PREFACE
Like many others I have said with a sense of guilt, “Why didn’t I ask more questions about my family, or listen more carefully to Father as he spoke of them?”
No, it was not his fault.
I had turned a deaf ear in the direction of family history.
Little did I appreciate then that James Bruce and Isadora (Swift) Cartter, my paternal grandparents, had played such pioneering roles; and that both had descended from immigrant ancestors who came to America in the 1630’s.
By varied routes they had reached Wisconsin shortly before it was made a state.
As with most of us when we approach retirement age, I began to realize my neglect, - but not until after many sources of information were no longer available.
Other sources did remain, however; and the search has been most interesting and rewarding.
Louise (Adams) Curran 93 years young, my cousin and the only living relative who knew both grandparents, has been a helpful source on family background.
Old letters were found which added insight into the joys and sorrows of earlier days.
Many of these letters are being preserved and catalogued by my niece, Mrs. John Forssen, of Missoula, Montana.
They will later be deposited with the Wisconsin Historical Society.
Old pictures and newsclippings also brought to light personalities I had never known.
The archives of the Wisconsin Historical Library produced a wealth of information which added much detail and many historic facts about the times.
Perhaps the most interesting experiences have been those trips which my wife Rachel and I made to areas where the Cartter families have lived.
Court houses, old farms, and churches were visited.
An occasional distant relative was also found.
I have attempted to set forth the results of this search in two parts, the one in story form (non-fictional) and the other in genealogical record.
James Bruce Cartter, my grandfather, was chosen as the central figure for the former primarily because he seemed to represent those qualities which characterized so many of our pioneer forefathers.
The genealogical record covers eleven generations of Carters and Cartters in America, the first four being quite abbreviated.
Each individual is identified by a number which may be found in the index.
Unfortunately the records are incomplete in several places due to lack of information.
Any reader who may be able to add facts, or correct errors is urged to contact the author.
/s/ Bruce L. Cartter
Madison, Wisconsin
Bruce Lanpher is my paternal grandfather.
When this book was first published, in 1973, I was a young boy and, much like him, not really interested in the family history.
History has a funny habit of repeating itself, for those not paying attention the first time around, and I find myself wanting to know more but finding that many of the "contacts" are no longer around.
The request for correction or additions stands for this very reason.
I know that there are many more relations out there than are listed in this update.
Please e-mail me directly to fill me in on information I may not have.
Traveling is a luxury in this day and age that I am not able to indulge in, due to scheduling restraints and the historically high prices of fuel.
There are many times I have kicked myself for not asking to go along with Grandfather while he was working on the original manuscript, during those summers that I was allowed to stay with him and Rachel.
I will attempt to do his memory proud by bringing this into the information age.
Cary Bruce Cartter
carycartter@gmail.com
Glendale, Arizona
August 6, 2005
James Bruce Cartter, a native New Yorker, more recently from Michigan, arrived on the Wisconsin scene in 1843 at a time of rapid change. Peoples' attention was again being turned westward and the migration was on - migration which had repeated itself in successive stages ever since the first settlers had come to New England's shores.
Was James Bruce typical of these migrating Americans? Yes in many ways he was, for he represented the seventh generation of a family who, like so many, had pioneered its way westward from New England. Thomas Carter, of English and Scotch ancestry had arrived at Boston in 1635. Since that date his descendants had through the years settled at Dedham, Watertown, Woburn, Lancaster, Leominster and Westfield in Massachusetts; and at Lowville and Rochester in New York state. From Rochester James Bruce himself was to move on to Utica in Michigan, and to Racine County in the Wisconsin Territory. The journey for James was not to end here; it would take him deeper into Wisconsin Country to the Black River region, later to be known as Jackson County.
But what of the Wisconsin which James entered from the southeast? It had been organized as a territory in 1836 comprising in addition to its present area the lands now known as Iowa, Minnesota, and part of the Dakotas. Tenney and Atwood in their book Fathers of Wisconsin painted the following word picture of early migration to the territory.
"Except about military posts and with slight other exceptions, permanent settlement first began in Wisconsin about 1826, in the lead region, or present southwest counties, and for many years population pressed in by way of the Mississippi river before the route by the Great Lakes was opened. For a long period Galena was more of a commercial mart for supplies to the interior of Wisconsin than Milwaukee of other lake ports, while Chicago was scarcely known in that connection. Lead mining had developed into a leading industry on one side of the territory, while agriculture was commencing on the other. The two streams of settlers finally met about midway, but several years elapsed before the eastern current largely dominated. As a result, the diversity of interests, ideas, and modes of thought between the two sections were much more striking in early times than at present."
The tremendous lumber harvest for which Wisconsin became famous was building toward its peak at this time. It would soon overtake mining as a major source of income only to be later surpassed by agricultural productivity. The output of pine lumber from Wisconsin's saw mills in 1853 alone, was estimated at 200,000,000 board feet. The varied nature of occupations available explains in part the rapid growth of population and the wide diversity of nationality attracted to its borders. The 1840 U.S. census shows a population of 30,945 which increased seven times in the next ten years to 305,391, reaching 775,000 by 1860. H. Russell Austin in his book The Wisconsin Story says, "More than one-third of Wisconsin's people were foreign born in both the 1850 and 1860 census. German born were more than one-third of the foreigners in 1850 and nearly one-half in 1860. - - - Wisconsin was in this period (1850-60), the most polyglot of states having also significant groups of Scandinavians, Irish, British, Canadians, Poles, Dutch, Belgians and Swiss. - - - New Yorkers and New Englanders were among the earliest Wisconsin farmers. - - - Nearly two-thirds of Wisconsin's 305,000 people in 1850 were American born and more than one-third of these, nearly 69,000, were New Yorkers; 10,000 were Vermonters and roughly the same number were from the rest of New England."
Another factor attracting large numbers into agriculture during the 1830's and '40's was the development of the U.S. Government Survey which made it possible to sub-divide land and establish positive ownership. It was in 1831, when Wisconsin was still a part of the Michigan territory, that Lucius Lyons, U.S. Commissioner, while surveying the northern boundary line of the State of Illinois set a post and erected a mound of earth six feet square at the base and six feet high at a point where this boundary line intersected the 4th Principle Meridian. It was from this point that the Wisconsin public land survey was begun in 1832. It was completed "up north" in 1867. Lyons surveyed sixteen townships in S.W. Wisconsin in 1832-33, which opened this Territory for settlement.
The intersection mentioned above is referred to on a Wisconsin Historical Highway marker, placed one-half mile east from a nearby highway, as "The Point of Beginning." It was from this point that all survey lines East, West, and North were established. Government land sales were opened in 1834 at Green Bay and Mineral Point and in 1839 at Milwaukee. By 1840 all Wisconsin south of the Fox-Wisconsin waterway was divided into surveyed townships and was being settled rapidly.
This then was the situation into which James Bruce Cartter, age 28, projected his energies and experiences. Would he find his future home here or be inclined to move even further west? What of his background? His family back in New York state? His brothers widely scattered? His training and experience? How about his more distant ancestors? Who were they? What of his own descendants who were fortunate enough to have known him? And what did he add to Wisconsin's past and future?
It is our hope that the following chapters may be of interest to our readers as they attempt to fit time place and person together into a proper perspective; we do this not that we may pass judgment on past generations but in order that we may more fully understand the contributions made by those generations. In the process it is hoped that we may become better informed concerning those relatives of ours who through the years have been separated due to the constant migration occurring in the history of all early American families.
This narrative does not pretend to be all-complete concerning the life of James Bruce and his family. There are many gaps in information that the author would like to have filled and many personal experiences that it would be desirable to relate. Perhaps someone else may bring these added facts and bits of information together.
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James Bruce was born January 13, 1815 just ten months after his father David Kellogg Cartter (1), his mother Elizabeth, and his three older brothers had made that difficult cross-country journey from Lowville in the Black River Valley of New York state to a little unnamed settlement later known as Rochester, N.Y., a settlement located near the mouth of the Genesee river on the south shore of Lake Ontario. Little has been recorded concerning this trip which traversed wilderness country and was made largely by horseback following Indian trails.
We can imagine how James Bruce later envied his brothers as they told their tales of hardships, danger, sight of wild animals, views of natural beauty, forests, waterfalls and rapidly moving streams. They would tell of those times when trails were uncertain, when fatigue at the end of the day was to be endured and when unpredictable March weather was upon them. These were all things which must have spelled adventure in capital letters to James' brothers 7, 3, and 2 years of age at the time of the trip. The family did arrive safely March 28, 1814.
This family move followed a quick trip to the same destination made by David alone in 1813. The first trip had probably been prompted by the suggestion of his brother James Bruce (1) that this new country held many promises for a young family and for its breadwinner David, whose trade was classified back in Lewis County as "carpenter and mill-wright" with experience in both fields.
