CANDLER NOTES from files of Linda Sparks Starr JUL 1996 Several years ago Kay Baganoff sent a copy of a handwritten let ter and enclosures she received from a lady who lives at Westcoast, Callan in County Kilkenny, Ireland. The letter is un dated; some of the handwriting, including the writer's given name, is difficult to decipher; I'll give it my best shot: Dear Mrs. Baganoff, Your letter dated 26/7/84, addressed to The Cander Family, Callan Castle was passed on to me by the Postmistress, Mrs. Phelan as there is no such name and address in this town. Strange to relate I was in receipt of a somewhat similar letter in Jan 1980 from Georgia 30501 U.S.A. signed by a Mrs. Morrison Junior who was also trying to trace her family background and Wil- liam Candler in particular, who she said received his castle from Cromwell as a bounty in 1653. I replied in a somewhat patriotic tone stating that the name of Cromwell or any of his lieutenants was not venerated in Ireland and that I had never heard of Callan Castle, although there were a number of ruins & other castles in the locality -- mostly of Norman origin -- before Cromwells time. As far as I can recall, I referred her to Kilkenny Archaelogical Society, Rothe House, Kilkenny City who may have been able to give her some explanation regarding the Chanler family. I do not know if this was done as I had no reply although I sent her a num- ber of photocopies relating to known castles in the vicinity. In 1981 a volumn of books was republished on the History and antiquities of the Diocese of Ossory (A Diocise is a large ter ritory under the jurisdiction of a Bishop). One of the volumns contained information on the Castle you referred to and I was com- pletely unaware of this when writing. I know of Northcourt Diocease and Mansion, which was destroyed by fire in the late 1920's. It had been ______ into flats or appartments at the time being owned by a man named Loraingior. I enclose the information I refer to on two sheets of photocopy. It was never rebuilt and only small pieces of masonary now exist. There is no sign what so ever of the castle and the location is also unknown. Although my address is Westcoast, I live immediately opposite the entrance to the old demesne. Now, about the other photocopy which I enclose. Mrs. Mor rison may have witten to the Archaeological Society and that could have resulted in the preparation of the History of the Chandler family (Mrs. Morrison had spelt it CANDLER). No doubt you will now be able to procure the information you desire from some of the people mentioned in the article. Hoping your quest will be successful, but before concluding I think I should give you the address of Mrs. Morrison Junior which is 1271 Dixon Circle, N.E., Gaines, Georgia 30501 U.S.A. There is no need to reply to this letter. Yours sincerely, Seamus O'Brien Kay followed up with a letter to Mrs. Morrison who didn't provide anything which Kay hadn't already seen in published books. Now to Ms. O'Brien's enclosures: A picture of the Chandler "Coca Cola" Family presenting a copy of their book to the Rothe House Museum and article was published page 15 [and apparently goes on, but this was the only page sent] of _Kilkenny People_ published the week ending Friday, September 25, 1981. Headline reads: He gave the world Coke! The specific name of the Chandler family history is not given in the article which briefly goes over the highlights of the family move- ment from Ireland to Atlanta. Ms. O'Brien also included pages 317 and 318 from _History and An tiquities of the Diocese of Ossory_, no author or other publica tion detail provided. Under the section on the "Parish of Cal lan" is an article on "Westcourt". "Part of this townland is included in the township of Cal lan; the remainder is sub-divided into Westcourt Demesne, Westcourt Commons, Westcourt North and Westcourt South, and has an area of 698 stat. acres. In Irish it is called _Coorth-an Eethd_ (Cuirt an Fhaoite), that is, White's Court. In 17th cen tury documents it is sometimes called Whitescourt, and sometimes Westcourt, and once (May 1669), "White's Courte, alias Weste Courte. There can, we think, be no doubt whatever that the original tract of land, or townland, called Callan, lay altogether on the north bank of the King's River, and consisted of Westcourt, the part of Callan town north of the Bridge, and the Abbey Meadow. It appears to be no less certain that the original Irish Baile, town, or village of Callan, stood at the north side of the Bridge, under the shelter of Callan Moat. The part of the town south of the Bridge was, most probably, planned out and founded by Earl William Marshall, the elder. Callan Moat is situated in Westcourt Demesne, about 40 or 50 perches from Callan Bridge. It is a huge mound of earth, about 40 ft. high, and 46 yds. long, at top, and 24 yds. wide. Though it may have been sepulchral, it also served the purposes of a fort, and was, probably, at one time crowned by a castle. At the opposite end of the town, there was a smaller Moat about 10 ft. high, and known as Cromwell's Moat; it stood partly within the Fair Green, and partly on the track of the present road to Cooliagh; it was levelled about 1850. Westcourt Castle, of which some traces remain at Westcourt Ho., was the old manor house of Callan. It passed from the de scendants of Earl Marshall to the Earl of Ormond in 1391; from the Ormond family to Lord Desart, about 1700; and from Lord Desart to George Agar, Lord Callan, during the second half of the 18th century. Mrs. Thomas