LIFE OF JOHN CARTER - Part 6 - MOVING TO NEWRY, MAINE

             Even though the John Carter family was enumerated in Saco, Maine on the 1810 census, John was already a landholder in Newry, Maine.  Just two months after their second child, Almira, was born, on 8 March 1808, John made his first purchase of land in Newry, Oxford County.  A second deed was entered into on 6 May 1809 for more land in Newry.  At the time Hannah was pregnant with their third child, Hannah, and probably wanted to wait for her birth before actually making the move.  By the 1811 tax list in Newry, John and his family had made the move.

Newry Sign at intersection of U.S. Route 2 and Maine State Route 26

            Newry is located not quite 90 miles generally north of Saco by modern highway and is about half way to the modern border of Canada along Maine’s northern border.  The following is a brief description of Newry from “History of Newry, Maine” in A Gazetteer of the State of Maine, by Geo. J. Varney (published by B. B. Russell, 57 Cornhill, Boston, 1886):  “Newry lies in the western part of Oxford County, just north of Androscoggin River. It is bounded on the south by Bethel, east by Hanover and Rumford, north by Andover, north-west by Grafton and west by Riley… (the) Bear River crosses the midst of the town from north-west to south-east, entering the Androscoggin River where, by a northward bend, it touches the south line of Newry… The first settlements were made here in 1781, by Benjamin Barker and his two brothers, from Methuen, Mass., and Ithiel Smith, of Cape Elizabeth, Me. These families were plundered by the Canada Indians in 1782, and removed to other parts until after the establishment of peace. The first sale of the township proved abortive, and it reverted to the State. In 1794 John J. Holmes of New Jersey purchased it, taking the deed in his sister Bostwick's name, wherefore it for a while bore her name (ie. – Boswell Plantaton.) It was also included under the general name of Sudbury-Canada, applied to several towns about here. It was incorporated June 15, 1805, receiving the name of Newry in deference to some of the settlers, who had emigrated from Newry, in Ireland.”  

            So John was moving to the frontier of Maine.  His first purchase of land there came just four years after the incorporation of the community.  In Newry Profiles 1805 – 1980 by Paula M Wight some more insights can be found about early Newry.  In 1790 the US Federal Census for Newry showed twelve heads of families and a total of some 50 inhabitants.  By 1800 the population increased to 92 souls and in 1810 shortly before John and his family arrived the community numbered a little over 200. 

Artist Covered Bridge - Newry - built in  1871

Bear River - Newry, Maine

            Farms were established on the intervals (land between the hills), which had excellent soil.  Hay was the principal crop.  The family farms could also produce oats, wheat, corn, potatoes, rye, and peas to help feed the family.  Slopes of the mountains provided pasturage for grazing animals.  Lumbering was also an important business providing a sawmill on the Bear River with plenty of lumber.  The early inhabitants spent considerable time hunting, trapping and fishing.  Some of the wild animals provided meat for the tables and the trappers of bear, box, beaver and mink found a good market in the fur industry.  It can be seen that this was a community on the edge of civilization.

Possible Route Scarborough to Newry

So what route did the Carters take to get from Saco/Scarborough to Newry.  We have no account of this journey but in Wikipedia the following was found:  “The trade route (now Route 26) from Portland to Errol, New Hampshire, completed in 1802, passed through Newry. Farms were established on the intervales, which had excellent soil. Hay was the principal crop. Slopes of the mountains provided pasturage for grazing animals. A sawmill and gristmill were built on the Bear River, and by 1870 the population was 416.” (Newry, Maine, in Wikipedia at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newry,_Maine) Using Google Maps the route from the approximate location of John’s father’s home to Bethel, using Route 26, is approximately 82.7 miles.  The under 2 hours it takes today doesn’t do justice to the effort it would have taken the Carters to make this journey around 1811.  It was probably a week’s journey.  One must wonder what went through the minds of John and Hannah as they left family and friends to start a new life in the newly settled wilderness.

            The year 1811 began the single longest period of time when the family would live in the same location.  The time the Carters were in Newry is actually well documented above the other places they would live.  They were now situated where destiny would bring them the Gospel but that event was down the road a few years.

MEMORIAL DAY - Remembering Our Carter Family Soldiers

I don't have any immediate relatives that served in our military.  But our Carter Family has had hundreds if not thousands of veterans.  The one I know for sure is Lyman Foster, my dad's cousin and great friend.  Lyman was a descendant of John and Hannah.  Ironically when in boot camp his bunk mate was none other than my mother's step-brother.  What a small world.  If you know of other Carter family members and want to mention them here feel free to click below on comment.

Lyman Foster

Thank you to all who have served our country and especially for those who gave their all that we might be free.

LIFE OF JOHN CARTER - Part 5 - LATER SCARBOROUGH/SACO YEARS

                  We left John purchasing a farm of 72 acres on the border of Scarborough and Saco not far from the family farm of his father.  It was here that John and Hannah had their first three children.

                 That John was not living on the family farm isn’t surprising since a subsistence farm can only support so many people.  John’s oldest brother, Richard Jr. would in time take over the family farm after their father died.  This is similar to the European practice of primogeniture, where the eldest son would get the farm and the younger sons would have to go forward and make their own way in life.  John had tried the sea but that experiment had come to an unfortunate early end.  He had now turned to farming (and probably some lumbering on the side) with his 72 acre plot of land not far from his parent’s home.  There is no record of why after 5 years on this farm in Scarborough John would want to move his family to Newry.  It is possible that Scarborough was becoming too congested or possibly the forests were becoming depleted.  But for some reason John chose to move his family.  First, though, came several land transactions.

                  In two different deeds in 1808 and 1809 John sold this land off to Jonathan Foss and Jonathan McKenney.  The first deed dated 23 March 1808 for $600 he sold half of the 72 acres to Jonathan Foss.  This deed was presented by Foss to be recorded 11 Aug 1809. (York County, Maine, Deeds, 80:201 - misindexed as p. 281. Family History Library Film #12682.) On 8 March 1809 John sold to Jonathan McKenney the rest of the 72 acres (including the home that he lived in and his barn.  This deed was returned on 14 July 1810. (York County, Maine, Deeds, 83:66-67 Family History Library Film #12684.)

                  John appears to have remained on at least part of the above property after he had sold the property.  The second deed was drawn up March 8, 1809 but not received (or recorded) until July 14, 1810.  That time spread could be there for several reasons.  One might be that the John was slow in turning in the deed.  Another reason could be that John didn’t actually receive the payment for the land until shortly before the recording date.  Another possibility is that John entered into an agreement to sell but with the understanding that the he would continue to live on the land for a certain amount of time (possibly to harvest his crops, etc.)  For whatever reason John remained on the property for a year after the initial instrument was drawn up.

                  Interestingly, while John is selling his land in Saco/Scarborough but still living there he had already begun to purchase land in Newry.  This move was preceded by two purchases of land in Newry.  For whatever reason, just two months after Almira was born, on 8 March 1808, John made his first purchase of land in Newry, Oxford County.  A second deed was entered into on 6 May 1809 for more land in Newry.  At the time Hannah was pregnant with their third child, Hannah, and probably wanted to wait for her birth before actually making the move. 

                  The first Newry deed signed and delivered on 6 May 1809 for $110 was between James Beaty of Newry and John Carter of Scarborough for land “being part of lot number one in the third range (vis) fifty acres to be taken off the south end of said lot with a parallel line across said lot. “( Oxford County, Maine, Eastern District, Deeds, 4:270-271 Family History Library Film # 11606.)

                 On 8 March 1809 (but not recorded until 8 May 1809) John previously purchased for $500 “a certain lot of land in the town of Newry in the County of Oxford, being lot number three in the third range of lots in said town containing one hundred acres more or less … Also  another lot of land in said town of Newry being  lot number  two in the third range of lots in said town, containing one hundred acres more or less.  – Also a certain track of land situated in said town of Newry viz. twelve acres taken off the fourteenth lot in the third range bounded easterly on William Bucks land & westerly Bear river so called & northerly on a brook that empties into said river.”( Oxford County, Maine, Eastern District, Deeds, 4:271-272 Family History Library Film # 11606.)

                  Land in Newry was quite a bit cheaper than in Saco.  The sum of the four previous deeds is that John sold his 72 acres in Saco for $1200 and bought 262 acres in Newry for $610.  So sometime after the 1810 census was taken in Saco and before the 1811 tax was collected in Newry, the John Carter family actually made the move to Newry.

LIFE OF JOHN CARTER - Part 4 - EARLY MARRIED LIFE

We really know very little of the details of John and Hannah’s early years of marriage.  What little we do know has had to be gleaned from census records, land records and church records.  It will be remembered that John had bought a house in Portland in December of 1804.  About 16 months later he marries Hannah in March of 1806.   Assuming he was still a mariner at this point, his world was in the process of being overturned buy forces that led to the War of 1812.  In 1806 Britain passed the Non-Intercourse Laws that made trade between the colonies and anyone except Britain illegal.  In 1807 they physically placed an embargo on the Colonial coast and were impressing (capturing) colonial sailors who were involved with countries other than Britain.  This essentially stopped legitimate shipping almost completely and led to privateers who survived by hiding from the Crown.  So by 1807 John must have left sea life for good, though the actual date is probably closer to his marriage date. 

                It is possible that John had premonitions that the life of a mariner was going to become difficult as some 4 months before he married Hannah, John purchased for $1200 a tract of 72 acres part in Scarborough, Cumberland County and part in Saco, York County.  In fact in the census of 1810 the family was enumerated in Saco, though the children are recorded as being born in Scarborough.  In any case the land, though not adjoining his father’s property, was not far removed from his childhood home. Saco is the township in York County that is directly south of Sarborough, Cumberland County.  Sometime in this 1806 – 1810 time period John had to have moved from his home in Portland to the farm in Saco/Scarborough.

 The family tradition is that John and Hannah had their first three children in Scarborough.  Dominicus was born 21 Jun 1806, Almira followed on 3 Jan 1808 and Hannah was born on 28 Jun 1809.  Everything ever recorded have these children as born in Scarborough.  Land records and the 1810 census essentially support this tradition, albeit with the little twist of the census listing them in Saco.

1810 Census - John Carter Family in Saco, York, Maine

                  These census records prior to the 1850 census only give the name of the head of the house and numbers representing the numbers of males and females living in the home based on certain age ranges.  On the 1810 census the family is recorded thus:  1 Free White Male under 10 – (Dominicus 4), 1 Free White Male 26 thru 44 – (John 28), 2 Free White Females under 10 – (Almira 2 and Hannah 1), 1 Free white female 26 thru 44 – (Hannah 24).  Therefore this census enumerated John's family exactly as we know it.  Often non-family members lived in a home but in this case it appears to just be John's family in the home.

                John must have done well financially as a mariner as he had the money to buy the house in Portland in 1804 and then to pay $1200 for 72 acres of land in 1805.  As will be seen John was capable of purchasing land throughout his life probably based on some nest egg he did develop while working as a mariner and his apparent ability to manage money.   In any case it can be seen that around the time he married Hannah, he had left the sea and was a farmer, an occupation he would follow the rest of his life.

               

LIFE OF JOHN CARTER - Part 3 - MARRIAGE TO HANNAH

Our next glimpse of John is his marriage to Hannah Knight Libby in Scarborough:

A list of Marriages in the Second Parish in the Town of Scarborough
From April 1805 to April 1806
Record by Robert Hart, Town Clerk
1806
Mar 2, John Carter & Hannah Knight Libby

John and Hannah's Marriage:  Office of Town Clerk, Scarborough, Maine, Town Records, 1681 – 1893, Family History Library Film #12221, page 225

            The above image is the original of this document so you can attest to the accuracy of the transcription.  Many in the family have tried to show this marriage as occurring in 1805 (including Archibald Bennett) but it really didn’t occur until 2 March 1806. In all honesty this was a cover up of the fact that John and Hannah had to get married.  The truth is they didn't marry until 1806 and that is what it is.  The page starts with marriages in 1805 but two lines above John and Hannah's marriage you can see the clerk wrote 1806.  Why do I say there was an attempt to make the date more proper?  Leslie Carter and Archibald Bennett discussed this heatedly in early correspondence until Leslie provided the above original.  At that point Archibald admitted his mistake and called it a "subconscious error" which I interpret as an attempt to make the date more acceptable to his LDS descendants.  Because of the fact many of the readers of this blog may still have old family group sheets in their possession that give the 1805 marriage date, I feel this point needs to be addressed.  The problem we have today is these errors (regardless of how they were created) have a life of their own and are hard to stop.  We don't need to judge our ancestors in situations like this but rather report truth when truth is found.  In truth then some two and a half months after the marriage, the birth of their first born, Dominicus, occurred on 21 June 1806.  