On the date of the Cartter arrival there were only fourteen buildings in the settlement, which was later to be known as Rochester. One of these buildings was a small one and a half-story house built by Uncle James next to his blacksmith shop. This house he turned over to the new arrivals. James Bruce (1) (the first bearer of the name recorded in the Cartter family) had come to Rochester in 1812, the same year that Colonel Rochester had surveyed an area of some 655 acres for settlement. Uncle James had the distinction of being Rochester's "first blacksmith and tool maker." He is credited with "ironing the first wagon built in the settlement." His shop was located on the grounds now part of Front Street on the bank of the Genessee River.
For a glimpse of what the settlement provided, here is a quotation recorded by Jenny M. Parker in her Rochester a Story Historical. She is quoting Mrs. David Kellogg Cartter.
"I remember my first Sunday in Rochester" said Mrs. Cartter. "It was in 1814. There was Enos Stone's family, Colonel Issac Watson's, Abelard Reynold's, Hamlet Scrantom's and Elisha Ely's. There may have been others that I have forgotten. The only pleasant rooms in the place was the cellar-kitchen of Mrs. Reynold's house, and that stood where the Arcade did afterwards - - - I went to meeting that Sunday in Barnards tailor shop. Silas O. Smith had a few prayer books and read the Episcopal service. Mrs. Barnard, Delia Scrantom, and her father and mother did the singing."
During the summer of 1814 Rev. Chauncey Cook, brother-in-law of Mrs. Cartter, visited the settlement and preached a few times. All of the early services were union in nature. The first move to establish a church came from these meetings and resulted in the establishment of "The First Presbyterian Society of the Town of Gates" August 15, 1815. The first church, Presbyterian, was built, and services were begun May 1, 1817. Rev. Cook preached the first sermon and later was a member of the Genessee Presbytery for nineteen years.
Jenny Parker further quotes from Mrs. Cartter with respect to Rochester's first school. "At the organization of the first school too few scholars were reported to justify the employment of a teacher. There were in this exigency eight bachelors here who generously proposed each to pay for a pupil, whether one came or not to receive their bounty. Soon after, a school was opened in the rear room of Barnard's tailor shop, and Miss Huldah Strong, a sister of Mrs. A. Reynolds, was engaged as teacher. The first school room and the shop it was located in was on Buffalo St. a little East of the present entrance to the Arcade."
At this time mail was carried from Canandaigua to Hanford's Landing and Rochester once a week on horseback and part of the time by a woman. The year 1817 seems to have been a significant one for the new settlement. On March 21 the request for a village charter was granted. The New York Legislature approved the completion of the Erie Canal to be routed through Rochester, crossing the Genessee River by way of an aqueduct. This structure when completed was hailed as one of the nine wonders of the world.
The first flour mill with four runs of stones was erected in 1815 plus several smaller mills all of which helped to build Rochester into what was later to be known as "the Flour City." Buildings flourished and trade grew. Population increased from a 331 census count in 1815 to 1,049 in 1818 and gave promise of even more rapid future expansion.
At this point let us pause a bit and turn back the Cartter pages of time another generation, to the fifth, in order better to understand the western movement of migration out of the mother state, Massachusetts. This migration climaxed in the 18th and 19th centuries. David Kellogg Cartter (1) and James Bruce Cartter (1), whom you have just met, were two of six brothers caught up in this movement. You will be introduced later to the others. The spirit of extended migration had arisen and they with others were to pass this spirit on to succeeding generations.
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The early settlements of Westfield, Springfield, and Hadley in western Mass., Farmington and Hartford in Conn., were destined to play an important role in the lives of many pioneering families who were intent on moving westward. The location of these settlements in the Connecticut River Valley placed them in the natural path of westward migration. Of these settlements, Westfield was particularly important as the starting base for a westward-looking Cartter family. Here two families, descendants from early immigrant pioneers, were united through marriage. These two pioneer immigrants were: Rev. Thomas Carter of Woburn, Mass and Lieut. Joseph Kellogg of Farmington, Conn.
The unions of these two families came about on September 8, 1768, when Mary Kellogg, oldest daughter of David Kellogg married Nehemiah Cartter who had recently arrived at Westfield from Leominster in Mass. It was the family of Nehemiah and Mary Cartter that constituted the fifth generations in America of both families and gave birth to the Cartter family whose descendant James Bruce (2) was to arrive in Wisconsin in 1843. But first a bit about these two early families.
THE CARTERS
The name Carter is a very common one in early New England history and therefore has made it difficult for genealogists to always keep relationships clear. For a background of the name let's turn to a most recent book A History of the Carter Family published in 1972 by the American Genealogical Research Institute where we find the following quotes:
"The evidence and circumstances of a number of ancient records, plus an understanding of British history, allows us to make a number of fairly safe assumptions about the family line. Chief among these is a consideration of the family name Carter, which according to all recognized authorities is one of the great class of family names which was derived from the occupation of its first bearer. Undoubtedly, the name Carter originated in its application to the tender or driver of a cart or small wagon, and we can safely say that the use of the term "carter" as describing that person who drives a cart probably had its origin sometime during the great crusades. This period of English history 1096 to 1204, was the period of the flowering of the English feudal society, one of the most important developments of that period was the rise of the middle class, particularly the urban middle class. Where only a few generations before these people had made their living from working the land, by 1100 they were beginning to be keenly interested in trading and merchandising and in other occupations which sustained trade. One of the most important of these was transportation involving wagons and carts. Thus it was probably during this time that the first Carter founded the family name. - - - They (the Carters) along with thousands of other Englishmen left Britain during the seventeenth century in what has come to be known as the "Great Migration." Generally, this period ran from 1607 to 1650, and it followed a period of economic and political turmoil."
The first Carter recorded as coming to America came on the good ship Mayflower in 1620. His name, Robert, may be found on the original Mayflower list. He was a young man and unfortunately failed to survive the rigors and sickness of that first winter. There is no indication as to his point of origin in England or his family background.
Thomas, later to be known as Rev. Thomas, arrived in the Massachusetts Bay Colony from England late in 1635 at the age of 26 years. Genealogists point out that at least three other Thomas Carters arrived in the colonies during the same year, a fact which caused much confusion as to family records. Howard W. Carter in his book Carter Genealogy published in 1909 discusses in some detail this problem of identity and helps to clear up some details as to Rev. Thomas Carter's early life in the Colonies. It is Rev. Thomas with whom the Cartter family in Wisconsin identifies.
A genealogy of the Rev. Thomas Carter family prepared by the author, is to be found in part II of this book. This record brings together that information which he has been able to identify as relating to the family down to the eleventh generation.
Following are listed the male descendants in the direct line through the fourth generation to the point where our Cartter story picks up with Nehemiah and Mary (Kellogg) Cartter of Westfield, Mass.:
1st Generation THOMAS was the son of James Carter, yeoman of Hinderclay, Suffolk County, England. He was born in 1610: was graduated from St. John's College, Cambridge University with B.A. and M.A. degrees. He was a fellow student of John Harvard, founder of Harvard College in Mass. Both came to America about the same year. Thomas settled first at Dedham, Mass., then moved to Watertown and on Nov. 22, 1642 he was ordained as the first minister of Woburn, Mass., a charge which he served the remaining forty-two years of his life. His was reported to be the twenty-fifth Congregational Church established in America. Rev. Thomas married Mary Parkhurst, eighth child of George Parkhurst, who had also arrived in New England about 1635. She had been born in England and came to the new country with her father. Rev. Thomas and Mary Carter had a family of nine children, all but the oldest having been born at Woburn.
2nd Generation Rev. SAMUEL, oldest son of Rev. Thomas, was born in Watertown August 8, 1640. He received a liberal education and was graduated from Harvard College in 1660. He held a number of positions in the settlement of Woburn; was commissioned to set up a grammar school, the village having increased in size to over one hundred persons. He later acquired property in the new settlement of Lancaster, Mass. He supplied the pulpit there for some time until a regular minister was secured. His signature appears on a petition May 18, 1653 to name the town of Lancaster. In 1692 he received a call to the ministry at Groton, Mass. He died in 1693 at the age of 53. He married Eunice brooks Oct. 10, 1655, daughter of John Brooks of Watertown. They had eight children.
3rd Generation SAMUEL, born January 7, 1678 the oldest son of Rev. Samuel, moved with his family from the Woburn - - Watertown area to the incorporated settlement of Lancaster. At least two of his brothers did likewise. He settled in a new section of Lancaster later known as Leominster. It was here that at least four of his sons settled on farms. Leominster was a hotbed for Indian troubles. At one time it had to be vacated for a period of from three to five years after 50 to 55 settlers had been killed and virtually all buildings burned. Samuel married Dorothy Wilder, daughter of Nathaniel and Mary Wilder, and they had twelve children.
4th Generation NATHANIEL, second son of Samuel and Dorothy was born in Lancaster; lived there and in Leominster all of his life. He owned a farm on what was then known as Bee Hill and was active in town and church affairs. It is he to whom Nehemiah, mentioned earlier in this chapter, is related either as a son, or as a nephew whom he raised. Genealogists are not clear on this relationship. Nathaniel married first Thankful Sawyer daughter of Elisha Sawyer, second Dorcas Spofford, and had either eleven or twelve children.
