Colonel John Chandler

Excerpts from "The Chandler Family; Descendants of William and Annis Chandler":

Col. JOHN CHANDLER (Joseph, Joseph 3, John 3, William1) and Mary Chandler (William, John, John, William1) Newton, Conn. She was b. 4 Feb, 1738; d 3 Feb., 1816, at the residence of dau. Mrs. Anne Maria Phelps in Farnham, Canada East.She was dau of Capt. William and Jemima Chandler of Killingly, near Woodstock. They were second cousins.

Mr. Chandler was one of eight young men from the small town of Pomfret, Conn., who were graduated at Yale College, in the class of 1759. The seven others afterwards settled in various towns in Massachusetts as congregational clergymen, but he settled at Newtown as a physician, and became a preacher of the gospel. He built there the two- story gambrel- roofed house, shingled on the sides, which is the first house south of the meeting house on the west side of the street at the centre of the town. He kept tavern in that house, and Gen. Washington stopped there with him over night on his way to Cambridge to take command of the American forces. At one time during the Revolutionary war, the French army was encamped on the hills just in front of his house.

"On the 14th June, 1778, John Chandler Esq., was appointed by the Legislature of Connecticut, Lieutenant Colonel under Col. Gold Sellick Silliman, Esq., of the first Battalion of Foot," "ordered to be raised" and he marched directly to New York to join the continental army.

His regiment and Col. Durkee's in Gen. Gold S. Silliman's brigade, were left by General Washington to cover the army's retreat from Long Island on the night of the 29 th of August, 1776, and after the army had crossed over to- Gen. Washington sent word to Cols. Chandler and Durkee, "To get off the best way they could, in order or not." In their retreat, they passed through a field of grain and in doing so Col. Chandler got wet, from which he "took cold" that resulted in chronic rheumatism, by which he was not long afterwards disabled from active duty in the field. Of this retreat of the army, "The Testimony of Hezekiah Ripley, Chaplain" contains the following:" On or about the 15th Sept. 1776, Gen. Putnam informed me that the British had landed on the East side of the Island in N.Y., and I must escape on the west side. Gen. John Chandler, then acting Colonel in Gen. Gold S. Silliman's Brigade, told me that the bravery and good conduct of Col. Aaron Burr saved that Brigade from falling into the hands of the British."

Justice of the Peace, 1780.

He was appointed by the Legislature to the command of the Eleventh Regiment", ordered to be raised in 1777.

He acted as paymaster for the commissary department towards the close of the war. Hinman in his Genealogy says:" Col. Chandler, afterwards General, proved himself patriotic and a useful officer during the war."

He was a member of the convention to ratify the constitution of the United States in 1788, and voted to ratify; was side Judge of the County Courts for Fairfield County, Conn. in 1790, and "first side Judge" in 1794; a member of the Court of Appeals. He was nominated for "Assistant" in 1789, and elected in 1795.

When about to remove to Vermont, there appeared in the "Phoenix"( Windham, Conn.), the following card:

" The subscriber contemplating a removal with his family from his present place of residence into the State of Vermont, acknowledges with gratitude the repeated testimony of his friends in his favor, and requests they will no longer consider him as a candidate for any office in this State. Signed John Chandler; Newton, Dec 26 1795."

Gen. Chandler removed to Peacham, Vt. with his family, but lived only a few days after arriving there, and his was the first recorded death of an adult , "March 15, 1796" in that town.

Mr. Chandler was inclined to scientific pursuits, and for that purpose had one room in his house devoted to that object, in which were kept the retorts, vials, & c, of the chemist. As this room was usually kept closed when he was not in it, and as anybody at that day who might he engaged in anything that was not materially useful awakened the suspicions of the ignorant, stories were told in the neighborhood of Mr. Chandler's dealing in the black art, his searching for the philosopher's stone &c.

While in the service he had acquired the generous and hospitable habits of the officers of the army, which were incompatible with the ability to save much money.

On a white marble slab, two and a half by five feet, in Peacham Cemetery is inscribed: John Chandler- died March 15, 1796- aged 60 years- He served his country as Colonel in the Revolutionary Army- Mary Chandler- his wife- died at Stanbridge, L.C.- Feb. 3, 1816- aged 78 years.

The children of Gen. John and Mary Chandler Chandler were:

• 802 i Elizabeth Jemima, b. 31 May, 1765; m. 30 Nov., 1784, William Edmond, Esq.
• 803 ii John Winthrop, b. 1 June, 1767; m. 5 Oct., 1794, Susanna Chandler of Pomfret, Conn.
• 804 iii Maria Lucretia, b. 30 Nov., 1768; d. 15 April, 1776, aged 7 years, 4 m., 16 ds
• 805 iv William, b 12 Dec., 1770; d 26 Dec., 1770, aged 14 days
• 806 v William Hilton, b. 28 Sept., 1772; d. 25 Sept., 1775, aged 2 years, 11 ms., 27 days
• 807 vi Anna Maria, b. 21 Dec., 1778; m. Elkanah Phelps

Source The Chandler Family: The Descendants of William and Annis Chandler who settled in Roxbury 1637; George Chandler; press of Charles Hamilton; 311 Main Street; Worchester, Mass.; 1883; Pg.286-288

Links: https://books.google.com/books?id=h2JmAAAAMAAJ&dq=decendents%20of%2...

To George Washington from Brigadier General Samuel Holden Parsons, 6 March 1777:

John Chandler (1736–1796) served as the lieutenant colonel of Gold Selleck Silliman’s regiment of Connecticut militia levies from June to December 1776 and as colonel of the 8th Connecticut Regiment from January 1777 to March 1778, when he resigned from the service. 

Link: https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-08-02-0673

8th Connecticut Regiment From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

On Jan 1, 1777 the new 8th Regiment, "Connecticut Line" was formed for the new "Continental Line," and it was placed under the command of Colonel John Chandler, and saw action in the Battle of Germantown, the Siege of Fort Mifflin, and the Battle of Monmouth. The regiment was merged into the 1st Connecticut Regiment on January 1, 1781 at West Point, New York and disbanded on November 15, 1783.

Link:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/8th_Connecticut_Regiment

D.Glenn-2017