Hannah Knight Libby Carter (original in possession of Joe Conover)

             John’s wife, Hannah Knight Libby, was born October 9, 1786 in Scarborough, Maine, the daughter of Captain Zebulon Libby (a 3 year soldier in the Revolutionary War) and Lydia Andrews.  Most of her immediate ancestors were early settlers in Scarborough.  

The following are descriptions of her in her later life.  Mrs. Ella K. Milliner stated in 1933 that she was of medium height, less than 5 feet 2 inches, very slim and proud with a delicate face, brown hair and light blue eyes, overall a handsome woman.  She always had her hair combed straight down, parted in the middle, straight down at the ears, and tied by a ribbon in a bow at the back.  She was real dressy, and had a beautiful black silk dress, with a plain waist, high neck and lace collar.   Frances Carter Knight, a daughter of Dominicus Carter, described her grandmother from memory as short and had a round face.  She was light complexioned and her eyes were a light color.  She did not look as old as she was.  Her hair was grey when Frances knew her.  She wore a little lace cap.  He had a good education, and was always very industrious, keeping her knitting close by, and working when she was what might be considered too old to work.   Unfortunately there is no comparable description of John, nor is there any image that we know of in existence.

LIFE OF JOHN CARTER - Part 2 - LIFE IN PORTLAND, MAINE

Tradition had it that John was a sea captain as a young man. Now whether or not he was actually a captain we can state with proof that he was a "mariner."  There has to be a real story here as he started life on the farm of his father, struck out on his own and became a mariner for a few years, only to return to farming for the rest of his life.

  We know that John was at home in 1800 as a 17 year old.  Some time, probably shortly after that date he did leave home and went to work in the sea.  Our next glimpse of him is found in a deed dated 17 Dec 1804 in Portland where William Clough of Portland sold a house in Portland for $270 to Jonathan McKenney of said Portland Coach driver and John Carter of Scarborough in said county Mariner. 

Deed:  Cumberland Co., ME Deed Book 44, page 372

The deed was filed that same day in Portland, about 5 miles north of Scarborough.  We learn a couple of things from this.  John was living in Scarborough up until this time.  We also learn that he was involved in the sea trade in some way.  He was some 22 years of age so being a sea captain would be unlikely though not impossible.  But in any case he appears to be single and working on boats.  

There was a tradition in the family that John may have married an Anna Shute.  This has never been established and the forgoing deed appears to be for two single men to purchase the residence.  In any case no evidence of this early marriage has ever come to light so for now it will be dismissed.  This is just the first of many myths about John that needs to be addressed.  Leslie Carter and others have explored all the courthouses along the Maine seaboard looking for any evidence of this supposed early marriage of John Carter to anyone and nothing has ever been found.  Maybe with the growth of the digital era we will one day uncover this record, if it exists at all.

Portland, Maine in 1835 (couldn't find an earlier picture)

Portland, Maine was at the beginning of the 19^th century a busy and rapidly growing port city.  Its population grew from 3,705 in 1799 to 7,169 in 1800.  Its principal industry was shipping.  In 1789 the tonnage of goods shipped through its port was 5,000 tons.  By 1807 this had risen to 30,000. Napoleon Bonaparte had thrown all Europe into war, and the American ships, as being declared neutrals, monopolized the carrying trade.  Portland ship-owners profited accordingly and fortunes were rapidly made.

“But the prosperity of the town received a sudden and disastrous check by the non-intercourse policy of 1806, and the embargo which followed in 1807.  Commerce was at once suspended, and almost total destruction of our shipping followed. Navigation fell off nine thousand tons in two years, all the various classes to whom it gave support were thrown out of employment; eleven commercial houses stopped payment in 1807, and many others the following year.  Great distress prevailed throughout the community, and the grass literally grew upon the wharves.  In the war of 1812, which followed, our sea-faring people manned the privateers fitted out here, some of which ran a successful career, and did great damage to the enemy, while others were soon captured by superior force, and their crews held as prisoners.” (Edward H. Elwell; Portland and Vicinity, (Portland, ME, 1876), Family History Library 974.191/P2Hze, p. 14-15.)

We can see that John entered the mariner profession at a most inopportune time.  We don’t know the details of what happened to John and his mariner profession but it is likely that he had to leave the sea trade due to the embargo on trade.  (I have often thought about the fact that from this point on, John was always able to purchase property wherever he went with cash.  He never seemed to want for money.  I am sure he was frugal but I also suspect that he accumulated a nice nest egg as a mariner, which accounted for his never seeming to need financial assistance.)   In many instances (as with the house purchased in Portland), records are found for his purchase but none has thus  far been found to show a sale of the property in question.