THE KELLOGGS
The first members of the Kellogg family had come to New England between 1635 and 1650. Four sons of Martin Kellogg: Nathaniel, Joseph, Daniel and Samuel came to America from Braintree, County of Hertford, England according to information found in the book The Kelloggs In The Old World And The New World, written by Timothy Hopkins in 1859 and found in three volumes. No definite record is available as to whether they came together or separately.
Martin Kellogg was a weaver or cloth worker, and consequently he and his family were seriously affected by the 1637 depression of the weaver's trade upon which Braintree's economy was largely based. This may have accounted for the brothers' move to the new world. Nathaniel, the oldest son of Martin is known to have been at Hartford, Conn. in 1639. Joseph, his next younger brother is first known to have been in Farmington, Conn. in 1651. It is thought that Daniel may have come over with Joseph, but if he did their paths soon separated, he being one of the early settlers at Norwalk, Conn., which was incorporated in 1651. Samuel's path was very similar to that of Joseph.
1st Generation of Kelloggs (from whom Mary was descended)
LIEUT. JOSEPH, son of martin was baptized in Great Leighs, England April 1, 1626. He married Joanna - probably in England. She died Sept. 14, 1666. He married 2nd Abigail Terry of Windsor, Conn. He was in Farmington, Conn. in 1651, where he was an early settler and served several terms as selectman. He sold his property in February 1655 and removed to Boston, Mass. With his family he moved to Hadley, located in western Mass. on the Connecticut River and became one of the proprietors. In 1661 the town made an agreement with him to keep the ferry between Hadley and Northampton. He built his house on a small "home lot" which had been reserved by the town for the "Ferry Lot." Joseph, his son John, and grandson James Kellogg kept the ferry until 1758, almost a century. Stephen Goodman, who married a daughter of James Kellogg kept it still later and from him it received its last name "Goodman's Ferry." Joseph was selectman in Hadley for six years.
Early in the history of New England, military companies or "train bands" were formed to protest the settlers. Hadley voted "there should be a training." Oct.7, 1678 Joseph was commissioned Lieutenant of this company. His military service extended for twenty-nine consecutive years.
Joseph was the father of twenty children nine by his first wife and eleven by his second. Fourteen of these children reached maturity. He died in 1707 or 1708.
2nd Generation JOHN, son of Lieut. Joseph was baptized in Farmington, Conn., December 19, 1656. He married first Sarah Moody b. 1660 daug. of Samuel and Sarah Moody. She d. Sept. 10, 1689 and he m. 2nd Ruth _____. He resided in Farmington and Hadley and succeeded to the ferry in Hadley. His name appears in a list of those owning the largest estates in Hadley in 1720, when it was valued as 114 Pds. 16 s. John was father of eleven children, five by his first wife and six by the second. He died between 1723 and 1728.
3rd Generation CAPT. SAMUEL, third son of John b. April 1, 1687 m. 1st - Mary Ashley, his cousin, July 8, 1774, she died April 8, 1728. He m. second - June 3, 1728 - his cousin Rachel Ashley. He moved to Westfield, Mass., where he is first mentioned in the records of March 10, 1712. He established quite a reputation as a builder, a mill operator, and an ardent hunter. He died May 27, 1761 and was buried at Westfield. He had twelve children, eight by his first wife and four by his second.
4th Generation DAVID, third son of Capt. Samuel was born in Westfield, May 30, 1721, married April 1747 to Elizabeth Jones of Enfield, Conn. He was resident of Westfield and served under General Amherst in the expedition for the invasion of Canada, was impressed April 6, 1759.
He had eleven children of whom Mary was the oldest. He died March 6, 1776.
Westfield, Mass. was truly frontier and the edge of civilization for over fifty years. Its first settlers arrived in 1633. A trading post was located here in 1640; and the town of Westfield authorized in 1669. It is located about 100 miles west from Boston and ten miles west of the Connecticut river which seemed to roughly mark the western boundary line for early settlement from the east. It was Indian country but fairly good relations were established as long as hunting rights were honored. This may be symbolized by the name Westfield which reportedly, in Indian language was "Warwunockoo" meaning "it is good hunting" which in truth it was in those early days.
Henry Martyn Burt in Volume I of First Century of the History of Springfield, Mass. writes:
"In the years 1634-35 movements looking toward permanent settlement in the Connecticut valley had begun, but it was not until 1636 that there was anything like a concert of action to found towns as far westward from Boston as Springfield (approximately ten miles east from Westfield and on the Connecticut river). - - - John Winthrop describes his journey from Boston to visit Mr. Pynchon some time later. " - - - His route was from Boston to Lancaster and thence up the valley of the Nashua river - - - He traveled on horseback and was part of three days enroute."
In Timothy Hopkins' genealogical record of the Kellogg family entitled The Kelloggs in the Old World and the New World appears the following statement concerning the migrations that followed the Kellogg brothers' early settlement in the Connecticut River Valley.
"From their homes in the Connecticut Valley the descendants of Joseph and Samuel (Kellogg) began their migration to that west where so many are now found. Until 1733 Westfield had been the most western town in Massachusetts. In that year Sheffield (in the S.W. corner of Mass., west of the Berkshire Hills) was incorporated and the first road to the west was from Westfield, following the Indian path over the hills to Lower Houstannick, as it was then called. Soon after this we find among the leading men of that town the name Kellogg. Here the migrants were met by their cousins from Connecticut who had followed the valley of the Houstannick and Farmington rivers after having first tried an eastern migration to Brookfield. - - - Soon after the revolution a new West was found, and the tide of emigration from New England was directed to this new territory. Some of the Kelloggs took their way over the mountains and through the valleys to the Hudson, and then by the shores of Lake Champlain to Canada; others followed the Mohawk to the fertile fields of central New York; and still others to the wilderness of Saratoga County. Here again there was a meeting with some descendants of Daniel of Norwalk, and together they have continued their westward march, until now there is not a state or territory in the west even to and beyond the pacific, which has not had a Kellogg among its early citizens."
The Connecticut River Valley region served as a uniting spot for branches of the Kellogg family who had chosen between Mass., and Conn. for their first point of settlement. This early decision had no doubt been made at least partially, because of religious differences expressed in the two states. In the Conn. River Valley the Puritanical lines did not seem to be so tightly drawn.
For some insight into ethics of the day here is a paragraph from Alice Morehouse Walker's book Historic Hadley.
"Until 1675 - 50 families composed the Hadley settlement. (Northernmost on the Connecticut River at that time) They governed their unruly members with a steady hand. The law of the general court, that persons whose estates did not exceed 200 pds. should not wear gold or silver lace on garments made of silk, was rigorously enforced. The wives of John Westcan, Joseph Barnard, Thomas Wells Jr,. Edward Grannies, and Joseph Kellogg and Maiden Mary Broughton were arraigned before Northampton judges as person of small estate "wearing silk contrary to the law" and were fined, admonished or acquitted according to the gravity of the offense.
Later certain young men were convicted of wearing long hair, and were reprimanded by the court."
We might add that Hadley, organized in 1659, was settled by Puritan members of churches in Hartford and Wethersfield.
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Now back to Nehemiah and Mary (Kellogg) Carter who were married in this early pioneer settlement of Westfield, Mass. September 8, 1768. Nehemiah from Leominster, Mass. was born October 15, 1742; Mary was born in Westfield June 13, 1748. This marriage was blessed by twelve children, as follows: (1) Chandler (2) Nehemiah (3) Mary (4) Zeboim (5) Catherine (6) David Kellogg (7) Submit (8) James Bruce (1) (9) Bethsheba (10) Isaac (11) Phederus (12) Samuel.
Of the twelve children in the family four lived to be more than 90 years of age and the eight who lived beyond 80 years accumulated an average of 87 years.
The children of Nehemiah and Mary whose births span the twenty years from 1768 to 1788 were reaching their maturity at about the time when the westward migration was building most rapidly. The two older boys, Chandler and Nehemiah sank their roots deep in Hampden County, Mass. soil and remained there until death. Zeboim, David, James, Isaac, Phederus and possibly Samuel followed the general path described by Hopkins (in the preceding chapter) as "leading westward over the mountains through the valley of the Hudson and up the valley of the Mohawk." Instead of stopping in Saratoga County they pushed north and west to the valley of the Black River in New York State, an area in which most of them eventually settled.
Only Samuel, youngest of the brothers, seemed to have gravitated in a southwesterly direction toward Kansas where it is recorded that he died at age 90. No record has yet been discovered concerning his family or location in Kansas. Cutter and Adams in their Genealogical and Personal Memoirs of Mass., Vol. 1 have this statement on page 374. "Samuel (b) September 9 1788 died in Kansas aged ninety; removed 1806 to Lowville; served in war of 1812." If this is correct Samuel may have accompanied Phederus and his parents to Lowville before eventually leaving for Kansas.
Whether the Cartter brothers from Westfield knew what promise the Black River region held for them, or if they merely stumbled on it, is not told in any recorded history which the writer has read. Certainly they knew others were going in this direction and that new country was to be found. One story relates the origin of the name "Black River region" as having come from the St. Regis Indian language (o-tsi-qua-ke) meaning "where the black ash grows with knots for making clubs."
