Mr. Chandler was born November 22, 1860, in Fond du Lac, Wis., a son of Charles and Maria (Moore) Chandler, natives of Munson, Mass., and Montreal, Canada, respectively. The Chandler family is a very old one in America, and an extensive genealogy of the family has been compiled. William Chandler, progenitor of the family in this country, emigrated from the ancestral home in England to Roxbury, Mass., in 1637, dying there November 26, 1641. He had a son named John, born 1635, who married Elizabeth Douglas, of Roxbury, Mass. Succeeding generations are as follows, in a direct line to C. A. Chandler: Captain Joseph Chandler, born June 4, 1683, wife, Susannah Perrin, of Roxbury, Mass.; David Chandler, born May 28, 1712, wife, Mary Allen, of Pomfret, Conn.; Elijah Chandler, born May 3, 1737, wife, Sarah Frizzel, of Woodstock, Conn.; Charles Chandler, born June 23, 1779, wife, Margaret Edgerton, of Munson, Mass.; Charles Chandler, born February 21, 1822, wife, Maria Moore Shepard; C. A. Chandler, born November 22, 1860, wife, Effie Rook, of Atchison, Kan.; Elijah Chandler was a soldier in the French and Indian war. Charles Chandler, father of the subject of this review, was a “Forty-Niner,” who made the long trip to California across the plains in 1849. He mined gold in the placer fields of the Golden State for some time, and then returned to the East, via the Nicaragua route, settling down in Fond du Lac, Wis., where he engaged in the grain business with fair success. He died at his home in Fond du Lac in 1896, at the age of seventy-five years. He was the father of three children: Mrs. Charles E. Rogers, Fond du Lac; Fred Shepard, also of Fond du Lac, and Charles A., with whom this review is directly concerned. The mother of these children, Maria Moore Shepard, was born in 1826, and is a direct descendant of Governor William Bradford, of Massachusetts. The genealogical tree in a direct line from the colonial governor is as follows: Gov. William Bradford; his son, Maj. William Bradford; Alice Bradford married Maj. James Fitch, 1649–1727; Daniel Fitch, 1693–1752, wife, Anna Cook; William Fitch, 1720—, wife, Mary Paine; Abigail Fitch, 1745–1785, married Joseph Moore, 1745–1823; Anna Moore, 1770–1854, married Timothy Shepard, 1764–1817; Maria Moore Shepard, 1826, etc.
C. A. Chandler was educated in the public schools of his native city and fitted himself for the profession of civil engineer by a considerable amount of home study and practical experience. After getting launched in his chosen profession, he entered the employ of the Missouri Pacific railroad and remained in the employ of this railroad for a period of twenty-five years. He first came to Atchison in May, 1885, and has since been a resident here.
Mr. Chandler is the owner of the Graham farm of 310 acres near Cummings, Atchison county, Kansas. Every dollar’s worth of property which he owns has been accumulated by his own endeavors; not one dollar was ever received by him through inheritance or gift, and he and his wife have the great satisfaction of knowing that what they have and own is theirs by right of industry and thrift. Mr. Chandler is a Republican, a member of the Episcopal church, and is fraternally associated with the Masonic order, a member of Active Lodge, No. 158, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and the Ancient Order of United Workmen. He was married February 4, 1891, to Effie Rook, of Atchison. To this union have been born: Horace F., born September 19, 1896, a graduate of the Atchison High School, class of 1913, and now a sophomore in Kansas University, Lawrence; Esther, born March 5, 1898, senior student in the Atchison High School, class of 1916. The mother of these children is a daughter of Judge Horace M. Jackson, a biography of whom is published in this volume.
GRACE CROSBY POWER.
The city of Atchison is fortunate in having as the present superintendent of the city hospital a lady of talent and ability, which, combined with great personal charm, constitute a splendid equipment for the important position which Miss Power holds. She is eminently qualified by training and executive capacity to perform the exacting duties required of a hospital superintendent, and she is fast becoming deservedly popular among the people of Atchison, who support this justly famous institution.
