Earliest known ancestor of Group 11
Thompson Chandler, b 1811 Monroe Co VA (now WV) USA, d 1877 Kanawha Co WV USA
Thomas P Chandler, b c 1811/1812 Monroe Co VA (now WV) USA, death unknown

CFA descendants of Group 11

Thompson Chandler, born 20 February 1811,footnote 1 and Margaret Smith, born 1809,footnote 2 married 4 August 1831 in Giles County, Virginia.footnote 3 Documented knowledge of them (other than a record of Thompson’s birth in a family Bible) begins with the marriage.

Of the several cousins who have researched, collaborated and published their research on the family of Thompson and Margaret Chandler, two are descendants of Thompson’s son Ransom Kiles Chandler, another descends from Thompson’s son Sylvestor Eugustus Paris Chandler, and the fourth descends from Thompson’s son Preston Snidow Chandler. Three of the four are the male Chandlers who comprise Group 11 in the Chandler DNA Project. Hubert Thomas “Tom” Chandler, one of the Group 11 matches, has prepared a unique family tree of this family’s male Chandler line (click to view).

In May 2010 the DNA test results of Nelwyn Gene Chandler became available, showing a 35/37 match with Tom. Gene’s earliest known ancestor is Thomas P Chandler who was born about the same time and place as Thompson. A possible explanation is that Thomas and Thompson were half-brothers, sons of an otherwise unknown William Chandler who appeared briefly in Monroe County, and two different mothers. A genetic distance of two between Chandler DNA Project participants five generations down (six in the case of Thomas’ descendants) is plausible, but does not prove this theory. Thompson Chandler’s descendants accept that this explanation is one of a number of possibilities that future discoveries may clarify. Thomas Chandler’s descendants place greater weight on the theory, considering it to be a probability. If the theory is correct, this William Chandler may be the man who witnessed the marriage bond and accompanying note which appears below. Future researchers should note that William witnessed the earlier, handwritten document using his full name, but witnessed the later bond signing as Will Chandler. Searches should therefore include both possible names.

 

To the Clerk of Monroe County this is to Certify that I have given leve for license to Be taken out for Jeremiah Ballard and my grand daughter Jarley Tompson August 24 1810.
attest William Chandler John Tompson

 

Gene’s earliest known ancestor, Thomas P. Chandler, was born circa 1811-1812 in Monroe County, Virginia (now West Virginia), and is thought to be the illegitimate son of Frances Ballard, daughter of Thomas Ballard. Thomas may have grown up in Grandfather Ballard’s household.

Thomas married Lucy Workman circa 1831 in most likely Logan County, West Virginia; however, marriage records in Logan County are non-existent before 1853. His second marriage was to Nancy Godbey on 10 November 1857 in Logan County. On this marriage record, Thomas himself states he was born in Monroe County and that his mother was “Franky” Ballard. The 1850 Boone County, Virginia, census shows Frances living in her son’s household. Thomas appears last on the 1860 Boone County, Virginia, census.  By the time of the 1870 census, his second wife is married to Crispin Isaac Stone.footnote 4

As exemplified by the marriage bond above, the Ballard and Thompson families were very close, intermarrying and naming children after each other. The proven link between these two families and a William Chandler, and the arrival of a child named Thompson Chandler at about the same time, suggests that there may have been a Chandler/Thompson marriage link. Further investigation is clearly required: the Ballards came from Orange County, Virginia, and the Thompsons may have come from that area. The earlier history of Genetic Family 11 may be found somewhere on that ancestral trail.

Reverting to Thompson Chandler, he and his family stayed in the general area of Giles County, see image from 1970 censuswhere he and Margaret married, for many years, sometimes living in Giles County and sometimes just across the Giles County border in Monroe County. This same county border would become part of the state border when West Virginia became a state in 1863. Thompson owned no land during this time and apparently was an itinerant farm laborer.footnote 5

Thompson was living in Monroe County at the time of the 1860 census. About 1868, following the turbulence of the Civil War, Thompson and Margaret moved to Kanawha Countyfootnote 6 where sons William T. and Ransom Kiles had settled following their discharge from service with Company D, 30th SS Battalion, Virginia Regiment, CSA, in 1863.footnote 7 They settled a few miles west of Charleston near the Elk River.

Thompson died 28 December 1877 and is buried in the Chandler Cemetery, Big Fork, Frame, West Virginia.footnote 8 After his death, Margaret moved to Summers County, West Virginia, to live with her daughter Lucinda Chandler Mann. Margaret died 9 December 1882.footnote 9

Family lore has it that neither Thompson nor Margaret would talk about their childhood. They had five sons and six daughters, and there are many living descendants of these children.

Thompson Chandler of Virginia and West Virginia
(1) Monroe County, then part of Virginia but now in West Virginia, was the location of his birth in 1811.

Thompson lived much of his adult life between (1) Monroe County, West Virginia, and (2) Giles County, Virginia.

About 1868 Thompson and Margaret moved to (3) Kanawha County, West Virginia, where Thompson died in 1877.

Original maps from en.wikipedia.com

Ransom Kiles Chandler, son of Thompson and Margaret Chandler, recorded the birth dates of the family in a Bible; the entries are quoted below. Information inset in italics is added from other sources.footnote 10 A detail from the Bible is shown at right below.

  • Thompson Chandler was born in the year of our Lord February the 20 1811

    Birth place — Monroe County, Virginia (now West Virginia); death 28 December 1877, Frame, West Virginia

  • Margaret Chandler was born in the year of our Lord March the 31 1809

    Birth place — Unknown; death 9 December 1882, Monroe County, West Virginia

  • Marion Monroe Chandler was born in the year of our Lord May the 2 1833

    Birth place — Giles County, Virginia; death 11 January 1836, assumed to be Giles County, Virginia

  • Nancy Emeline Chandler was born in the year of our Lord October the 10 1834

    Birth place — Giles County, Virginia; death 10 August 1920, Roanoke, Virginia

  • Percilla Adaline Chandler was born in the year of our Lord October the 27 1836

    Birth place — Giles County, Virginia; death date and place unknown

  • William Thompson Chandler was born in the year of our Lord March the 19 1839

    Birth place — Monroe County, Virginia; death date before 1900, place unknown

  • Lucinda Maria Virginia Chandler was born in the year of our Lord December the 28 1840

    Birth place — Giles County, Virginia; death 4 May 1925, place unknown

  • Miles Henderson Chandler was born in the year of our Lord October the 15 1842

    Birth place — Giles County, Virginia; death date and place unknown

  • Ransom Kiles Chandler was born in the year of our Lord June the 11 1844

    Birth place — Monroe County, Virginia; death 17 February 1890, Little Sandy area of Kanawha County, West Virginia

  • Alderson Kenly Chandler was born in the year of our Lord June the 1 1846

    Birth place — Giles County, Virginia; death 26 May 1868, Kanawha County, West Virginia

  • Luama Ellis Chandler was born in the year of our Lord June the 13 1848

    Birth place — probably Giles County, Virginia; death 27 June 1848, place unknown

  • Silvester Egustus Paris Chandler was born in the year of our Lord May the 15 1849

    Birth place — Giles County, Virginia; death 22 July 1922, place unknown

  • Preston Snidow Chandler was born in the year of our Lord May the 26 1853

    Birth place — Giles County, Virginia; death February 1932, Kanawha County, West Virginia

As often occurs with uncommon forenames, there were variations in spelling. The Bible record transcription above shows the spelling that was most often used by the family or in official records, which differs slightly from the original Bible record.

