CANDLER2 By Ed Marsh, APR 1999 My fellow researchers, I have looked forward to writing this, my second report on the Candler family of South River Settlement (SRS), Virginia -- present-day Lynchburg. I must lament that Daniel and Hannah Candler's date of immigration to America, and the location of their debarkation remain a mystery. Yet, I have made some progress on their arrival at SRS. To those who have read Governor Allen Daniel Candler's book Colonel William Candler of Georgia, His Ancestry and Progeny, I encourage you to disregard it with respect to William's life prior to his sojourn in Georgia; it is rife with error. There exist various editions of this work. I have an 1896 edition (Foote & Davis Co. of Atlanta, Georgia), and another printed by F. B. Clarkson, Washington, D.C. The latter bears the title The Candler Family From 1650 to 1890 (but is essentially the same work). Incidentally, my copy was inscribed in the author's own hand to George W. Candler of Buncombe County, North Carolina, who passed it along to Robert Achilles Russell of Campbell Co, VA (son of William Harrison Russell and Judith D. Candler) with a second inscription. I have spent several years collecting "Candler Family" essays from around the country. Again and again I see the stamp of A. D. Candler's book. Worse, his errant - albeit cautious, speculations on Col. William Candler's ancestry have been "fleshed out" and offered as "established" fact. One could write a lengthy comparative essay on these regional mythologies, but that is another time and story. Thesis I believe that Daniel and Hannah Candler were living in the South River area of Virginia by the middle to late 1740's. They may have lived on a stream of the Roanoke (Staunton) River before moving onto the James at present-day Lynchburg in the early 1750's. The Roanoke River drains southeastwardly into North Carolina, but most of the land grants in this region were received by Virginians. Accounts of the Candler's having located first in North Carolina probably stem from false assumptions on Allen Daniel Candler's part. He believed that William Candler grew up and married Elizabeth Anthony in Carolina. Like many myths, this one may contain a kernel of truth. Many settlers, headed for Carolina, passed through South River, and many of the relatives of the Virginia Candlers migrated that way. Certainly, the Candler boys (and Elloner) traveled into Carolina on business and religious matters. In Virginia There is ample evidence that by 1750, Daniel, Hannah, John, William, Elizabeth, Elloner, and Zedikiah Candler were living at South River Settlement. In 1750, John would have been 20, Elizabeth 17, William 14, Elloner 11, and Zedikiah 3 (based on estimates). There are hints of two other sons, Thomas and Henry, but no hard evidence (there are a few new leads). The earliest documentary evidence of Daniel Candler's residence in Virginia is a royal land grant, dated 1755. It states, "George the Second... grants unto Daniel Chandler one certain Tract or Parcel of Land Containing fifty Acres, lying and being in the County of Albemarle on both sides of the South fork of Fishing Creek..." - [Virginia Patents #32, 1752-1756, pg.575]. Fishing Creek drains down from Candlers Mountain right into the heart of present-day Lynchburg. This acreage is very modest. In fact, I have shuffled through hundreds of old Virginia grants and I've seen none smaller. The grant requires that yearly rent be paid and that the usual improvements be made lest the contract be void and the land remit to his majesty's agent, "our Trusty and Welbeloved Robert Dinwiddie Esq." Some points: * Bedford County (where Daniel's 1755 grant lay) was separated from Albemarle in 1753. This argues that the survey was done (perhaps many years) prior to 1753. * Daniel's grant was almost certainly being registered after some time of residency. * John Candler, Sr. (c1730-1802) had a son, William (1751-1830's) who stated on his Revolutionary War Pension application (1832) that he was born in Bedford County, VA in 1751 (he was two when Bedford County was formed). South River Neighbors & Marriage Among Daniel's neighbors in the late 1750's were Joseph Anthony, John Lynch, Charles Lynch, Jr., Charles Caffrey, Sr., and sons John and William Candler. I infer from the grant of 1755 that Daniel Candler was not affluent, certainly not compared to his neighbors. Daniel's daughter, Elizabeth, married John Caffrey sometime prior to 1758 (when Quaker records show "Elizabeth Caffrey" being received into membership). William married Elizabeth Anthony in 1761 (again, Quaker records enlighten the history). John had married Elizabeth Gibson around 1750 (see below). Elloner married Byrum Ballard in 1763 (a Quaker wedding), and baby Zedikiah married Anna Moorman in 1772 (for which the Quakers disowned her, he not being a Friend). Where Did The Candler's Live Before Fishing Creek? In attempting to investigate Daniel Candler's arrival in this area, one must understand the "lineage" of Virginia counties. Their evolution is complex. This chart may help the uninitiated. County Date Formed Parent County Campbell 1782 Bedford Bedford 1753 Albemarle and Lunenburg Albemarle 1744 Goochland, Louisa, and Islands in James River Lunenburg 1746 Brunswick County Louisa 1742 Hanover County Amelia 1734 Brunswick and Prince George Goochland 1727 Henrico Brunswick 1720 Prince