Welcome Williams Chandler

​1.  Welcome Williams Chandler was born about 1814 in South Carolina. He died in May 1870 in Brown Co, Texas.
 
Sheriff of Brown County Texas
 
Welcome W. CHANDLER was appointed on June 30, 1868, by General J. J. Reynolds’ Special Order #154 and served until December 3, 1869. Contributed by Patsy Johnson in Brownwood at ikesis2@juno.com
 
Welcome W. CHANDLER was appointed a second time on January 25, 1871, and served until March 8, 1871, when he returned the commission. Contributed by Patsy Johnson in Brownwood at ikesis2@juno.com
 
CHANDLER, WELCOME WILLIAMS (1 81 3-1 870).
Welcome Chandler, the first settler, farmer, county judge, postmaster, and store owner in Brown County, Born in North Carolina to William Hugh and Tebitha Elizabeth (Hodges) Chandler in January 1813.
The family moved to Copiah County, Mississippi, where Chandler married Sarah Brown in 1834; they moved to Texas in 1854.
That (1854) summer, Chandler, Samuel R. Coggin, and J. H. Fowler visited the Brown County area and resolved to settle there permanently. In July 1856 Chandler arrived with his wife, their eight children, J. H. Fowler (who became the first bridegroom in Brown County by marrying Chandler’s daughter Mary Ann the following year, and who also brought the first herd of cattle to Brown County in December 1856), and seven slaves. On Pecan Bayou, just east of the site of Brownwood, they built the first dwelling in Brown County, a large log cabin. Chandler also operated the county’s first store, a settlers’ supply house, in his home. Although local mail service may have existed earlier, the first official post office in Brownwood was apparently established on February 20, 1860, and located in Chandler’s house. Chandler was named postmaster, a position he held till January 23, 1867, when the post office was temporarily discontinued by the United States government.
On March 21, 1857, the first election in the county took place in the Chandler home, and Chandler was elected county commissioner; however, because of a mistake about county boundaries made by the state legislature, none of the officers elected in 1857 ever served. Instead they asked the legislature to correct its mistake, and it did soon February 8, 1858.
The second election, on August 2, 1858, was also held in the Chandler home, and Chandler was elected chief justice (county judge).
The first courthouse in the county, a log structure, was built on Chandler’s farm in October
1858.
Chandler was elected county treasurer on August 4, 1862.
After the defeat of the Confederacy and the invalidation of county elections of the Civil War years, a new election of county officers was held on August 25, 1865, and Welcome Chandler rode with the results in less than a day to have them validated in Austin (140 miles from Brownwood), so that the county would not be without the rule of law.
He was elected judge of the county board of appeals in 1869.
The Chandlers had five more children after arriving in Brown County. Their daughters
Melissa and Laura Caldora were the first twins born in the county, and their daughter Ella
was the second white child born there.
The first Confederate flag in the county was made by Mrs. Chandler, her daughter Jane, and
Mrs. Brooks W. Lee. It was first flown on February 23, 1861, when the residents of Brown
County met in the Chandler home and voted to ratify the ordinance of secession.
Chandler died in Williamson County, Texas, in May 1870 and was buried in Florence, Texas.
 
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Thomas Robert Havins, Something about Brown: A History of Brown
County, Texas (Brownwood, Texas: Banner Printing, 1958). Tevis Clyde Smith, Frontier’s
Generation (Brownwood, Texas, 1931; 2d ed. 1980). James C. White, The Promised Land: A
History of Brown County (Brownwood, Texas: Brownwood Banner, 1941). Charlotte Laughlin

WELCOME WILLIAMS CHANDLER
The First Settler in Brown County
Chandler erected his Cabin on
The banks of Pecan Bayou in 1856
 