From F. B. Hought's History of Lewis County, N. Y. written in 1860, we read:
"Early in 1798 the first families of this town (Lowville, Lewis County) left Westfield, Mass. and by slow stages found their way to the last clearings in Turin township N. Y." He writes at some length about the difficulties of these early settlers especially after they left the well traveled waterways of the Hudson and Mohawk rivers, and began to make their own trails or to follow the trails previously made by the Indians. The Black River was not an easy stream to navigate.
It is very probable that several Kellogg brothers, either sons or nephews of David Kellogg, also made this migration, for the names Kellogg and Cartter seem to appear simultaneously in the Black River Valley. Other Carters, not tracing back to Nehemiah's family, are also found in this area which was later to be included in the Counties of Lewis and Jefferson. It is interesting to note that all of the Cartter brothers who made this migration from Westfield did so before marriage except for Phederus who came later than the others bringing his parents with him.
When the Lowville area was originally settled in 1798 - 1800 the Black River region was a part of Oneida County. The first three towns organized, Leyden, Turin, and Lowville had accomplished that organization by 1800. Two more, Harrisburg and Martinsburg, were organized before 1804 when the Black River region of Oneida County was divided making Lewis County to the east and Jefferson County to the west. In 1800 the population of Lewis County numbered 300. It had grown to 1604 by the year 1814. Expansion was largely agricultural. Lowville was the only incorporated village in the county for several years. It has no cities.
The land sales book of Mr. Low shows that Zeboim, the oldest of the Cartter brothers who came to Lowville, purchased farm land in 1799 the second year of open sales. Six sales had been made in 1798 and four more in addition to Zeboim's in 1799. We do not know of purchases of land by David or by James, his next younger brother, who presumably came with him. We learn from the first census of electors in Lowville, taken in 1807, that Zeboim, David and James were there at the time. Also listed were twin brothers Pardon and Paul Lanpher who had arrived in 1800 from Westerly, R.I. They purchased land the same year. These two families, the Cartters and the Lanphers, played an important part in Lewis County development and were drawn closer together through marriage. This happened first in Lewis County when Fanny Cartter, daughter of Isaac married Paul B. Lanpher, son of Paul. It happened again in Black River Falls, Wis. two generations later in 1898 when David Kellogg Cartter, son of James Bruce, (our subject) married Emma E. Lanpher, the author's mother who also was a descendant of Paul Lanpher.
Settlement on the land was being encouraged during the early 1800's as there was at that time an agricultural and self-sufficient economy. Land was not difficult to come by as is shown by the indenture made the 12th day of November, 1800, between Silas Stow, party of the first part, and Paul Lanpher, party of the second part. The original of this indenture is to be found in the Court House at Lowville. The indenture covers the sale of 50 acres of land in Stow's Square, part of Lot #17 for the sum of $175.00 (The author has a copy of this indenture). A similar purchase was made by Pardon Lanpher. Lowville at that time was a part of Oneida County.
When the 1810 census was taken the following Cartter brothers were present in Lewis County. Zeboim, David, James, Isaac, and Phederus. The latter two had only recently arrived. Phederus, who came in 1806 brought his aging parents from Westfield to live with him. Both parents died in 1810 and are buried at Lowville. Zeboim, Isaac and Phederus lived out there lives in Lewis County, while David and James were to move to Rochester N.Y. to do their bit in establishing that new settlement.
Before we leave this family of brothers to follow David and his family, just a word about each of them. The genealogical section of this story will give descendants of all that are known.
CAPT. CHANDLER the oldest son of Nehemiah and Mary (Kellogg) Cartter, b. 2-27-1768 m. 4-28-1805 Ann Waterman in Medford. He resided in Russell and Chester, Mass., was captain of the mounted militia at Russell and was a blacksmith by trade. He had eleven children, 3 boys and 8 girls.
NEHEMIAH JR., next oldest to Chandler, was b. 5-8-1769 - m. 1-23-1799 Sophia Shepard and lived in Westfield. As far as we know they had five children, 4 boys and 1 girl.
"COL" ZEBOIM, b. 6-13-1772 m. twice (1) Olive Hanchett (2) Roena Richards. He was a farmer and when the 1825 Agricultural Census was taken, owned 50 acres of land, 8 cattle, 9 horses, 65 sheep, and 10 hogs. On June 15, 1808 when the 101 Regiment of the militia was formed he was made 2nd major. When the war of 1812 was declared he was made colonel in charge of the militia from the entire county. The last call was made in 1814 to serve at Sackett's Harbor. Zeboim died at age 81 in the state of Iowa. His remains were returned to Lowville for burial. He had 9 children, 7 by Olive and 2 by Roena - 4 boys and 5 girls in all.
DAVID KELLOGG, b. 3-22-1776. M. 10-31-1789 to Elizabeth Millicent Hollister. He became a carpenter and millwright, the later occupation keeping him busy as many mills were needed to grind meal and to saw lumber in the Black River region. He, with his wife and three children, moved to the new settlement of Rochesterville, N.Y. in 1814. The story of this move was told in Chapter II.
JAMES BRUCE (1), b. 5-17-1781, m. (1) 7-4-1815 Mahala Doty (2) Mary Mulkins. He took up the blacksmith trade and became expert in iron working, both being trade skills in great demand at all frontier settlements. He did not see the future of his trade in a largely agricultural community so was the first to move further west settling in Rochesterville, N.Y. when it was laid out in 1812. Its potential for industrial development must have appealed to him. He had only one son by his first wife.
ISAAC, b. 10-21-1784, m. (1) _______ (2) 3-6-1820 Amanda Day of Lowville. Up to this time the writer has not been able to find information concerning his life though the censuses of 1810-20-30 all record him as a resident of Lowville in Lewis County. His death is recorded in that same village in 1872 at the age of 88. They had six children - 3 boys and 3 girls.
PHEDERUS, b. 6-6-1786, m. twice (1) Sophia Murray - 1807 (2) Mrs. Ruth Hendel, 1834. Timothy Hopkins in his genealogy The Kelloggs in the Old World and the New World relates the following:
"Removed from Westfield, Mass. to Lowville, N.Y. in 1806; was a farmer, served in the War of 1812 at Sackett's Harbor; had twelve children by his first wife and one by the second. died Dec. 19, 1874, age 87 yrs." The 1825 Census of Agriculture for the Town of Denmark records his holdings as 8 acres, 5 cattle, 2 horses, 16 sheep. The 1830 census shows him as a resident of Harrisburg township.
SAMUEL, the youngest of the brothers, b. 9-9-1788 is reported to have died in Kansas at age 90. One genealogist reports his removing from Westfield to Lowville; serving in the War of 1812 and then removing to Kansas. (We are hoping to learn more accurately of his movements.)
The West Lowville Rural Cemetery which was incorporated in 1871 is the final resting place of Zeboim, Isaac, and Phederus. The cemetery is very well tended, all markers being in good condition. Resting here also are the twin brothers Pardon and Paul Lanpher, referred to above, and many of their descendants including the writer's maternal grandfather William Duane Lanpher.
There are in the Lowville area many living descendants of both the Carters and the Lanphers who have been mentioned above, but even more have moved further west and south.
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It is among the sons of Nehemiah Carter that we first find in public records the use of the double "T" in this old family name which dates far back in English history. Even here among the brothers there seems to be no common agreement. Gravestones of Zeboim and Isaac in the West Lowville Rural Cemetery display the name with two "Ts" while Phederus' stone bears the name spelled with one T. This, though some of his descendants, now living, spell theirs with two. David Kellogg was consistent in the use of two Ts as was his son James Bruce and indeed his other four sons.
The traditional spelling seems to have been with one T. Genealogists when recording the family line from Rev. Thomas Carter of Woburn, Mass., use the one "T" with no other reference. Two exceptions have come to the author's attention. William R. Cutter in his two works, Genealogy of Northern New York and Genealogical and Personal Memoirs of Massachusetts, the latter edited jointly with William F. Adams. In both of these publications the entire family of Rev. Thomas is recorded with two "Ts". In the latter of these two publications two identical lines of descent from Rev. Thomas are given except in one the one T is used, and in the other two Ts, one appearing in Vol I, p 372, the other in Vol II, p. 933.
In the first reference quoted above there appears this interesting explanation of why the two Ts.
"The Carter family is of ancient English lineage. In one of the battles of Bruce's war, an officer by the name of McCarter countermanded the order of a superior officer, which meant death, but which gave the victory, hence they could not really put him to death, but could not allow the offence to go unpunished. Therefore, they deprived him of the "Mc" in his name, and added a "t", making it Cartter. The present family descends from him. Richard Cartter, Lord of the Manor of Garston, in the parish of Watford, England, is supposed to have been the grandfather of Rev. Thomas Cartter, the immigrant mentioned below."
While we are speculating on the two Ts here is another version to ponder. From a letter written by a George Phederus Cartter of Los Angeles in 1855 to Mrs. Paul Cartter of Wichita we get the following (quite interesting.) The story he relates has two parts.
