Untitled - citizen hylbom blog

necessary. Mr. Willis has shown himself
vitally interested in all that pertains to the
welfare and growth of the town to whose af-
fairs he has given much time and attention.
A charter member of the Commercial Clnb, he
was its first secretary and treasurer; he has
been a trustee of the Bridgewater Public Library,
and is a trustee of the Plymouth County
Agricultural Society. A stanch Republican in
political sentiment, he has been active in promoting
the success of his party, has served
for a number of years as a member of the
Republican town committee, and as chairman
of the Citizens' town committee. Fraternally
he is a member of Fellowship Lodge, A. F. &
A. M., of Bridgewater, and in religious matters
is a member of the Church of the New
Jerusalem of Bridgewater.
On Dec. 14, 1887, Mr. Willis married Emma
Brooks Keith, who was born in Bridgewater,
daughter of Alfred T. and Mary (Brooks)
Keith, and sister of Allen P. Keith, superintendent
of the public schools of New Bed-
ford. They have had one child, Nathan Elliot,
bom Jan. 31, 1889, who attended the local
public and high schools and graduated from
the State normal school, Bridgewater, in June,
1911. Mrs. Willis was a charter member of
the Women's Club of Bridgewater and is a
member of the Visiting Nurse Association.
CHANDLER. The Chandler family of
Massachusetts was founded in America by (I)
Edmund Chandler (early spelled Chaunder
and later Chanler), who was early at Plymouth,
a freeman of 1633, resided at Duxbury,
1636-37, and constable. He owned land which
he sold in 1634. In 1636 he had granted to
him "forty acres of land lying on the east side
of Moyses Symonson, where Morris formerly
began to cleare for Mr. Bowman," which was
afterward made void, and sixty other acres
granted. He was of Scituate in 1650. He
died in 1662, leaving an estate of thirty-eight
pounds. He owned land at Barbadoes. He
had daughters Sarah, Ann, Mary and Ruth,
and sons Benjamin, Samuel and Joseph.
(II) Joseph Chandler, of Duxbury, and perhaps
of Sandwich in 1661, was, however, of
Duxbury in 1684. His children were: John,
Joseph, Edmund, and Benjamin (1684, who
died March 26, 1771, aged eighty-seven).
(III) Joseph Chandler (2), of Duxbury,
married Feb. 12, 1701, Martha Hunt, and
their children were: Philip, born July 21,
1702; Mary, born Aug. 3, 1704: Joshua, bom
July 7, 1706; Zachariah, bom July 26, 1708;
Edmund, born April 9, 1710; Ebenezer, bom
SOUTHEASTERN MASSACHUSETTS 965
Sept. 8, 1712; Sarah, born Oct. 25, 1714 (married
Moses Soule) ; Martha, born Nov. 23,
1716 (married Thomas Weston) ; Jonathan,
born Feb. 18, 1718; and Judah, bom Aug. 13,
1720.
(IV) Philip Chandler, of Duxbury, born
July 21, 1702, married Dec. 16, 1725, Rebecca
Phillips, who died in January, 1782, aged
seventy-eight. He died Nov. 15, 1764, aged
sixty-two years. Their children were : Nathan,
born Oct. 28, 1726; Betty, Oct. 21, 1728;
Perez, July 10, 1730; Esther and Martha
(twins). May 31, 1732; Peleg, April 27, 1735;
Philip, Oct. 24, 1738; Asa, March 1, 1743;
Mary, Sept. 25, 1744; and Elijah, Jan. 4,
1747.
(V) Perez Chandler, of Duxbury, born July
10, 1730, married Dec. 11, 1755, Rhoda Wadsworth.
Their children were : Betty, born June
13, 1758 ; Philip, April 12, 1761 (lost at sea) ;
Perez, Dec. 28, 1764; Doctor Seth, Feb. 22,
1767; Wadsworth, 1769; Rhoda, 1772 (died in
1791); Wealthea, 1774; Asenath, 1778; and
Daniel, Nov. 15, 1778.
(VI) Wadsworth Chandler, born in 1769,
married Mercy Chandler, and their children
were : Elbridge, Wadsworth, Almira and Mercy.
He was a lifelong resident of Duxbury.
(VII) Elbridge Chandler, born Oct. 15,
1810, married Martha Chandler, ajid their
children were: Elbridge H. and Horace. The
father until sixteen years of age attended the
common schools of his native town, and, reared
on a farm, thereafter followed chiefly through
life agricultural work. He was active and
prominent in the public affairs of his town,
serving for a dozen or more years as selectman,
and for much of that period was chairman of
the board. He also held other town offices, and
in 1885 was a representative from Duxbury in
the General Court of Massachusetts. He was
first a Whig and on the formation of the Republican
party became identified with it and
ever thereafter through life continued to act
with that party. He died March 7, 1897, and
his wife died Sept. 3, 1891, in Duxbury.
(VIII) Elbridge H. Chandler, born June
17, 1842, began his education in the common
schools, and completed his course of study at
the Duxbury Academy. He taught school for
a short time, and then interested himself in
the brickmason business, learning the trade.
He worked in Boston for a time after the great
fire in that city, and later was one of the con-
tractors engaged in building
Company's plant
the Cordage
in Plymouth. In 1872, owing
to ill health, he relinquished this business
and took up surveying and civil engineering.