Welcome married Sarah Brown. Sarah was born about 1819 in Mississippi.
They had the following children:
 +2F        i.              Nancy Caroline Carrie Chandler was born about 1841.
 +3M      ii.             William Washington Chandler was born on 17 Feb 1843.
 4F          iii.            Elizabeth K Chandler was born about 1846
 5F          iv.           Sarah A Chandler was born on 7 Sep 1847. She died on 8 Mar 1927. She was buried in
Staley Cemetery, Brown Co, Texas.
Sarah married Charles Hardee. Charles was born on 13 Feb 1845 in Ohio. He died on 5 Dec 1914. He was buried in Staley Cemetery, Brown Co, Texas.
 6F          v.            Frances L Chandler was born about 1850.
 7M        vi.           Samuel H Chandler was born about 1854 in Mississippi.
 8M        vii.          Jessie R Chandler was born about 1855 in Texas.
 9F          viii.         Ellen Tabitha Chandler was born on 10 Nov 1857 in Texas She died on 10 Jan 1937.
She was buried in Staley Cemetery, Brown Co, Texas. Ellen married Stafford.
 10F        ix.           Lora Sarah Callie Chandler was born in Feb 1860 in Texas. She died on 28 Oct 1933.
She was buried in Staley Cemetery, Brown Co, Texas. Lora married William Dufner son of James Dufner and Nancy Steele. William was born on 4 Feb 1854 in Lavaca Co, TX. He died on 26 May 1923. He was buried in Staley Cemetery, Brown Co, Texas.
 11F        x.            Lavina N Chandler was born about 1860 in Texas.
 12M      xi.           Ad B Chandler was born about 1865 in Texas.
 13M      xii.          Ed V Chandler was born about 1867. He died on 1 Apr 1934. He was buried in Staley
Cemetery, Brown Co, Texas.
 14F        xiii.         Caldora H Chandler.
Caldora married W T Davis on 3 Apr 1880 in Brown Co, Texas.
15F       xiv.         Louiza Chandler was born about 1837. 1860 US census - Brown Co Texas living with
Parents WW Chandler and siblings. Louiza married Jesse Sutton (Sut) Harris, son of
Jesse S Harris and Sarah Lambeth in Brown Co, Texas. Jesse was born in 1829 in Davidson Co, North Carolina. He died on 14 Mar 1861 is Killed by J Anderson Brown Co, Texas. He was buried in Connell Cemetery, Brown Co, Texas. Jesse Sutton (Sut) Harris was appointed Sheriff 3/14/1861 by Judge; Killed by J Anderson, a school teacher and friend of Burrell Roberts, after Harris killed Roberts in a gun battle. Death: 1861 in Brown Co., TX Burial: Connell Cemetery, Brown Co., TX
Note: The Life and Lives of Brown Co., People Vol. 2 by the Brown co., Hist. Soc. pg. 48.
Jesse Sutton Harris migrated to Brown Co., TX in 1857 with his brother Thomas D. Harris and neighbors Moses and Samuel Coggins. He was elected sheriff and was involved in the first gunfight of Brown Co., TX killing a man named (Burrell) Roberts in self defense. Robert’s friend J Anderson a schoolteacher gunned down Jesse Sutton Harris in 1861 and left the state never to be heard from again. Jesse Sutton Harris is buried in the Connell Cemetery in Brown Co., TX. 1820 and 1830 Census of Davidson Co., NC.
1860 Federal Census of Brown Co., TX pg. 103-living in the household of Ichabod Adams. His wife was living with her parents along with J Anderson the schoolteacher who killed him.
 
Second Generation
 
2.  Nancy Caroline Carrie Chandler (Welcome Williams) was born about 1841.
Nancy married James J Dubose, Dr.
Settled in Brown CO Texas in fall of 1862.
The first mill operated in Brown co was the property of Dr James J Dubose and it stood on the east side of Pecan Bayou about three miles northeast of the present side of Brownwood. Dubose operated the enterprise primarily as a sawmill, but burrs for grinding wheat and corn were added soon after it was built, and the owner enjoyed a liberal patronage. Dubose sawed lumber from timber that grew along Pecan Bayou cottonwood, pecan, elm and oak being utilized. Since the lumber was sawed from green trees, it warped and twisted on drying and became almost useless. And for this reason, it became known as rawhide lumber.
 
Dubose sold his mill to Jake Sharpe in 1874 and the new owner moved it a few miles down the river
 
James and Nancy had the following children:
 16M      i.              Charley Dubose was born on 18 Dec 1867. He died on 24 Jun 1868 in Brown Co, Texas.
He was buried in Roberts Cemetery, Brown Co, Texas.
3.  William Washington Chandler (Welcome Williams) was born on 17 Feb 1843 in Mississippi.
William married Euphrania Allie Moseley daughter of Daniel Hay Zachary Moseley Captain and Harriett E Smith. Euphrania was born on 11 Mar 1853 in Cherokee GO, Texas. She died on 6 May 1941 in Pecos, Reeves Co, Texas.
They had the following children:
 +17F     i.              Carrie Chandler was born in 1878.
 +18M   ii.             William Washington Wash Chandler.
 19M      iii.            Eugene Chandler was born about 1872.
 20M      iv.           Elisha Chandler was born about 1876.
 21F        v.            Vergie Chandler was born about 1877.
 22F        vi.           Mable Chandler was born about 1879.
 23F        vii.          Daisey Chandler was born about 1880.
 24F        viii.         Lillie Chandler was born about 1883.
 25M      ix.           Roy Chandler was born about 1885.
 26F        x.            Rose Chandler was born about 1888.
 27F        xi.           Myrtle I Chandler was born on 14 Jul 1889. She died on 23 Feb 1977.
Myrtle married John Girard Oates. John was born on 15 Apr 1884. He died on 23
Feb 1977.
Third Generation
17.          Carrie Chandler (William Washington, Welcome Williams) was born in 1878 in Brown Co,
Texas. Carrie married Carl Wright.
They had the following children:
 28F        i.              Venice Wright was born on 18 Jan 1915. She died on 24 Dec 1982.
 
18.          William Washington Wash Chandler (William Washington, Welcome Williams). William married Ruth.
William and Ruth had the following children:
 29F        i.              Mary Ruth Chandler was born on 24 Mar 1899. She died on 16 Nov 1980.
 30M      ii.             Howard A Chandler was born on 21 Dec 1917. He died on 16 Jul 1992.
Howard married Marjorie Jarrell. Marjorie was born on 22 Dec 1918. She died on
26 Jan 1989.
 
 

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