First. - - "In Scotland it was a custom, still is in some families, that the oldest son had no Christian name, was known as 'Master' and signed the papers as Mcarthur or Mcartter or Macarthur. Transcribed as M. A. Cartter, the Mac was dropped completely."
Second. - - "You well have to go back several hundred years to get to the first two "TT." In 1298 when Robert Bruce was at war with England the sister of Robert Bruce, King of Scotland, promised to marry the 'first Scott' to raise the Scott flag on English soil. The commander of the Scotch forces had the English driven back from the coast. He was ready to go ashore, standing at the bow of the boat with the Scott banner at hand when his nephew jumped out ahead of him pulling a banner from under his coat and raised it before his uncle realized what had happened. The remark that the uncle made is historically correct. 'If the same blood that flows in your veins was not the same blood that is in mine I would strike you dead where you stand." The family motto was taken from this episode 'Astutia Et Animo.' Bruce's decree issued at that time was that they should carry two or double "T" for them and their descendants forever."
Myth or reality, the presence of absence of a second "T" in the name has been a source of confusion to genealogists and an inconvenience to the bearer of the Cartter spelling. Being in the minority he must continually remind others of the proper spelling. Perhaps someday this mystery will be resolved, and we Cartters may in truth know how much Scottish blood coursed through the veins of our early ancestors.
We present bearers of the name are thankful that David Kellogg Cartter (1) held to this spelling as did his sons and those grandchildren of whom we know. The origin of the second "T" is incidental. We have it and intend to keep it, inconvenience or not. Let us haste to mention however that we do not disown those proven relatives who carry the lighter T burden.
Now back to David Kellogg Cartter as he arrived from Westfield, Mass., with his brothers to settle at least tentatively at Lowville, N. Y. He was not to stay here long and we do not know much of his activities while there. Records do indicate that by 1804 he had met and married Elizabeth Hollister, the daughter of Abner and Sarah Betty Hollister whose family lived at Adams in Jefferson County.
The young couple lived in Lowville until the spring of 1814 when they and their three sons moved to Rochester, N. Y. as related in Chapter II. We have little information concerning the young family during this period. It is very likely that David continued to develop his skills as a carpenter and mill-wright; skills which he used to very good advantage after reaching Rochester. But what of Elizabeth?
Abner Hollister, father of Elizabeth, was of the 6th generation of his family in America. He was born Oct.28, 1754 in Tyringham, Berkshire County, in the far west central part of Mass. He served as a soldier in the Revolutionary War being with Arnold in his march to Quebec. After Arnold's surrender, Abner made his escape through "an almost pathless wilderness; after great suffering he returned home." He married Sarah Betty in Tyringham, June 28, 1771.
Elizabeth Hollister was the seventh in a family of twelve children. She was born in 1789. When she was seven years of age the family moved to Clinton in Oneida County, N. Y. After a few years they moved to Adams in Jefferson County where she was married in 1804 to David Kellogg Cartter.
Sarah Betty, Elizabeth's mother, died in Cato, Cayuga Co., N.Y. Sept. 12, 1813, one year before the Cartters moved to Rochester. In 1818 Abner Hollister is recorded as assisting David Kellogg Cartter in building the first three-story building erected in Rochester. It was known as "The Mansion House" and is recorded in William F. Peck's History of Rochester and Monroe County. This account would lead us to believe that the two may have worked together in the carpenter trade even before coming to Rochester. Abner, in 1802, married second a widow, Elizabeth Granger of Oneida Co., N. Y. There were no children by this marriage. George A. Hollister, a son of Abner, and brother of Elizabeth, later founded the Hollister Lumber Co. at Rochester in 1835.
HOLLISTER FAMILY
The Hollister family came to America from England, where in Somersetshire there is a town called Hollister. The name comes from Holly Terra - - place where holly trees abound. The first mention of the name was in about 1563 and 1564.
A brief male line of descent is given here, taken from Hollister Family of America by LaFayette Wallace Case, M. D. - 1886.
1st Generation
JOHN HOLLISTER, ancestor of the American family is said to have been born in England, 1612. He emigrated to America about 1642 and is reputed to have been "one of the most prominent men of Wetherfield and the Connecticut Colony." He was admitted freeman in 1643, a deputy in 1644 and 1645. He was appointed by a general court to give "the best and safe advice to the Indians if they agreed to meet and should crave advice." He was a large land holder especially on the east side of the Connecticut River, known as Glaustonburg. He married Joanna, daughter of Richard and Joanna Treat and dies April 1665. Eight children were born of this marriage.
2nd Generation
JOHN (2), oldest son of John (1) and Joanna b. 1644, married Sara Goodrich 1667. He was one of the principal men in Glastonburg. He had eight children d. 11-24-1711
3rd Generation
THOMAS, 2nd son of John (2) and Sara born 1-14-1672 - m. Dorothy Hills, daughter of Joseph Hills, Glastonburg, Conn. She was born 1677 and died 1741. He was called "the weaver" in town records. They had thirteen children.
4th Generation
CHARLES: Third son of Thomas and Dorothy b. in Glastonburg 7-26-1701, m. Prudence Francis, daug. of John Francis of Wethersfield 4-5-1729, settled in Eastbury d. 2-2-1753. Nine children.
5th Generation
FRANCIS, b. in Glastonburg 4-22-1733, 2nd son of Charles and Prudence, M. Betty McKee 12-15-1753 and resided in Tyringham - A sea captain - d. in Havana 1-15-1770. He had seven children of whom Abner was the oldest.
6th Generation
Abner, b. 10-28-1753, a soldier in the Revolutionary War. M. (1) Sarah Betty in Tyringham, Mass. 6-28-1775 (2) a widow Elizabeth Granger of Oneida Co., N. Y. in 1802. His twelve children were all by his first wife who died in Cato, Cayugo Co., N.Y. Sept.12, 1813. Elizabeth was his 7th child.
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The year is again 1814. It is March 28th, and we are back in the new settlement of Rochester, N. Y. In fact the settlement hasn't yet been named. Father, mother, and three boys, Phederus, Harleigh and David are making themselves comfortable in the one and a half story house built by their Uncle James Bruce, the village blacksmith. But they find a tense and uneasy feeling among the settlers.
The War of 1812 is still on and the British have a fleet on Lake Erie. Many men have gone to the Niagara frontier and those remaining fear invasion by the fleet. Sept. 10, 1813 had of course seen Admiral Perry defeat the fleet of six British ships at the western end of Lake Erie followed by his famous report, "We have met the enemy and they are ours." But fighting was not over, for on July 25, 1814 the Battle of Lundy's Lane was fought about a mile from Niagara Falls on Canadian soil. The result was indecisive. British ships single or in numbers cruised Lake Ontario, and the mouth of the Genessee River near Rochesterville provided a good target for invasion. Fortunately no serious encounters developed. The war wound down and Hanford's Landing at the mouth of the river went on to become an important shipping point.
Going back to 1789 when Indian Allan built the historic first mill on the Genessee River, the early settlement above the Main Falls was called Genessee Mills or Genessee Falls and later Fall Town. A half mile below the Lower Falls at the head of navigation was Hanford's Landing - - variously known as Genessee Landing or King's Landing.
It had early been anticipated that the center of settlement might be either of these areas, but about 1812 - 1815 the trend of growth turned upstream settling beside the upper falls on the west.
Education was receiving its due share of attention. With a rapidly increasing school age population the school room, supplied by Jehiel Barnard over his tailor shop, soon became too small. The first school building in Rochester, a one-story wooden structure, was built in the winter of 1813-14, just in time for the Cartter boys to use it. Following is Mr. S. A. Ellis' description of this building, found in records of the Rochester Historical Society, - - quite different from today's schools.
"The 1st school built in the fall and inter of 1813-14 was a plain, one-story wooden structure 18 x 24 feet - - interior exceedingly simple - - an inclined desk attached to the wall extending around three sides of the room, the pupils being seated on long benches without backs and facing the wall, the feet of the small ones dangling in mid-air. The room was heated by a fireplace, which served also for ventilation. The seats for the primary pupils occupied a portion of the small space in the middle of the room, and for the most part were constructed of slabs just as they left the saw mill, with the flat surface uppermost and supported by legs set into the opposite sides. Some time prior to 1820 it was enlarged and about 182 still more enlarged and improved."
Mr. Riley in Peck's History of Rochester says: "Aaron Skinner is said to have been the first teacher in the new school-house and the first male teacher in Rochester." This school was known as the Free Academy.
Rochester's first high school was built in 1827. With changing patterns of public education being tried several attempts were made by individuals to start private schools. None of these seemed to be very satisfactory. In 1832 the high school was reorganized as "The Rochester Seminary of General Education" and from 1839 to 1851 it was known as the Rochester Collegiate Institute.
Records show that attendance at this institution in 1833 reached 325. The State Regents accredited 135 of these as Academy scholars.
