Who was Dr. Chandler?

Alexander John Chandler was born July 15, 1859 in the small town of Coaticook, Quebec, Canada. He was the fourth of seven children born to Mary Ann Lorimer, and Joseph Chandler, a tailor turned Baptist minister. Alex, as his family called him, also had a older half-sisterfrom his father's previous marriage. When necessary, Reverend Chandler would supplement the family's meager income by making and sellling suits.

Chandler grew up on a 40 acre rocky-soil parsonage with a few cows and pigs, a garden, and a apple orchard. He attended a little red school known as Crocker's school, and did chores around the farm.

Chandler, an excellent student, desired to be a doctor and enrolled in the medical school at McGill University. His first chosen profession was to be a medical doctor. Unable to afford the tuition his half-sister, Hannah, sold her gold watch to help pay for his education. While at McGill, Chandler worked under the famed physician Sir William Osler as an errand boy.

Chandler soon chose to pursue a shorter degree in veterinary surgery from the Montreal Veterinary College, which was affiliated with McGill. After graduating in 1882, the newly minted Dr. A. J. Chandler, moved to Detroit , MI, and opened up a veterinary practice.