Between the Windows: Descendants of Shadrack Chandler and Elizabeth Latta, part 2

James Jackson Chandler, the youngest child of Shadrack and Elizabeth, was born the 18th of December 1824, in Maury County, Tennessee. He is the earliest Chandler for whom I have a likeness.

I have these notes in my file:
---pictures of James Jackson and Mary Jane are photographs taken by Jack Chandler while on a visit to Tennessee. Mary Elizabeth says they were 16x20 charcoal drawings; she has photographs of the original drawings in their frames, hanging on the wall in the home of Bertha (Chandler) Thorne, daughter of James and Mary Jane. Mary Elizabeth also has an old photograph of James that is the same pose as the drawing, only a full photo - not just head and shoulders. Feb 2005: she believes that Lanier Thorne . . . grandson of Bertha and great-grandson of James and Mary Jane, would know the current whereabouts of the original pictures.

---Mary Elizabeth Chandler Fields has a watch belonging to James Jackson Chandler. It is made by Joseph Johnson, Liverpool, England, and was made about 1824, according to the serial number on the watch. 1824 is the year James J was born. The pocket watch is heavy and is silver with a jeweled movement. I don't know if there is a correlation between the date of the watch and the birth of James, but it's an intriguing thought that the watch and birthdate match.

James was only 14 when his father Shadrack died. Next older child, Sarah, married in 1839 so she was still at home at the time of Shadrack's death. Son John Chandler married July 1938, the same year as his father's death. Shelby didn't marry until 1850 and is shown here with Elizabeth and James living with he and his new wife.

1850 Tennessee, Maury Co, Dist No 22, 21 August
51/51 Shelby Chandler, 33, farmer, vore 1200, b Tennessee / Lavina, 21, b Tennessee /// Elizabeth, 66, b North Carolina; Jas J, 26, farmer, b Tennessee

James then appears on these three census records:

1860 Tennessee, Maury Co, District No 22, Columbia, 9 August
1006/1006 Sarah Roan, 36, vope 250, b Tennessee / Rebecca, 19, b Tennessee; Thomas, 17, farmer, b Tennessee; Sarah E, 15, b Tennessee /// James J Chandlers, 35, house carpenter, vope 2500, b Tennessee

1870 Tennessee, Maury Co, 22nd Civil District, Columbia, _ July
302/315 Payne, David, 30, b, farming, b Tennessee / Ellen, 25, b, house keeping, b Tennessee // Dick, 5, b, at home, b Tennessee; Sarah, 4, b, at home, b Tennessee; Gordon, 6/12, b, b Jan, at home, b Tennessee /// Payne, Amy, 50, black, domestic servant, b Tennessee; Chandler, James J, 44, farmer, vore 4000 vope 1700, b Tennessee; Chandler, Elizabeth, 90, at home, b N Carolina; Chandler, Rebecca, 55, house keeper, b N Carolina; Chandler, Sally, 46, at home, b Tennessee; Rone, Lizzie, 25, at home, b Tennessee; Chandler, James W, 18, at school, vope 100, b Tennessee

1880 Tennessee, Maury Co, 22nd Civil District, 19 June
229/229 Miller, Nancy, 47, wd, keeping house, b Georgia South Carolina South Carolina // W D, son, 24, single, farmer, b Alabama Alabama Georgia; Sarah A, 21, dau, single, at home, b Alabama Alabama Georgia; Nancy E, 19, dau, at home, b Alabama Alabama Georgia; John, 17, son, farmer, school, b Alabama Alabama Georgia; Marcus, 13, son, school, b Tennessee Alabama Georgia; Pattie, 11, dau, school, b Tennessee Alabama Georgia; Walter, 9, son, school, b Tennessee Alabama Georgia; Jerome, 7, son, school, b Tennessee Alabama Georgia; Leona, 4, dau, b Tennessee Alabama Georgia /// Chandler, James, 56, son-in-law, wd, carpenter, b Tennessee North Carolina North Carolina; Nannie, 4, gr dau, b Tennessee Tennessee Alabama; Berthie, 2, gr dau, b Tennessee Tennessee Alabama; Jimmie, 3/12, gr son, b Tennessee Tennessee Alabama

The 1860 and 1870 census records are eye-openers. James had a value of personal estate of 2500 dollars. Since he was a carpenter, he must have had plenty of tools to do his work with. On the 1870 census, after the Civil War, James had value of real estate of 4000 dollars in and value of personal estate was 1700 dollars. The value of his possessions is less, but the real estate amount is very interesting. Yet, he was living in the households of others. I haven't found enough records to be able to tell why he was in such good financial condition.