From The Towns of Monroe County we learn that on March 15, 1814 the old town of Smallwood was divided and out of it's territory two other towns were erected, named respectively Brighton and Pittsford. The former, as originally constituted, contained about 66 sq. miles of land or an equivalent of about 42,240 acres. At that time this town included the village settlement of Rochester, and with it its other settled communities and varied interests it was numbered among the most important civil division of the region.
John Kelsey in his Pioneers of Rochester 1854 reproduced a map of Rochester as it looked in the spring of 1814 when the Cartters arrived. This map shows property identified in the name of owners, such as "Lot 18 - - The house occupied by the David Cartter family. Lot 19 - - James B. Cartter's blacksmith shop, on the bank of the Genessee river.
This memory map was prepared in 1854 for the above publication by two sons of original settlers. These sons were Edwin Scrantom and Phederus Cartter.
The year 1815 was especially important to the Cartters for two family reasons.
First, James Bruce (2) was born on January 13, 1815. He was the fourth son of David K. and Elizabeth Cartter, the author's grandfather, and the central figure in this Cartter story.
Second, was the marriage on July 4, 1815 of James Bruce (1), brother of David K., to Mahala Doty of Saratoga, N. Y., the daughter of Capt. Isaac and Ann Parks Doty. The newlyweds continued to live in Rochester until 1818 when they moved to Rega, a small settlement nearby.
In an obituary prepared at the death of Elizabeth Hollister Cartter the following mention is made of the homes in which the Cartter family had lived.
"In 1817 the Cartter family moved to a thirty-two acre lot, then on the road t Henrietta, now on Mount Hope Avenue a little north of Clarissa Street Bridge. They occupied a log house with a frame addition put to it by Mr. Cartter. Years later the family built a larger and more commodious house nearby and lived in it nine or ten years."
Yes, Rochester was beginning to change with its expanding population. It was becoming "a water-power city" and developing fast. Mr. McKelley in his book, with just that title, writes about this period 1815 to 1820 as follows under this sub-title, Peaceful Growth on the Lower Genessee.
"The Ely brothers painted their newly completed gristmill a dull red, and as soon as the spring thaw cleared the raceway their four pairs of millstones began to turn out an improved grade of flour. - - - The rumble of the millstones mingles with the clang of Cartter's anvil across the street and with the sound of the hammers of Abelard Reynold's workmen busy enlarging his house into the first tavern on the west bank provided a cheerful welcome to Erasties Cook, the first silversmith; to Horace and George Sill, the first book sellers and to a half dozen other merchants laden with fresh supplies from Albany to Montreal."
From a different slant Jenny Marsh Parker writes in her book Rochester A Story Historical. She calls attention to the fact that Elisha Johnson had built a dam across the river by 1818 and the population had increased to 1,049 people. She describes the changes taking place as follows:
"Ely's 'old red mill' - - 4 run of stone were grinding day and nite - - Rochester making flour for Eastern markets as well as her own and what with a cotton mill - - a paper mill and saw mills. Gibeon Cobb's semi-weekly ox team trip to the landings and back - - a weekly newspaper, Jacks of all trades within call of the 4 corners, every religious denomination pushing its mission in the union meeting house, or working for a separate chapel, an occasional spelling school, and a constant arrival of immigrants converting every cabin into a boarding house; really Rochester was not the dullest place to live in after all. - - - Hanford's Landing has become the great shipping point for Rochester's flour.
"The population of this stirring clearing in the forest was mixed rather than rough, idle drunken Indians, as well as a considerable sprinkling of Quakers contributing to its unique variety. The Quakers were a strong factor in our pioneer days and a valuable one. That was the day of the town pump, and the drying-house for lumber - - a day when the whole town turned out to a funeral and the provident man occasionally 'dug his own grave' in the burying ground.
"The price of wheat during the early part of 1817 was from $1.75 to $2.25 per bushel. Exports from the Genessee river down the lake to Canadian market during the season of navigation were 26,000 bbls flour; 3,653 bbls pot. And pearls ash; 1.173 bbl pork; 190 bbls whisky; 214,000 double butt staves etc.
"Not alone on land but on water did the new village make its influence felt, for the steamboat Ontario now began to make regular trips from Sackett's Harbor to Lewiston stopping at the Port of Genessee. To make connections with the vessel several crafts were kept busy transporting produce and manufactured articles down the river.
1819 - - exports to Canada from this port were $400,000 worth.
1821 - - The County of Monroe was formed."
The importance of the Erie Canal was just beginning to be realized when in 1819 the middle section was completed and the contract for the stretch from Rochester to Palmyra was awarded. The original construction of the canal followed these dimensions: 42' wide at top, 28' wide at bottom; 4' deep; 363 miles long; the cost to New York State $7,143,789.00 The entire length was completed in 1825. IT carried primarily passengers going west and produce for market going east. It was slow traveling, prompting Horace Greeley to comment in his recollections, "Passengers traveled 1-1/2 miles per hour and paid 1-1/2 cents per mile."
By 1862 the canal was enlarged to 70 ft. wide at top; 7 ft. depth and the distance shortened by 12-1/2 miles. There were 72 locks in all.
According to one historian (name unknown) the population of Rochester in 1820 was 1,792 and of the inhabitants 355 were farmers. 115 were mechanics, 46 were foreigners not naturalized. There were no slaves in the town but among the people were eight free blacks. Electors numbered 547. There were at the time 3 grist mills, 12 saw mills, 2 oil mills, four carding machines, two fulling mills, one cotton and woolen factory, and five asheries.
Rochester was recognized as a strong anti-slavery center. For a great many years the work of Frederick Douglas centered here. Annually from 100 to 200 fugitives passed through her gates. While there were a half dozen houses, not many more, ready to shelter them temporarily, they most frequently found their way to the residence of Mrs. Amy Post on Sophia St. There they would lie hidden, sometimes one at a time, once in a while as many as 15 in a party. - - - They were helped aboard a steamer and across the lake to freedom in Canada.
The rapid increase in number of mills of all kinds kept David very busy at this branch of his trade. However in 1820, with the help of Abner Hollister, his father-in-law, he found time to build the first 3-story building erected in Rochester. The "Mansion House", as it was called, was primarily a stagecoach inn and tavern. It was quite impressive with columns all across the front supporting the porch roof.
It is said, "The Mansion House didn't do so well at first After June 7, 1825 when General La Fayette visited the city and was feted at a special dinner in the Mansion House with 200 people attending, its popularity began to increase. LaFayette had come to the city on a canal boat from the west though the canal was not completed for regular travel until four years later.
It was in the Mansion House that Rochester's first Masonic Lodge was instituted, to be known as Wells Lodge No. 282." The above is quoted from Centennial History of Rochester, N. Y. The first court house and office building was built in 1821-22.
We have little record of the life of the David K. Cartter family other than that related sketchily in connection with the children as they grew up. In total eight (8) children were born to David and Elizabeth. Following James Bruce's birth the only daughter, Elizabeth Hollister, was born in 1817. Two sons followed both names John H. and born in 1820 and 1822. John H. (1) was born July, 1820 and died when 2 yrs. old. John H. (2) born Dec., 1822 died in May, 1826.
The youngest child George H. was born in 1827 just one year before the death of his father.
The untimely death of David Kellogg, 8-27-1828 at the age of 52 years, left Elizabeth with a family of 5 boys and 1 girl, ages 21 - 17 - 16 - 13 - 11 and 1. Her task was a difficult one in a new settlement with limited finances. She however helped to see that each child received training and education for his or her chosen life work. Four of the boys became lawyers, the other, James Bruce, chose iron working and agriculture as his field. The daughter, Elizabeth, became very fluent in several languages. She married Dennis McCarthy a prominent merchant and political figure in locals, state, and national politics. They resided at Syracuse, N. Y.
The first cemetery in Rochester was on a one-half acre lot on the corner of Plymouth Ave. and Spring St. It was deeded as a free gift to the village in 1821. Three months later this lot was exchanged for one 3-1/2 acres in size located on west Main St. All bodies were removed to it. This was known as the Buffalo St. Burying Ground.
In 1836 the common council approved a selection of 53 acres (later added to) of what is now Mt. Hope Cemetery. Here the first burial was of William Carter, August 18, 1838, no relative as far as we know. This is a beautiful cemetery, and well cared for. David Kellogg Cartter's body was removed to this cemetery in the 53 acre addition.
It was the author's privilege to visit this cemetery and to locate lot 140G where the following members of the family are buried. The lot is located in a beautifully wooded, bowl-shaped depression near the top of a hilly area. Inscriptions on the family stone include the following names:
DAVID K. CARTTER d. Aug. 27, 1828
ELIZABETH (His wife) d. Sept. 23, 1876
JOHN H. 1st (Their son) d. July 10, 1822, 2 yrs.
JOHN H. 2nd (Their son) d. May 16, 1826, 3-1/2 yrs
ALMIRA COOK (Wife of Rev. Chauncey Cook and sister of Elizabeth Hollister Cartter) d - 12-21-1842
PHEDERUS CARTTER d. June 22, 1865, 58 yrs (Son of David and Elizabeth)
LYDIA ANN WRIGHT (His wife) d. Nov. 18, 1898, 86 yrs.