Shelly believes that this castle of Westcourt was the strong Butler castle of Callan, mentioned in connection with the siege of Callan by the Cromwellians in 1650. [page 318] It was occupied by Colonel John Butler in the beginning of the 18th century. The Colonel was nephew of James, 1st Duke of Ormond, and uncle of Dr. Christopher Butler, Catholic Archbishop of Cashel (1711-57). By his will ... [the page con tinues with changes of ownership through 1793. Last paragraph] Westcourt appears to have been so named to distinguish it from Coorthpheerish (Pierce Butler's Court), which stood at the opposite side of Callan town, at the east end of Mill Street." Kay also sent me copies of pages from _Tap Roots_ which she received from Rachel Wyche in 1982. Rachel didn't provide publi cation data, but "Asa Griggs Candler" appears on the lefthand pages where author's names are sometimes found -- especially since the title appears on the right hand pages. This book men tions only two children of Col. William and Anne Candler -- the sons Thomas and John and then follows the line of Daniel who came to America c1735. It even says there aren't any specific records to tie this Daniel to the line of Thomas, son of Col. William. Normally I wouldn't give this book much thought, but what struck me was the similarity of Daniel's supposed route to America and that of the MOORMANs and Penelope Johnson's alleged relationship to Lord Shaftesbury. page 7: "There are hints that Daniel, as did so many of the ex patriates of his generation bound for America, sailed first to Barbadoes. If so, his stay there was brief. He and his family landed in Charleston, South Carolina, probably about the year 1735, and went at once to the province of North Carolina, whose charter had originally been granted by Charles II to Daniel's great-uncle, Edward Hyde, earl of Clarendon, and to seven other English noblemen and gentlemen. ... Daniel did not long remain in Carolina. With his family, and for reasons about [page 8] which we can only conjecture, he went almost immediately to Bedford County, Virginia, near the site of the present city of Lynchburg, and lived there until he died, thirty years later." The author then turns to the MOORMAN and CLARK families, but I want to make a couple comments first. I was a Scots-Irish researcher long before I moved into tidewater VA. In 1735 most ships leaving Ireland went to Philadelphia rather than Barbadoes. By 1735 was there any reason to go to Barbadoes? I know I'm being picky here, and some of you are thinking, "there she goes again", but this is a perfect example of not taking everything that has been published as "proof" of fact. Candler obviously took the Moorman family legend -- even down to saying elsewhere Daniel and family were converted to Quakerism during the long voyage -- and "gave" it to Daniel along with Penelope's close relationship to Lord Shaftsbury -- himself one of the seven English gentlemen along with Clarendon. The book goes on to record the family of William Candler who married Elizabeth Anthony, granddaughter of Christopher Clark. This is the "Coca-Cola" family, but is not the book presented to the Rothe House Museum for the author's [AGC] father was born 1851; this book, then, was surely published earlier. Kay also sent me copies from _Colonel William Candler of Georgia: His Ancestry and Progeny_ by his great-grandson Allen D. Candler. This was published in Atlanta GA: 1902. This is the book Doug sum- marized so well earlier. However, in light of the above O'Brien findings, I found one other thing to pass along. In the introduc- tion the author lists the books he consulted and drew upon for his historical facts and conclusions; according to this same in troduction, his family data is based on a "brief manuscript his tory of his family, written sixty years ago, by Ignatius A. Few, LL.D., a grandson of William Candler..." I SUSPECT this is the basis for subsequent CANDLER / CHANDLER genealogies. Has anyone seen it? Does Few cite his sources? Although the specific book where the following information comes is not specifically given, the author names five "European" books consulted, two of which are Burke's. The other three are: Pendergast's _Cromwellian Settlement of Ireland_; Baker's _History of Northampton County_; and Walford's _County Families of the United Kingdom_. I suspect the historical info in the fol- lowing footnote in Chandler's book comes from Pendergast: Page 16: "This William Candler first appeared in Ireland in 1648, while Oliver Cromwell was Lord Lieutenant, as a captain in the regiment commanded by Sir Hardress Waller. Afterward he won, by meritorious conduct, promotion to a lieutenant colonelcy, and after the subjugation and conquest of the island, he settled in Callan Castle. Callan Castle was a strong fortress, Cromwell says in his account of his campaign, sixteen miles from the town of Kilkenny. It was de- [page 17] fended by a wall and three castles, Butler's castle, Skerry castle and "the Great Castle." It was invested by Cromwell in person...In the division of the spoils, the barony of Callan fell to Lietenant-Colonel William Candler, one of the conquerors, and to this day it, together with its frowning castle, its fertile acres, and its ancient cathedral, is in the possession of his descendants. A few years ago, in excavating for a building at Callan, vast quantities of human bones were discovered in a trench in which the bodies of the brave defenders of Callan were buried, more than two hundred years ago."