HANNAH KNIGHT LIBBY – Part 15 – LEAVING NEWRY 1837-1838

               The story has long been told in the family that when the children of the family who had joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints left Newry in 1836, that John and Hannah had joined them in the move.  That story flies in the face of facts that are known today.

                After Hannah said her good-byes to her kids as they left Newry, she and John continued to live on the family farm for two more years.  John paid taxes in Newry through the year 1838.  In fact, he held elected office in Newry during this time.  It is interesting that between the time of Hannah’s baptism in 1834 and March of 1834 John held no elected or appointed office.  Could it be that there was some level of prejudice against the Mormons and their families in Newry?  Even though John had not joined surely his status in the community was tainted by the several Carters who had joined.  Once they left in 1836, John’s favor in the community must have risen.  On 7 Mar 1836 he, Elijah Powers and Alex Eames were chosen as Fence Viewers in Newry.  I imagine this position required them to tour the community and inspect fences so that poor fences would be repaired.  On 15 Mar 1838 John and 9 others became Highwaymen.  No this doesn’t mean he became a thief as we would use that name today.  In those days a Highwayman helped maintain the highways.  On that same day he was also elected as the Constable and Tax Collector.   The position of Constable and Tax Collector was probably the second most prestigious position in the community only surpassed by the Selectmen who actually ran the community government.  There is a notation in the town records that on 10 Sep 1838 that John called the meeting that month and was paid $1.50 calling meetings that year.  This is the last mention of John while he lived in Newry.

                So what transpired in the Carter home between 1836 and 1838?  No doubt Hannah probably wanted to join the Saints in Ohio and be with their older children, but John was most likely strongly opposed to this.  He had already experienced some anti-Mormon feeling in Newry and had to be aware of the problems the Church members were having in both Kirtland and Missouri where they were congregating for their own safety.  There wasn’t instant news like we have today but newspapers and letters would have kept the family in Maine informed about developments in Ohio and Missouri.

                Exactly what was it that was transpiring where the Saints were congregated?  To explain this the best source that gives a relatively short answer is found in the article “Kirtland, Ohio” in The Encyclopedia of Mormonism found online at http://eom.byu.edu/index.php/Kirtland,_Ohio.  The following paragraphs are quotes from this article:

During most of the 1830s there were two gathering places for Latter-day Saints, one in western Missouri and the other in northeastern Ohio. Although more members gathered to the Missouri frontier, Kirtland, Ohio, was the principal administrative headquarters of the Church and the major base for directing missionary work from 1831 until early 1838…. The major growth of the LDS population in Kirtland began in 1833. The number rose from approximately 100 in that year to 2,000 in 1838.

Describing conditions in the Kirtland community in the mid-1830s, one contemporary wrote, "They came, men, women, and children, in every conceivable manner, some with horses, oxen, and vehicles rough and rude, while others had walked all or part of the distance. The future "City of the Saints' appeared like one besieged. Every available house, shop, hut, or barn was filled to its utmost capacity. Even boxes were roughly extemporized and used for shelter until something more permanent could be secured" (History of Geauga and Lake Counties, Ohio, p. 248).

The sudden influx of Latter-day Saints to Kirtland had a major impact on the community. One of the visible changes was the increase of small temporary dwellings. Although log and small frame houses dotted the landscape during the first two decades of colonization, larger and more permanent frame and brick structures were erected before 1830. Squatters or renters, comprising half of the population in 1830, lived in small frame houses. As Mormon immigration increased, however, clusters of small unadorned cabins, a throwback to the dwellings of the earliest settlers, appeared primarily in the northwestern section of the township.

Most Latter-day Saints were poorer than the older settlers, partly because the Mormons were recent immigrants. Prior to joining the Church, most members were not transients, nor were they from the lowest economic classes in the East. Many, however, lost economic ground by migrating to Kirtland. Some sold farms in New York or New England for less than the market value, and many left equipment in the East because of the expense of transporting it. All spent a portion of the money derived from such sales on moving their families and supplies westward.

Kirtland Temple
1846 Lithograph 

After arriving in Kirtland, Latter-day Saints fell further behind economically as a result of contributing labor and scarce resources to Church projects. The Church erected a variety of buildings in Kirtland between the east branch of the Chagrin River and the eastern portion of a plateau that overlooked the river. The principal structure was the Kirtland Temple. For almost three years, between the summer of 1833 and the spring of 1836, nearly all members united in building the three-story "House of the Lord" to be used as a meetinghouse and school.