It should also be noted at this point how events in life often change the course of one's course in life. The War of 1812 actually change the course of John's life as he had to leave the sea and find work back on land.  Had this never happened our family might never have come into contact with the missionaries of the LDS Church, which led to the westward migration of the family.  It is very valuable to look at our ancestral story within the historical perspective.

LIFE OF JOHN CARTER - Part 1 - EARLY DAYS

       The life of our ancestor began in Scarborough, Cumberland County, Maine on 19 May 1782.  He was third child of Richard Carter and Jane (Anne) McKenney.  John was in the fourth generation of our Carters to live in Scarborough though only his father Richard was actually born there.  The McKenneys had been in Scarborough for several generations.  

       The colonial Scarborough that John was born into was actually the second settlement there.  Scarborough was originally settled in the 1630’s first at Black Point, then later at Blue Point and later at Dunstan by 1651.  In 1658 these settlements were incorporated as the town of Scarborough – the name of a town in England where some of the settlers had lived.  By 1676 Scarborough, a town with three settlements of more than 100 houses and 1000 head of cattle, had been destroyed in Indian skirmishes.  The inhabitants tried repeatedly to rebuild the town but in the 1690’s it was abandoned.     

         The second settlement of Scarborough dates from 1702.  In 1720 town meetings were reestablished and by 1790, ten years after John was born, Scarborough had 2,235 inhabitants.  Dunstan became a prominent part of Scarborough because of the shipping and trading at the landing there.  This was just some 3 ½ miles down the Broadturn Road from the Carter residence.  This area was noted for supplying trees that were made into masts for the British ships in the days before the Revolutionary War which had recently ended.

Richard Cater home (at right) 280 Broadturn Road, Scarborough, ME

        The family home of Richard Carter exists today.  It is found at 280 Broadturn Road.  There is the original structure of one story and a taller, turreted addition that was added at a later date.  We don't know for sure that John was born in this home, but since most children were born at home in those days we can assume it was here that John was born. 

Richard Carter 1755 - 1828

        As a sidelight, this is where in a small knoll in the back yard John's father, Richard Carter, was buried.  We know this from the fact that the stone is still there (or was a few years ago.)  There were a couple of other stones that couldn't be read that could possibly be for his wife, Jane, and maybe two babies that they lost at or near their births. 

        The Carter family probably subsisted with a mixture of farming, livestock, and lumbering.  This was not an easy existence but with hard work a family could subsist comfortably.  A family could produce the greater part of their food supplies and their livestock supplied beef and milk for them as well.  The typical settler lived in a comfortable home and provided for the needs of his family.  This was land that Richard had inherited when his father, Benjamin Carter passed away.

       We know that John lived on the family farm until he was at least 17, as his presence at home can be inferred by a male child of his age being in the home of his father.

Up next:  John Carter the sea captain in Portland, Maine

THOSE WE OWE THANKS TO FOR OUR GENEALOGY

        Most of us really don't know the story of how our Carter genealogy was initially compiled.  People had begun searching out our ancestry back as far as 1850's when William Furlsbury Carter deliberately traveled to Boston from his mission in India so he could gather the birth dates of his aunts and uncles who had remained in Maine.  A skeleton version of the Carter ancestry had been constructed by 1940 which contained many errors.  The real movers and shakers in the development of our ancestry first appear prominently in the 1940's through the first half of the 1960's.

Leslie A Carter taken about 1950-1955

LESLIE A CARTER

       Unknown to most of the Utah branch of the family - this is the genius behind the development of the Carter genealogy.  There is no one who we should credit more than Leslie as it was Leslie that provided the original records and original analysis of early records even before the LDS Church began sending film crews into New England to collect the records found there.   Others that will be mentioned below (and are often attributed to the development of our ancestry) couldn't have done their work except for the wealth of information that Leslie provided.

       Leslie was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1901.  He was the 2nd great grandson of Richard Carter and Sally Holmes.  This Richard was the brother of our John Carter who married Hannah Knight Libby.  Leslie, starting in the early 1940's, got the genealogy bug and began a life's adventure to discover his Carter roots.  Until his death in 1966 he spent every free minute taking trips to New England digging through courthouses and archives taking pictures of original records.  His research grew to enormous proportions - filling filing boxes before he was done.  He was a prolific writer of letters and corresponded with anyone and everyone with whom he could connect.  Fortunately for us he kept copies of his correspondence (and many of those that he corresponded with did likewise.)

