 He was the first child of the former Martha Bernetta Beall (1819-1897) of Bartow County, and her husband Samuel Charles Candler (1809-1873) of Columbia County who served in both houses of the Georgia legislature.His great-grandfather Col. William Candler (1730-1784) had led Georgia troops during the American Revolutionary War and later served as a state legislator.His uncle Ezekiel S. Candler (1815-1869) was Georgia's comptroller general (1849–54).