Some of the non-Mormon residents considered the intrusion of Latter-day Saints into the community a threat to their traditional pattern of living. Some complained that the Mormon practice of living in harmony with revelations recorded by a prophet was hostile to the American spirit of democracy. Residents not only rejected LDS beliefs regarding visions, revelations, and the restoration but also claimed that the Latter-day Saints had increased the poverty of the community and were a political and economic threat. The political competition reached a peak in 1837 when Latter-day Saints were elected to all local township offices except for the office of constable. Prior to that year, only four Latter-day Saints had been elected to a major office, and there had been a tendency for the citizens to reelect the earliest settlers. In addition to gaining control of the local government, Latter-day Saints transformed the township's voting pattern from Whig to Democratic. Since Kirtland was located in a Whig section of Ohio and all townships in Geauga County in the mid-1830s, except Kirtland, supported that party, Whigs in northeastern Ohio united in opposition to the Mormons. Complaints and charges escalated into threats and mob action.

Kirtland Safety Society Bank banknote

Early in 1838, amid intensifying pressures from outside the Church and apostasy within, accentuated by the demise of the Kirtland Safety Society and the Panic of 1837 (see Kirtland Economy), the exodus of Latter-day Saints from Kirtland and vicinity began. Joseph Smith, Sidney Rigdon, and other leaders fled from mobs in January. Other members gradually followed.

                With family living in Kirtland, John and Hannah probably were kept informed of developments in Kirtland on a regular basis.  The difficult living conditions, the rise of apostasy and by 1837 the financial problems caused by the collapse of the Kirtland Safety Society would all be negatives in John’s eye.  For a period he appears to have been able to keep Hannah in Maine.  The situation changed rapidly in early 1838.  Returning to The Encyclopedia of Mormonism we read: “In most instances small groups of less than fifty traveled westward. On July 5, 1838, however, more than 500 members left in a stream of fifty-nine wagons-with twenty-seven tents, ninety-seven horses, twenty-two oxen, sixty-nine cows, and one bull. As this long wagon train, known as Kirtland Camp, moved across the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri, spectators gathered to watch the sight. Some gave encouragement, while others jeered and threatened violence. Because of financial problems, many in this group were asked by the leaders to leave the camp, so that only a portion of them reached the Missouri frontier… By mid-July 1838, more than 1,600 Latter-day Saints in the Kirtland area had reluctantly left the temple, vacated their homes, and headed westward.”

Route of the Kirtland Camp

Kirtland Camp in Mansfield, Ohio
(facing persecution by local inhabitants)

Historical Marker for Kirtland Camp

                One can only imagine the gloom Hannah would have felt when she learned that her children had left  (Dominicus, William, John, and Eliza) Kirtland headed for the edge of civilization in western Missouri.  In February 1838 William and Sarah accompanied by his sister Eliza Ann and her new husband James C. Snow left on their own. Later in July 1838 as part of the Kirtland Company, Dominicus and John Jr and families left.  The Kirtland Company eventually caught up with William and Eliza Ann in Indiana and they joined with the Company for the rest of the trip.  At this point it can be imagined that Hannah redoubled her efforts to persuade John to move where she could be closer to her children.  It appears that they eventually came to a compromise in the later part of 1838. 

 

                On 25 October 1838 we read that Andrew N Stowe was chosen in Newry as collector of taxes to fill the vacancy of John Carter.  At the same time Stephen E Frost was chosen to take John’s place as highwayman and surveyor.  Since John was in attendance at the meeting of 10 Sep 1838 we can narrow the date that John and Hannah left Newry to between mid-September to late October 1838.  Since the rest of the family had left Kirtland on July 5 of that year, they had a large head start but were making very slow time.  The Kirtland Camp groups were financially strapped and had trouble obtaining supplies and therefore had to stop to work to earn money to buy supplies.  Their progress was extremely slow and they would not reach their destination at Far West, Missouri until October 2^nd.

(The next episode will detail John and Hannah’s trip to Missouri and where they finally settle.)

HANNAH KNIGHT LIBBY – Part 10 – EARLY YEARS AT NEWRY

               The move from Scarborough to Newry for the Carter family was nothing to be taken lightly.  Scarborough in 1810 had a population of over 2000 and had been inhabited for several generations.  John and Hannah lived close to the farms of the Carters and the Libbys.  They had family to help them and support them as they established their family. 

                Moving to Newry was like moving from day to night.  Newry was out in the backwoods.  It’s first settlement had been destroyed in 1782 after one year by the Indians.  “Then John J. Holmes of New Jersey purchased the land in 1794 with his sister's surname on the deed: Bostwick. On June 15, 1805, Bostwick Plantation was renamed by settlers that had come from Newry in what is now Northern Ireland.

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 “ (Wikipedia – Newry, Maine) and by 1810 Newry had a population of 202 souls.

Life in Newry was close to being at a subsistence level.  Farms had to be as self-sufficient as possible as this northern forest land required great effort to clear it and the growing season was short.  Most of the arable land was used to grow foodstuffs for the family or to produce forage for their animals.  Hunting, trapping and fishing was important for food and for the skins that could be traded for needed food.  The forest, which was everywhere and plentiful, was a source for logs and cut timber.  Still the bottom line was everyone needed food so food was king.   John Carter had an extra skill that would help them in this time of resettlement.  He had learned the blacksmithing trade since his marriage to Hannah.  He probably learned this from Hannah’s father Zebulon Libby who was a farmer-blacksmith back in Scarborough.  John most likely plied his trade on the side accepting barter in commodities which his family would need.