George, Isle of Wight, and Surry In the late 1730's and 1740's, the fertile drainage of the Roanoke River (which lies closely to the south of present-day Lynchburg) was being claimed in large tracts by Virginians from counties to the northeast -- especially Henrico County. Even grants for adjacent parcels, filed simultaneously, may bear different county names - exactly the kind of variance we see in Daniel Candler's grant of 1755. Richard Randolph of Henrico County received thousands of acres on branches of Elk, Buffalo, and Goose Creeks, which drain southward into the Otter River. Charles Lynch, Sr. was another resident of the northern counties to claim land in this sub-James area. The Otter River also drains southward into the Roanoke near present-day Altavista, VA. John Candler's father-in-law James Gibson bought land in the early 1750's that was part of Richard Randolph's original 1744 grant on Elk Creek. Somewhat surprisingly, the land immediately south of the James (Lynchburg) was not claimed until the very late 1740's and more so in the early 1750's. Some branches of Elk and Goose Creeks (mentioned above) lie less than a half mile from northward flowing streams of the James -- Blackwater Creek for example, which flows through the heart of Lynchburg. By the early 1750's when the fertile land of the Roanoke (10-30 miles south of the James) was being sold for the second or third time, the Lynches, Anthonys and Candlers were receiving original land grants at South River. For a time, the hilly terrain and bluffs along the south side of the James at Lynchburg lay ignored. What began the acquisition of this land? By the mid-1750's, the colonial village of Bedford Court House (present-day New London) was an important trading center in central Virginia. This town was difficult to reach from the north (Charlottesville, et al.) due to the necessity of fording the James River, which passed twelve miles north of the village. John Lynch, son of land-owner Charles Lynch and Quaker Sarah Clark Lynch, decided to remedy this problem, and in 1757, established a ferry service on the James a few hundred yards upstream from the ford, on property owned by his father. The ferry service remained profitable for many years, and by the end of the American Revolution, the village at Lynch's Ferry had itself become an important center of trade. Lynch saw the possibilities of establishing a town on the hill overlooking the ferry site, and in late 1784 petitioned the General Assembly of Virginia for a town charter. In October, 1786, the charter was granted, founding the town of Lynchburg. [Previous 2 paragraphs paraphrased from Lynchburg On-Line] Thus the river crossing (Lynches Ferry) spawned the town. However, the Quaker settlement was well underway by the time John Lynch's Ferry was founded in 1757. The Candlers, Lynches, Gibsons, Caffreys, and others had been in the area for about a decade. In 1757, Robert Pleasants of Henrico county visited most South River Quakers on a mission to determine their worthiness to have a Monthly Meeting "settled on them." His journal lists each household that he visited. This document survives and is a who's who of early South River Quaker families. When Bedford County was divided in 1782, it was along a line that lay just west of Lynchburg and AltaVista. Part of Old Blackwater Road (south to New London) lay in Campbell County, and the rest (from New London west toward Montvale) lay in Bedford County. Almost all of Daniel and Hannah Candler's descendants who stayed in the area have lived in Campbell County. Earlier Than 1755 John Candler, Sr. (c1730-1802) was listed in the Bedford County Order Book of 1754 as living along Blackwater road. Blackwater Road meandered up the hill from the James (and the Ferry crossing) toward Chestnut Hill where Sarah Lynch and her children lived, and where the Quaker Meeting-House stood. From the top of the Hill, the road continued out toward Goose, Elk, Ivy, Buffalo, and Gibsons Creeks. It is the marriage of John Candler to Elizabeth Gibson that sheds earliest light on the presence of Candlers in those parts. John Candler must have married Elizabeth prior to 1751 when their son William was born (see reference to his birth above). Elizabeth was the daughter of James and Eleanor Gibson. The earliest land record in James Gibson's name is a 1752 deed [Lunenburg County Deed Book #2, p. 486] on Elk Creek of Otter/Roanoke River (land that was part of Richard Randolph's 1744 grant on Elk Creek [Virginia Patents #23, 1743-1745, p.766). However, in 1780 his grandson John filed a deed for land on Blackwater Creek that says, "from a survey bearing the date 1747" [Virginia Patents D, 1780-1781, p. 274]. The deed says Brunswick County. James' will of 1764 [Bedford Co, Will Book #1] says, "to my daughter Elizabeth Candler, teen pounds." I'm assuming that John candler had some time to get to know Elizabeth prior to their engagement. This leads me to assume further that the Candlers were living in the area by the middle to late 1740's. Why would we assume that John Candler was living at home when he married Elizabeth? In Daniel Candler's will of 1765 [Bedford Co. Will Book #1], he stated that if Zedikiah left home before his "twentieth year or married", he would be disowned. If John Candler was about twenty when he married in 1750, one could presume that he courted his bride from home. I