George Chandler Jr. (1671 - 1714)

Born 14 Jun 1671 in Oare, Wilcot, Wiltshire, England

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 1714 at about age 42 in Chichester, Chester, Pennsylvania

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Biography

The Chandler family from the village of Oare in Wiltshire, had been seated there for centuries. The village itself has retained it's bounds, little changed, surrounded by Wiltshire countryside.

George was born in 1671 in Great Hodge, Wiltshire; son of George and Jane Chandler. He was sixteen years old when his family made the Atlantic crossing to Pennsylvania. It was a difficult voyage, and one in which his father fell ill, and died at sea.

George, Jr. stayed with his mother and the rest of the children during the first months after disembarking, living in the cave home carved out of the banks of the Delaware River. Then continued living with them for the next two years as his mother remarried and they established themselves on the land his father had purchased.

In March of 1690, at the age of nineteen, almost too old for an apprenticeship, he was bound out to Edward Bezer for two years and five months.^[1]

George Chandler, Jr. found love with one of the daughter's of his bondsman, and later married Ruth Bezer. ^[2] The Edward Bezer previously mentioned, was also of Wiltshire origin. He was a Quaker, and fined in 1660 in that county in some persecutorial fashion as was often the case with that sect.

The Beezer ( or Bezer) property was a five hundred acre tract not a quarter mile from the Chandler tract in Chichester.

Last Will & Testament

In the name of God, Amen. I, George Chandler of Chichester in the county of Chester & province of Pensilvania yeoman being in good health of Body & of sound & perfect mind & memory praise be therefore given to almighty god Do make & Ordain this my present Last will & testament in manner & form following, that is to say-ffirst & principally I comend my soul into the hands of almighty god hoping through the merits death & sufferings of my Saviour Jesus Christ to have full & ffree pardon & forgiveness of all my sins and to Inherit everlasting life and my body I comit to the earth to be decently buried at the discretion of my Executors hereafter named and as touching the disposition of all such Temperall Estate as it hath pleased god to bestpw upon me I Give & dispose . of as followeth, viz. ffirst I will that. my debts & :ffunerall charges shall be payed & discharged. Item, I give unto my beloved wife Ruth Chandler & to my children all my estate both real & personall to be divided amongst ym in manner following-viz. That all my children have Equall shares except my Eldest son and that his share & his mother's be to each of them two times so muc.h as any of the others of my children to hold to them their heirs & assigns Respectively for ever unless it shall happen that any one of my children shall die before they attain to the full age of twentyone years then in that case my will is that the share or part of that child that shall so happen to die shall be equally divided amongst the survivors of my children To hold to them their heirs and assigns forever. ItemI give & bequeath unto my dear wife & to my brothers Swithen Chandler & Thomas Chandler Twenty shillings to each of them who I h_ereby make & Constitute Executors of this my last will & testament & I do hereby revoke disanull & make void all former wills & Testaments heretofore by me made. In witness whereof I the sd. George Chandler pave to this my last will & Testament set my hand & seal the Twelfth day of November in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred & Thirteen. George Chandler (Seal)

Signed sealed & published to be his last will & testament in the presence of us Walter Martin, Willm Chandler, John Simcock.

Be it Known unto all men by these presents that whereas I George Chandler of Chichester in the county of Chester & province of pensilvania Yoman have made & declared my last will & testament in writing bearing date the twelfth day of November in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred & thirteen I the sd George Chandler do by this present Codicill Confirm & Ratifie my said last will & testament & Do Give & bequeath unto my dear & Loving mother Jane Bayliss the sum of ffive pounds & my will & meaning is that this Codicill or Schedule be & be adjudged to be part & parcell of my said Last will & Testament & that all things herein contained & menconed be £faithfully & truly performed & as ffully & amply in every respect as if the same were so declared & set down in my sd Last will & Testament. In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand & seal the Twelfth day of November Anno Dom 1713. George Chandler (Seal)

Signed sealed & published & c. in the presence of us Walter Martin, Willm Chandler, ]ohn Simcock. ^[3][4]

George Chandler passed away in 1714

Sources

1. ↑ A Record of the Descendants of George and Jane Chandler Who Emigrated to Pennsylvania from Wiltshire, England In 1687. Published by Chandler Family Reunion, 1937. at Archive.org
2. ↑ J. S. Futhey and Gilbert Cope: History of Chester County, Pennsylvania, p. 497.
3. ↑ Chester County Wills; Book A, vol. I, pp, 8"9.
4. ↑ "Pennsylvania Probate Records, 1683-1994," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G9SM-Z9L7?cc=1999196&wc=9PML-82Q%3A268496301%2C273713801 : 3 July 2014), Chester > Estates 1710-1810 no 1-115 > image 142 of 809; county courthouses, Pennsylvania.