With very little known about these year we will attempt to reconstruct their life from the tax records of early Newry.  Much can be gleaned from these records as they listed the animals raised, dwellings built and land possessed and used.  A careful study of these documents found in the early town records of Newry give us more than a glimpse of John and Hannah’s life. (Office of Town Clerk, Newry, Maine, Town Records, 1805 - 1846, Family History Library Film #11589, pages unnumbered.)

Typical New England Home

1811 – We know John and Hannah were in Newry in 1811 as they paid taxes there for the first time.  This first year in Newry had to be full of challenges for the whole family.  The early settlers of Newry must have been allowed to claim land in addition to the actual purchases that they made as John was credited with 260 acres of land (30 acres were listed as waste land) yet he had no acres of land in tillage, mowing or pasture.  How they raised food to eat or for their 3 three-year-old cattle cannot be explained. The rolls also showed 1 swine which was raised to provide more protein for their diet.  They also had no dwellings on their land so one must guess that they lived in the bed of their wagon – assuming they had a wagon when they arrived in Newry.  Possibly John’s ability to work as a blacksmith provided them with cash or bartered goods.  Their three cattle disappear from the tax roll by the next year so they were probably a food source.  It was into these circumstances that the young couple welcomed their fourth child, William, into the family on 1 May 1811.  This meant that Hannah had 4 children under the age of 5.  Challenges had to be many and comforts few for the Carters.

1812 – The tax rolls still show John as having no dwelling but we would have to assume that this meant there was no finished dwelling but surely by this time that had at least part of the family home built to augment their initial living arrangements.  The family this year was taxed for an acre of tillage.  Tillage would be land being used to raise crops.  Knowing how a single acre of land would have hundreds of trees and each one would have to be removed before the land could be plowed and planted even this single acre of cleared land was an achievement.  This one acre would provide much of the family’s food supply.  Their livestock supply changed as they had two oxen (surely to plow the land) and two cows, that if lactating, would supply the family with dairy products. They also had two swine.   Dominicus turned six that year and probably began to help out around the farm.

1813 – The year began with the birth their fifth child, Philip Libby Carter, on January 13.  Also, for the first time in Newry, the family was recorded as having a dwelling on their property.  This had to be a momentous event for the Carters.  This year they tilled the one acre from the previous year.  They were also taxed for two cows and two swine.  The tax roll shows no oxen in their care.  The small farmers of the village of Newry probably shared these work animals as it wouldn’t take long to plow one acre of land.

1814 – For the first time the family had, besides its acre of tillage for growing foodstuffs, half acre of mowing land.  We would have to assume this was land used to raise grains or other crops to feed the livestock.  Coincidentally this year they had two oxen, two cows, one 3-year-old cattle and two swine.  They were beginning to settle in and exhibit the outward signs of building a comfortable life for themselves.

1815 – Again in January on the 13^th the family was blessed with their sixth child and fourth son, John Harrison.  Their joy was short-lived as two days short of three months later he passed away.  The sorrow of his passing had to be great.  Hannah’s great sorrow had to be tempered by the knowledge that her first five children were growing up to be strong and healthy.  This year they continued to have their acre of tillage land but their pasture land had grown to one full acre.  Their livestock consisted of two oxen, cows and swine.

1816 – This was a year of terrible physical and economic turmoil in New England and most of the Northern Hemisphere.  With this as a background the records of Newry give no indication that there were problems.  The Carters were taxed for an acre and a half of tillage and mowing.  Thus they should have increased their production by a third.  They had a horse, three cows, two cattle and two swine.  Additionally, they welcomed yet another child into the home – John Jr (later called John Harrison) on October 6.  Nothing noted above alludes to the challenges that year – The Year Without a Summer – brought the family.  Since nothing written by the family has been found we will have to turn to historical accounts to educate us on this event.

Many of our generation have never heard of this event.  “The Year Without a Summer was an agricultural disaster. Historian John D. Post has called this ‘the last great subsistence crisis in the Western world’.  The unusual climatic aberrations of 1816 had the greatest effect on most of New England, Atlantic Canada, and parts of western Europe… (the event is) now generally thought to have occurred because of the April 5–15, 1815, Mount Tambora volcanic eruption on the island of Sumbawa, Indonesia (then part of the Dutch East Indies, but under French rule during Napoleon's occupation of the Netherlands), described by Thomas Stamford Raffles.  The eruption had a volcanic explosivity index (VEI) ranking of 7, a colossal event that ejected at least 100 km3 (24 cu mi) of material. It was the world's largest eruption since the Hatepe eruption in 180 AD.” (Wikipedia – Year Without a Summer)

The following is a description Maine during the year of 1816: 

                The summer of 1816 was the coldest ever experienced by any person then living, according to the old Portland Eastern Argus newspaper. It was also known as the Year Without a Summer. In fact, the wording “…eighteen hundred and froze to death” is a genuine colloquial expression commonly found in historical literature about the summer of 1816. In that year, frost was reported in every month.