James' brother Shelby died in 1862. James became guardian of Shelby's son James. James was still single, caring for his mother and other family members.

James went to war.

---48 Reg't, Tenn Inf, Co's A and B, 1861-1863
*James J Chandler pvt Capt Thomas E Jamison's Co, 48 Regiment Infantry not dated
*James J Chandler pvt Co A 48 Reg't Tennessee Infantry Jan 26 to Mar 2, 1862 (dated Apr 30, 1862) Enlisted Nov 26 1861 Maury Co by Ths Jamerson for 12 mos. From Co K to Co A 48 Reg't Tenn Mar 3, '62
*J J Chandler pvt Co A 48 Reg't Tennessee Infantry age 37 years Roll dated Mobile, Ala Oct 21 1863 Joined for duty and enrolled Dec 12 1861 Nashville by Cate(?) Beal for 12 mos present
*J J Chandler pvt Co B 48 Reg't Tennessee Inf for Mch 1 to July 1, 1862 Enlisted Nov 26 1861 Maury Co by Thos Jameson for 12 mos paid by Morgan to March 1 1862 present From Co K to B, 48 Regt, May 2, 1862
*J J Chandler pvt Co B 48 Reg't Tennessee Inf for July & Aug 1862 Enlisted Nov 26 1861 Maury Co by Thos Jameson for 12 mos last paid by Capt Wooten to July 1 1862 present Note: name appears in col of names present as Jas J Chandler
*J J Chandler Co B 48 Tenn Regt appears on a list of mechanics in the 3d Corps, Army of the Mississippi List not dated Brigade 2 3 Occupation House carpenter
*J J Chandler pvt Capt Jemerson's Co, Capt Sowell's Detachment Tennessee Infantry
Appears on a list of men of the organization named above at Decatur on the 16th day of March, 1862 List dated Decatur, Ala Mch 16, 1862

Elizabeth (Latta) Chandler, mother of James, died in August 1872. James married 24th October 1875 at Columbia, Maury Co, Tennessee. James was 51 and Nancy was 21.

---Marriage Record, Tennessee, Maury Co, Bk 5, p59, entry 12018

James J Chandler to Mary J Miller, license issued October 23, 1875. I solemnized the rites of matrimony between the within named parties the 24th day of October 1875. R B Allen, JP

Nancy was the daughter of John H Miller, a Civil War soldier when not a farmer, and Nancy E Brumley. John Miller died in 1877, leaving behind his wife and 11 children.

Mary Jane is listed on only two census records, those of 1860 and 1870. By April of 1880 she had died, leaving behind three children. James and his children are living with his mother-in-law, still in Maury Co, Tennessee.

1880 Tennessee, Maury Co, 22nd Civil District, 19 June

229/229 Miller, Nancy, 47, wd, keeping house, b Georgia South Carolina South Carolina // W D, son, 24, single, farmer, b Alabama Alabama Georgia; Sarah A, 21, dau, single, at home, b Alabama Alabama Georgia; Nancy E, 19, dau, at home, b Alabama Alabama Georgia; John, 17, son, farmer, school, b Alabama Alabama Georgia; Marcus, 13, son, school, b Tennessee Alabama Georgia; Pattie, 11, dau, school, b Tennessee Alabama Georgia; Walter, 9, son, school, b Tennessee Alabama Georgia; Jerome, 7, son, school, b Tennessee Alabama Georgia; Leona, 4, dau, b Tennessee Alabama Georgia /// Chandler, James, 56, son-in-law, wd, carpenter, b Tennessee North Carolina North Carolina; Nannie, 4, gr dau, b Tennessee Tennessee Alabama; Berthie, 2, gr dau, b Tennessee Tennessee Alabama; Jimmie, 3/12, gr son, b Tennessee Tennessee Alabama

James lived in Tennessee all his life. When he died, he was buried in Lasting Hope Cemetery, next to Mary Jane.

