(1798 -1856) Eli Chandler, soldier and Indian fighter, was born in South Carolina
about 1798.  He and his family moved into Madison County, Tennessee, where he
married and at least  three of his children were born. In 1835 the family immigrated
to Texas and joined the Robertson Colony.  They established their home near
Wheelock, Robertson County, but owned any number of acres in the surrounding
counties of Leon and Brazos.

During the Texas Revolution he served as a private in Capt. Sterling C. Robertson's
ranger company, mustered into service on January 17, 1836.  He re-enlisted for a
period of three months on June 30, but his unit cannot now be determined.  The
General Land Office reckoned his period of service from July 15 until November 15,
1836.

On January 16, 1839, he played a conspicuous role in "Bryant's Defeat," a fight
between settlers led by Capt. Benjamin Franklin Bryant and Ethan Allen Stroud
and a band of Anadarko Indians led by Chief Jose' Maria.  This fight took place
near the falls of the Brazos River in what is now Falls County TX.

On March 29, 1841, Chandler was elected captain of a forty-five man company of
Robertson County Minute Men, which he led against the Indians in the battle of
Pecan Creek in what is now Cooke County TX on April 21, 1841.

On April 9, 1842, Alexander Somervell authorized Chandler to raise a company for
the invasion of Mexico and on May 13, 1842, Chandler's became the first company
to report for the Somervell expedition.  He apparently did not lead this unit to the
Rio Grande, however, for on December 10, 1842, Sam Houston commissioned Capt
Chandler and a Lt Thomas I. Smith to raise a company of volunteers to remove
the archives of the Republic of Texas from Austin to Houston.  Although Houston
admonished the two not to "be thwarted in the undertaking," the citizens of Austin
prevented the removal of the nation's papers by force (see Archive War).

In 1843 Chandler was elected adjutant of the Snively expedition but disagreed
violently with the battalion's commander, Jacob Snively. When the expedition
broke up in frustration on June 28, 1843, Chandler was chosen leader of one
faction, seventy-six men calling themselves the "Home Boys," which he led back
to the Arkansas River in hopes of intercepting a Mexican convoy bound for Santa Fe.
On July 9, after being disarmed by United States dragoons under Capt. Philip
St. George Cooke, Chandler led his fragment back toward Austin.

During the Mexican War Chandler raised and commanded Company K of Col.
John C. Hay's First Regiment, Texas Mounted Riflemen, and served in the
Monterrey campaign.  His nephew, Eli Chandler, Jr., served as a private in the
company. 

In 1850 Chandler was farming in Robertson County with his thirty-five
year old wife, Mary (Butler), a native of North Carolina, and their three
daughters. His estate was then valued at $2,220.

On 3rd of July 1856 Eli Chandler was murdered by "a young man named Jordan"
at a fourth of July picnic being held at a campground on Cedar Creek- lying
between Brazos and Robertson Counties, . We have been unable to find his
final resting place, but we are still looking!

(Personal Note:) Considering his intolerance to the Indians of Texas, it is ironic that
Eli Chandler now has three great-great granddaughters who are "By Blood" citizens
of the Cherokee and Chickasaw Indian tribes of Oklahoma!  (`Bet grandpa is turning
over in his grave-- where ever it is!)
 

Malcolm D. McLean, comp. And ed., "Papers Concerning Robertson's Colony in Texas" (19 vol., Fort Worth; Texas Christian University Press, 1974-76; Arlington; University of Texas at Arlington Press, 1977-92).

Frederick Wilkins, "The Legend Begins- The Texas Rangers, 1823-1845".

James L. Haley, "Sam Houston"

Joseph Milton Nance, "After San Jacinto: The Texas-Mexican Frontier, 1836-1841" (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1963).

Joseph Milton Nance, "Attack and Counterattack: The Texas-Mexican Frontier 1842" (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1964)

Charles D. Spurlin, comp., "Texas Veterans in the Mexican War": "Muster Rolls of Texas Military Units" (Victoria, Texas 1984) Telegraph and Texas Register, January 6, 1841.

J.W. Wilbarger, "Indian Depredations in Texas" Austin: Hutchings, 1889: rpt., Austin: State House, 1985).  Amelia W. Williams and Eugene C. Barker, eds.,

"The Writings of Sam Houston, 1813-1863" (8 Vols., Austin: University of Texas Press, 1938-43; rpt., Austin and New York: Pemberton Press, 1970)