Family secrets maybe revealed

Sam McMahan & "Willie Katherine Chandler McMahan" - no date. I just found out who she is, because his wife was named Blanche Carter Clabough.  Willie Katherine Chandler (not McMahan) was a cousin to Samuel Timothy Chandler McMahan. Her father John Chandler Jr, was Sam McMahan's grandmother's brother. But they must have all lived in the same area, and visited between families. Incidentally, Willie Katherine was quite a few years older than Sam McMahan, her cousin. Why were they posed like this, I wonder...

This family had many secrets.

And as noted in my last post, their servants knew about them, and their cook, Padge Chandler, even told someone who wrote it down in remembering the 4 generations of Chandler black people being part of the family. There were a couple of sisters who outlived Padge, living till they were 99 or 100, and one who lived until 2013.

But I want to investigate the rest of the records to see if I can find out any more. Did the son murder his father in a fight, as Padge's family record described it? (see yesterday's post).

Here's a copy of Samuel Timothy Chandler McMahan's death certificate.

Whatever caused his death was something from a soft injury to his bowels...I am not sure what the details are, but it looks like perforation.  But under number 21, "If death was due to external causes, fill in the following" the physician just checked, "means of injury." He avoided accident, suicide or homicide, date of occurrence etc.

Samuel Timothy Chandler McMahan's date of birth is in 1899, not 1896 as he gave to the draft board when he registered for the first world war in 1918. I wonder why he wanted to be 3 years older...and did he serve?

But the fight that he had with his 19 year old son (called Sonny because he had the same name), which Padge Chandler had probably witnessed, is not mentioned.

I originally thought the son was probably at fault, the way Padge worded his "murdered his father." However, perhaps the father was to blame.

I am also reminded how the father had been mentioned earlier in Padge's reporting of family events that Timothy McMahan Sr. had impregnated Padges' 22 year old sister Celia when a teenager. And that she had been married at the time.  So I'm going to see if there are any records about that and what might have happened to the McMahan child.  Off I go in another direction on Ancestry.

These are distant relations after all, the McMahans were descendants of the wife (Mary Chandler) of my great times 4 Uncle Spencer Clack Rogers.

And the way things seem to always have stumbling blocks, in Sevier County there were 2 black families with the head named Lewis Chandler. So I have to find the mother or Padge in the census records...as well as Celia.

Ah ha. I've got some of the facts (and probably a few mixed up ones to boot).

Walter Padge Chandler turns out to not have been real certain about his birth date. Neither did Celia.  But without any church records, or state records, it all depended upon family members remembering the date.

Celia may have lived to 100, as her headstone records. Her descendants (many) listed her as being born a year earlier than some census data.  She was married for a while, and probably divorced from a black man, Charlie E. Chandler.

There are photos of news clipping about her, as would be expected of a centurion. Unfortunately the photo is blurred, and we only get an idea that Mrs. Celia Chandler looked pretty good at whatever age the article was written. (I'm pretty sure if I looked for the Knoxville Journal I could find it however.)

The same source also had another photo of another news article, which may have been the source of the information "Four Generations," which I've shared onto many of this family's tree pages over on Ancestry. I quoted the whole article in yesterday's blog post.

You can go blind trying to read this, but it's amusing to see Padge Chandler cooking, when he was fairly young apparently. (Another article probably from Knoxville' paper.)

We also can remember that he worked until 1952 when he was probably 55 (or maybe 68) according to either the article "Four Generations of Chandlers" or the census reports.

And I think I figured out who was the daughter of Celia and her rapist, Samuel Timothy Chandler McMahan. As mentioned before, Celia had been married at the time, to Charlie Chandler. Going by the census reported date of Celia's birth and Padge's article which said she was 22 when raped, then a birth of Rosa Hazel Chandler born on July 15, 1914, when Celia was 23 would be the most likely child.

And in 1913 Celia's husband had had a child with another woman. So perhaps there was a separation. We don't know for sure who the fathers of some of her children were.  And though several siblings lived quite long lives, they worked in domestic situations. Rosa lived until 2013, having just had her 99th birthday.

