Joshua Chandler (7), 1758-1817 was the son of Joshua (6), 1732-1807, a descendent of William Chandler who was listed as an inhabitant of Roxbury in 1637 but whose progeny settled in Andover.

Joshua (7) and his wife Dorcas Foster, 1777-1830, whom he married in 1798, had four children: Dorcas, 1800-1867, who married Moses Parker; Joshua, 1803-1870; John, b. 1806 and Nathan, b. 1812.

He was assessor for many years, and also a surveyor of note. He carefully educated himself in the best technical training of the day. In 1785, at the age of 27, he went to Newburyport to study "Navigation---, mensuration of heights and distances and surveying." This even involved a trip to the West Indies to practice his navigation skills.

Joshua (7)'s son, Joshua (8), stayed close to home and was a successful farmer, assessor and selectman. Joshua Herbert (9), his son, was also a farmer. Given the identical names, it was impossible to apportion all the documents to the correct Joshua.

Related collections which had been separated from the Joshua Chandler long since are:

• Ms S 125, seventeen bills and receipts of Joshua (8),

• Ms S 238, a day book, 1807-1812, of Joshua (7)'s,

• Ms S 239, "Bills of the Polls and Personal Estates of the Inhabitants of the West District, South Parish, 1813, 1815," 2 volumes taken by Joshua (7),

• Ms S 241, day book, 1824-1851 of Joshua (8) and

• Ms S 576, an 1806 will of the Joshua (6) who died in 1807.

The typed manuscript of Charlotte Helen Abbott's Early Records and Notes of the Chandler Family of Andover was used in compiling these notes. Some of the papers were among those given to the Society in 1923 and given the Accession Number 1967.50.

SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE

The material consists mostly of bills and receipts, stretching from 1758 to 1871, which could not be apportioned among the Chandlers.

Some material can be confidently attributed to Joshua (7) and Joshua (8). Joshua (7) left a few undated drafts of letters, c. 1810, chastising an unnamed clergyman for over-reacting to the theft of some watermelons. He also left a school boy mathematics notebook and a notebook from his course in navigation and surveying. (Among the bills and receipts in the bill of his teacher, Samuel Chandler of Newburyport, 25 October 1785.) He also left a valuation notebook as assessor in 1812, "Bills of Personal Estate." There are also loose town treasury and tax record. These include instructions from the State Treasurer, 1799; town "States of the Treasury" reports, 1801-1812; lists of the expense of supporting the town poor, with names of paupers, 1801-1803; and bills between Boston and Andover for supporting each other's indigents. There is a petition, 1810, from the inhabitants of the Chandler School District, written by Joshua as clerk. Material from his estate settlement includes an inventory, a laudatory obituary notice, notice of allowance for his widow and some bills.

Joshua (8) left two deeds, insurance policies, plot plans, and, more interesting, three assessor's valuation notebooks, c. 1850.

The third section of material consists of fourteen folders of bills and receipts, stretching from 1758 to 1871. It proved impossible to differentiate between the Joshuas, so these have been divided by decade. they are mostly for farm equipment and supplies.

The fourth section contains material of people other than the Joshua Chandlers. They include the marriage record of Daniel Bailey and Sophia Cochran, 1809 and inventory of James Bailey's estate, 1807.

Processed by Mary F. Morgan, November 1982.

 

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