Born: Cynthiana, Kentucky, March 25, 1822.
Died:
Was born near Cynthiana, Kentucky, March 25, 1822, and is now (1913) a resident of Decatur, Illinois His early education was such as was afforded by the winter country schools of Kentucky and Ohio at that time. Crawford County, Illinois, was organized in 1817. Coles County was cut out of Crawford in 1831, and Douglas County was cut out of Coles in 1857. Mr. Chandler came to what is now Douglas County in 1838. Here he became a schoolteacher and an official. Before the division of Coles County, he served as assessor and treasurer; after the division, he was deputy sheriff, then served as county clerk two and one-half years by appointment, and the next four years by an election in Douglas County. He was in the Mexican War.
Mr. Chandler was the presiding moderator in the debate between David Walk and the M. E. attorney at Tuscola in 1863. Shortly thereafter, he became a Christian. When the little congregation needed a house of worship, he furnished $3,450 of the $3,800 that it cost. He never received any money returned. The building was a two-story frame. Mr. Walk said that his wife would conduct a "day school" on the first floor, but this aim was not realized. The most of Mr. Chandler's many years were passed on his farm. He has lived a long, an honorable and a useful life--a public-spirited and intelligent gentleman.