Nancy Emeline Chandler married James A. Adkins, and they had nine children. For some reason, they sent the oldest three of their male children – Henderson Adkins, William Wiser Adkins, and Archbishop Adkins – to be raised by grandparents Thompson and Margaret. Although never adopted by their grandparents, apparently two of the boys, Henderson and Archbishop, assumed the surname Chandler. William Wiser always used the Adkins name. Both Henderson (d 1929) and Archbishop (d 1919) married, but the names of Archbishop’s children are unknown. Henderson is found in the 1880, 1900, and 1910 census as Henderson Chandler. He had at least 6 male children, all listed in census documents as Chandler. This little story is included here as an example of a genealogical twist that can mystify researchers: Any male-line descendants of Henderson and Archbishop will carry Adkins DNA, not Chandler DNA, even though those families have used the Chandler surname for many years.footnote 11

Descendants of Thompson’s son Miles Henderson Chandler (if any) are not known. William Thompson Chandler left descendants through a single male line, but the location of a living descendant is not known. If a living male cousin can be found, an attempt will be made to obtain a DNA sample for comparison. As more Chandler men participate in the Chandler DNA Project, matches may be made that will take this family further into the past.

For more information, email:
Tom Chandler

h t chandlerat earthlink dot net
Gene Chandler
Email Me
n g chandler at g mail dot com

In October 2023, CFA Member Rebecca Lesher, 2x great granddaughter of Ransom Kiles Chandler provided the CFA with 3 photos of her ancestors:

Ransom Kiles ChandlerFig.1 – Ransom Kiles Chandler, 2X Great grandfather
Fig.2 – John Alderson Chandler, Great grandfather
Fig.3 – Hoyt Memphis and Helen Virginia Carroll Chandler, Grandparents

1Records entered in Family Bible by Ransom Chandler.

2Ibid.

3Vogt, John, and William Kethley, Jr. Giles County Marriages 1806-1850 (Athens, GA : Iberian Pub. Co., c1985). Thompson Chandler and Margaret Smith 25 Jul 1831 (bond date); bondsman Joel Sartain, minister Elijah Beller – 4 Aug 1831 (marriage date).

4It is documented that Lucy Workman, daughter of Abraham Workman, certainly was Thomas Chandler’s first wife using Kith and Kin of Boone County, West Virginia, Volume III. Text: Lucy Chandler d. 22 Dec 1856, age 45y11m5d, Abraham & Mary Workman, b. Little Cole (sic), reported by Thomas Chandler, husband.  (Note: Little Coal River is a river in present-day Boone County, WV.)

5U.S. Census documents identified his location while in VA and identified him as a farm laborer. Land and Tax records in these locations during this period show no land holdings.

6Canterbury, Marie Bowen (Mingie), Grandmother’s Letter; a family genealogy; an open letter to my precious grandchildren Kristen, Kevin, Jay, and Timmy. (Privately published Baltimore: Gateway Press, Arlington, VA), Vol 1 (1 of 3), Chap. 11, p. 93, Chap. 11, p. 93.

7“American Civil War Soldiers,” available online at ancestry.com. Specific info on their military records is located in the note section of their listings in the GEDCOM of Thomas Hubert (Tom) Chandler. Email Tom at for more information.

8Canterbury, Marie Bowen (Mingie), Grandmother’s Letter; a family genealogy; an open letter to my precious grandchildren Kristen, Kevin, Jay, and Timmy. (Privately published Baltimore: Gateway Press, Arlington, VA), Vol. l, Chap. 11, p. 92.

9Ibid.

10Sources for individuals other than those identified in the Bible: Personal communications from Wilma Gardman to Eleanor Lee (Gay) Chandler, Hubert Thomas Chandler, Marie Bowen Canterbury and other descendants of Thompson Chandler. Jarrett Taylor Chandler Jr. contributed much information about descendants of Thompson Chandler’s son Preston Snidow Chandler and also about other descendant’s of Thompson.

11Canterbury, Marie Bowen (Mingie), Grandmother’s Letter; a family genealogy; an open letter to my precious grandchildren Kristen, Kevin, Jay, and Timmy. (Privately published Baltimore: Gateway Press, Arlington, VA), Vol. l, Chap. 11, p. 93.