                A diary kept by an unknown person near Fryeburg, Maine, (some 50 miles south of Newry) described the 1816 weather as follows:

“January was so mild that most persons allowed their fires to go out and did not burn wood except for cooking. There were a few cool days, but they were few.

“February was not cold. The first of March was windy, but the month went out like a very innocent sheep.

“April came in warm, but as the days grew longer the air became colder and by the first of May there was a temperature like that of winter, with plenty of snow and ice. In May the young buds were frozen dead, ice formed half an inch thick on ponds and rivers. By the last of May in this climate the trees are usually in leaf and birds and flowers are plentiful. When the last of May arrived in 1816, everything had been killed by the cold.

“June was the coldest month roses ever experienced in this latitude. Frost and ice were common and every green thing was killed. All fruit was destroyed. Snow fell 10 inches in Vermont and there was a 7-inch snowfall in Maine.”

The Eastern Argus newspaper in Portland printed that on June 5th and 6th, 9”-12” of snow fell over Down East. Newly shorn sheep froze to death, crops failed. Birds died. People were not far from starvation. Throughout New England it snowed during five days in June. Wild temperature swings throughout the area were common. In some places, the high temperature on June 6th was 27 degrees lower than it had been on June 5th.

In June “…there were only a few moderately warm days. Everybody looked, longed and waited for warm weather. All summer long the wind blew steadily from the north in blasts laden with snow and ice. Farmers who worked out their taxes on the county roads wore overcoats and mittens. On June 17th, there was a heavy fall of snow. The morning of the 17th dawned with the thermometer below the freezing point. A farmer, searching for a lost flock of sheep, was out all day in the storm and failed to return at night. He was found three days later lying in a hollow on a side hill with both feet frozen.

“July came in with ice and snow. On the 4th of July, ice as thick as window glass, formed throughout New England, New York, and some parts of Pennsylvania.

“August proved to be the worst month of all. There was great privation and thousands of persons in this country would have perished but for the abundance of fish and wild game.”

 Newspapers of the day all suggested that people continue to replant fodder crops on nice days. They gave many solutions for feeding the farm animals, many of which were dying for lack of food, but seemed to have no suggestions for feeding the people.

Many packed up and moved west to Ohio to escape the cold.

Not only were domesticated animals starving, but wild animals were, too. Packs of wolves, made so hungry by the unseasonable summer, were attacking farmer’s sheep and chickens. It was so bad in 1816 that four Maine townships voted bounties on wolves up to $40.00.

In 1816 there were no railroads. There were freight-carrying wagons but limited roads. Bulk cargo could be transported economically only by water. This meant that inland towns & farms were very much on their own as nothing could be imported.

Isolated as they were, accustomed to the privation caused by subsistence farming, 90% of the population of New England was essentially self-sufficient. Without public utilities or access to markets, most people were probably quite capable of surviving for a season on shortened rations. They knew how to improvise. Each family was an economic unit, though neighbors depended on one another for many things and trading goods & services was common.  (http://www.milbridgehistoricalsociety.org/previous/no_summer.html)

                We are handicapped since no one in the family left any written record of the exact effect of this Year Without a Summer had on John and Hannah but we do know that none of the family died.  In one article on the year of 1816 it was noted that one crop did survive the rigors of the climate that year and that crop was oats.  Interestingly oats were one of the main crops grown in Newry.  Possibly the half acre of mowed land that John had was sewed in oats.  If so this could account for their survival.  In any case once the year ended the family would have been extremely grateful to God for their preservation.  Little would they know that this event would only foreshadow the difficulties the family would experience in the next decades mostly at the hands of their fellow men.

LIFE OF JOHN CARTER - Part 17 - JOHN AND HANNAH MOVE TO MISSOURI

John has, in the past, been listed as traveling with his Mormon family to Missouri but that isn’t true in fact.  Yes, he traveled to Missouri; but no, he didn’t travel with the family.  His children in Ohio had already begun their journey to Missouri prior to John’s leaving Newry, Maine. Any reference to a John Carter in the travels of the Mormon part of the family have to be references to John Carter, Jr., his son and not the father.

