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John Chandler
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JOHN CHANDLER (1720/21-1800), 18th century
Anonymous
oil on canvas
25 3/4 x 21 5/8 (65.4050 x 54.9275)
Gift of Lucretia Chandler Bancroft on behalf of the family of
Reverend
Aaron Bancroft, 1839
Weis #28
Hewes #24
More
information
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| In the eighteenth century,
John
Chandler owned extensive acreage around Worcester, Massachusetts,
where
he was a leading citizen of the town. At various times he served as
town
treasurer, town clerk, selectman, and judge of probate. He was also
a colonel
in the local militia and in 1767 became a representative to the
Council
of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Chandler was a firm Loyalist whose politics by 1774 did not blend
easily
with the patriotic beliefs of many of his Worcester neighbors:
they nicknamed
him "Tory John." In 1774 he left his wife and children
behind
and fled to Boston, seeking the safety of the British garrison. A
year
later he followed the English troops to Halifax, Nova Scotia where
he
remained until departing for London.(1)
In England, Chandler made several claims against the crown for
reimbursement
of his Worcester property that had been seized by patriots.
Although many
Loyalist Americans made extravagant claims in hopes of rebuilding
their
fortunes, Chandler earned the name "The Honest Refugee"
by asking
for only a modest amount to cover his personal belongings and
acreage.(2)
As Chandler was pursuing his claims in England, Worcester's new
judge
of probate Levi Lincoln (1749-1820) enforced the 1777 act of the
General
Court that permitted the settlement of absent Loyalists' estates
as if
they were deceased. A volume of transcripts of court actions
surrounding
the Chandler case, including several petitions made by Chandler's
wife
Mary (d. 1783), who remained in Worcester with their children, is
preserved
in the manuscript collection of the American Antiquarian
Society.(3)
The origin of this portrait has been unknown since its arrival at
the
American Antiquarian Society in 1839. The donor, the sitter's
daughter,
did not know the name of the artist or the date of the portrait,
but family
history maintained that it had been painted in England during
Chandler's
exile. An 1862 history of Worcester featured an engraving of the
portrait
which included the caption "1764, aet 53."(4)
Unfortunately,
the caption is problematic because in 1764 Chandler was only 44
years
old. If the age in the inscription is correct, the date on the
portrait
would be around 1774, when John Chandler began his life as a
refugee.(5)
Although the painting was once thought to be by Winthrop Chandler,
this
attribution was dismissed by Nina Fletcher Little in 1947.(6)
Examination
of the portrait by art historians Lawrence Park and Frank W.
Bayley resulted
in the conclusion that the portrait was probably not painted in
America,
but more likely was produced in Canada or in England as family
history
maintained.(7)
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1) For more information on Chandler see Chandler Bullock,
John Chandler
and a Few of His Descendants (Worcester Historical Society,
1922).
2) Ibid, unpaged. Chandler's claim of £11,607, was
allowed in full.
3) John Chandler Transcripts, 1777-1788, American
Antiquarian Society Manuscript
Collection.
4) William Lincoln and Charles Hershey, History of
Worcester (Worcester:
Charles Hersey, 1862): 231. The engraving was done by Hezekiah
Wright
(b. 1828).
5) Bullock, unpaged. In addition, the sitter's
great-grandson John Chandler
Bancroft Davis (1822-1907), claimed that the painting was done in
London
in 1784, when the sitter was 64/65 years old.
6) Elthelwyn Manning, Frick Art Reference Library to
Clifford Shipton, March
5, 1947, American Antiquarian Society Archives.
7) Clarence Brigham to Clarence Bowen, December 2, 1926,
American Antiquarian
Society Archives.
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This site and all contents © 2004 American Antiquarian
Society
Last updated December 10, 2004
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