He is listed with his parents in 1870 at age 10 and in 1880 both with his parents in Ohio as Chancy L. and with his sister Ruth in Iowa as Leander.
Listed as Chancy, a laborer with the Hoskins family in the 1885 Iowa census.
He is listed as C. L. Gaddis, a farmer from Iowa in the 1895 Kansas census; with his wife Martha, a teacher from Indiana.

GADDIS - Chauncey Leander Gaddis was born April 28, 1860 in Morrow County, Ohio. He came to Iowa in 1876. He was converted and joined the United Brethren Church in 1884. December 28, 1886 he married Mattie S. Nichols, in Cheyenne County, Kansas, where they resided until 1896. They then moved near Quincy, Illinois, and from there to Louisiana, Missouri, where they lived until 1900, when they moved to Jasper County, Iowa, where they since resided. His health began to fail eight years ago, from Bright’s disease, but he did not murmur. He died May 11, 1904. He was steadfast and true to the Church, and attended Sunday school and other church services regularly until he was disabled by disease. He left a wife, five sisters, and one brother to mourn. The funeral service was conducted at Hickory Grove United Brethren Church, by Rev. E. Walcott.