Carter Family Reunion
August 2, 2019 (Day 1)
Thank you for all who traveled across the continent
to be with us and to those who helped with the arrangements. To me it was like this day would never come
and then suddenly it came and was over in a blink of an eye. The goal was to have a fun, educational and
touching experience for all. Hopefully
we accomplished this.
We started the day
with our first stop along County Line Road between Hancock and Adams Counties
about 2/3 of a mile to the east of IL-96.
This is a significant location as we were stopped directly south of the
properties owned by many of our relatives.
Sadly, there are no buildings remaining from the time that the Carter
family lived in this part of Illinois.
Though nothing can be seen of their homes, in what is known as Walker
Township, we can give general location for their lands.
From this location we
continued east on County Line Road until we reached County Road 850 and headed
towards Tioga. Along this read we
stopped at the historical marker for Morley’s Settlement.
The story of the
Carter family in Illinois was intertwined with the story of Isaac Morley and
the settlement named after him.
The Carters first became
acquainted with Isaac in Kirtland, Ohio and again in Missouri. Upon arriving in Illinois following being
driven from Missouri, the Carters settled in the settlement founded by Morley
some 25 miles south of Nauvoo.
While we were at this site, I gave a brief history of
Morley Settlement and our family’s time there.
Unbeknown to me Scott Allen recorded this short talk and shared it with
us. Click on the following link to view
his recording. https://youtu.be/7GxaNmT_Qno
It is hard to visualize that this empty field
today once housed the “downtown” village of Morley Settlement. The tree line you see in the far background
which is about a half mile from where this picture was taken was where our
Carter clan had their lands. When the mobs came to Morley’s Settlement, they
didn’t just burn the homes in the downtown, but they went from farm to farm
destroying the homes of virtually all the families in the settlement. It was a
miracle that during all this mobbing only one person, Edmund Durfee, lost his
life.
From the Morley’s
Settlement sign, we traveled north into the village of Tioga and made a left on
County Road 100 which runs along the north boundary of Walker Township. We
didn’t actually stop along this road but if we had after we crossed the large
power lines and came out of the woods, we would have been about due north of
our first stop and could look south into the Carter Family properties. Immediately on the south side of County Road
100 at this point would have been the larger of two pieces of property that
were owned by Mary Jane Carter Dooley. It
was here that we suspect John spent the final few years of his life. Further west on County Road 100 where it
meets IL-96, on the southeast corner of that intersection is the larger of two
tracks of land that William Furlsbury Carter owned. The large white house on
that land has nothing to do with our family but is located on his former
land. From here we continued west on
County Road 100 a little over a mile to the Fletcher Cemetery.
Over the years there
has been much controversy over where John Carter was buried. There are no written records stating his
burial place and several suggestions have been put forward over the years. Thanks to our cousin, Joe Conover, who
descends from both Philip Libby Carter and Amanda Carter Tripp, we finally have
come to agreement that John most surely was buried in the Fletcher Family
Cemetery. Joe was born on the land of
Philip Libby Carter, were we had stop one this day. His grandmother, Dora Carter Bolt, always
stated that she was taught by her father that John was buried in Fletcher
Cemetery.
Once it was determined where we believe John was buried the
family organization conducted a fund-raising project to collect funds to buy a
proper tombstone for John. In 2018 we
finally reached our goal and were able to purchase the stone in the photo above. While at this location we discussed how we
came to choose this location and I gave a brief life of John for the
family. Again, Scott Allen came through
with a video of this activity. The
recording is found at: https://youtu.be/pZUongswp5k
.
Following
a dedication of the grave, we adjourned back to Tioga to the fellowship hall of
the Bethany United Church of Christ where the Bethany Bells treated us to an
excellent lunch. This also allowed us
time to sit and visit in a nice, air-conditioned environment. Cousin Joe Conover and his collection of
family memorabilia was the other focus of this stop. As stated earlier he was born on the property
of Philip Libby Carter and through is Grandmother Dora Carter Bolt he has come
into possession of many items of early Carter family history. For the first time ever the actual portrait
of Hannah Knight Libby Carter was on display for all to see. Joe, it should be known, personally paid for
the restoration of this invaluable piece of our family history. He also is in possession of many other family
items. There is a old, deerskin box
probably made for Hannah by her father that houses many letters and documents
dating from the 1840’s related to our family.
