Montgomery-Talladega County AlArchives Biographies.....Chandler, George W. ************************************************ 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: Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 September 16, 2008, 1:24 am Author: Clement Richardson, Editor GEORGE W. CHANDLER GEORGE W. CHANDLER is a produce of Talladega College, though a farm lad by birth. He is a member of the Masonic, Mosaic Templars, Rising Sons and Daughters of Protection, and United Order of Good Shepherds. To these connections add that he is Notary Public of Montgomery County, a trustee and steward of the C. M. E. Church of Montgomery, Trustee of Miles Memorial College of Birmingham, and founder and trustee of the Good Shepherd's Home of Dallas County, Alabama, Editor Good Shepherd's Magazine, and you have the list of services a man in quiet life can perform. Mr. Chandler was born on a farm some six miles from the town of Talladega. He attended the country school until he was twelve years old, after which he entered the preparatory department in Talladega College. Five years here fitted him in a measure to begin to earn a livelihood. At the age of nineteen he left Talladega and found employment in a grocery store. On spending three years at this he became inspector for an insurance company. This position he held for four years. From this date he began his life work, that in connection with the United Order of Good Shepherds. He is now Supreme President of this organization, which operates pretty generally in the South and which owns some 3100 acres of land in Dallas County, Alabama, owns a Shepherd Home and does a great deal of useful work among its members. His great achievement is the establishment of this order. Mr. Chandler founded this order in the town of Eufaula, Alabama, the third Wednesday in July, 1904. Those who stood by Mr. Chandler and were joint founders with him were Clark Richardson, Thomas Williams, Mary A. Jackson, Ellen Turner, J. A. Ward, P. H. Harmon, and John L. Thomas. The body at that time had one little book of eight pages and a financial card. Its largest membership was one hundred and fifty. Very clearly re-organization was urgent, if the order really hoped to take its place among the substantial orders of the race. With some misgiving but with ardent persistence Mr. Chandler set to work. Exactly one year later he called a meeting in Montgomery, offered fifty-six resolutions, one of which let the organization be incorporated, the membership had increased, confidence had been gained. All that he asked was done. Year by year the order began now to gain more members and a wider usefulness. It established an endowment system one year; another year it raised its policy: a third year it established several additional Fountains, another year it passed resolutions to buy and build a home for old and decrepit members, widows and orphans. With seven hundred dollars in his pocket Mr. Chandler set forth to buy land for this home. Two thousand acres were bargained for in Dallas County, for which a first payment of $2000 was made. The order was now extending its arm into other States. It had Fountains in Georgia, in Florida, in Mississippi, in Oklahoma, as well as in Alabama. In 1910 the trustees added 1060 acres of land to that already purchased, making a tract of 3060 acres. Thus has the Order grown and fought its way to its feet. Its two farms have cost $36,000 with interest at 8%. The home for the aged and decrepit has been under continual improvement and care. During the last five years more than $6,000 has been raised and expended on the Home. All this goes to show that the trustees and George W. Chandler have not been idle to the opportunities of the man on the land. About one thousand acres of the land is improved, the remainder is good timber land, land on which nourish white oak, pine, poplar, cedars, ash and red oak. Taken for all and all, this land which cost the Good Shepherds $34,000 with interest, is now valued at $150,000. The Order has gained the confidence and good wishes of many of the leading citizens of Montgomery, its headquarters, both white and black. Everywhere, it has kept its obligations and made friends, and employed reliable people as its representatives. A letter from Bishop J. W. Alstork will illustrate the good standing the Order of Good Shepherds has gained through the hard work of G. W. Chandler. Bishop J. W. Alstork of the A. M. E. Zion Church says in part: If men are to be commended and rewarded for what they have done, you deserve a place in the first rank of those who have done something for the advancement and general uplift of the people. I regard the project of purchasing the Good Shepherd Home as one of the most advanced steps ever taken for the race in this Country. When it comes to Agriculture and economics it stands far above any Negro Society for broadness in scope and comprehension in arrangements. Mr. Chandler believes in real estate as one of the best investments for anyone, especially for the colored people. He believes that such investments tend to raise a man in the esteem of his fellows in a community, and to make him feel on the other hand responsibility. Through very close economy which he learned to practice early in his career, Mr. Chandler has been able to make many very happy investments in the business of real estate. His investments and property holdings are rated at $20,000. For both business and pleasure he has been able to travel much, having covered practically all the Southern States and a few Northern States in his journeys. Mainly his trips have been in the interest of the Order of the Good Shepherds which owes to him much credit for its success as an organization. Mr. Chandler's family is small, consisting of three, himself, Mrs. Chandler and daughter. He was married in 1904. Mrs. Chandler was Miss Lizzie Redding of Macon, Georgia. The daughter, Nettie Lena Chandler, is a pupil in school. Mr. Chandler has the confidence and the good wishes of the leading citizens of the State of Alabama. Additional Comments: Extracted from: The National Cyclopedia of The Colored Race Editor-in-Chief CLEMENT RICHARDSON President of Lincoln Institute Jefferson City, Mo. ASSOCIATE EDITORS Dr. C. V. ROMAN, Nashville, Tenn. Professor of Meharry Medical College. W. T. B. WILLIAMS, Hampton Institute, Va. Field Agent of the Jeannes and Slater Funds. H. M. MINTON, M. D., Philadelphia, Pa. Board of Directors Mercy Hospital. SILAS X. FLOYD, Augusta, Ga. Principal of City Schools. DR. R. E. JONES, New Orleans, La. Editor of South Western Christian Advocate. DR. A. F. OWENS, Selma, Ala. Dean of Theological Dept. Selma university. FRED MOORE, New York City. Editor New York Age. ADVISORY BOARD EMMETT J. SCOTT, Chairman, Secretary of Tuskegee Institute, Tuskegee Institute, Ala. N. B. YOUNG, Tallahassee, Fla. President of A. and M. College. DR. J. W. E. BOWEN, Atlanta, Ga. Dean of Gammon Theological Seminary. J. R. E. LEE, Kansas City, Mo. Principal of Lincoln High School. J. S. CLARK, Baton Route, La. President of Southern University. DR. M. W. DOGAN, Marshall, Texas. President of Wiley University. Volume One NATIONAL PUBLISHING COMPANY, Inc. PUBLISHERS MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA 1919 COPYRIGHT 1919 NATIONAL PUBLISHING CO., Inc. MONTGOMERY, ALA. Photo: http://www.usgwarchives.net/al/montgomery/photos/bios/chandler57nbs.jpg File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/al/montgomery/bios/chandler57nbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/alfiles/ File size: 7.8 Kb