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Early Kentucky, North Carolina & Tennessee Candlers ©2000 by Ed Marsh |
WARNING: Information appearing on the INTERNET is not documentary proof
. This site is offered only as an aid to bonafide genealogical research. These essays explore the identity of Daniel and Hannah Candler, their children and grandchildren, and such issues as might aid in the discovery of the Virginia Candler lineage. Contributions from other Candler writers are welcome. They will retain full intellectual property rights to their work (but I make no claim of protection from illegal copying by the public). The public is free to use this material for non-profit purposes, but please credit the author and source.Traditional Data
Allen Daniel Candler's 1896 book, "Colonel William Candler of Georgia ... " the author says of North Carolina:|
In this province, William Candler's father settled, his son William (and probably another son) was born there, and soon after the birth of his son, he died there, [while] still a young man. Here we find William Candler, in 1760; here he married, as is shown by the records, and here his three oldest children were born. If he had a brother, and family tradition says he had, he was probably the progenitor of all the Candlers in North Carolina and Virginia. They trace their lineage back to Zachariah Candler, who appeared in western North Carolina about the beginning of the present century, and belonged to the first generation after the War of the Revolution. They do not know whether they are descended from the English or the Irish stock, but the fact that their earliest ancestor, of whom they have any account, lived soon after the war, in that state fom which William Candler came a few years before the war, strengthens the supposition that the father of Zacheriah Candler and his brother John, who died in Tennessee in the early part of the present century, was the brother of William Candler of Georgia. |
In fact, Zachariah and John Candler (mentioned above) were nephews of Col. William Candler of Georgia. They were sons of Zedekiah Candler.
Zedikiah Candler (c1745-c1825) is the progenitor of most of the early North Carolina, Tennessee, and Kentucky Candlers. In 1772, in Bedford Co, VA, he married Anna Moorman, daughter of Zachariah Moorman and Elizabeth Terrell. Zed's father and siblings belonged to the South River Quakers (Society of Friends), but it appears that Zed and his mother, Hannah, did not. Anna and her family were also Quakers. She was disowned for marrying Zed because he was not one of the fold. Zed and Anna had eight children (possibly nine) who all seem to have been born in VA: Click here to see a listing of Zed and Anna's family
Zachariah Moorman Candler (c1772-1844), eldest son, traveled extensively in the western frontier before finally settling in the Asheville North Carolina area around 1800. John T. Candler (c1774-c1848), by 1810, had settled near Liberty, Wilson County, TN (later separated into DeKalb County). Winston (Wilson) Candler (1800-c1870) lived in Smith, Wilson, and Macon Counties in TN.
Zed and Anna's daughters, Elizabeth, Falby, Mahaly, Nancy, Sally, and Rachel all were married* in Bedford County, VA between 1790 and 1803. *Falby may not have married.
After Anna's death in 1804, Zedekiah, Mahaly, and her husband William Crowder moved to Smith County, TN also.
Tennessee
In 1814 by John Candler of Wilson County, TN, sent a letter to the Bedford County, VA Court. John was selling his interest in his mother's (Anna Moorman Candler's) estate (she died in mid-to-late1804). Also in 1814, John Candler received a land grant from the state of TN (perhaps using the estate money to buy land). Further investigation has shown that John Candler joined the Salem Baptist Church Wilson County, TN in 1812. His wife, Martha, joined in 1810. According to late 1820's tax records, John had a neighbor on Smiths Fork Creek in Wilson County -- Winston Candler.
On the1820 Federal census of Tennessee one finds Zedekiah Candler in Smith County (in the southwest part of the county that bounds on Wilson County). He is listed as 45+ years old (Zed was born c1745). Also living in the household was a woman listed as age 26-44, and a younger man age 18-25. This young man (age 18-25 years) was probably Winston Candler.
Also listed on the 1820 Smith County census is William Crowder. William was the husband of Mahaly Candler, daughter of Zedekiah. Mahaly and William married in Bedford County, VA in 1803. Zedekiah paid the marriage bond.
John Candler does not appear on the 1820 federal census in Wilson County, but John Chandler does. He is listed on page 412, and there was 1 male under 10 years old, 1 male 26-45, 1 female 18-25, and 1 female 26-44.
On the 1829-1832 Wilson County tax rolls one finds a John and Winston Candler residing in the same district.
