John Wilson Candler (February 10, 1828 – March 16, 1903) was a

United States representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

from

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

. He was born in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

on February 10, 1828. He attended the Marblehead and Dummer Academies. He then became a merchant, engaged in shipping and commerce with the

East East is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fact that ea ...

and

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

. He served as a member of the

Massachusetts House of Representatives The Massachusetts House of Representatives is the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court, the State legislature (United States), state legislature of Massachusetts. It is composed of 160 members elected from 14 counties each divided into ...

. He was chairman of the commissioners of prisons of Massachusetts, and president of the Boston Board of Trade and of the Commercial Club of Boston. Candler married Lucy Almira Cobb on September 1, 1851 in Boston. Cobb was the daughter of Henry and Augusta Adams Cobb. Her mother Augusta, however, had converted to

Mormonism Mormonism is the theology and religious tradition of the Latter Day Saint movement of Restorationism, Restorationist Christianity started by Joseph Smith in Western New York in the 1820s and 1830s. As a label, Mormonism has been applied to va ...

in 1832 and abandoned the family in 1843 to marry Brigham Young as his second polygamous wife. After bearing three daughters, Lucy Cobb Candler died in 1855 and John Wilson Candler then married Ida May Garrison of Manhattan in 1867, and they had one daughter. Candler was elected as a Republican to the Forty-seventh Congress (March 4, 1881 – March 3, 1883). He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1882 to the Forty-eighth Congress, but was elected to the Fifty-first Congress (March 4, 1889 – March 3, 1891). He again was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1890 to the Fifty-second Congress. He returned to engage in mercantile pursuits until his retirement in 1893. He died in

Providence, Rhode Island Providence () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Rhode Island, most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. The county seat of Providence County, Rhode Island, Providence County, it is o ...

on March 16, 1903. His interment was in Mount Auburn Cemetery in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...

References

*Toomey, Daniel P.,
Massachusetts of today Massachusetts Board of Managers, World's Fair
', page 105 (1893). {{DEFAULTSORT:Candler, John W. Republican Party members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives 1828 births 1903 deaths Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Massachusetts The Governor's Academy alumni 19th-century members of the Massachusetts General Court 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives