Zedikiah Candler (c1745-c1825) is the progenitor of most of the early North Carolina, Tennessee, and Kentucky Candlers. In 1772, in Bedford Co, VA, he married Anna Moorman, daughter of Zachariah Moorman and Elizabeth Terrell. Zed's father and siblings belonged to the South River Quakers (Society of Friends), but it appears that Zed and his mother, Hannah, did not. Anna and her family were also Quakers. She was disowned for marrying Zed because he was not one of the fold.

Zedekiah had three sons (see below), Zachariah Moorman Candler, John T. Candler, and Winston Candler (not documented but much circumstantial evidence). Zachariah settled in North Carolina and his son James Madison Candler settled in Arkansas in the late 1840's. John T. Candler settled in Tennessee and seems not to have had any children who survived. Winston Candler also settled in Tennessee, and several of his children moved on into Kentucky.

Zedekiah had six daughters (see below), all of whom married (see Falby) in Bedford County, VA.

Daniel Candler's will of 1765 states:

"...But my Will is and hereby Declare it to be so that if the s'd Zedikiah Candler Shall Leave my Wife Hannah Candler Without her Consent Till he Arrives at the age of Twenty Years or Married That then his part of my Estate Given to him to be Divided Shall Remain to & amongst the other Four mentioned with him above and that he has no part nor parcel thereof..."

Therfore, Zedikiah was not yet 20 years old in 1765. He must have been born c1746 -1747. This would make his age about 25 at his marriage in 1772.

Zed and Anna had eight children (possibly nine) who all seem to have been born in VA:

Click here for short articles, links, and a listing of the children.

After Anna (Moorman) Candler's death in 1804, most of her children sold their interest in their mother's estate to William Dickinson/Dickerson of Bedford County, VA. Some court documents say specifically that these children are selling Anna Candler's inheritance from the estate of Zachariah Moorman. Anna (Moorman) Candler had received an inheritance from her father's, Zachariah Moorman's, estate in 1789 that specifically passed her inheritance along to her heirs.

Read the will of Zachariah Moorman

In the late 1800's, Allen Daniel Candler, a descendant of Colonel William Candler of Georgia, wrote a booklet entitled, The Candler Family Form 1650 to 1890. In 1896, Foote & Davis Co. of Atlanta, Georgia published the book under the title Colonel William Candler of Georgia, His Ancestry and Progeny, by "His Great-Grandson, Allen D. Candler." In the author's words, this was "a revised addition of that [first] book under another and more appropriate title." The author claims also to have used an old manuscript history of the Georgia Candlers written by Ignatius L. Few, L.L.D, and a grandson of Col. Wm. Candler of Georgia. I do not know if a copy of this work is in existence today.

Allen Daniel Candler was wrong about many of these details, but on one thing he was correct: Zachariah Candler of North Carolina had a brother in the west. His name was John Candler (of Wilson County, TN). Researching this man led me to the discovery of many TN and KY Candler descendants (more later).

Other old family stories place Zed and family in Pittsylvania County, VA, and/or Buncome Co, NC. See this link for an article that is characteristic of this legend

All the documentary evidence I have found indicates that Zedikiah and Anna (Moorman) Candler resided continuously in Bedford County, VA where they raised their family.

Zedekiah Candler appeared on the 1820 federal census, in Smith County, Tennessee. This area of Smith County was adjacent to the Wilson County area where his son John lived. On this census, Zed was listed along with a woman in her 40's and one young man about twenty years of age. I suspect that this young man was Winston Candler (see below) and that the woman was his mother - not Anna Moorman Candler but a second wife. There is no documented proof yet, but circumstantial evidence is mounting.

More about Zed's Migration to Tennessee

Judging from the ages of Zed's children (other than Winston), it may be that Anna was not the mother of Winston, but he was born in 1800 and Anna did not die until 1804 -- so the details are not easy to understand.

Zachariah Moorman Candler (c1772-1844), eldest son, traveled extensively in the western frontier before finally settling in the Asheville North Carolina area around 1800 where he raised a large family.

John T. Candler (c1774-c1848), about 1810 settled near Liberty, Wilson County, TN (later separated into Dekalb County). John and wife, Martha, joined the Salem Baptist Church of Liberty, TN in 1812 and 1810 (respectively). They appear never to have had children (he left no will, in hers she left all her possessions to her sister).

Winston Candler (1800-c1870) appears on late 1820's tax records of Wilson County. Was Winston Candler (born in Virginia in 1800 according to the 1850 TN census) the youngest son of Zed? Was he the sixteen to twenty-six year-old male living with Zed in 1820? He lived near John Candler (his brother by my theory). In the 1840 US census, Winston was listed in Smith County (where Zed was listed in 1820). On the 1850 US census of Macon County, TN, Winston Candler was 50 years old and listed as born in VA. This would make sense since Zed was living in VA in 1800.

Winston Candler and wife, Mary, raised a family of nine children. His sons, Winston, Jr. and William, moved to Kentucky around the time of the Civil War. Winston, Jr. fought for the Union Army in the Civil War and William received a land grant that indicates that he too was in the war, but on the Rebel side.

Elizabeth, Nancy, Falby, Mahaly, Sally, and Rachel were each married (or espoused) in Bedford County between 1790 and 1803.

Below are the children whose existence I can document. The order of birth is not clear so I have arranged them in order of marriage.