      Most everything we know about our earliest ancestors that aren't found in the writing of Savage, Thompson and Noyes (early genealogists who chronicled early families in New England) came from the work of Leslie.  It was Leslie who determined we didn't descend from the Richard Carter of early Boston, but instead from Richard Cater of Dover, New Hampshire.  He also was the genealogist who unraveled a century of Richard Cater/Carter ancestors into the four Richards we know of today.

     Why don't we know more about Leslie?  The main reason is that in spite of the prolific material he left to us - he never wrote a formal book laying out his findings.  The biggest reason was that he and Archibald F Bennett became embroiled in a furious debate over these early Richards and this heated debate caused Leslie to shy away from publishing his findings.  In Leslie's last years he began to stop corresponding with people except my grandmother, Christa Lillis Wilkins Givens Damron. She was about the only person regularly in correspondence with him.  Leslie had specifically asked my grandmother, as a genealogist and believer in his assertions, to write his book after he passed.  Unfortunately my grandmother, a high school graduate (which was excellent in her day) didn't feel up to the task - both in the writing, and because she too was not far from death's doorstep. So she passed the baton on to me and in 1972 I self-published a little tome Richard Cater/Carter of Dover, New Hampshire and Some of His Descendants.  It can be found in the Family History Library Catalog and is in digital form so it can be downloaded. This short book lays out the pedigree as Leslie determined it to be through his research.

Archibald Fowler Bennett 1896 - 1965

ARCHIBALD F BENNETT

         Archibald F Bennett was married to Ann Eliza Milner, who was the 2nd great granddaughter of John and Hannah Libby Carter through their daughter Eliza Ann Carter and James Chauncey Snow. Archibald, according to Wikipedia, was a longtime employee of the Genealogical Society of Utah who was such a figure in the promotion of family history research in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that he became known as "Mr. Genealogy."  As early as 1928 Archibald was involved in genealogy, and he supervised the earliest filmers who were sent out to gather the records of the world for the then Genealogy Society of Utah.  Archibald was interested in the Carter ancestry through his wife, and while researching it came into communication with Leslie.  Leslie graciously shared thousands of pages of information with Archibald.  It was this material that became the basis for Archibald's study of the Carters in his books Finding Your Forefathers in America and Finding Your Pedigree.   Unfortunately Archibald and Leslie locked horns over the actual pedigree over the original Richards in our line.

ARTHUR D. COLEMAN

       Arthur D Coleman is the author most of our Utah branch relatives are familiar with thanks to his work "Carter Pioneers of Provo, Utah."  It should be noted that this work is really a delineation of the descent of John and Hannah.  Yes, it has a description of John's ancestry, but basically all Coleman did was take what was found in Bennett's writings and condense it into his book.  His book is so shallow on the ancestry that, I personally, would not use it as a source for our ancestry.  His treatment on the descent of the family down from John was wonderful but now is 50 years out of date.

Kate Bjarnson Carter 1891- 1976

KATE BJARNSON CARTER

        Kate was president of the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers from 1941 until her death in 1976. She was married to Austin Carter, a great grandson of John and Hannah through their son William Furslbury Carter and Sally Ann Mecham.  Kate was a prolific writer and the DUP museum building in Salt Lake was funded in part by the proceeds of her books.  She did write a lot about our Utah branch of the family, though she never really added materially to the pedigree.  Her value is in the program she developed at the DUP for gathering and preserving the records of the early pioneers to Utah.

     So there in "brief" form are the early movers and shakers of our family genealogy.  To them we are all indebted.

Tomorrow:  The Life of John Carter - Part 1

Our Web Presence

     Since about 2000 we have had a web presence and over the last 4 years we have branched out into social media to see if we can reach out to more of John and Hannah's descendants.

       Our first - and primer effort - is our web page at Carterville.com which is hosted by Charles Carter.  Charles was the originator of this site and has borne the cost of keeping this site up and running all these years.  In the past few years our family organization has contributed to the cost of the site but that is a small contribution when you consider all the hours and hours of labor he puts into the site to keep it current (along with his helpers.)   Even before FamilySearch developed Family Tree where all kinds of memories can be posted on people, Carterville was developed where we could post our genealogy and attach pictures, stories, documents and sources of all of our relatives.  It really is a great site and we strongly encourage all who read this to go there and register.

