David Candland was born on October 15, 1819 in Highgate, Middlesex County, England to Samuel Candland and Sarah Betts. He was baptized in May of 1841 at the age of twenty-two and confirmed a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints by Lorenzo Snow.

In 1842, Candland sailed for the United States with the Orson Hyde Company, arriving in Nauvoo, Illinois in May. On November 16, 1842 he was ordained a member of the Sixth Quorum of the Seventy. He married Mary Ann Barton on March 28, 1844. In Nauvoo he worked as a school teacher and store clerk and eventually became a secretary of President Brigham Young.

Candland was called as a missionary to the British Mission in January 1846. During his mission, he authored the first published series of Latter-day Saint pamphlets, known collectively as "The Fireside Visitor; or Plain Reasoner."

In August of 1847, he returned to Winter Quarters, Iowa and soon after moved to Kanesville, Iowa where he worked as a store clerk. In 1851 Candland was called on another mission the Eastern States and British Provinces, returning to Kanesville in March 1852. Soon after he emigrated to Utah with the Ezra T. Benson Company.

David Candland married six additional wives from 1852 to 1857: Mary Jane Webb (October 29, 1852), Lucy Jones (April 9, 1853), Bertha Mary King (December 25, 1854), Anne Woodhouse (November 1, 1855), Hannah Ann Wright (March 5, 1857) and Katherine Ann Jost (April 25, 1858).

In August 1856, Candland opened the Globe Restaurant and Bakery, although it closed two years later. In Salt Lake City he taught school, clerked, and as stage manager for the Deseret Dramatic Association. He also served as doorkeeper at the Salt Lake Tabernacle.

In 1859, Candland was appointed to represent Salt Lake County in the Utah Territorial Legislature. In 1861, he moved his family to Mount Pleasant, Utah where he served as justice of the peace, assessor and collector, and prosecuting general attorney for Sanpete County. Candland died on March 12, 1902 at the age of 82. He was the father of thirty-six children.