This was a very special treat for all who attended the reunion. It should be noted that Joe is in the process
of working with the Church History Department to transfer to their archive
those items of historical significance, so these items can be permanently
preserved for future generations to view.
The
party didn’t end here. After our
leisurely luncheon and artifact viewing, we adjourned to return to Nauvoo. A few of us took in the Nauvoo Brass Band
presentation that afternoon at the main Visitor’s Center in one of their
meeting rooms. This was historically
important as William Furlsbury Carter did belong to the Nauvoo Marching Band
back in the day. It was reported in a
newspaper article on him that as the Saints left Nauvoo, William and the rest
of the band would be at the departure point, where the Saints crossed the
Mississippi, and played the Nauvoo March.
I have long wanted to know if that music still exists. The director of the Nauvoo Brass Band was
very knowledgeable about the subject of early Nauvoo music and sadly reported
that only two pieces of music unique to that period of the history of Nauvoo
exist today and unfortunately the Nauvoo March is not one of them.
We
had dinner reservations for the group at the Nauvoo Hotel. The buffet was enjoyed by all as we enjoyed
the excellent buffet that they serve.
After partaking of the meal, we were able to enjoy an unhurried trip to
the site of the Nauvoo Pageant down near the banks of the Mississippi thank to
another local cousin, Jeff Zenk, who had reserved seats for us early in the
afternoon so we could all sit together.
The evening ended on a high note with the excellent presentation of the
British version of the Pageant.
Carter Family Reunion
August 3, 2019 (Day 2)
Day two of the reunion was a
less intense that the first day. Many in
attendance had been to Nauvoo in the past and had already viewed the sites that
were suggested so they just did what they wanted. For those who were new to Nauvoo we spent the
morning checking out several sites in the far south end of the community that
had ties to our Carter ancestors.
We started with the properties
owned by the Community of Christ known as the Joseph Smith Historic Site. That was a proper place to start our day as
Joseph Smith was well known to our family and it was to here that at least
Dominicus and William helped bring the bodies of Joseph Smith and his brother
Hyrum. We took tours of all the
buildings and it was very enlightening to hear of the stories of the trials the
Smith family (and their church) had in keeping possession of these
properties. As it turns out Joseph and
Hyrum’s bodies were so well hidden over time that when they were interred in
their final resting place it isn’t known for sure which body was Joseph’s and
which was Hyrum’s.
Our group at the
Joseph Smith family home site.
Below
are the graves of Joseph, his brother Hyrum, and Emma.
From this
location we went north one street to Parley Street and followed it down to the
banks of the Mississippi at Water Street.
There is a pioneer memorial naming many of the Saints who died on the
trip west to the Rocky Mountains. This
is the point where the Saints either crossed over the ice of the river or used
ferries to cross over to Iowa. This
would be the last place many of our family would ever be in Illinois.
Looking Westward
Monument depicting Joseph Smith and Brigham Young. They overlook the site where the Saints
crossed the Mississippi to get to Iowa.
This is
the view of the Mississippi River from Parley and River Streets with Iowa in
the background.
This is the pioneer
memorial at this site. It has inscribed
the names of many of the Saints who died while crossing the plains. It isn’t complete as the only family member
mentioned here is Richard Carter, John and Hannah’s son who died while serving
with the Mormon Battalion in New Mexico.
The next stop of the morning was at
the Seventies Hall. William Furlsbury,
Dominicus and Richard Carter were all set apart as Seventies. The calling of a Seventy was to preach the
gospel, and both William and Dominicus were called on multiple missions. The records of their calling as Seventies is
found here.
The last
formal stop of the morning was to the wheelwright and blacksmith shops which
were the next building on Parley Street.
This stop was significant as so many of our family were in fact
blacksmiths. It isn’t often that you get
to see operating shops like these today.
Wheelwright shop
where they explained how the wheels were made for the wagons the Saints used to
cross the plains. They helped describe
the making of the wagons and how they were made with inner changeable parts so
broken-down wagons could supply parts for wagons that continued on the trail. 
This is a
typical blacksmith shop. The missionary
is an experienced blacksmith and he explained how a blacksmith shop operated
and actually used and forge and anvil to create a miniature horse shoe so those
in attendance could see how this process worked.