Early in 1838 William and his family along with the newly married Eliza Ann Carter and her husband James Chauncey Snow left Kirtland for Missouri in a wagon with a yoke of oxen to pull it.[1]  A couple of months later, and as part of the Kirtland Company, Dominicus and his brother John (not his Father John) left Kirtland for the same destination.  Theirs would be an arduous trip ending some months later in Caldwell Co., Missouri where mobs were already forming to drive the Mormons out or kill them.[2]  This Kirtland Company in fact organized on July 5, 1838 (178 years ago today – as this is being written July 5, 2016).  “July 5, 1838 - Just over 500 Saints began to gather ‘about one hundred rods south of the House of the Lord’ in Kirtland, Ohio, to organize and prepare themselves for the journey to Missouri. They were the remaining faithful Saints in Kirtland who were the poor and destitute who would join together for the journey west in what was to be called the ‘Kirtland Camp.’ They would arrive in October, 1838, where the Prophet Joseph Smith settled them in Adam-ondi-Ahman just a couple weeks before the mob action against the Saints resulted in the Extermination Order. This journey of the poor, but faithful Saints, from Kirtland to Missouri, would become one of the great stories in Church History.[3]

            One would have to think that the family in Ohio had contacted their parents back in Maine and notified them of the impending move to Zion (Missouri.)  Since the last of the family left Kirtland in July, 1838 and John and Hannah probably received notice of this by mid-July, it wouldn’t be far-fetched to think that given couple of months to prepare that, John could be ready to move from Newry by mid-September.           

How John and his family traveled to Missouri is not known.  All is known is that John was in Newry, Maine on 10 September 1838 and had left some time prior to25 October 1838 when it was reported that he had vacated his office in Newry.  Even if he left Newry on 11 September 1838 he would have had to make great time as he signed a deed of purchase for land in Monroe Co., Missouri on 10 November 1838 – just two months later.

They had to make remarkable time.  Unfortunately, they left no record of how this trip was accomplished.  Whereas his kids the “poor and destitute” of Kirtland, John had adequate money and could have used it to affect a quick passage.  Because of the distance from Newry to Monroe Co., Missouri was about 1500 miles it would have taken a well-provisioned wagon just about two months to make this journey.  Possibly they traveled part of the way by river boat or steam boat.  Maybe they traveled by stage coach, but however they did it they were in Missouri in just two months.  What is interesting is that even giving his children a two-month head start and his having to travel all the way from Maine, John and Hannah almost arrived in Missouri at the same time as their children.

            John did not go to the center of Mormon settlement in Caldwell County but instead settled in the eastern part of Monroe County some 4 counties to the east of his children.  In fact, this location was only two counties south west of Adams County in Illinois on the other side of the Mississippi River.   Here is an abstract of this deed[4]:

            This Deed, made and concluded on this Tenth day of November in the year of our lord eighteen hundred and thirty eight by and between B. Robb & Catherine M B. his wife of the County of Monroe and the state of Missouri of the first part and John Carter of the County of Monroe and State aforesaid of the second part …in consideration of the sum of two hundred dollars current money of the United States… land lying and being included in the said county of Monroe in the state aforesaid vis – The North West one fourth of South East quarter of Section No. 25, Township 55 North of the Base line, range No. 9 of the fifth principal meridian containing forty acres….On this tenth day of November in the year of our Lord eighteen hundred and thirty eight.

            One might wonder if this is our John Carter.  The locating of this document began with the discovery online of marriage record of John’s youngest daughter, Mary Jane Carter to Jacob Dooley in Monroe Co., MO on 27 Aug 1840.  The text of this record reads[5]: 

Dooley to Carter
State of Missouri, County of Monroe: I do certify that I did on the 27th day of August, AD 1840, celebrate the rites of matrimony between Jacob Dooly and Mary Jane Carter daughter of John Carter by consent of parents, both of the county and state aforesaid. Henry Thomas, Preacher of the Gospel
Filed for Record on the 1st day of Augst 1840 - duly Recorded Theo S Miller, Recorder

Mary Jane Carter Marriage License

            This was an unexpected find and was doubly valuable as John had to give consent as Mary Jane was only 17 at the time.  With this document this is little doubt of the previously mentioned deed being executed by our John Carter.

            The stay would be short-lived in Missouri as our next episode will describe.

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[1] Leora Carter Scharrer; Life of William F. Carter, (self-published, no date), FHL Call # 921.73 A1 #10, p. 2-3.

[2] Barton L Carter; Dominicus Carter, Latter-Day Pioneer, (self-published, no date), p. 16 – 19.

[3] Copyright 2016 LatterdayLight.com – entry for July 5, 2016

[4] Monroe County, Missouri, Deeds, Book E, p. 574(Family History Library Film 975063)

[5] Ancestry.com. Missouri Marriage Records, 1805-2002 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2007.  Original data: Missouri Marriage Records. Jefferson City, MO, USA: Missouri State Archives. Microfilm.

LIFE OF JOHN CARTER - Part 15 - THE EXODUS FROM NEWRY PART 1

The exodus from Newry for the Carter is poorly documented.  There are few contemporary records that spell out when specific people left Newry.  The basic story has traditionally been that the family left Newry together for Kirtland but that just isn’t true as the facts will witness. 

