandler Neighborhood” of Duxbury.  This is the area in Duxbury on Tremont St. near the Mayflower Cemetery up to about Harrison St.  She has been concentrating on the east side of the road recently, although Chandler lands lay on both the east and west side of Tremont.  You can look this up on a satellite map, but remember that the Mayflower Cemetery is mislabeled “Mayfield” on the maps. There is also “Chandlerville” in Duxbury, but that is farther west and was settled much later.

Henry Fish, who did a fantastic job on locating where the old houses were in Duxbury, and others came to an impasse when it came to the Chandlers.  That area east of Tremont was just labeled The Old Chandler Neighborhood as no one actually knew which Chandlers lived there.

Research has taken Billie way, way back, before 1700. Joseph Chandler, son of Edmund the immigrant, was the first Chandler there.  He was actually the first nonnative American there. So he was the start of The Old Chandler Neighborhood.

The Old Chandler Neighborhood goes back to Joseph but where was Joseph’s house?  Where was his son, Edmund’s house?  Where was the land that Joseph’s daughters, Esther, Sarah and Mary inherited? These are the questions that she has been working on.

The main players in this game of musical houses and land are Joseph, his son Edmund, his daughters, Mary, Esther, and Sarah, daughter-in-law Elizabeth (Alden) Chandler and Capt. John Chandler, Edmund’s grandson.

This is of interest to so many in our group as they descend from Joseph or both Joseph and his grandson, Capt. John Chandler who married Bethiah Rickard.

Both clues and confusion can be found in Joseph’s Will which we have in Underhill’s “Genealogy of Edward Small” in our Members’ Only library.

Billie has already found Capt. John’s house, but then the question arose: Who owned that house before Capt. John?

After much pondering by our members, Orland, Billie and me, we came up with a new theory which we hope will be born out by the research going on now. We think that we have found Joseph’s house and may have figured out Edmund’s.

The other house on Harrison which Billie thought may have been originally Joseph’s appears to have belonged to John Glass.  John Glass married Joseph’s daughter, Esther.  This property appears to have abutted Joseph’s property.

Stay tuned to see if our theory is born out regarding Capt. John, Joseph and Joseph’s son, Edmund.

I have been helping Billie as much as I can and the e-mails have flown back and forth, with a new discovery with each turn complete with reversals and twists. So what we thought was so a couple of months ago has been reversed since then. Billie has gone through over 400 deeds and 60 probates, and still counting, to figure out the Duxbury Chandler lands.

Aside from being actually being able to see the houses that belonged to our ancestors, as they are still standing, the importance to figuring out the ownership of the lands and houses are vital to proving Capt. John’s parentage.

THE PLAQUE

Billie made an initial contact with the Duxbury people about the plaque, but needs to talk to the right person.  Being New Englanders they proceed cautiously which also can mean slowly regarding something new like a plaque.  Billie pointed out that it would not be just a general plaque, which they don’t need, but a specific historical marker.  We have started a plaque fund and can also draw from the dues fund for the plaque when the powers that be in Duxbury can give us the go ahead. As I wrote previously the heart of the town (Third Meeting House, Mayflower Cemetery, the present day town buildings, and first school) was founded on what was Chandler land.

THE DATABASES

I went to the Rootsmagic Computer Users meeting Sunday. Rootsmagic is a fairly new genealogy program.  As you know if you have been following the ECFA news, I am terrible with computers, really good at research, but fizzle with computers.  One of the experts who belong to the user group said that I can bring the disks down and he will help sort them out and tell me what needs to be done next. The new data and old data wouldn’t merge correctly along with a few more glitches, plus the whole works needs to go into a new program.

The other news is that with Billie’s research, we need to start thinking about merging at least some of the databases.  Right now We have Edmund’s Main Lineage, Capt. John’s lineage, Nathaniel’s lineage, Mercy’s lineage and Zebedee’s lineage.  The reason that they were separate was because we did not have proof of how they descended from Edmund Chandler, the immigrant.  Well, we are getting closer, thanks to Billie, to that proof. We now have proof that Capt. John was the grandson of Joseph and great-grandson of Edmund, the immigrant.  She is working hard to prove that Capt. John’s father was Joseph’s son, also named Edmund.