There is a John CHandler listed on the 1830 Wilson County US census whose neighbors are the same as those who appear on land deeds involving John Candler.
On the 1840 Federal census of Smith County, there is no Zed but there is Winston Candler. Is this the 18-25 year-old man who was living with Zed in 1820?
On the 1850 Macon County, TN federal census, Winston Candler was listed as 50 years old, born in VA.
On the 1850 Census for Dekalb County one can find Martha Candler, age 61, born in South Carolina. Dekalb County was formed from Smith and Wilson Counties in the late 1830's. Recent discovered evidence indicates that Martha was the widow of John Candler of Wilson County. Various store ledgers, church records, land and tax records show that John T. and Martha Candler (sometimes spelled Canler or Chandler) were in Wilson/Dekalb County between 1810 and 1847. Martha was living on some of this land at the time of her death in 1851.
Hale's History of Dekalb County Tennessee More Data on these Smith & Wilson County Candlers
Who was the Father of Winston Candler
It seems likely that Zed Candler was the father of Winston Candler. John Candler left no will. His wife, Martha, had only one heir, her sister Ruth Elvira Harbin. According to the 1850 census, Martha Candler was born in 1789 in South Carolina. This also makes it unlikely that she was Winston Candler's mother.
Also listed on the 1832 tax records of Wilson County (and appearing in this one year only) was Henry Candler. Henry could have been an unknown son of Zed's or a son of John's. If so perhaps he was the father of Winston, but this seems quite a stretch. No other records of a Henry Candler exist in the area, so I assume this is a middle name or a misreading of another name in a poor document.
Anna (Moorman) Candler died in 1804 in Bedford County, VA. Most (but not all) of her children were mentioned in Bedford Court estate settlement records between 1805 and 1808. These children were grown and married. Winston Candler has no such record inheritance. Of course, he would only have been four years old when his mother died. This leads me to wonder if he had a mother other than Anna Moorman. According to the 1820 Smith County, TN US census, there was a younger woman living with Zedekiah Candler.
The Candler-Caffery-Donelson Connection
Zedekiah Candler's sister, Elizabeth Candler (c1733-after 1790), married John Caffery sometime before 1758 in present-day Lynchburg, VA. Their son, John Caffery, was part of the 1779 expedition that founded Nashville under the leadership of Colonel John Donelson, famous Virginia Surveyor and Indian Agent from Pittsylvania County. John Caffery married Col. Donelson's daughter, Mary, and later was an agent of Andrew Jackson at Natchez, MS.
Andrew Jackson moved to the young settlement at Ft. Nashboro (present Nashville) in the early 1790's.
According to Wilson County, TN History, John Donelson was the first man to raise tobacco in Wilson County (1780's) and his crop was planted on Smith's Fork Creek -- the place where John and Winston Candler lived twenty years later. John Caffery also had land on Smith's Fork that he sold in 1799 before moving to Natchez, MS
Other Tennessee Candlers
Also on the 1840 Federal census in Davidson County there appears a Johnson Candler. This is curious because there was a Johnson Candler on the 1820 & 1830 census of Campbell County, VA (see analysis of 1820). He was the son of James Candler (c1756-1826) and Agnes Johnson (c1755-1817). Is this Johnson Candler of Lynchburg, VA?
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LINKS |
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A map with explanations about where the children and grandchildren of Daniel & Hannah lived |
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Zedikiah's known children, when they moved to North Carolina and Tennessee, and other Candlers in those parts |
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Originally part of the Zedikiah & Zacheriah essay (above) - describes the proximity of Virginia, North Carolina, Kentucky, and Tennesse Candlers in the late 18th and early 19th centuries |
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A 1940 article, written by George W. Candler of Murphy, NC a descendant of Zachariah Candler. This shows the pervasiveness of the Legends and some details are not strictly factual. |
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This page is dedicated to my growing research on the father of North Carolina Candlers. |
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The Candlers and the Cafferys were early South River settlers. Daniel Candler's daughter, Elizabeth (c1733-after 1790) married John Caffery (c1722-1790). Their son, John, married Mary Donelson whose father co-founded Nashville. Rachel, Mary's sister, was the wife of president Andrew Jackson. |
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Continuing the theme above. Capt. John Caffery was a member of the Donelson Expedition, A Revolutionary War officer, and Andrew Jackson's agent in Natchez, MS. |
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Records gleaned from the library in Lebanon. |
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