Earliest known ancestor of Group 7D
William Chandler b. England 1617 d. Newbury, MA USA 1701

CFA descendants of Group 7D

The largest group in the Chandler DNA Project has been designated Genetic Family Group 7. DNA test results place almost 100 participants in this group, the seventh such genetically connected family to be discovered by the project. It is believed the progenitor of all these participants lived in England; however, that common ancestor has not yet been identified. Consequently, based upon documented lineages from the year 1600 onwards, Genetic Family Group 7 has been divided into four subgroups: 7A, 7B, 7C and 7D.

William of Newbury

The earliest known ancestor of subgroup 7D is William Chandler, born in the year 1617 in England and died on March 5th 1701[1] in Newbury, Massachusetts.  He arrived in Massachusetts between 1646 and 1648 and settled in the area known as Newbury, about 38 miles north-east of Boston.

While the actual location of William’s birth/baptism is unknown, there is reason to believe that he originates from the Wiltshire region. Some of the supporting rationale includes:

  • The Newbury Plantation in Massachusetts was founded by 100 settlers from Wiltshire
  • The English town of Newbury is actually in the county of Berkshire (pronounced Bark-sher), which is just across the county line from Wiltshire.

William married three times during his lifetime.   His first wife, Mary Fowler[2], was the daughter of Phillip Fowler and Mary Winslow [Winslow family has connections with the Mayflower and the first settlement at Plymouth].  William Chandler and Mary Fowler were married in 1648, soon after his arrival in America.  They had four daughters:

  • Mary Chandler (1649-1708) married Percival Lowell
  • Hester Chandler (1650-?) married Jonathan Gage
  • Girl Infant (July 31, 1653-August 10th, 1653)
  • Girl Infant (March 11th, 1655-April 15th, 1655)

After Mary Winslow Chandler died in Newbury in 1666, William married a second time to Mary Lord, daughter of Robert Lord and his wife Mary Waite of Ipswich, Massachusetts, on February 26, 1667.   Before Mary Lord Chandler’s death on October 3rd, 1676, she had given birth to four children:

  • William Chandler (1667-?) – known below as “William 2nd
  • Joseph Chandler (1669-1755)
  • Samuel Chandler (1670-1748)
  • Mary Chandler (1674-?) married Jonathan Sampson

William Chandler’s third wife was Mary Carter whom he married on April 16th 1677.   Mary Carter Chandler died in Newbury on May 10th 1679, having had no children.

William Chandler was well-educated for the times as all town records of Newbury prior to 1674 were written in his handwriting.

On September 27th 1653, Mary Chandler [1st wife] was brought before the court and charged with wearing a silk bonnet and scarf.  She was fined 10 shillings for “exceeding her station”, as her husband was not worth 200 pounds in real and personal property.   Also in that year, William Chandler petitioned the court in Boston for the release of Robert Pike of Newbury.

He is listed as a freeman of Newbury in records of the town, dated March 28th, 1654, meaning[3]:

  1. A person who possesses and enjoys all the civil and political rights belonging to the people under a free government.
  2. A person who is not a slave.
  3. A member of a municipal corporation (a city or a borough) who possesses full civic rights, esp. the right to vote.
  4. A freeholder. Cf. VILLEIN. 5. Hist. An allodial landowner. Cf. VASSAL. – also written free man.

On April 5th 1654, William Chandler bought four acres of land from Judith Cofin and deeded this land to his son, Joseph, who sold it in 1703.   On September 20th 1664, William gave his daughter Mary Chandler (1649-1708) part of a salt marsh lot In Newbury.

William served on jury trials in 1654, 1658, 1671 and in 1695

William Chandler signed a petition to the General Court Of Massachusetts (May 11th, 1670) asking for a magistrate to be located in Newbury.  He also signed an oath of allegiance in 1678 and was listed as being of the age of sixty-two years and residing in Newbury.  In a document dated August 1688, William is listed in the Newbury Town Records as owning a house, four plow lands, two horses, two oxen, three cows, eight sheep and one hog.

William Chandler was summoned to the court in Boston to witness and testify in the trial of Mrs. Elizabeth Morse of Newbury on May 17th, 1680.  This trial was just one of the many that was conducted during the mass hysteria now known as the Salem Witch Trials of the late 1600’s.  The Governor of Massachusetts later pardoned Mrs. Morse.

William returned to Newbury and asked the courts to pay him twelve shillings that he had spent out of his pocket during the trip to Boston.  William was 63 years old when he walked to Boston and back for this trip (estimated to be about 76 miles roundtrip).

The burial site for William Chandler and his three wives has not been found.  They are either buried in a family cemetery not yet discovered or in the old town cemetery, unmarked.

Joseph Chandler

November 19th, 1669-June 1st, 1755

Joseph was the 2nd son of William (of Newbury) and Mary Lord.  He was born in Newbury, MA on November 19th, 1669 and died June 1st, 1755 in Elizabeth, NJ.

Joseph married Mary Hall on February 10th, 1698/99 in Newbury, MA.

On September 25th, 1703, Joseph Chandler, wheelwright of Newbury, with his wife Mary, sold to Henry Jaquish, 4 acres of land in Newbury with dwelling house on Chandler’s Land and 1/3 part of freehold for 95 pounds.  About this time, Joseph and his family moved and settled in Elizabethtowne, NJ.

On April 4th 1734, Thomas Headley of Elizabethtowne sells to Daniel Pierson and Joseph Chandler (wheelwright and carpenter), both also of Elizabethtowne, 8 acres of salt meadow.

Joseph’s Last Will and Testament has not yet been found, but the names of his children are found in the Last Will and Testament of son, John Chandler, of Elizabethtowne, NJ, who died in 1758.

Joseph and Mary’s known children are:

  1. John Chandler (1701-1758)
  2. Joseph Chandler (1701-?)
  3. Samuel Chandler (1702/03-1771)
  4. Mary Chandler (? – 1778)
  5. Hannah Chandler (? – 1779)
  6. Joseph Chandler (1709-1738)
  7. Nathaniel Chandler (1711-1784)
  8. James Chandler (1717-1791)

Joseph is buried in the 1st Presbyterian Church Cemetery in Elizabeth, NJ.  The inscription on his gravestone reads:

Here lies Ye Remains 
Of Mr. Joseph Chandler 
Who died June the 1st 
Anno Domini 1755 
In the 87th Year of His Age.


[1] Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988, page 3066.

[2] U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900

[3] Black’s Law Dictionary (9th edition), Henry Campbell Black (1860 – 1927).