Legislator Details
Portrait of William Chandler scanned from Men of Progress p.407.
Vital Records Information:
Marital Information:
married Miss Cata Oren, dau. of Charles and Sarah Oren formerly of Clinton County, OH, in Sault Ste. Marie, MI on 9/26/1885; children: 2, Thomas and Paulina.
Number of Children: 2
Background
Education:
Raisin Valley Seminary (Quaker)
Biographical Sketch:
Son of Thomas and Jane (Merritt) Chandler. His parents were Hicksite Quakers. William helped on the family farm and in the Raisin Valley Seminary. In 1862, he left, to Indianapolis to learn a trade, but previous to this he was in the wholesale paper business. In 1970, he was publishing a Republican paper in Muncie, IN. He returned to Michigan in 1872 and became the editor of the newly established Adrian Press. When the paper became Democratic, he left to join the Adrian Times. In 1875, he established the Cheboygan Tribune. In 1878, he established the Sault Ste. Marie News. He held local positions during this time, which he resigned in 1885 to attend to his businesses. He Organized the Sault Savings bank in 1886, becoming its first cashier and manager. In 1892, he organized the Chandler-Dunbar Water Power Co. He retired from the newspaper business in 1885 and took to state politics in 1898.
Notable Facts:
His father moved to Michigan as an Abolitionist and to help the Underground Railroad. William Chandler conceived of the 'Inland Route' between Cheboygan and Petoskey. He was in charge of the "Chandler Medical Bill" which passed despite the opposition of medical practitioners. With a single exception, every bill, both local and public, that he fathered became laws.