The following information was assembled from numerous sources and cannot be used directly as proof of Qualifying Service or Lineage.
It is considered a research aid and is intended to assist in locating sources that can be used as proof.
Find-a-Grave memorial site for this Patriot states his burial location is unknown, but includes the following statement: His last known address was Columbia Co. Ga. I am placing him here on Find-a-Grave as having been buried in Columbia Co. as that is the last place he was known to have lived. No one knows where exactly he is buried but he is said to be buried 4 miles east of the Mt. Carmel Plantation."
Directions to Cemetery / Gravesite:
Author: Kenneth Scott Collins
William Candler b. 1736 d. 1787 McDUFFIE COUNTY, GEORGIA
At the outbreak of the Revolution, he was commissioned as a Captain in the Royal Militia of Georgia. After the Militia was purged and reorganized, he became a Major in the Revolutionary forces. He was promoted to Colonel and led the "Regiment of Refugees of Richmond County" during the Sieges of Augusta and Savannah and the Battle of Kings Mountain.
See: (1) Ancestors.
(2) History of McDuffie County, p. 190-191.
(3) Roster of Revolutionary Soldiers in Georgia, v. 3, p. 46.
Source: Georgia Revolutionary Soldiers & Sailors, Patriots & Pioneers; Volume 2, by Ross Arnold & Hank Burnham with additions and corrections by: Mary Jane Galer, Dr. Julian Kelly, Jr., and Ryan Groenke. Edited by: Ryan Groenke.
A Georgia County-by-County compilation of Revolutionary War Patriots who made Georgia their permanent home and died here, including information on service history, birth dates, death dates and places of burial with an index.
Published by the Georgia Society Sons of the American Revolution, 2001.
Printed in the United States of America
New Papyrus Co., Inc.
548 Cedar Creek Drive
Athens, GA 30605-3408
Author: Robert McDowell Hammond
Prior to the Revolution William Candler lived in St. Paul Parish, Georgia near Augusta. He served as deputy surveyor and was captain of the 12th company of the 2nd regiment of the local militia. In 1777 Richmond County was formed from St. Paul Parish. After the fall of Savannah, he was assigned as colonel of a reorganized militia for Richmond County, under the leadership of Col. Elijah Clarke. As Charleston, Savannah and Augusta fell to the British, Candler had proven so unpopular to the British that he had his extensive property confiscated by the crown. With the British totally in control of the area, patriots were outlawed and murdered, homes were burned and families began to flee. There was no organized army resistance south of Virginia. Rather than yield to the British, the greater number of patriots in the area chose to go into exile to areas of safety west and north. Col. Clarke and Col. Candler led refugees from the Richmond County area to eastern Tennessee. After their families were safe, most of the men returned to Georgia. With their numbers significantly depleted, they reformed their militia units. Col. Candler’s was referred to as the “Regiment of Refugees of Richmond County”. Col. Candler and his men figured significantly in the recapture of Augusta and continued in numerous battles including: Kettle Creek, Cowpens, Eutaw Springs, and Blackstocks Farm. He and his men rendezvoused at Gilbert Town with the Overmountain Men and other militia units of the area, and had a share of Ferguson’s defeat at King’s Mountain. After the war Col. Candler continued to live in the Augusta area and was a member of the first legislature elected in Georgia. In the years after the war he recovered his fortune. He died in 1784 on his estate. Currently, the name Candler is a significant place and organization name throughout Georgia.
Send a biographical sketch of your patriot!
Patriot biographies must be the original work of the author, and work submitted must not belong to another person or group, in observance with copyright law. Patriot biographies are to be written in complete sentences, follow the established rules of grammar, syntax and punctuation, be free of typographical errors, and follow a narrative format. The narrative should unfold in a logical manner (e.g. the narrative does not jump from time period to time period) or have repeated digressions, or tell the history of the patriot's line from the patriot ancestor to the author. The thinking here is that this is a patriot biography, not a lineage report or a kinship determination project or other report published in a genealogy journal. The biography should discuss the qualifying service (military, patriotic, civil) of the patriot ancestor, where the service was rendered, whether this was a specific state or Continental service, as well as significant events (as determined by the author) of the patriot's life. This is the entire purpose of a patriot's biography.
Additional guidelines around the Biography writeup can be found here:
Send your submission1, in a Microsoft Word compatible format, to patriotbios@sar.org for inclusion in this space 1Upon submission of a patriot biography, the patriot biography becomes the property of the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, and may be edited to conform to the patriot biography submission standards.