Falby had a child with William Dickinson. This child was named William Candler "alias William Dickenson." Bedford County Will Book 5, Page 37 Dickerson, Joseph, signed April 2, 1818, recorded September 28, 1818:

"... I give to William Candler son of Falby Candler and refuted son of William Dickerson my Negro man Will to him and his heirs forever."

There is a record in Franklin County, VA Court, dated 1 Sep 1806, that states, "Ordered that the overseers of the poor bind William Candler alias William Dickerson to Joel Shrewsbury.")

In the book, History of Kanawha County, 1876, by George W. Atkinson, p. 323 we find:

"JOEL SHREWSBURY, SR. -- One of the most noted men who ever lived in the Great Kanawha Valley was Joel Shrewsbury, Senior. He came from Bedford county to Kanawba in 1813, and engaged in the manufacture of salt with Colonel William Dickinson, Sr., continuing the same until 1856, when the partnership of Dickinson & Shrewsbury was dissolved. Mr. Shrewsbury died in Kanawha in 1857, at the advanced age of eighty-four years."

Apparently, William Candler (alias) went to Kanawha County with Joel Shrewsbury and became a very successful member of West Virginia (separated from VA in 1863) society.

Atkinson continues, "COLONEL WILLIAM DICKINSON, SR. -- Colonel Dickinson was born in Bedford county, Virginia, and came to Kanawha with Joel Shrewsbury, Sr., in 1813. He and Mr. Shrewsbury had been engaged in the manufacture of tobacco in Bedford county from 1804, and after their arrival in Kanawha, they formed a partnership in the manufacture of salt, which business they continued until 1856. Colonel Dickinson died in 1862, at the advanced age of about ninety-three. His son William is still living, and quite a number of his grandchildren are also residing in the county."

"His son," William Dickinson, Jr. seems to be William Candler (alias Dickinson). What a story this must be.

Anna Candler must have died in mid-to-late 1804 because records of the estate settlement are in Bedford County Court records beginning in December (Falby Candler). These citations continue in 1805 (Mahala Candler Crowder), 1806 , 1808, and 1814 (John Candler). This last reference, an affidavit dated 1814, was sent to Bedford County Court by John Candler of Wilson County, Tennessee.

For years, the only knowledge I had of Candlers in early Tennessee was a reference from A. D. Candler's book to " John [Candler], who died in Tennessee in the early part of the present century."

However, John Candler was not the first Candler descendant to come to this area. The Wilson County tax list says that John lived on Smith Fork Creek. Smith's Fork flows out of Wilson and into Smith County before flowing into the Cumberland River near Carthage, TN. According to a Wilson County History, Col. John Donelson (co-founder of Nashville) was the first man to raise tobacco in the county - in the early 1780's. He raised this crop on Smith's Fork Creek. Col. Donelson's son-in-law was Captain John Caffery -- the son of Elizabeth Candler (c1733-after1791) and John Caffery, Sr. of Bedford County, VA.

The 1814 affidavit (mentioned above) led me to research into the "Tennessee connection". This has led to new evidence (May 2000) about the later life of Zedikiah Candler and his descendants in Tennessee and Kentucky.

Zedekiah Candler appears on the 1820 Federal Census of Smith County, Tennessee (a John Chandler appears on the 1820 Wilson County census but I now doubt that he was John Candler -- but it's possible). It seems likely that Zed left Virginia and headed for Tennessee to be near his son John (and Zachariah who lived in western North Carolina). In 1816, Zed sold several slaves and some interest in Anna's estate in Bedford County (I have not yet investigated these sales documents so they too may represent letters from Tennessee).

In Zed Candler's home at the time of the 1820 census, there was a female age 26-44, and a male age between 16 and 26. There is not a Candler on the Smith or Wilson County, TN Federal census of 1830, but I found 1829-1832 tax records in Wilson County that mention John Candler and Winston Candler. On the 1829-1833 tax records of Wilson County, TN, Winston lived next to John Candler. By the time of the1840 census, Winston lived in Smith County.

PUBLIC SERVICE CLAIMS in the Library of Virginia

This collection relates to claims for compensation made by Virginia citizens for materials, supplies and personal services provided to the Virginia militia and the continental armed forces during the Revolutionary War. The collection consists of several types of materials: court booklets, certificates, lists and commissioners' books.

Two public service claims commissioners were appointed by the governor in 1783 to settle claims for reimbursement for materials and services provided. Individuals or their agents went to the commissioners' office in Richmond where they were issued a warrant based on information contained in the certificates and court booklets. These transactions were recorded in the commissioners' books. The information recorded included the number of claims involved in the transaction, the name of the individual, the amount of the claim and the materials or services provided. The individual or his agent then took the warrant to the state treasurer's office for payment.

CANDLER, Zedekiah, Bedford Co, court booklet, [pg. 19]

In the Anderson-Latham Papers (land documents in the VA Archives), there are two mentions of the CANDLER name associated with Land Office Treasury Warrants for service.

One of those Candlers was Pvt. William Candler (1751-1836) of Campbell County (the son of John Candler, Sr.). It is interesting to note that this William, who was 82 years old when he began to collect his pension in 1832, was also listed as never having availed himself of his bounty land entitlement (found in VA archives of unclaimed land bounties). Perhaps it was his Quaker upbringing that made him shy away from the spoils of killing, or perhaps he simply felt that he already had enough land.

The other Candler did claim his bounty land. As stated above, in 1791, Zacheriah C(h)andler redeemed a bounty certificate (dated 1782) for 266 acres in Bedford County.

... continue to other Candlers in the West Table of Contents Essays