It is a well known fact that many of the men most deserving of mention in the history of Michigan are numbered among her native sons and have spent much of their lives within her boundaries. They possess the true Western spirit of progress and enterprise which dominates this region, and the prosperity and upbuilding of such cities as Sault de Ste. Marie is due to their directed efforts. They are leaders in professional, commercial and literary circles, and their names are inseparably connected with the history of the State. Such a man is Mr. Chandler.

He was born in Adrian, Michigan, in April 1846 and is a son of Thomas and Jane (Merritt) Changler, who were married in Calhoun county, this state. The father is a native of Philadelphia, PA, emigrated westward in an early day and took up a tract of government land, on which he lived for more than fifty years. His death occurred there on the old homestead in 1881, at the age of 75. Mrs. Changler was a daughter of Joseph Merritt, an honored pioneer and farmer who came from Saratoga county NY. His wife bore the maiden name of Phoebe Hart. To Mr. and Mrs. Changler were born two sons - Merrit, a lumberman and William.

The latter spent his youth on his father's farm working in the fields and becoming familiar with all the duties that comonly fall to the lot of the agriculturist. It was a good training school for after life and gave him a physical development which is always needed. At the age of 17 he left his parental home and went to Indianapolis, IN where he secured a clerkship in a mercantile establishment. Later on he was proprietor of a wholesale paper house in that city, but in 1870 disposed of his business interests there and removed to Muncie IN where he established teh Muncie Telegraph, a Republican paper, which he edited for two years, when he sold out and returned to Michigan. Here he was again engaged in newspaper work, editing the Adrian Times for three years. On the expiration of that period he took up his residence in Cheboygan MI and founded the Cheboygan Tribune, which he owned until 1884, although in the meantime he had taken up his residence in Sault de Ste. Marie.

Mr. Chandler came to this city in May 1877, as collector of tolls on the canal, when that water-way was under State control. He became one of the first superintendents after the US took possession of the canal and was in the government service until 1885, discharging his duties with promptness and fidelity. He had been prominently connected with many industries and enterprises of that city, taking an active part in commercial affairs. He was a prime mover in the Sault de Ste. Marie Savings Bank and became its cashier, serving int hat capacity until the 1st of April 1892, and making that concern one of the leading financial institutions of the county. In 1879 he established the Soo news, a leading Republican paper, now the foremost party organ on the Peninsula. In 1883 he admitted Charles H. Chapman to a partnership in the business, adn they continued the successful publication until 1886, when the plant was sold to C.S. Osborn, the present proprietor. Mr. Chandler was very successful in his journalistic work, an able and fluent writer, entertaining and instructive, and his paper therefore won a liberal and well-deserved patronage.

Mr. Chandler originated the St. Mary's Falls Water Power Company, secured the right of way and has been connected with it since its inception. He was also instrumental in forming the Chandler & Dunbar Water Power Company in 1892, capitalized at $150,000, and the present officers are William Chandler, president; H.T. Dunbar, vice president, and P.M. Church secretary. Mr. Chandler is also vice president of the Edison Soo Light Company, is a director in the Soo Savings Bank, a large real-estate owner in the city, and is recognized as one of the best business men on the Upper Peninsula. He carries forward to a successful completion whatever he undertakes, for he possesses energy, enterprise and strong determination. His prosperity has come to him entirely through his own efforts, and he therefore deserves great credit, for when he left home at the age of seventeen to make his own way he had no capital save a resolute purpose to make the best of his opportunities and a young man's bright hope of the future.

In Sault de Ste. Marie, Mr. Chandler was united in marriage with Cata Oren, a sister of Attorney Horace Mann Oren, of this city, and their union has been blessed with two children - Thomas, age 7 and Paulina age 3. Their beautiful home is situated on one of the finest building sites in this part of the State, standing on what is known as Chandler's Hill - a bluff which commands a fine view of the city, St. Mary's river, the locks, the rapids and into the Queen's dominion beyond.
From "Memorial Record of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan 1895 Pg. 176