have read in many Candler genealogies that "Quaker records show a 1762 marriage of John and Elizabeth." I do not find such in Hinshaw or Wright. What we do find is this: in __________ , John Candler married __________. This merely shows that the marriage was noted but that no record of date or spouse was extant. Next are listed two children, John Candler, Jr. (b. 1766*) and Henry Candler (b. 1769) [*John, Jr's own Bible gives 1765 for his birth]. John Candler, Sr. was disowned by Friends in 1767 and was readmitted in 1782. The "marriage and births" notation, made after 1782, simply brings the family records up to date. There is no record of the older children, perhaps this tradition started after the Revolution. South River Monthly Meeting The Lynch/Candler Home Of special note is a 1749 grant of 233 acres to Charles Lynch on Rock Castle branch of Blackwater Creek [Virginia Patents #28, 1746-1749, p. 690]. This seems to be Lynch's first grant in South River per se. This is the site of Sarah Lynch's home where the Quaker congregation of South River blossomed. It was on this land that Sarah allowed the first Meeting-House to be built. John Candler bought this land on Aug. 27, 1759 from Charles' son John [Bed. County Deed Book A-1]. In 1762, John Candler and Benjamin Johnson built an addition onto the cabin structure to accommodate the growing number of worshipers [Hinshaw, v. 6, p.295]. William, John (perhaps*), and Elloner Candler joined the Quakers in 1755, and Daniel joined in early 1756 so the account of their joining lies in Cedar Creek records (South River was a preparative meeting of Cedar Creek prior to 1757 when it became a autonomous monthly itself) [Hinshaw, v. 6, p. 227]. Elizabeth (nee Candler) Caffrey and John Candler (see above*) joined in 1758 so these records are with those of South River Monthly Meeting. *The 1755 record says, "Robert and William Candler -- request and received by request" There is no other account of any Robert Candler in VA Quaker chronicles so one may assume that this is John. Whether this was his middle name is worthy of conjecture. Post Script Daniel Candler seems to have emerged out of the primeval forest of Virginia just as did Lynchburg. Had he and Hannah immigrated to Virginia to be with Moorman and Clark cousins, doesn't it seem that our first notice of his presence would be among those people? "In the spring of 1743, David Candler suddenly appeared upon the Pennsylvania-Maryland scene. Apparently, he had been earlier in the New York-New Jersey area. A son was born in April 1740 at Schlotterdam on the Passaic River, and perhaps as early as 1738 or 1739 the Germans at Schoharie were corresponding with Candler." This quotation comes from Pioneers Of Old Monocacy, The Early Settlement of Frederick County, Maryland, 1721-1743, by Grace L. Tracey and John P. Dern, 1987, Genealogical Publishing Co, Baltimore, Maryland. David Candler lived in Monocacy, Maryland (Frederick County). He was a Lutheran Minister. Although his name appears as Kandelaar and Contler in some writings, he wrote it Candler in church records. His wife was Veronica Phillipina. His children were John William born 1738; David, Jr, born April 28, 1740; Elisa Barbara born 1741; and John Barnhart born 1744. David Candler died in 1744. Phillipina was executor of his estate, with letters of administration being issued on july 26, 1744 [Lancaster County estate papers]. On April 15, 1743, David Candler, Sr. had 100 acres surveyed in the area just west of present-day Frederick - about 15 miles north of Hansonville. He called this place "Swingaback." Daniel Candler of Maryland (c1753-1810) John Candler, Sr. (c1730-1802) of Bedford County, Virginia, and his wife Elizabeth Gibson had a son named Daniel Candler - no doubt named after "Old" Daniel himself. This Daniel moved to Maryland around the time of the American Revolution. He married Rosetta (Bensen?). The location of the wedding is unknown. He was listed on the 1783 Montgomery County tax records as living in Linganore. Linganore Mountain is just east of Frederick, Maryland. Daniel was on the Federal Census of 1790 for Montgomery County, MD. At that time, he had four children, two sons 16 or over and a son and daughter who were younger. Three of his children appear in Montgomery County marriage records in later years. John Candler married Sarah Hays in 1804. William Candler married Rebecca Ray in 1803. Mary Candler married a Mr. Gatton. Why did Daniel Candler go against the flow of southwestward migration and why did he move to the Frederick area? This area had a healthy Quaker Meeting. I have yet to get hold of the records to find out if Daniel Candler participated. Finally, Hansonville In far-western Virginia, nestled still in encroaching forests, just up a stream of the Clinch River stands the town of Hansonville. Fellow Candler researchers tell me it is really little more than a crossroads. A bit less than 200 years ago, it was the home of John Candler, Jr. (1765-1832). John and Dorothy Stovall Candler are buried there in the Candler cemetery (which can still be found on U. S. Geological Survey maps). What is more, the town of Candler, VA once stood nearby. Does the Hansonville of Lutheran minister David Candler bear ant tie with that of Daniel Candler's grandson? It is too soon to know, but I hope an answer will emerge one way or the other. Ed Marsh, APR 1999