Family Histories of Coleman County, Texas

The John H. Candler Family
by Odelene Candler Tole

From A History of Coleman County and Its People, 1985 
edited by Judia and Ralph Terry, and Vena Bob Gates - used by permission
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      John Henry Candler was born April 11, 1877 at Merit, Texas, the son of Archie Jesse Candler and Nancy Elizabeth Honaker.  Annie S. Motley was born July 13, 1883 at Mesquite, the daughter of Robert Page Motley and Emma Lawrence.  John and Annie were married in the home of her parents, near Rhinehart, December 23, 1903.  John bought a section of land out of the Brown Ranch land in 1907.  They fenced the land, built a small house and barn and dug a well before moving with their two-year-old son, Robert Jesse, born near Merit.  There was just a wagon trail part of the way from Coleman when they moved their household belongings by train.  John's older brother, George W., had bought a farm near Coleman prior to 1907.  John's wife and son lived in a small house on George's farm until John and some other men could build a house on his land.  Part of the land was cleared for farming and the rest left in pasture for cattle and sheep.  The well dug there has never gone dry.  In 1918, during the drought, many neighbors hauled drinking water from that well.  Four other children were born to this family in this house.  They all started to school and church at Brown Ranch.  There were no school buses in those days, so they walked to school most of the time. After a post office was located at Fisk, their mail was delivered on a route from there.  In 1921, a new house was built to replace the old one which was torn down and used in building the new one.  In 1923, the family moved to Coleman to live because the oldest child had finished the ninth grade, which was the highest grade at the Brown Ranch School.  John bought a house and barn located on a twelve acre tract of land southwest of Coleman, just outside the city limits at that time.  All the children finished high school in Coleman.  Their children are:

     (1) Robert Jesse, July 9, 1905-1975, and his wife, Beulah (Hefner) died in 1973, both buried in Coleman.  One son, Robert John, lives with his wife, Margie, and their four children in Los Alamos, New Mexico (see Ross E. Greer).

     (2) Emmett, October 18 1909 - 1972, and his wife, Ruth, died in 1978, both buried in Coleman County.  One son, Robert Dixon, lives with his wife, Lois, and their two children in Grand Prairie.

     (3) Jewel, September 14, 1911, married T. F. McKinney, who died in 1974.  She lives in Canyon.  Three daughters:

       (3a) Lynn and her husband, James Duncan; thelr three children are married and Jewel has three grandsons.

       (3b) Ann lives in Nederland with her husband, Max Quinn, four sons and two grandaughters.

       (3c) Gail and her husband, Terry Brown, live with their four children in New Zealand.

     (4) Odelene, November 19, 1913, lives with her husband, John M. Tole, in Tulia.  Two children:

       (4a) Sharon lives in Amarillo with her husband, Scott W. Anderson and son, Shane Brian.

       (4b) Bryan E. lives west of Tulia with his wife, Barbara, and children, Bart and Bethany.

     (5) Lynn, March 22, 1915, and his wife, Jean, daughter of Jess Pearce, live in Ballinger.  Their son, Jerry Lynn, lives with his wife, Jean, and their four children in Arlington. (See Charles Allen Edens).


 
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