EDWIN P. CARTTER (Son) d. June 14, 1913
MARTHA FRANCES (Daughter) d. Dec. 1, 1917
CHARLES FINNEY (Son) d. Nov. 4, 1876, 37 yrs.
LUCINDA WRIGHT d. April 2, 1848
(Widow of Samuel Wright and mother of Lydia above)
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Little personal record is available concerning the family of David Kellogg Cartter as it struggled, following his death, to take part in community life and at the same time help prepare each member for his or her future contributions in different states of the nation. The five sons were destined to make their specific contributions in different states of the union.
PHEDERUS, 1807-1865. Oldest son, was born at Lowville, N.Y. He was the only son content to settle down in Rochester and consequently, with his family proved to be of real help to his mother in her declining years. He married Lydia Ann Wright and became an attorney, having studied law with an early member of the bar in Rochester. He practiced as a member of the firm Bishop and Cartter in both Rochester and Scottsville, N. Y. State. His name appears on the list of practicing attorneys as late as 1853.
Due to health problems he eventually gave up his law practice and entered the nursery business with his brother-in-law Dennis McCarthy in Syracuse, N. Y. where he stayed for nine years. It is said that Phederus was a great lawyer and that he once cleared a thief. This was a fact that he couldn’t reconcile with his conscience. This may have played an important role in his turning to the nursery business.
The family of Phederus consisted of six children: Nancy, Edward P., Martha F., Charles F., Frederic Oberlin, and David Kellogg. Edward, Martha and Charles never married. David served as special deputy and later as Collector of Customs at the Port of Rochester from 1869 to 1879. He resided on a farm in Rigo township engaged in business as an accountant and followed farming as a side line. Frederic Oberlin, who spent some time during his early years with James Bruce (2), established residence in Chicago, was on the police force and later a private detective. Nancy Cartter Weaver the oldest daughter was a very good correspondent. It is her letters that tell us most about Phederus’ life and that of his children. For instance she says in one letter.
"Father was a large man, when in his prime, standing well over six feet and weighing close to 300 pounds." She characterizes him as follows: "he was the most splendid man I ever saw and in all his dealing with men, he was strictly honest and upright."
George H., younger brother of James Bruce in a letter written after being back in Rochester on a visit says this of Phederus - - "None can be under the influence of his mind and conversation without becoming a better and brighter man. There are few but that will yield to him a supremacy of mind and listen to learn while he speaks."
Phederus' later years were marked by much sickness and he died in Boston June 22, 1865 being buried at the Mt. Hope Cemetery in Rochester.
HARLEIGH, 1811 - 1874. Second son was born at Lowville, N.Y. He too read law in Rochester. It is probable that he left Rochester about 1834 with James Bruce, for both settled in Utica, Michigan Territory at the same time. He was here admitted to the bar of McComb county April 13, 1837 and took a prominent part in civic and political affairs. He served as Shelby's Town Clerk and Justice of Peace; helped organize the Utica Lyceum and was president of the County Agricultural Society in 1858. He served as prosecuting attorney 1842-44 at which time he moved to Mt. Clemens in the same county. He was elected Legislative representative from McComb County in 1844, serving two terms, and was circuit court commissioner 1856 to 1860. His wife Jane Louise Scranton died in 1865.
On May 17, 1867 Harleigh Cartter was appointed by President Lincoln as Judge of the Supreme Court of the Territory of Arizona, organized in 1863. He was reputed to be the only democrat so appointed by Lincoln. He was appointed member of the first Bi-annual Territorial Council of Arizona which met in Tucson January 11, 1871 (11 members). Following the sudden death of the president of the council he was appointed to fill that vacancy. He represented Yavapai County and died in Arizona in 1874.
Harleigh's family consisted of seven children: Elizabeth M., Francis B., Cass, James B., Harleigh Jr., Millicent H. and David Kellogg. Of these Elizabeth, Cass, and James died as children. Harleigh Jr. went to Arizona with his father and was admitted there to the bar, becoming a partner with his father. He was a rancher, and served as under sheriff. The ranch was located east of Prescott in Yaeger's Canyon off Lonesome Valley. David Kellogg the youngest son moved to South Lowell, Alabama where he entered the Lumber Business. According to present information neither of these two families had sons to carry on the Cartter name.
DAVID KELLOGG(2), 1812-1887, was born in Lowville, N. Y. He was sixteen years old when his father died. He went on to finish two years of his education at the Rochester Academy.
He served as an apprentice in the printing office of Thurlow and Weed while he studied law in the offices of Ebeneza Griffin and E. Darow Smith at Rochester.
At the age of 20 he was admitted to the Bar and commenced the practice of law in Rochester, N. Y. He married Nancy H. Hanford of Monroe Co., N. Y. in 1836 and the same year moved to Akron, Ohio. Here he practiced law in company with Alvah Hand and George Bliss. Becoming interested in politics he moved to Massilon in Stark County, Ohio in partnership with H. B. Hurlburt in 1845. In 1848 he was elected as a democrat to the 31st Congress and was re-elected in 1850.
When the Republican Party was organized 1854-55 he joined its ranks. In 1856 he moved to Cleveland, Ohio where he opened his own law office. Being a delegate to the National Republican Convention in Chicago in 1860, he played an important part in the selection of Lincoln as the presidential nominee of the new party. He was successful in swinging enough Chase-committed Ohio votes over to Lincoln so that the result was his nomination and ultimate election.
In 1861 President Lincoln appointed David K. Cartter to be minister to Bolivia. He served from March 27, 1861 to March 1, 1862 when he asked to be relieved. He returned to Cleveland and his practice, but not for long. In 1863 he was appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia, a position he held until his death in Washington, D.C., April 16, 1887. During this time he became a very close friend and adviser to President Lincoln and succeeding presidents. He was one of those summoned to the President's bedside at the time of his assassination.
The body of Justice David K. Cartter was interned in Lakeview cemetery, Cleveland, Ohio. David's family consisted of two sons William H, Hanford and David Kellogg Jr. WILLIAM H., 1838-1904 was a physician and surgeon, trained in Heidelberg, Germany and interned at Bellevue Hospital in New York City. He served during the Civil War as medical officer on board the ship Farragut. He inherited some 6,000 acres of land in Kansas, accumulated much more and made his home at Cottonwood Falls in that state where descendants can still be found. DAVID, JR., 1840-1863 died of typhoid fever while in camp at Fort Scott, Kansas during the Civil War. He was a lieutenant in the 2nd Ohio Cavalry.
The following is taken from a eulogy of Judge David printed in the New York World under a Washington D.C. dateline of April 17, 1887.
"Judge Cartter was not great in the technique of the law, nor was he a great student of the law. He had a mind that grasped the philosophy, the wisdom, the reason, and the common sense of the law. Never was there a more judicial mind."
GEORGE HOLLISTER, 1827-1863, was the youngest Cartter son born in Rochester just one year before his father's death. He grew up at a time when the family finances were being strained but there is evidence that the family were working together to help each other.
He followed the path of his three oldest brothers, studying the law. He was admitted to the Bar in Cleveland, Ohio which indicates that he very likely studied with his brother David. In 1849, Gold Rush times, he satisfied his pioneering spirit by leaving for California where he settled in Sacramento City. Here he served three successive terms as district attorney for the Sixth Congressional Dist. His salary at that time was $5,000.00 per year. There is also some indication, though uncertain, that he served in state legislative circles.
In 1854 he came back to Rochester to visit his mother and to see his brothers enroute. He returned to California in December of the same year, as indicated in a letter sent to his brother James Bruce on Dec. 18th. He wrote "after a short but very pleasant voyage I arrived again to my adopted home. - - - I have some thought of removing to San Francisco. I think that there is a wider field and I can do better in it."
He must have changed his mind for 1858 finds him in Portland City, Oregon. The U.S. Senate approved that same year the naming of Oregon Territory as a state and the House passed the Approval bill in February of 1859.
Little record seems to be available concerning George's activities at Portland other than the announcement of his marriage, the official record of his death, and the filing of his will. The following marriage announcement appeared in a San Francisco paper: "Married, in San Francisco, May 14, George H. Cartter of Sacramento to Rosetha F. Silver." (No year was given in the announcement) George died of typhoid fever Feb. 24, 1862 in Portland at the age of 36. No children were mentioned in the will which was drawn up nine hours before death occurred. His widow Rosetha F. Cartter signed the will Sept. 1, 1862.
It is regrettable that such a promising young life ended just at the time when its contributions to this new section of the U. S. might have been of great value.
In the Portland Journal of March 24, 1863 there appeared the following as part of their announcement of his death.
"It is our melancholy duty to record the death of one, who by his many virtues as a citizen, by his professional abilities and by his love of what was true and good, endeared himself to the affections of those who knew him while living and mourn for him now, that he is dead."
ELIZABETH MILLICENT (CARTTER) MC CARTHY, 1817-1887, was born August 1, 1817 in the City of Rochester, N. Y. the one girl in a family with five brothers. At the age of 20 she married Dennis Mc Carthy of Salino, Onondago Co., N. Y. Dennis was at that time in partnership with his father in the mercantile business. His father had come from Cork Ireland.
