Continuation of; THE PROMISED LAND - A HISTORY OF BROWN COUNTY, TEXAS by James C. White (9) FIRST FAMILY MOVES IN History was engraved with an axe upon the logs which Welcome William Chandler shaped for the rude cabin home which he built in Brown County in 1856, immediately after his arrival here with his family in July of that year. It was the first home established here, by the first family which had severed all its ties with civilization and launched out into the uninhabited wilderness, not to seek a fortune but to find independence in a new country. Others had visited Brown County before the Chandlers, with their meagre household equipment and seven negro slaves, came here to build their home. The county had been charted and surveyed, and legislative action establishing it as a political unit was either completed or under consideration on the day when Chandler moved here. Many other families were looking toward Brown County, because this area had been scouted by land hungry and freedom-seeking homesteaders, and even at the moment one or more families were actually en route to this county with the purpose of making this their permanent dwelling place. The Chandler family became the first family merely by arriving slightly ahead of others of similar courage and hardihood who were already committed to life on the Brown county frontier. It is thought that Welcome W. Chandler had already bought land in this county before he located his home on a part of what is now the Lucas farm. His log cabin, built in the customary style with two big rooms on either side of a large open hallway, was located near what is now the main highway leading into the city of Brownwood, and half a. mile east of Pecan Bayou. It is generally agreed that this first settler selected one of the finest farm tracts in Central Texas, for no more desirable site could be found than this fertile valley land on which is now located the largest pecan orchard in the state. J. H. Fowler, a bachelor, accompanied the Chandler family to Brown County and aided in building their log cabin home. Fowler came to stay, for in December of 1856 he brought the first herd of cattle into the county. In 1857 he married Mary Ann Chandler, daughter of Welcome W. Chandler, and they were the first bride and groom in the county. Fowler during the next few years, became associated with the Coggins, w. C. Parks, the Baughs, Sam Windham and others in extensive cattle operations. At times the Brown County operators had under their control herds of cattle of stupendous proportions, and their cattle interests covered all of West Texas in the open-range era. Almost coincident with the coming of the Chandler family, other frontiersmen entered Brown county and established homes. Ambrose Bull came here from Arkansas in 1856, as did John Williams and wife, who came from Missouri a few weeks after Chandler arrived. David Hanna and sons, John, James and R. M. Hanna, settled in the fall of 1856 in the southern end of what was then Brown county, in a section known later as Hanna Valley. Israel Clements, William Williams and Frank Carmichael are said to have been the only other settlers of 1856. Welcome Williams Chandler was born in North Carolina in 1813, a son of William Hugh Chandler and Tabitha Elizabeth Hodges Chandler. While he was a boy his family moved to Missouri, then a wilderness away out west. and in Copiah County, Missouri, Chandler at the age of 21 married Sarah Brown. Shortly after their marriage the young couple moved to Texas, reaching here at about the time this state was affecting its independence from Mexico. The plain log cabin of the Chandler family became at once the community center for the people of this new county. It was the social meeting place as well as the headquarters for the frontier forces who were constantly engaged in defending their homes against the menace of Indian activities. The meetings at which the first elections were held and the initial organization of Brown County was effected were held in the Chandler home. The first session of court was held here, with Chandler presiding as judge. It is indicated, however, that he had no ambition to become a political leader, for he stepped aside to permit the election of Thomas J. Keesee as chief justice (county judge) in the election of 1860. The first post office in Brown County was located in the Chandler home, and Welcome W. Chandler was the first postmaster, from February 20, 1860 to January 23, 1867, when the office was temporarily discontinued. During a part of this time one of the Chandler girls actually served as Postmistress although, the Post Office Department records do not show that she was ever formally appointed to the office. When the Chandler family came to Brown county there were eight children, and five others were born here. The family brought with them a few negro slaves. and it is from this stock that the many colored citizens of the county now carry the family name of Chandler. Ella Chandler, later Mrs. Ella Stafford, was the second white child born in Brown County November 10, 1857. She died January 10, 1937. Many of the Chandler children married into other pioneer families, and their descendants today are numerous throughout the county. Only one child of the family, Miss Melissa Chandler. still survives. She was born in the original log cabin home February 1, 1860, with her twin sister, Laura Caldora (Davis) who died in 1933. Laura Caldora was the wife of W. T. Davis. Other children of the family were: Mrs. Jane Harriss, wife of Jesse Sutton Harriss, who was a brother of T. D. Harriss. Mrs. Mary Fowler, wife of J. H. Fowler, first bride of the county. She died at Sweetwater in 1927. Mrs. Carrie Dubose, wife of Dr. J. G. Dubose, first physician of the county. She died about 1915, in Dallas. William Washington Chandler, who died about 1923 in Saragosa, Texas. Mrs. Lizzie Manning, wife of J. E. Manning, who died at Marathon, Texas. Mrs. Sallie Hardee, wife of Charles Hardee, died in Brownwood in 1914. Mrs. Lucy Mosely wife of W. P. Moseley and mother of Mark Moseley. She died several years ago. Sam H. Chandler, who died in 1884. Jesse R. Chandler, who died at San Antonio about 1920. Mrs. Ella Stafford, who died in Dallas in 1937. Edward Vontress Chandler, who died in 1934 in this county, where he had lived all his life. Five generations of descendants of this frontier family live in Brown County, and the name will always be revered not only because it was the first name enrolled upon The scroll of this countys citizens, but because through eighty-five years it has symbolized all the ennobling principles of upstanding American citizenship .
Posted on: Thu, 02 Oct 2014 00:02:02 +0000
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