Coosa-Shelby-Talladega County AlArchives Biographies.....Chancellor, William S. February 12, 1816 - ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/al/alfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Carolyn Golowka http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00012.html#0002972 June 18, 2009, 6:27 pm Author: "Memorial Record of Alabama", volume 2, published by Brant & Fuller in Madison, WI (1893), pages 895-896 William S. Chancellor, one of the pioneer settlers of Alabama, was born February 12, 1816, in Darlington district, S. C. He was a son of William and Nancy (Truitt) Chancellor. The former was a native of South Carolina, and was a son of Jerry and Galatea (Gilbert) Chancellor. Jerry Chancellor was born in England, and came to America when sixteen years of age with his father and two brothers. They remained a short time in Virginia. This was during the Revolutionary war, and the father and his two oldest sons, William and Jerry, started for South Carolina, leaving the youngest brother, Jackson, in Virginia. When the father and his two sons came near Camden, they could plainly hear the cannonading. They thereupon stopped and held a council as to what their own course should be. The result of this council was that the father told his sons that he should join the British, the sons deciding to join the Americans. From this time on, therefore, until the close of the Revolutionary war, the father fought in the British army against his sons, and the sons fought in the American army against their father. After that council near Camden, the father and sons never met again. After the close of the war, the grandfather, Jerry Chancellor, settled in South Carolina, where he remained until 1818. He then came to Alabama and settled on the Autauga side of the Alabama river. He had brought with him a colony organized by himself in South Carolina, and with this colony he remained until his death. William Chancellor remained in South Carolina until 1821, when he removed to Alabama just before the land sales, and settled on Nolin’s creek, near Prattville, where he remained seven years. He then returned to his former home, and about 1845 removed to Texas, where he died. He was a lieutentant [sic] in the state militia several years. He was a Baptist in religion, as was also his father. William S. Chancellor was raised on the farm and received but a limited education. This education, such as it was, was received in an old log school house on Brushy Knob, Indian Hill, with its puncheon floor and seats. Previous to his marriage he did no receive more than three months’ schooling. He was married August 29, 1837 to Louisa M. Bridges, daughter of William and Mary (Tatum) Bridges, Mary Tatum, being a daughter of E. Tatum. Of the nine children born to them, five are still living, viz.: Thomas J., Alfred M., P. L., Jane and Louisa. Their mother was born in Montgomery county, Ala., and was a member of the Baptist church. In 1881 he married for his second wife, Mrs. Elizabeth J. Kelly, daughter of William and Mary (McCulla) Caruthers, whose father was a native of Virginia. She is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, south. After his first marriage he had neither property nor money, and borrowed$50 of Judge Brown with which to enter his first forty acres of land. After a great deal of misfortune he lost this land; but with that true grit which usually characterizes pioneers, he began again at the bottom, and by hard work and strict economy he had accumulated considerable property by the time the war came on. He had a large tract of land on the Wewokee creek, upon which he had built a mill which he operated in connection with his farm, but all was swept away by the war. In 1863 he enlisted in Capt. Hubbard’s company, and served in the Confederate service one year. He was then elected tax collector of Coosa county, but had great difficulty in getting out of the army to take his office. And it was not until application was made to Gov. Watts that this was accomplished, the governor issuing an order to Gen. Weathers that he be released, with which order the general immediately complied. After the war he gathered up what was left, and sold off his stock, thus raising $50 with which he earned his second forty acres of land. This he cleared and improved and made money very fast for several years. In 1884 he embarked in the mercantile business, but having had no experience in that line, he lost $8,000 in fourteen months. Again he took hold and with an undaunted will he paid off his debts, and again accumulated property, and now owns 700 acres of land where he lives, 240 acres in Coosa county, beside considerable town property in Childersburg. Mr. Chancellor is one of the oldest Masons in Alabama, as well as one of the oldest citizens of the state. His life has been one long struggle with adverse circumstances, but its closing days promise to be blessed with peace and plenty. Additional Comments: Marriage records in Autauga County show that William S. Chancellor married Maria Bridges on July 30, 1837. William and Louisa Maria Bridges Chancellor are buried in the Childersburg Cemetery, Talladega County, Alabama. Louisa Maria was born in 1826 and died February 7, 1881. William died December 23, 1907. William's second wife, Elizabeth Jane Caruthers Kelly Chancellor, born December 29, 1834, died May 17, 1918, is also in this cemetery. From census records in Coosa County (1850, 1860, 1870) and Shelby County (1880), they had the following children, all born in Alabama: Thomas J., born about 1838 Alfred M., born about 1840 Martha E., born about 1843 Mary, born about 1845 Peter L., born about 1848 James, born about 1850 J. S., born about 1854 (could this be I. S.?) Louisa F., born about 1856 S. R., born about 1858 Not sure about a daughter named Jane. Couldn't seem to connect this name. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/al/coosa/bios/chancell70nbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/alfiles/ File size: 6.2 Kb