Chandler Family Association Lineages Database
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After years of planning and preparation, the Chandler Family Association (CFA) unveiled the Chandler Family Association Lineages Database (CFALD) to the membership at the CFA’s 2010 annual meeting in Hampton, Virginia. The database now contains more than 22,000 records of Chandler surnamed individuals, and over 88,000 other Chandler descendants from around the world. Its purpose is to be a repository of Chandler genealogical research work for all Chandler lineages. Because information on living individuals is contained within this database, it is fully open only to a core group of CFA researchers who will do searches for our membership and the public as outlined below.
History
Jim Reeves, one of five CFA founders and a former CFA vice president, retired in 2008 as CFA librarian and as author of his monumental project, the “John Chandler Descendant Chart Book” (JCDCB). The JCDCB is the culmination of more than 20 years of data collection and entry by Jim (typing with 2 fingers only!). Although Jim was working on a computer, his output was paper-based, meant to be printed out in hard copy, and the software he started with more than 20 years previously was long since outdated. Jim’s book consisted of three huge text files which printed out as three thick volumes, together weighing 12 pounds.
The impetus for converting these paper-based records into a computer database came about some years ago. Soon after the beginning of the Chandler DNA Project, and analysis of early test results, it became obvious that some of the participants previously believed to be descendants of John Chandler born 1600 were in fact related to other Chandler ancestors.
This led the CFA leadership and the Chandler DNA Project administrators to conceive a database of genealogy records for all Chandlers, whether connected to the 1610 immigrant John Chandler or to one of the other genetically-distinct Chandler lines. At this time, over 100 distinct Chandler lines have been identified. Follow this link – Genetic Chandler Families – to read more about these families.
DNA Project Administrators Dick Chandler, Dr. John Chandler (DNA expert) and Joseph Barron Chandler, Jr., collaborated for several years to move the Lineages Database from concept to reality.
As a starting point, Dr. Chandler converted Jim Reeves’ JCDCB data into a format accepted by today’s computer technology. Then Dick Chandler took over to present the data in a uniform style, removing duplications, correcting errors, and standardizing names, abbreviations, place names, etc. He also began adding documentation for the thousands of facts in the database.
CFALD Current Status
The software we are currently using for CFALD is Ancestral Quest (AQ). AQ is one of many programs which were specifically designed for genealogy purposes. AQ does all that the CFA requires for the CFALD.
Within our CFALD, there are currently four non-Chandler surname records for every one Chandler surname record. The initial concept for the CFALD was that it would only hold records of Chandlers and the first generation of children of Chandler females who marry and take the husband’s surname, i.e. the first non-Chandler generation, but NOT subsequent generations. This guideline was used to help maintain our primary focus on Chandler surname genealogy, and to keep the size of the database at a level that was compatible with software and hardware capabilities at that time.
The original JCDCB contained information on many generations of descendants of female Chandlers. Since that time, software and hardware capabilities have expanded sufficiently to where the restriction of non-Chandler records is not as significant a concern. Our primary focus is still on Chandler surname genealogy. But when our membership submits Chandler pedigrees with non-Chandler surname descendants, that information is currently being added to the CFALD as well.
CFALD Future
To support our research and help others trace their Chandler origins, we search the entire CFALD. This allows us to look for a person across all the genetic families in one search.
To protect the integrity of the databases, rigorous standards of DNA proof are applied with sourced genealogical evidence. Documenting sources for the information already in CFALD will be an ongoing project for quite some time to come.
You are welcome to use the Genealogy Panel mechanism described below to find out from us what, if anything, is recorded in CFALD about you and your ancestors. When you receive our reply, you may have some corrections or additions to make. Corrections or additions can be supplied to us in whatever format is best for you to communicate them. Email works well for us when the number of changes suggest are few, but a GEDCOM file from your family history program is preferred whenever you can send that, and a GEDCOM file is strongly requested if your corrections are large in number. Please include source information so that we can evaluate your suggested revision against what is currently in CFALD. Any changes we make will be attributed to you. In either case, please consult CFALD Data Entry Standards before starting any work, and contact us if you have any questions.
The CFA will use the CFALD to help respond to genealogical inquiries from members and non-members. Send a query to the CFA Genealogy Panel and we will send you a report telling you what we have about the person you inquire about, his/her ancestors and recent descendants. The CFA Genealogy Panel, organized in late 2009, is a group of volunteers who have expressed a desire to help other Chandler researchers. If you would like to work with the Genealogy Panel to solve your Chandler line mysteries, please write an email message that includes all known generations above you; dates and places of your ancestors’ births, deaths and residence; and siblings if known. Families often repeat first names in successive generations, so we do need all the names, dates and places you can provide. So that the Genealogy Panel will not retrace research you have already done, please also include a digest of the research you have done and sources you have consulted.
If you do not have an email program installed on your computer (perhaps you use one of the online email services like Yahoo or Gmail), you will need to type the address into your message. In that case, please include “for CFA Genealogy Panel” as the subject.
If you have questions, email the Genealogy Panel or CFALD Administrator Glen Smith.