Brigham Young

            Brigham Young first came to the Newry area, preaching in Bethel on 15 Aug 1835.  At that time he preached the wisdom of the local Saints moving to Missouri where the main body of the Church was moving.  Most likely the exodus probably began sometime between this 1835 meeting and the time of the August conference in 1836 cited previously.  William and Dominicus both paid taxes in Newry in 1836 but both were missing from the tax rolls the following year.[1]  

            The only independent evidences we have of the departure / arrival times for the individual members come from specific dates we can glean from their family records.  If the records can be believed – Dominicus’ daughter Sarah Emily was born in Kirtland on 11 May 1836 so they must have gone west before the 1836 conference.   William stated he was ordained an Elder in Kirtland in 1836.  After the conference of August 1836 two more of the family left:  “As was usual in those days, the spirit of gathering rested upon the converts, and agreeable to the counsel given, all who would do so gathered to the body of the Church then located in Kirtland, Ohio.  My mother prepared to take the journey with the little company that was going with the returning elders.  These were John Carter with his sister, Eliza, of Newry, Maine; Alphia Woodman and Phoebe Carter from Scarboro, Maine; and others that I do not call to mind at this time.  Eliza Carter became the wife of James C. Snow, and Phoebe Carter was the wife of Apostle Wilford Woodruff.”[2] It is interesting that John 20 and Eliza Ann 18 would be allowed to travel to Kirtland without their immediate family but they were in good hands and had older brothers already there.  As noted Eliza would marry in Kirtland on 10 Feb 1838 to James Chauncey Snow and John Jr. would marry Elizabeth Runnels Sweat near there on 11 Apr 1838.   John Jr. is the only John Carter from our family that went to Kirtland as further facts will show.

            What of the other children of John and Hannah?  Almira Carter Tripp and her husband, Alvin Baron Tripp, remained in Newry past the birth of her last child, Sarah, on Christmas Day, 1843. They were the last of the family to leave Newry.   Hannah Carter York had married Aaron Mareon York back in 1829 in Bethel and remained in the Bethel/Newry area until sometime between the birth of her James Chauncey Snow York on 16 July 1837 in Newry and John William York’s birth on 2 Sep 1841 in Lima, Illinois.  Hannah is stated as joining the Church in 1844 and Aaron’s church membership states he joined on 1 Jan 1846.  In either case this would make them late converts of the Church in our family.  Philip Libby Carter left Newry and was in Lowell, Massachusetts at some point before 17 Jul 1841 (based on a purchase receipt dated that day in Lowell, Mass. that was in possession of his daughter Dora Carter Bolt). He married Martha Eames York on 26 Nov 1845 in Lowell and was still there in 1850 when his family was enumerated on the census there.  He would become the last of the family to arrive in the Nauvoo area.

              In the next installment we will discuss why John Carter Sr. was never in Kirtland.

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[1] Office of Town Clerk, Newry, Maine, Town Records, 1805 - 1846, op. cit.

[2] Kate B Carter; Treasures of Pioneer History, op. cit.

LIFE OF JOHN CARTER- Part 11 - THE CARTER FAMILY IN JULY, 1834

Before we discuss in detail the day that changed the course of our family’s history, July 4, 1834 – the day the Gospel of Jesus Christ was accepted by Hannah Knight Libby Carter, I would like to describe the setting, both the geographical setting and the family setting.

Newry was a small, rural community of somewhere around 400 residents in 1834.  The population in 1830 was 345 and by 1840 it would rise 34% to 463.  This 400 person collection of people was spread out along the Bear and Sunday rivers that ran through the town on farms that were connected by trails.  This was not a modern community by any means.  Communication would be by foot or maybe horseback – if the family owned a horse.

The Carter family had matured over the years and some of the children had already married and begun to establish their own families.  Of the eleven known children of John and Hannah nine were living in 1834.  John Harrison had been born in Newry on 13 Jan 1815 and died not quite three months later on 11 Apr 1815.  The couple’s last child Rufus, was born 9 Oct 1825 and died according to family tradition on his second birthday, 9 Oct 1827.  The other nine children would live to adulthood, marry and have families of their own.  Their various situations on 4 July 1834 is as follows:

1. Dominicus Carter – the oldest born in Scarborough in 1806, had already married Lydia Smith in Newry on 21 May 1828 and had three children.  In fact on the momentous day Lydia was great with child as she would deliver their 4 child, Sidney Rigdon Carter on 30 August of that same year.   We will have more to say about Dominicus later.
2. Almira Carter – the second child was born in Scarborough in 1808.  On 15 Jan 1829 she had married Alvin Baron Tripp in Newry.  In July 1834 Almira and Alvin had 4 children and were expecting their 5^th child that following December.
3.  Hannah Carter – the last child born in Scarborough in 1809, had married Aaron Mareon York in Bethel on 2 Dec 1829.  They lived in the Bethel-Newry area but it appears their actual home was in Bethel by 1834.  At this point they had two children.
4.  William (Furlsbury) Carter – had been born in Newry on 1 May 1811.  On 1 Mar 1832 he had married at Bethel to Sarah York.  Their first child, Peter York Carter, was born on 5 Jul 1832.  In July 1834 Sarah as about to deliver their second child – who would be born in August of 1834.
5. Philip Libby Carter – Philip had been born in Newry in 1813.  So at this point he was 21 years old.  I believe he was still living in Newry but would soon strike out for Massachusetts to make a life for himself.
6. John “Harrison” Carter – the 7^th child and 6^th living was born 6 Oct 1816 in Newry.  At this point was 17 years old and living at home.
7. Eliza Ann Carter – the 8^th child and 7^th living was born 28 Sep 1818 in Newry.  In July 1834 she was 15 and living at home.
8. Richard Harrison Carter – the 9^th child and 8^th living was born 8 August 1820 so he was 13 years old and living a t home.
9. Mary Jane Carter – the last surviving child had been born 13mar 1823 so she was 11 years old and living at home.

Dominicus Carter, William Furlsbury Carter,and Philip Libby Carter

John Harrison Carter, Eliza Ann Carter Snow, and Mary Jane Carter Dooley

          So on the day that Hannah joined the Church it was likely that the household probably consisted of 7 people:  John, Hannah and their children – Philip Libby, John “Harrison”, Eliza Ann, Richard Harrison and Mary Jane.   It will be my contention that the married kids were probably not present.  There is no evidence that any of the married children joined the Church at the time of their mother’s baptism, though three of the four married children did join the Church.

        Next up will be a look at the arrival of Mormon missionaries in the Newry area.

LIFE OF JOHN CARTER – Part 7 – HIS FAMILY MEMBERS AND THEIR NAMES

                It is probably smart that we step back from the chronological story of John Carter to discuss the births and names of the family members.  To the best of my knowledge there is no family Bible that recorded this family.  If there was one, its existence is unknown to me.  In addition we have a family who after 1834 and surely by 1846 was being scattered never to be a single unit again.  Efforts by the family members to collect the family record began, as we know it with a list of the family gathered by John’s son, Phillip, in December, 1835.  William Furlsbury Carter, another son, likewise collected this information it appears from Phillip in 1854 as he returned from his mission to India.  So we have those two accounts from the family.

                In addition we have the records of Newry, Maine where the family had settled. It was in Newry that the last eight of the children of John and Hannah would be born.  Interestingly these records were not compiled as the children were born but all in one group indicating that they were being registered in the town records.  This was a common practice in New England towns that family groups were registered in a town when they moved there or the town would occasionally gather the records of families.  Some towns would record children as they were born in the community but an occasional listing was frequently done in many towns.  This could lead to false assumptions of birth place and would usually leave off children who had previously died.

Newry, Maine Town Record of Carter Family

                In 1821 or 1822 the Carter children were enumerated in Newry.  The original document reads:

Dominicus Son of John and Hannah Carter was born June 21, 1806.

Almira Carter Daughter of John and Hannah Carter was born January 3, 1808

Hannah Carter Daughter of J & H Carter was born June 23, 1809

William Carter Son of J & H Carter was born May 1, 1811

Philip Carter Son of J & H Carter was born January 17, 1813

John Carter Son of J & H Carter was born October 6, 1816

Eliza Ann Carter Daughter of J & H Carter was born September 28, 1818

Richard Harrison Carter Son of J &H Carter was born August 8, 1820

(  Office of Town Clerk, Newry, Maine, Town Records, 1805 - 1846, Family History Library Film #11589, pages unnumbered.)

                The first obvious problem with this list the logical assumption that since this is a listing of children born in Newry, that all of these children were born there.  We have ample proof that the family did not move to Newry until after the first three children were born. William was the first of their children to actually be born in Newry.  The second problem is that this is a list of living children and they had lost one child born between Philip and John.  The third problem is that this list is incomplete as John and Hannah had two more children born after the record was recorded.  Because the town did not record children as they were born in this era and the Carters would move before another record would be made these last two children were never recorded in the town of their birth.

                We need now to turn to the first of the two listings done by children of John and Hannah.  The first is a record of Philip Libby Carter.  Philip had left Newry early (around 1835 or so) and had moved to Massachusetts.  There he worked at blacksmithing, married Martha Eames York (whose siblings married William Furlsbury and Hannah Carter), and in May of 1851 moved to Hancock County.  I have not seen the original of Philip’s listing of children but our early Carter research Leslie A. Carter transcribed it on a visit to his cousin Dora Carter Bolt of Lima, Illinois in 1952.  He titled the document “Transcript of Family Record of John and Hannah K. (Libby) Carter compiled by Philip L. Carter. Date:  Dec – 1853”  The following is his record:

Philip L. Carter's List (Transcribed by Leslie A. Carter)

