McCandless Family History

Lucian McCandless, 1912

This page lists the families of Lucian McCandless, his father Samuel Harper McCandless, and his grandfather William McCandless.

Lucian McCandless was a pioneer farmer who homesteaded in Custer County, Nebraska, in 1882. He was the second son of Samuel Harper McCandless, a pioneer farmer, schoolteacher, and politician (R. Illinois State Assembly), from McDonough County, Illinois, who died in 1862 when Lucian was seven years old. That same year Lucian's grandfather, William McCandless, a pioneer farmer from Western Pennsylvania, grandmother, Mary (Harper) McCandless, and uncle, William Wallace McCandless, a Corporal in the Union Army, also died.

In February, 1874, seeking homes of their own, Lucian and brother William Reed McCandless, moved from McDonough county, Illinois, to York county, Nebraska. Here Lucian met Amanda Emma Gandy, whom he married on September 12, 1878. In the spring of 1882 Lucian brought his wife and son, Harper Leroy McCandless, to Custer County taking a homestead adjoining the city limits of Broken Bow, which had just been laid out by Amanda�s uncle James P Gandy.

Eventually Lucian sold his farmland and businesses in Broken Bow and moved to Lincoln, Nebraska. All of Lucian�s surviving children attended Nebraska Wesleyan University and went on to various careers. Amanda died in 1948. In 1954, on his 100th birthday, an article ran in either the Lincoln Journal or the Lincoln Star quoting Lucian, "I attribute my age to the fact that I never drank or chewed. I have always kept regular hours and worked hard. I was a rancher and by the grace of God, I am still alive." Lucian died in 1955 at the age of 100. He is buried in the Broken Bow Cemetery, Broken Bow, Custer County, Nebraska, along with his wife Amanda, sons Harper, Amos and Tedy, grandson Raymond W., and in-laws, Amos W. and Mary E. Gandy.

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William McCandless Family

William McCandless (1785 � 1862)

     * History of McDonough County, Illinois, (Springfield, Illinois: Continental Historical Co., 1885). [Book online] McDonough County Illinois Web Page [http://www.macomb.com/~ilmcdono/MoundTwp1885.html].
      Genealogical and Biographical Record of North-Eastern Kansas, �Biographical Sketch of J. B. Allison Brown County, Kansas� (Chicago: Lewis Pub. Co., 1900). [Book Online] KSGenWeb Digital Library [http://skyways.lib.ks.us/genweb/archives/brown/bios/jallison.htm].

Mary (Harper) McCandless (1795 � 1862)

William and Mary�s Children

  1. Samuel Harper McCandless (1817 � 1862), m. Delia Reed (1821 � 1900)
  2. Margaret (McCandless) Allison (1819 � 1854), m. George Allison (1813 - 1868)
  3. William Wallace McCandless, Jr. (1820 - 1863), m. Sarah Ann Duncan (1824 � 1910)
  4. Jane Harper (McCandless) Woods (1822 � 1903), m. Hugh Snodgrass Woods (1810 � 1861)
  5. Harriett McCandless (1824 � 1826), died in childhood
  6. Sarah P. (McCandless) McBride (1826 � 1885), m. Andrew D McBride
  7. Mary McCandless (1832 � 1832), died in infancy

     William Jr. died at, or as a result of, the battle of Stones River. He was a Corporal, in Company H, 84th Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and is buried at Stones River National Cemetery, Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Though the date of his death is recorded in the William McCandless Sr. family bible, it is hard to make out the date recorded. The date appears to be Jan 13, 1863, which would put his death a few days after the battle of Stones River, December 31, 1862. This could mean that William was wounded in the battle and died days later of his wounds at a field hospital, as often was the case. The biographical entry for William Jr’s son, Arnott Duncan McCandlass, in A Biographical and Genealogical History of Southeastern Nebraska (Lewis Publishing Co., 1904, p. 824 ), gives the date of William Jr’s death as December 21, 1862. This must be a misprint of December 31, 1862, the day the Confederate Army attacked the Union position. More than one source says William was killed at the battle of Chattanooga (September 24-November 23, 1863). The history of Mercer and Henderson Counties, [Illinois], (H.H. Hill and Co., 1882, p. 454-5), says William was a Lieutenant in company A, and was killed at the battle of Chattanooga. To make matters more confusing, there is a William McCanlass buried in the Chattanooga National Cemetery, yet this William's name is spelled differently and he was a Private. The William of Stones River National Cemetery is spelled exactly the same as on the 84th Illinois' regimental records,“William W. McCandlass”, his rank is Corporal, and he was in Company H. The William of Stones River National Cemetery is the right William Jr.