---Note from Mary Elizabeth Fields:

-In 1977 when John and Mary Elizabeth visited Lasting Hope Cemetery, they had a photo of Mary Jane Miller Chandler's gravestone. Since there was no longer a marker on James Chandler's grave, we contacted a monument company; they said they would check the cemetery records and place a marker on his grave. (We had been told that the original marker was of wood.) So John and Mary and Clinton Chandler paid for and had the stone placed on James Jackson's grave in 1977.

Find a grave memorial for James is 11126110 and for Mary Jane it is 15195895.

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The three children of James and Mary Jane lived just a short while longer in Maury County. The family story says that the children were mistreated by other family members after James died and they found ways to leave the county. Nannie married and moved away; she married a second time and later died in Oklahoma City, after an illness of several years. Bertha married and moved to Memphis where she lived until her death.

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The third child, James Mallard Chandler, is our direct line. Jimmy was born March 15th 1880; his mother, Mary Jane, died April 12, 1880, at the age of 26.

I have never found an explanation for Jim's middle name of Mallard. I finally looked at the 1880 census (Jim's birth year) for Dist 22, Maury Co, Tennessee, and find that there are two Mallards - one is W L Mallard, farmer, with a wife and children; the other is J R Mallard and wife, he a physician, born Tennessee. Both men state that their mother was born in North Carolina. Perhaps this is where James Jackson drew the name for his son - from a neighbor or from the doctor.

Jim Chandler was, among other things a builder, building for his family a small house in Oklahoma City.

Jim's three children - Jack, Clint, and Mary Elizabeth - sat down at dates between 1976 and 1979 to record their memories of their dad. I have lengthy typed records from those conversations.

Jim was a steamfitter for most of his life, moving from place to place, until wife Lora said they were going to settle down in one place.

In 1905 he was living in Dallas, Texas. One of the older Miller children had moved his mother and some siblings to Texas and Jim was there, too.

1905 Texas, Dallas Co, Dallas city directory
Chandler, James M, hlpr Mosher Mfg Co, r 536 S Austin

1906 Kansas, Sedgwick Co, Wichita city directory
Chandler, James M, helper Boxworth-Hahn & Co, r 1901 N Lawrence av

On March 1st, 1904, Jim and Lora Belle Tryon, of Wichita, Kansas, were married in Wichita. Lora was born May 21, 1885, Kechi Township, Sedgwick Co, Kansas.

State of Kansas, County of Sedgwick. Wichita, Kansas, March 1st 1904
. . . You are hereby authorized to join in marriage J M Chandler of Wichita, Kansas, aged 23 years, Lora B Tryon of Wichita, Kansas, aged 18 years . . . I, J T May, a minister of the Gospel, do hereby certify . . . I did, on the 1st day of March AD 1904, at my residence, 1328? S Douglas, Wichita, Ks, in said County, join and unite in Marriage the within-named J M Chandler and Lora B Tryon.

In 1907 Jim and Lora were living in Wichita

1907 Kansas, Sedgwick Co, Wichita city directoryChandler, James M (Lora) helper Bosworth-Hahn & Co, r 212 Mathewson av

By 1910 Jim is listed as a steam fitter working for a plumbing company. They lived in Wichita when their first child was born. His name was Clarce Mallard Chandler, but every one called him Jack.

Jim and Lora Chandler with son Clarce "Jack"

A 1911 city directory for Dallas, Texas lists Jim Chandler as a steamfitter; 1915 they are in Houston; in 1917 in Waco, Texas; in 1919 back in Wichita. It was 1916 before their second child was born, Clinton on April 20, 1916, in Dallas, Texas.

Lora and Jim Chandler with son Clinton

I think it must have been after that when Lora wanted a permanent home. They were in Oklahoma city in 1920 and stayed there for the rest of their lives. Daughter Mary Elizabeth was born 1927 in Oklahoma City. There was a 10 year gap between the first two children and an 11 year gap between the second and third. Aunt Mary always said she felt like an only child at times, since Jack was gone from home by the time she came along and Clint so much older, their friends and interests didn't coincide.