Chandler, Alexander J.
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Birth: | July 15, 1859, Coaticook, Quebec, Canada | 
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Death: | May 8, 1950, Chandler, Arizona | |
Spouses: | Julia Pope Chandler Loftus, | |
Children: | None | |
Parents: |
Alexander John Chandler, or A. J., was born in 1859 in the small town of Coaticook, Quebec. After completing secondary school, he attended McGill University in Montreal where he studied veterinary medicine. Graduating in 1882, Chandler worked as a livestock inspector for the Canadian government before going into private veterinary practice in Detroit.
When representatives from the Arizona Territory approached him with an offer to become the territory's veterinary surgeon, A. J. quickly accepted, despite the significant decrease in pay. He arrived in Prescott, the territorial capital of Arizona, on August 8, 1887, in the midst of a drought. He decided it was better to resign his position and seek opportunity in California, but before he left he toured the Barbacamori Ranch in southern Arizona after a monsoon storm. The tour made him realize that the key to desert development was controlling water. He continued to California to study irrigation techniques, and returned to Arizona to start an ambitious plan to accumulate land and water rights in the Salt River Valley. With capital from his partners Dexter Ferry and C. C. Bowen, and with a scheme to take advantage of loopholes in the Desert Land Act, Chandler went about the business of building a network of canals and accumulating a massive amount of land south of the Salt River Valley. The end result of the project was the establishment of the town of Chandler, Arizona, centered around the luxurious San Marcos Hotel.
A. J. was married three times, but never had children of his own. He married his first wife Julia Pope Chandler on September 23, 1890. She was the daughter of a St Louis, MO judge. She left him in 1913 and moved to California. His second wife, Charlotte Boyd Chandler, was an entertainer from Philadelphia who suffered from several health problems. After a short marriage, Charlotte passed away. Dr. Chandler's third wife was Rosa Bell Chandler Wilson. Rosa survived Dr. Chandler by nearly forty years. She had two children from a previous marriage, and after A. J.'s death she moved to Virginia and remarried.
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