The Members’ Only section has the databases with the notes and sources.  So if you want information more than just names that is where you need to go.  The public section just has the names. New members especially take note of this feature as there are extensive notes on some of the names.

Another feature of Rootsmagic that I hope that we can utilize is the ability to generate a list of ancestors with their occupations.  It will be interesting to see what patterns could emerge from that. Lots of blacksmiths early on. Some sea captains, too.

Right now the main focus is on the Duxbury research that I am helping Billie with.

DNA NEWS

We are hoping to get Roger of Concord, Mass to test as we just got a lead.  Roger of Concord may tie into the greater Edmund Chandler family as many of his descendants believe that he was the son of Roger Chandler of Duxbury, but no proof.  Roger Chandler of Duxbury is believed by the experts to be related to Edmund as they were both in Leiden and probably came over on the same ship to Duxbury.

CHANDLERS IN MAINE

Now that the snow has melted in Maine, our member, Steve, set out to check out a cemetery near him in New Gloucester, Maine.  He came across the graves of two Chandlers that he thought could be ours. They were Jacob Chandler and Thankful Chandler. Thankful has also been spelled in the old style with two “L’s” in the records. This was at a cemetery very near the New Gloucester, Maine border.  Jacob and Thankful (or Thankfull) lived in nearby Danville, Maine.

It turns out that I had researched these same two Chandlers. I think that Jacob was most likely the son of Jonathan and Zeruiah (Brown) Chandler.  Jonathan was the other Jonathan of the Poland/Minot Maine area.  His line back to Edmund goes like this Jonathan>Judah>Joseph>Joseph>Edmund.  Jonathan’s other children are buried in the fairly nearby Empire Cemetery. I hope to do an in depth study on this Jonathan’s family in the future. You can see the pictures below. This is what Steve transcribed from the stones:

Jacob Chandler

Jacob Chandler

died May 10, 1872

84 yrs  2 mos

Thankful Chandler

His wife;

Thankful Chandler

Feb. 16, 1881

88 yrs 6 mos

Of interest, to me at least, as at the foot of each grave was a small stone with their apparent initials on them…ie  TC and JC.

See you next time and remember if you have a Chandler story, picture, or research tip, please share it with us and we will put it in the Courier and as usual if I made any mistakes, tell me!

Contact Barb our editor at: barb95831@gmail.com

Happy hunting! Carol

MARCH ECFA NEWS by Carol May

More ECFA news and more research news!  First, April is renewal month so members will soon be receiving a renewal reminder from our treasurer and co-chairperson, Bob.  If you are not a member and wish to join the Edmund Chandler Family Association go to our website www.edmundchandler.com and click membership on the left hand side of the webpage.  You can be added to our mailing list by clicking mailing list on the top of the page.

My computer (henceforth known as HAL) went wacko for a couple of weeks or so.  After an undisturbed rest for several days and then lots of scans it seems much, much better. I think that I still should take it in to be checked,  so if you can’t get a hold of me that’s probably why.

DUXBURY NEWS

Billie found out, through her research, that the heart of the town of Duxbury was founded on Chandler land.  Part of the Mayflower Cemetery, the Meeting Hall, the first school, and I think the town buildings were all built on land belonging to Chandlers. Joseph (son of Edmund, the immigrant), then grandson Capt. John, owned where the Meeting Hall and most of the Mayflower Cemetery were built.  Joseph’s nephew, Benjamin Chandler owned the land where the first school was built.  Benjamin was the son of Joseph’s brother, also named Benjamin.

THE PLAQUE

The town of Duxbury honors the Standishes and Aldens and other early first residents of the town, but the Chandlers’ contribution has been forgotten and unrecognized.  For shame!  To rectify that, Billie thinks that a plaque commemorating mostly Joseph Chandler, but also probably Capt. John, Jonathan and nephew Benjamin’s, contribution is in order.  Billie can correct me if I explained that incorrectly.

