CHANDLER, ZACHARIAH American politician, was born at Bedford, N.H., on Dec. 1o, 1813. In he removed to Detroit, Mich., where he became a prosperous dry-goods merchant. He took a prominent part as a Whig in politics, and, impelled by his strong anti-slavery views, actively furthered the work of the "underground railroad," of which De troit was one of the principal "transfer" points. He was one of the organizers in Michigan of the Republican Party, and in succeeded Lewis Cass in the U.S. Senate, serving until Throughout the Civil War he allied himself with the most radical of the Republican faction in opposition to President Lincoln's policy, and subsequently became one of the bitterest opponents of President Johnson's plan of reconstruction. From Oct. to March 1877, he was secretary of the interior in the cabinet of President Grant. In Feb. 1879, he was re-elected to the Senate.
He died at Chicago, Ill., on Nov. I, 1879. By his extraordinary force of character he exercised a wide personal influence during his lifetime, but failed to stamp his personality upon any measure or policy of lasting importance.