        Registering at Carterville.com - First go to the web site.  On the home page do not click the log in that is right below Web Log.  That is for the web log on the front page.  You want to go further down the right sidebar to "Register" far down the list.  You will first be asked to fill in a captcha and click Submit.  This will direct you to the registration page.  Please fill in all starred fields.  After you Submit this you will receive an email with further directions.  There is no charge to register.  We have done this to keep control over our data there so only family members who are registered can see it.

        In 2012 we began to test the waters of Facebook.  Currently there are several sites about our family found there.  First there is a private group the John and Hannah Carter Family group.  It is closed and you will need to request to join us.  If you click join you will quickly be admitted into the group.  (This group will soon be renamed the John & Hannah Knight Libby Carter Family Organization group.)  It will then become our official presence on Facebook.  This is a great group to meet your cousins and exchange information and news.

       Currently there is a "page" on Facebook with the name the John and Hannah Knight Libby Carter Family Organization.  We are currently in the process of closing this down and migrating the information found there over to the current John & Hannah Carter Family group.  We would encourage you to go to the group rather than this page.

       For quite a while I have run a page on Facebook for my ancestor William Furlsbury Carter.  If you search for his name within Facebook this page will come up.  It is there to promote information about William.  Since it is a page there is nothing you have to join to view it.

       The one other site I am aware of is the Robbins Family Society which is a public group on Facebook.  You will have to join it to participate.  This is for the descendants of Daniel and Hope Robins whose descendants married into our Carter clan.

       If I have missed something please let me know.

So why a family organization?

        Many of us who are researchers realized 15 or so years ago that we were spinning our wheels duplicating each other's work and not really accomplishing much.  So as genealogists we wanted to unify our efforts.

         At the same time it was apparent that there are many traditions within the family that needed to be revisited and either verified or proven false.  Traditions are tricky things.  Some have always been there and some have evolved over time from one thing to something different as each generation puts their spin on the story.

         The last, probably the biggest part was that we were loosing touch with each other.  How many of us are there?  Now that is a good question.  I have a Roots Magic data base that I work from which includes all the descendants I know of.  If I generate a descendancy report for John and Hannah I get over 12,100 people in about 3,800 families, and that is only the tip of the iceberg as it were.  I don't have many of the living descendants so we estimate there are really at least 40,000 to 50,000 of us scattered far and wide.  Obviously we can't bring all these people together but we can try to unite those that are sincerely interested in learning more about our heritage.

         In the next post we will explore the specific activities we have taken to accomplish our goals.

Welcome to our John and Hannah Knight Libby Carter Family Organization Blog

This is a blog devoted to the family of John and Hannah Knight Libby Carter.  We have a formal family organization under the name of The John and Hannah Knight Carter Family Organization.  Our main presence is a web site:  Carterville.com.  To see the genealogy there you will need to register (for free) and indicate how you are related to this couple.  We also have a private group at Facebook.  Just search for us by name.

Our organization is formed in the hope that we can bring a better sense of family unity to the thousands of descendants of John and Hannah.  We are scattered all over the world and have probably never personally met each other, but we do share a common heritage.  It is to the education and spread of this heritage that we in the family organization are dedicated.

We hold family reunions every other summer.  Last summer (2015) we met in the Omaha, Nebraska area and learned about our family's involvement in the Winter's Quarters experience.  In 2013 we met in Salt Lake City and learned of the wealth of artifacts, etc. found there in the DUP museum and at the Church History Library.  In 2011 we met in Provo and toured the various family sites in that area and down in Santaquin.  Our inaugural meeting (of the 8 founding members of this group) was held in Nauvoo, Illinois in 2009.  We toured our family sites there including Morleyville where the family lived and actually found the old, Carter Pioneer Cemetery which is on old family property southwest of Morleyville.

Our next reunion will be held in Utah - probably in the Provo area again. This will be in the summer of 2017.   Our tentative plans are for the reunion in 2019 to be in San Diego, CA where we can explore our Mormon Battalion connections.

This is the cake we had made to be our dessert at our opening social for the 2015 reunion.

This is a good portion of us at the Kanesville Tabernacle in Council Bluffs, IA