We feel that the about $638.00 dollars that a bronze plaque costs would be a worthwhile expenditure from our dues and from a plaque fund that we wish to create.  For those who wish to contribute to a plaque fund, they may do so by sending a check to Bob, our treasurer. Billie has experience in creating memorials previously, so she would be able to shepherd the project through.  She also said that we may wish to create another plaque in the future commemorating other Chandler contributions to the town, but that is down the road and is dependent, among other things, what other discoveries are made about the early Chandlers.

As Billie continues her research on early Chandler lands in Duxbury she will work on the wording of the plaque, the location, etc. The plaque would probably be placed near the Mayflower Cemetery, Meeting Hall (church) or Town offices.  Those three sites are all in a row on the west side of Tremont St.  She will keep us posted.

Billie is still hard at work trying to prove which Chandler lived in which house on the east side of Tremont St. in Duxbury.  As I wrote previously, we do know where Capt. John lived.  Billie is trying to prove which Chandler owned 907 Tremont before Capt. John did.  It is difficult to figure out the houses as they traded the land amongst themselves without recording it.

If you go to a satellite map of Duxbury and find Tremont St. you can see the sites that we are talking about.  For some reason, the Mayflower Cemetery is incorrectly labeled Mayfield Cemetery, so be aware of that while you are looking at satellite maps.

DNA NEWS

FTDNA, the DNA research company that we use, has just made an announcement about a new DNA test which works on for both men and women and can, hopefully, identify cousins up to the fifth generation maybe beyond.  This is not the “Y” DNA test for only men.  It is more expensive than the “Y” test as it is $249.00.

We, on the Chandler DNA committee, just got an e-mail from our Ph.D. expert, John Chandler explaining more about this new test.  We will need to ask some follow-up questions to see how useful it would be for our Chandler descendants. From what I have learned so far, it works best comparing those without a lot of dead ends before the 5th generation.  There may also be difficulty sorting things out when comparing results from people who are related through more than one family as in the case of New England families.  As we find out more about this test, we will let you know.  It appears that it could be very, very useful in the right cases.

TV GENEALOGY NEWS

For those who have been getting my e-mails, you probably know about these programs, but for those of you who have not heard, here’s the latest.  “Faces of America with Henry Louis Gates, Jr.”  PBS’ genealogy series is on Wednesday nights at 8 PM at least in my area, Los Angeles. This week they talk about DNA. In a promo, they said that Eva Longoria (Desperate Housewives) and Yo Yo Ma are related!

Last week featuring Yo Yo Ma, they visited China. For those of you who wondered how Yo Yo Ma got his name, it was decided centuries ago by his ancestor who chose all of the names for 30 generations!  He went from not knowing where his father came from in China to finding documents that trace the Ma family back for centuries.

A new series “Who Do You Think You Are?” begins this Friday, March 5 at 8 PM.  It is hosted by Lisa Kudrow of “Friends”s fame. Sarah Jessica Parker has a New England witch in her family tree. Like Gates’ program, they not only trace famous folks’ ancestry, they visit the actual towns that their ancestors came from.

GPS

Huh!  For those of you who are not familiar with that acronym, it stands for Global Positioning Satellite.  They put them in cars so you know where you are, hikers use the small handheld devices to keep from getting lost, and people who participate in geo caching games use them to locate hidden “treasures.”

I was at the last RootsMagic genealogy group meeting when GPS was brought up.  In the RootsMagic program there is actually a place to enter GPS coordinates.  I asked what does that have to do with genealogy?  I was surprised to learn that GPS is now being used for genealogists out in the field as they locate old gravestones in the weeds, hunt abandoned townsites, homesteads and lots.

The devices won’t discover these lost sites. You have to hunt them down yourself, but when you find them, you enter the coordinates in your genealogy program.  That way in the future you can find that gravestone, homestead, etc., which took you hours to find in the first place.

Also, when you share your research with other family members or researchers, they can locate those places quickly and maybe continue your research for you if you live a great distance away.

Ain’t science grand!

MISC. NEWS AND UPDATES

I don’t know if I mentioned in the last edition of the Courier, the censuses are not considered primary sources, but secondary sources.  Why?  That’s because we have no way of knowing who gave the information to the census taker (enumerator).  It could have been a child or even a neighbor.