The Record of

Dominicus Carter was Born June the 21^st 1806

Almira Carter was Born January the 3d 1808

Hannah Carter was Born June 28, 1809

William Carter was Born May 1 1811

Philip L Carter was Born January the 17 1813

John H Carter was Born January 13, 1815

John Carter Jr. was Born October 6 1816

Eliza Ann Carter was Born September 28, 1818

Richard Carter was Born August 8, 1820

Mary Jane Carter was Born March 13, 1823

Rufus Carter was Born October the 9 1825

John Harrison Carter dyed April 11 1815

Rufus Carter dyed October the 9 1827

( Philip Libby Carter, List of Siblings recorded by Mrs. Dora Carter Bolt and transcribed of a family record of John and Hannah K. (Libby) Carter compiled by Philip L. Carter, dated Dec., 1835 – copy by Leslie Carter in possession of Robert E. Givens, Clovis, CA.)

                This is a remarkable document as it includes all eleven children of John and Hannah. If the date of creation if accurate he would have had his parent’s help in creating this or maybe at that point there was a family Bible that he could have copied.

                Before doing an analysis of this document, let’s address the 1854 version of the family produced by William Furlsbury penned during his return from a mission to India.  The letter is addressed to his wife Sarah and dated 5 Feb 1854 in Boston.  He had caught typhoid in India and had to leave his mission early.  After asking to sail to New England , so he could visit his family left behind there, he was allowed to make passage with a ship sailing to Boston.  He landed in Boston on 10 November 1853.  He spent the rest of November with family in the Maine leaving for the West on 5 December 1853.  Five days before Christmas in 1853 he arrived at Lima, Illinois where he visited with his siblings Philip, Mary Jane and Almira.  It was here that he learned of the death of his father, John, and Jacob Dooley, Mary Jane’s husband.  William’s letter clearly says Boston so he probably started to write it there but based on the date he was most surely in Illinois when he finished it.  Since the listing of the children in his letter is almost identical I suspect he copied the information from the list that Leslie A Carter transcribed in 1952.  Here is William’s listing:

William F. Carter - Letter of 1854 listing siblings

John Carter b. May 19, 1783 in Scarborough

Hannah N (sic) Carter b. October 9, 1786 in Scarborough

Dominicus Carter b. Jun 21, 1806 in Scarborough

Almira Carter b. January 3, 1808 in Scarborough

Hannah Carter b. June 28, 1809 in Scarborough

William F Carter b. 2 May 1811 in Newry

Phillip L Carter b. 11 January 1813 in Newry

John H Carter b. January 13, 1815 in Newry

John Carter Jr. b. October 6, 1816 in Newry

Elizann Carter b. September 23, 1818 in Newry

Richard Carter b. August 8, 1820 in Newry

Maryane Carter b. March 13, 1823 in Newry

Rufus Carter b. October 9, 1825 in Newry

John Harrison Carter died in ... Aprill (sic) 11,1815

Rufus Carter died in Newry October 9, 1827

(William Furlsbury Carter,  Letter:  Boston (sic), to Sarah Carter, 1854 Feb. 5, LDS Church History Library, MS 18978.  Original letter donated to the Library by the author of this work.)

                We owe a lot to Philip and William for compiling these lists.  Without them we might have had problems collecting the complete record of this family.  My grandmother, Christa Lillis Wilkins Givens Damron, who was William’s granddaughter, wrote a moving story of rereading the letter with William’s listing of the family in the 1930’s or 40’s and realizing that her branch of the family had totally left Rufus Carter out of this family group.  So these lists were of a great value to our early genealogists.

                One more topic ought to be addressed at this time:  Names!  There have been issues for what seems forever over the actual names of some of the members of this family.  First I would like to point out that the exactness of names as we perceive them now, has not always been that way. An illustration of this can be drawn from my mother’s family.  My mother was named Jennie Elizabeth after her grandmother.  The only problem was her grandmother, Jennie Elizabeth Beck Sands, was actually born Elizabeth Jane Beck and changed her name in 1870 when she married my great grandfather. So were names in those days.  People often changed or altered their names.  With this in mind let’s visit a few names in this family:

John Carter – I have done extensive research on John and have never seen a middle name or initial for him in any document that I have viewed.  Yet in the family is a tradition that his name is really John C Carter.  If that is claim could be substantiated by records held by others I would love to have you step forward and let us see the documentation.

William (Furlsbury) Carter – Now William is my 2^nd great grandfather so I feel vested in studying him.  I really think he was born William Carter.  The Furlsbury never appears before the Illinois period of his life.  I think at that point he made up a middle name to differentiate him from the other William Carters in the Church.

John (Harrison) Carter (Jr.) – This second John in the family, born after the first John H. died in 1816 was apparently born just John Carter Jr.  He was known by that all the way through the Nauvoo years and it was only after then that he started using John Harrison Carter as his name.

                Now that the family of John Hannah has been established, we need to move on the John’s life in Newry.