Padge Chandler, and the freed slaves families

I found this interesting article about freed slaves, who took the Chandler name, and their descendants living in Sevier County, and then Knox County, TN. My notes are in italics.  

Walter Padge Chandler was born in 1887 and worked most of his life as a cook and butler at Wheatlands Plantation

 The Black Candlers at Wheatlands Plantation

Walter Padge Chandler, known as Uncle Padge was born in 1887. Both of his parents, Lewis and Flora Chandler were born as slaves at Wheatlands. His Great-Grandmother was named Jenny and was the first slave that Timothy Chandler (#1 who built Wheatlands originally) purchased in the late 1700's. When Timothy Chandler passed away, Jenny and another slave, Ester, were responsible for preparing meals for the Chandler family. The two women would carry all the water from the spring and cook in the open fireplace in the kitchen. 

The original house burned down in 1825 and John Chandler rebuilt the house. Jenny and Ester were the first cooks in the new house. Jenny earned a reputation as an excellent cook and as she grew older taught her daughter Polly and another slave girl named Liz how to cook. By the time Jenny was no longer able to work, Polly and Liz took over the cooking duties. The spring which Jenny used to draw water was replaced by a hand-dug well after the spring went dry. 

During the Civil War, Union forces encamped at the plantation while the Chandler men folk, who were confederate sympathizers, hid out in an undisclosed location away from the plantation. The soldiers raided farms throughout the county and returned with turkeys, hams and vegetables with which Polly prepared a big feast that was enjoyed by the soldiers, the Chandler women, and the slaves alike. 

After the Civil War John Chandler allowed his former slaves, who wished to, remain on the Wheatlands Plantation and he paid them to work there doing essentially the same jobs they had done in the past. Padge’s Grandmother Polly was among those who stayed and continued working there as the cook. Up until this time the slaves never had a surname. Understandably, those who remained at Wheatlands began using the name Chandler as their last name. 

Born about 1860, Flora Chandler grew up assisting her mother Polly in the kitchen at Wheatlands. Polly passed down the recipes to Flora that her mother Jenny had taught her. Although Flora married Lewis Chandler in 1878 and began raising a family that grew to include eleven children, she continued to work as a cook for Adela Chandler McMahan who inherited the place from her father. (Timothy #2)

Flora’s children began working at Wheatland’s which was called Ler- Mac for a number of years after Adela married Isaac Newton McMahan. Flora’s second oldest child, Padge began working there as a houseboy when he was a young teenager. Padge’s duties were similar to those of a butler. He also assisted his mother in the kitchen and became an excellent cook. 

When Flora was no longer able to work Padge was the natural choice for the position as cook. While Padge worked in the dual roles of butler and cook, several of his siblings worked in domestic jobs at Wheatlands as well. Padge remained at Wheatlands through an uncomfortable situation in which his sister Celia, who worked there as a maid, became pregnant by Adela’s teenaged son (Samuel) Timothy McMahan. At the time Celia was 22 and married. 

Both Adela (Chandler McMahan) and her husband died in 1936 and their son and daughter-in law, (Samuel) Timothy and Blanche (McMahan) took charge of Wheatlands. Padge remained there as cook preparing the recipes the Chandler- McMahan family had enjoyed for generations. He supervised smoking hams using smoldering fires of corn cobs. An especially good desert Padge was known for was Lemon Pie using a handed-down recipe which he improvised to make it his own. 

Throughout its history, there had always been more than one cook at any given time at Wheatlands until Padge assumed the duties. Never married, he lived on the premises of the mansion for many years. 

Padge was living there in 1942 when an unimaginable tragedy occurred. During a heated dispute, (Samuel) Timothy McMahan Sr. was brutally beaten to death by his 19-year-old son, Timothy, Jr. 

After the murder, Padge remained at Wheatlands for more than a decade before deciding to follow other family members and move to Knoxville. Although he missed certain aspects of working at Wheatlands where he had always taken pride in the meals he served, Padge adjusted to life in the city. Padge worked as a janitor for Swans’ Bakery in Knoxville for a few years before he retired. He passed away in 1966 at the age of 79. He was fondly known by his numerous nephews, nieces and extended family as Uncle Padge.

dgarrity11 originally shared this on 08 jul 2017 to Ancestry

Thank you so much for a very interesting history of the 2 families, living side by side! 

Final Note by editor of blog:
Samuel Timothy McMahan Sr.'s death certificate shows he was hospitalized from Oct. 14-19, 1942 when he died.

I'll look a bit closer to his life soon.
But first: a recap of the Wheatlands family Chandlers...look for underlined portion about freeing of slaves.

Wheatlands, named after its large annual wheat crop, was established as a family farm by Revolutionary War veteran Timothy Chandler in 1791. Chandler's son, John Chandler (1786–1875), inherited Wheatlands in 1819, and under his direction the plantation grew to become one of Sevier County's largest farms,... Chandler's freed slaves inherited part of Wheatlands in 1875, and formed the Chandler Gap community in the hills south of the plantation. State Highway 338 roughly follows what was once a section of the 18th-century Native American trail known as the Great Indian Warpath. 

... By 1850, Wheatlands had become one of the largest farms in Sevier County, covering some 3,700 acres ... John Chandler and fourteen slaves produced 3,000 bushels of corn, 400 bushels of oats, 200 bushels of sweet potatoes, 12 bushels of buckwheat, 10 tons of hay, 150 pounds of wool, 200 pounds of butter, and 200 gallons of honey. The plantation's distillery produced 6,000 gallons of whiskey, worth $4,500 (US$124 thousand in present terms[6]).[3]

 When Southern slaves were emancipated during the American Civil War (1861–1865), Chandler started paying his freed slaves to remain at Wheatlands. Upon his death in 1875, Chandler left his former slaves a portion of land along the south side of Wheatlands known as Chandler Gap. The Chandler Gap community remained a predominantly African-American community well into the 20th century. 

SherryWhaley2

SherryWhaley2 originally shared this on 14 Jun 2013

My Notes:
Where is Chandler Gap?
Who was the child of Timothy (teenager) McMahan and (married) Celia Chandler (?)
Why did the Chandler men not serve in the Confederacy? Did they buy their way out of service? I haven't heard that that happened during that war.
I've found some children of Flora Chandler, was Padge the second oldest as mentioned above?
Now to create a family tree of the freed slaves based on Padge's account...