William McCandless Family Bible

The following is a transcription by M. H. McCandless (2002), of a photocopy of a slip of wrinkled, torn, and stained paper copied by Jeanie Anderson H[as]kins on November 31, 1948. Haskins copied this data from a slip of paper copied by her mother, Louisa Allison Andersen, in 1886, directly from the William McCandless family bible. [Bracketed statements] have been supplied by M. H. McCandless and represent my best guess as to what was written given the poor condition of the photocopy. The location of the actual family bible today, or even if it still exists, is unknown.

Transcription (M. H. McCandless, 2002)

William McCandless Family Bible Record

This family record was copied by my
mother Louisa Allison Andersen from
great grandfather McCandless' family
bible in 1886.

William McCandless born in Penn.
     Apr 5, 1785
     Died Sept 24, 1862
     M. Sept 7, 1815 to Mary Harper
     who was B July 3, 1795
          D. Jan 31, 1862.

Their children

Samuel Harper McC
     B. Jan 27, 1817 - Jan 20, 1862
Margaret (my grandmother) B. Oct 11, 1819
     D. Jan 28, 1854
Wm Jr. born Jan 31, 1820 d. [Jan] 13, 186[3]
Jane H. � June 31, 182[2] [not recorded; d. 1903]
Harriet�� Nov 2, 1824 d. Oct 10, 1826
Sarah P. ��May 1, 1826 d. Oct 4, 1885
Mary � Apr 13, 1832 - Oct 21, 1832

Copied by Jennie Andersen H[as]kins
Hebron Neb July 31, 1948


Samuel Harper McCandless Family

Samuel Harper McCandless (1817 � 1862)

Delia (Reed) McCandless (1821 � 1900)

Samuel and Delia�s Children

  1. Elisabeth C. McCandless (1850 � 1850[1]), died in childhood.
  2. William Reed McCandless (1852 � 1919), m. unknown, York Nebraska
  3. Lucian McCandless (1854 � 1955), m. Amanda Emeline Gandy (1861 � 1948)
  4. Annetta �Nettie� (McCandless) Vose (1859 � 1890), m. Lyman B. Vose

Lucian McCandless Family

Lucian McCandless (1854 � 1955)

Amanda Emeline (Gandy) McCandless (1861 � 1948)

Lucian and Amanda�s Children

  1. Harper Leroy McCandless (1880 � 1918)
  2. Tedy McCandless (1882 � 1884), died in childhood
  3. William Lucian McCandless (1885 � 1970), m. Charlotte �Lottie� Waterberry
  4. Raymond Beebe McCandless (1889 � 1931) m. Margaret Woods (1891 � 1972)
  5. Amos Gandy McCandless (1895 � 1898), died in childhood
  6. Harrison �Harry� Phelps McCandless (1898 � 1973) m. Carol Simpson (1900 � 2000)
  7. Mary Belle (McCandless) Baker (1900 � living), m. Paul DeWitt Baker (1899 � 19??)
  8. Charles Wesley McCandless (1902 � 1974) m. Irene Taylor (1906 � 1991)

Lucian McCandless Family Bible

Lucian McCandless and Amanda Emeline Gandy McCandless' Family. Information from the McCandless Family Bible recorded in the hands of Lucian, Amanda and Harry Phelps McCandless (his death by Carol Simpson McCandless). [Bracketed comments by M. H. McCandless, 2001.]


�2003, M.H. McCandless, all rights reserved.