That and more was gleaned from the last meeting of the RootsMagic meeting.  Detailed explanations were given on how to properly record sources. For example, it is not enough to say, for example, 1860 US census.  You have to write down where YOU found the census information. It may be Ancestry or wherever. You need to put down the page number and even the line number if it is a boarding house. The talk was led by a history teacher, so it was very, very picky.  The main rule for everybody should be to use a consistent method when you write things down.  It may be your own, but at least stay consistent.

One of her references, which she was thrilled with, was two inch thick $50.00 book called “Evidence.”  I cringed when I saw that whopper.  Luckily there are plastic laminated quickie reference sheets available where the most important stuff is crammed onto a page.

*****************

This month I got an inquiry by someone who actually did turn out to descend from Edmund, not one of the other Chandler families.  I get inquiries and answer questions, but so few lead back to Edmund.  Hopefully, he will be able to share info with those in the group who share the same line.

******************

Lastly, Barb our editor, and I are trying to figure out if it would be best for us to go quarterly with the Courier.  It gets tough for just two to produce a monthly edition.  We may just have monthly news updates and then go quarterly with articles for the Courier. If more people wish to contribute articles we may remain monthly.  We will have to figure this out.

If you wish to contribute an article, let Barb know.  Also, if you have a news tidbit, let me know and I will include it in our ECFA news updates.

Regardless, you will get the news and the research continues.

Carol May

Co-chairperson of the Edmund Chandler Family Association

ECFA NEWS AND UPDATES by Carol May

First, we would like to welcome our new member, Laura. She descends from Capt. John Chandler. John was the grandson of Edmund, the immigrant’s son, Joseph.

No Duxbury news this month, but Billie should be back at it soon. Trying to figure out which Chandler lived in which house sometimes seems like trying to figure under which shell the pea resides.

Our member, Orland, is on the mend and hopes to be back in full action by summer. Orland was cutting down a box elder as part of a restoration project on the grounds of the church where his gg-grandfather Rev. Samuel Poole Chandler preached, when the tree popped back at him knocking him out and clear down the hill. He is very fortunate, as his ancestor, John Chandler, was not so lucky when he was chopping down a tree in Foxcroft, Maine. Orland did say that he is done with cutting down box elders.

This month we have news about the Benjamin line. We were searching to verify the connection between William L. Chandler and his father when we were provided proof of the link, the baptismal record, by a very dedicated researcher. William L. Chandler was the grandson of Revolutionary war hero, Capt. Jonathan Chandler of Piermont, New Hampshire. The researcher is going to share more information about Capt. Jonathan and his descendants so that we can add them to our database and correct any errors that we made. Capt. Jonathan, was a descendant of Edmund, the immigrant’s son, Benjamin.

I am still going to the Rootsmagic computer meetings and am getting closer to tackling those databases, with help.

Here is a little tidbit which may be useful to your research of other lines of you family. The US Citizenship and Immigration Services have a program to help genealogists delve into the immigration records of their ancestors. It costs $20.00 for the search and an additional amount to copy documents. For more information check out their site:

www.uscis.gov/genealogy.

Until next time, happy hunting!

DUXBURY NEWS by Carol May

First, the latest with Billie’s research into the old Chandler neighborhood on now the east side of Tremont St. in Duxbury.  The 273 Harrison St. house still shows promise to be Joseph’s (son of Edmund the immigrant) house. The barn with the huge hearth near both Capt. John’s house (900 Tremont) and 273 Harrison which was owned at one time by the Glass family. Joseph’s daughter, Esther married a Glass but we don’t know if the house came through the Chandler family or not at this point. Those houses are the nearest houses to the barn which may have been the blacksmith shop. However, there are a couple of other nearby “mystery” houses that may have been Chandler dwellings at one time.

Joseph’s daughter, Sarah, ultimately ended up with the Joseph’s house.  Later on Sarah married Moses Soule. Billie is trying to pinpoint Moses Soule’s house in the old Chandler neighborhood as that could have been Joseph’s house.  It takes a lot of figuring to read the old deeds and documents which mention to the west or east of a Chandler house or property and deduce from that where those houses are. This is like the genealogy version of a really, really difficult crossword puzzle with very obscure clues. If I have explained any of this incorrectly, jump in Billie, and correct me.