Most of
the Carter men were blacksmiths. Some of
William Furlsbury’s blacksmith tools are found in the Daughters of the Utah
Pioneers Museum in Salt Lake City.
All good
things have to end and that evening (again thanks to Elmer Zenk roping off
seats for us) we were able to meet together one last time and enjoy the Nauvoo
version of the Pageant. We wish all of
you could have been there with us but we know that those that attended were
treated to a great experience.
The following are comments about the reunion from some of
those who attended:
For us, the Carter reunion in Nauvoo was absolutely wonderful! We enjoyed everything! It was well organized and very informative. It was a delight to meet and visit with extended cousins especially those who live in Illinois, Joe Conover and jeff Zenk. I especially lived seeing where my Carter ancestors lived and learning more about them. It was a special and sacred esperience to witness the dedication of Grandpa John Carter's grave site marked with a new beautiful headstone. Joe's treasures, including the portrait of Hannah Carter, were awesome to see and the luncheon provided by the ladies of the Bethany United Church of Christ was simply delicious.
While in Nauvoo, we took advantage of seeing all the restored sites as well as the shows at both pageants. The pageants were magnificent and we really appreciate Jeff Zenk who saved seats for us both nights.
This was a perfect opportunity to remember and honor my Carter ancestors, and doing so left a special place in my heart for them. Since returning home, I have been reading the history Bob wrote about John and Hannah Carter found on FamilySearch. They are very interesting. Bob, thank you so much for all you have done. We really appreciate your time and effort!
Our pioneer ancestors provided a heritage of faith, courage and sacrifice for all of us - these are lessons from the past and a unifying force for the future. We will never forget this reunion and look forward to the next one in two years.
Nancy Gamble Jensen (Descendant of Dominicus and Mary Ette Durfee Carter)
Jay Jensen
This is the first extended Carter family reunion that we
have attended. The fact that it was in Nauvoo was a draw. Just a few of the things
we enjoyed most about the reunion were: having time at lunch to meet so many
cousins that we never knew we had and would never have met in any other way. It
was also wonderful to be taught about our ancestors and to see where they lived
and the burial site. Without all of the research that Bob and others have done
it would never have been possible for us to find those sites or have that kind
of learning about our ancestors. The heirloom items that Joe brought were also
choice to see. We are really happy that we were able to participate in this
terrific reunion!
Reese and
Eva Jean Carter
Mantua, Utah
Ahoy all:
What a wonderful experience we have shared! It is a pleasure to respond
to the “Assignment.”
For me the
highlight of the reunion was friendship—both making new friends and renewing
contact with old friends. And among the second of these, in addition to living
friends who I’ve come to know in earlier reunions, I include renewing and
expanding my appreciation and love for deceased friends such as for my great
great grandfather John Carter (thanks, Bob, for teaching us more about John and
for doing such a wonderful job of planning and organizing the reunion!).
Cheers, Cody
Carter
The
highlight for me personally was leaning more about our family. I was
great to learn more about our faith-filled ancestors and the other early saints
in direct, first hand experiences and stories. Some highlights were
visiting the family land area, the grave dedication, Joe's box of treasures,
etc. Another highlight for me was meeting several new family members and
getting to know them and to see everyone's appreciation for our
ancestors. I am excited to get to know each other better and to work on
family events and family history going forward.
My family
enjoyed increased faith through the many testimonies that were shared through
histories & stories, performances & re-enactments. We especially
liked the British Pageant with its powerful & personal stories of faith and
sacrifice. My 10-year-old daughter left thinking that we might be wasting
the last two weeks of her summer, but ended up saying how she loved the trip
and that she felt a special Spirit through these experiences.
Thanks for
organizing such a great event! We look forward to the next one here in
Utah.
Warm
regards,
Sam &
Jaycie Robinson & kids & Lauraine (Carter) Snow
Just one
more item for now: The officers for the
Family Organization going forward were elected by those attending the
reunion. For the next two years the
officers of the John and Hannah Knight Libby Carter Organization are:
Robert
Givens - President (regivens1120@gmail.com)
Cody Carter
– Vice President
Val Dunn -
Treasurer
Kathy
Robbins Wise - Secretary
Glenda
Wright – Family Genealogist
Charles
Carter - Webmaster
Scott Allen
- Publicist
Todd Robbins
– Social Media Specialist
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