So I'm going to leave this family for now. I've found a few answers and discovered more questions, the way genealogy frequently happens.

Oh, where is Chandler Gap? Sevier County definitely. But there's a zip code, and that's about all I can find. It's near the Smoky Mountain National Park, where some older buildings have been saved.

 The Ogle homestead in the great Smoky Mountain national Park. (NOT any of the housing of the Chandler families.)

Ruined homes with only the fireplaces are scattered throughout the woods of Tennessee, (indeed all of Appalachia.)

Boyds Creek TN is between Sevierville and Seymour. It is probably where Wheatlands, the Chapman plantation home is located, if it's still standing.

Wheatlands, Sevier County, TN, built 1825.

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...

More on Jane Chandler Rogers

Jane's marker in Citizen's Cemetery in Chattanooga, Hamilton County, TN, just gives her name as Jane Chandler and "wife of Spencer C. Rogers." There are no dates, but somehow Ancestry trees say she died in 1855.

Oh I just discovered that looking at her children's lives may give more information about her.
We had 2 daughter's death certificates naming her as their mother. Today I found a son, Arthur C. Rogers' death certificate.

 Sloppy writing and poor transcription leaves this record in the files as T. C. Rogers as his father. But it's also possible it was S. C. Rogers.  Jane Chandler was transcribed correctly.

But before going into her children's lives, I think it would be best to start with her siblings.  Let's see what Ancestry has to offer.

Lecretia Chandler b.1812 in Knox County TN, m. Wm.P. Ailes, d. 1867 Claiborn County TN

Malvina Chandler b. 1813, m. James Henderson 1830, m.2 Andrew Jackson Chambers, 1860, life long member of the Jones Chapel Baptist Church, where there is a record of Malvina Chambers death 15 Jul 1869...though her grave is unknown.

Benjamin Chandler

Benjamin Chandler b. 1814.Boyds Creek, Seveir County TN, m Catherine Newell, d. 1877, Escambia County FL (Pensacola area.) For some reason I had copied from another tree after his name (McCroskey?)  There are families of McCroskeys with Rogers ancestors still living in Sevier County TN. I don't understand why a Chandler would be considered related though. AH, as I looked into the families of some Chandlers I found that William and Mary Chandler had a daughter who married a McCroskey.

Jane Chandler Rogers comes next in birth order.

Bartley McGhee Chandler b.1817 Boyds Creek, Sevier County, TN, m Adela (Della) C. Huffaker, d. 1877 Pensacola, Escambia County FL (or 1870 New Orleans, LA?)

Timothy Chandler #2 (his grandfather of the same name had moved to TN after fighting in the American Revolutionary War) b.1820 Boyds Creek, Sevier County, TN, m. Mary Esther Smith Chandler (her second m. having been m. to his bro. Wm first,) d.1888 Boyds Creek, Sevier County, TN

William M."Bilce" Chandler, b. 1822, m. Mary Esther Smith @1846, (her first before m. second to his bro. Timothy later) d. 1852 Sevier County, TN

Armstrong Erwin Chandler, b. 1825, d. 1826 Boyds Creek, Sevier, TN

Mary Chandler, b. 1826 - unknown any details about her.

So this was fun, but time consuming of course. I found that 2 of Jane Chandler Rogers' brothers had married the same woman, Mary Esther Smith Chandler...in succession. Maybe the youngest of her children was fathered by her second husband, but I'm not going to worry about that. It at least was explained that her first husband William died in 1852, and then she married Timothy #2.

Many of the Chandlers lived and died in Boyds Creek, Sevier County Tennessee.

Oh, and there's another interesting story which I'll include because it's so different to hear about the lives of freed slaves, who took the Chandler name.

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

Four Generations

 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 N. 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 of perforated bowel and peritonitis, there was no mention of injuries, and no indication of foul play on the death certificate. But it did say he was divorced. None of the ancestry records of his or his son's details indicate that they had a fight, as Padge has said in the above article.  But that doesn't mean it didn't happen. His son did join the army and fight in WW II and Korea, and never married (that I can find.)