Grace Crosby Power is a native of Indiana, born October 23, 1880, in the town of Milroy, Rush county, and is a daughter of William Strange and Mary E. (Crosby) Power. Her father was also a native of Rush county, Indiana, born in 1837, a son of an Indiana pioneer family. His parents were John A. and Mary A. (Smisor) Power, both of whom were natives of Germany and Scotland, respectively. They immigrated to America from Germany in an early day, and cleared a farm from the dense wilderness of Rush county by dint of hard labor and the exercise of fortitude. This German-American couple had the satisfaction of gaining a substantial competence from the soil and of bequeathing a good family of sons and daughters to their adopted land. William Power was one of the first fine live stock breeders of Rush county, and his farm became famous for the Hambletonian horses which it produced. He died in 1906 in his home town, Milroy. His wife, Mary, was born in Milroy, Ind., in 1837, a daughter of Michael and Lucinda Crosby, natives of Ireland, and also early settlers of Rush county, Indiana. The Powers were all members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and have been prominent in the affairs of Rush county for many years. William Power was one of the well-to-do men of the county. To Mr. and Mrs. William Power were born four children: Cora Estelle, wife of Prof. E. F. Engel, of Lawrence, Kan.; Kathrine, wife of Rev. W. F. Smith, of the Methodist church, at Huntington, Ind.; Frank A., Wichita, Kan., a director of the Power-Myers music house; Miss Grace Crosby Power, with whom this review is directly concerned.
Miss Power received her elementary education in the public schools of Milroy, Ind., and afterwards entered DePauw University, at Greencastle, Ind., where she pursued a music course for two years. She then came to Kansas and studied in the liberal arts department of Kansas University, at Lawrence. While her original intention had been to perfect herself in art and music, she became imbued with the idea of becoming a nurse, feeling that a wider field was offered in the art of caring for the sick, and that she could be of greater service to humanity. Accordingly, Miss Power entered the University Medical Hospital of Kansas City, Mo., in 1905, and began the studies which were to prepare her for her life work as a hospital nurse. She applied herself diligently to her medical studies and was graduated from the Kansas City institution in 1908. She was then offered the position of superintendent of the Galesburg, Ill., hospital, and accepted, remaining there until 1911. She was not yet satisfied with her professional preparation, and resigning her position, she spent one year in Europe, traveling and studying the methods in vogue in the hospitals of the old world. Returning to Kansas City in 1912, she was employed by Drs. Jabez and Jackson, of that city, in a professional capacity, until she was called to her present post, September 29, 1915. Since taking charge of the Atchison City Hospital, she has given every evidence of being eminently fitted for the duties of her position and calling. Miss Power is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and is affiliated with the A. X. U. sorority, of DePauw University.
WILLIAM H. THOMPSON.
The late William H. Thompson, of Mt. Pleasant township, Atchison county, was born on a Kentucky farm, near the city of Louisville, in 1838. His parents were Benjamin and Nancy (Baxter) Thompson, and both were born and reared in Kentucky, their old home being located on a small stream called Dry Beauty. Nancy Baxter Thompson was the belle of the neighborhood and was a famous beauty in her day. In 1848 the Thompsons migrated from Kentucky to Platte county, Missouri, where they resided until the spring of 1860, and then came to Atchison county and purchased the farm where William H. lived until his death, in 1884. Benjamin, the father, was born in Kentucky in 1799, and died on his Kansas farm in 1861, just after locating in this county. He was a man of fair education, who was self-taught. He taught school in his native State, and his father was a famous hunter in the early days of Kentucky history. He disappeared while absent from home on a hunting expedition, and it is supposed that he was killed or captured by Indians, leaving a wife and three children. Times were hard and educational advantages were either very poor or absent altogether. Benjamin educated himself by night study and home reading, and became well versed in books and knowledge.