In 1846 the young couple moved to Syracuse, N. Y. where Dennis continued in the same line of business, taking his sons into partnership with him as soon as they were old enough. In 1844-5 Mr. McCarthy represented Onondago Co. in the State Legislature; in 1853 he was elected mayor of Syracuse; and in 1868-71 he was representative in the U.S. Congress and from 1876-1885 inclusive he was a state senator. He died Feb. 14, 1886.
In a biographical sketch found in a Memorium to Elizabeth Millicent McCarthy we find the following excerpt.
"Elizabeth was well educated, - - - a woman familiar with general history, well versed in the modern and advanced literature of Europe and this country. She also ranked high as an able and cultured linguist, spending much time in Europe perfecting her early study and knowledge of Italian, Spanish and German. In French she was exceedingly proficient." She was recognized for her charitable activities and especially with those children of the community.
Her death occurred December 2nd, 1887, less than two years after her husband's demise and eight months following the death of her older brother, Justice David Kellogg Cartter of Washington D.C. She was buried in St. Agnes Cemetery in Syracuse, being survived by the following five children: David K., Thomas, Percy (Mrs. Thomas Emory), Kate (unmarried) and Dennis Jr. Four Other children died at an early age.
JAMES BRUCE, 1815-1897, fourth oldest son and first of the Wisconsin Cartter was only thirteen years old when his father died and because of the hardship which the father's loss meant to the family James went shortly to live with his Uncle James Bruce Cartter (1), the pioneer blacksmith after whom he was named. His future will be the subject of the next chapter and the balance of our story as he moves through Michigan into southern Wisconsin and finally settles, after much searching, on a home site, near Black River Falls in Jackson County, Wisconsin.
We have now taken a look at the children of David K. Cartter (1) as they grew up and moved out into work responsibility, family life, and reclining years. We must not leave this family, however, without final reference to the pioneer woman whose fortitude, faith, and example must have been a determining factor in the lives of these six children.
Elizabeth Hollister Cartter had faced the frontier with courage and assumed responsibility for the family of six children, when there was little to live on and educational opportunities were very limited.
Perhaps the most pointed tribute to Mrs. Cartter and to other pioneer women like her is found in John Kelsey's booklet entitled Lives and Reminiscences of Pioneers of Rochester written in 1854 and stemming from personal acquaintance and conferences with his subjects.
Here is a quote from his 58th Subject, Mrs. David K. Cartter.
"If we are prepared to write the history of the children, when we are made acquainted with the parentage, by parity of reasoning Mrs. Cartter's worth should not be mistaken, when that of her children is written. Indeed if such have been all the pioneer matrons of Rochester, its moral preeminence among the cities of the Union, its rapid growth and improvements, social and intellectual advantages, and its future glorious prospects need occasion little surprise to those who are accustomed to connect causes and effects in their relations to the history of any people or community."
Appearing in this same Kelsey reference we find still another tribute to the pioneer men and women. Reproduced in this reference is a map of Rochester as it would have appeared in 1814, a year which happens to coincide with the arrival of the Cartter family in what was then called Rochesterville. This map was drafted at the request of Mr. Kelsey by two residents of Rochester who were boys living there in 1814, and whose parents were both mentioned in Mr. Kelsey's Reminiscences. One of these boys was Phederus Cartter, the oldest son of David and Elizabeth Cartter.
Excerpts from a letter which they sent to Mr. Kelsey with the map follow.
"Rochester, Aug. 2, 1854
To Messrs. Kelsey and others:
Dear Sirs: Agreeable to your request we have prepared a profile or map of Rochesterville (the now city of Rochester) as it was in March 1814 - - - More than 40 years having now elapsed since this vision was presented to our boyish eyes; and while we are tracing out the lines marked by our memory in years when we could hardly picture to ourselves a hope that we should this day walk among the living in a populous city, the one-twentieth of whose faces we hardly recognize; all this passed before us now like a dream of nite or like a tale that is told. We believe that we have placed upon the map all the dwellings, business houses, mills etc., that were erected, - - - together with the names and business of each occupant.
- - - we as the sons of two of the persons named (In Kelsey's book) would be happy to bear testimony and record the following: - - - we have been acquainted with them and their children to the third and even fourth generation, and yet we have never known an instance in which they of their posterity were ever convicted of even accused of crime; if we could give any higher testimony of their moral worth, and their fitness to found a great and mighty city, we would do so. We have long desired that in some way a record might be made of those who first gave life and animation to our city. - - -
Very respectfully your obedient servants,
EDWIN SCRANTOM
PHEDERUS CARTTER"
Elizabeth Hollister Cartter died in Rochester September 23, 1876 and is buried in the Cartter lot No. 140G in Mt. Hope Cemetery at Rochester, N. Y.
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James Bruce (2) was only thirteen years old when his father died. His mother was not in good health at the time and it seemed wise that he go to live with his uncle James Bruce (1) who at the time was living in Churchville, near Rochester. Here James, the boy, became interested in the blacksmith and iron worker's trade. He lived with his uncle for six years, turning down an invitation from his brother David to join him in the study of law. Law had been the path taken by his three older brothers.
In about 1834, at the age of nineteen, James joined his older brother Harleigh to travel westward into what was then Michigan Territory, it having been so declared by Congress in 1805. What attracted their attention to this area is not known. Perhaps it was the spirit of adventure or possibly it was the same pioneering spirit that had prompted their own father to move westward. McComb County, located directly north from Detroit and bordering Lake St. Clair became the third county organized in the Michigan Territory on Jan. 15, 1818. Shelby township, in which Utica is located, was authorized on April 12, 1827. It was here that the two brothers settled, Harleigh to practice law and James to join in partnership with James Covel Jr. to develop a company known as the "Utica Iron Works." James became manager of this new company. In this capacity he further developed his skill in working with people, becoming tolerant and helpful to workmen, and appreciative of the problems of new immigrants arriving from other countries and searching out employment.
Just when the Utica Iron Company was formed is uncertain. Probably not until James Bruce returned from the Toledo war in 1837. One reason for this assumption is found in a clipping which appears in his scrapbook. This clipping, taken from a Utica paper, was evidently sent to James Bruce by Mrs. F. S. Church, daughter of Harleigh, along with a letter mentioning that a Mr. Alexander had inquired about him. This letter was written Jan. 18, 1888 and reached James Bruce forty five years after he had left Michigan. The newspaper item is written by a James Alexander, whose description of early experiences in Utica covers the period when James Bruce lived there and refers to his relationship with the Iron Company. The following is a quote from that clipping.
"In the spring of 1836, the 22 yr. Of my age, I left my native land (Ireland) for America. After a passage of six weeks and three days landed in Quebec. As I heard Michigan highly spoken of I bent my steps in that direction. Arrived in Detroit in the fall, I did not remain there long. A man from Utica named Holmes was in the city looking for a blacksmith, and left word to have one sent out. I started the next morning by way of Royal Oak with my pack on my back. There was no public conveyance and it took two days to get here, as I had to foot it. Hardly anyone knew of such a place as Utica --- but I found the way ---. This was December 12th, 1836.
I engaged to work for Mr. Holmes for five months at twenty dollars per month, board and washing. At that time I intended to go to Chicago. - - - In the meantime James Cartter returned from the west and with some others formed what was known as the "Utica Iron Company." Mr. Cartter wanted me to work for him; they gave me one dollar per day. I worked for them as long as they continued in business. Mr. Cartter and myself were very warm friends; we boarded at the hotel; and as customary in those days for two to occupy the same room and bed Cartter and I slept together. I wish I knew where and how he is now. - - - There were but few places of business then. John James was the principle merchant, he is now living in Detroit. There was one grist mill and two distilleries. Twenty five cents would buy enough whiskey to keep a man drunk for two weeks. - - -
After the 'Iron Company' wound up I rented their shop for a few years then built a shop of my own."
The building occupied by the Utica Iron Company stood where the Clinton House later was built. The upper floor of their building was for several years used as the Presbyterian meeting house.
In 1837 James Bruce was commissioned captain of a company of militia organized to participate, if necessary, in what came to be known as the Toledo War. His company was under the command of General Brown and was stationed in Toledo to guard the original boundary line with Ohio which had been established when Michigan was made a state earlier in the year. Ohio had laid claim to the Toledo Territory and Michigan resisted. After much negotiation and maneuvering the dispute was settled without bloodshed giving to Michigan that area known as "the upper peninsula," and to Ohio a change in the southern boundary line including 470 sq. miles of territory in which was located the site of the city of Toledo. Thus ended the short military career of James Bruce.
During the nine years that James Bruce lived in Utica there was little time for him to demonstrate his interest and participation in community or political affairs. Historical records do indicate that in 1839 he was active in helping to organize that Utica Lyceum Society and served as its first secretary. During the same year he was elected town clerk of Shelby Township. His role in local community affairs in Michigan and later in Wisconsin, seemed to be that of a stimulator and organizer, contributing to movements good for the community, and helping to see those movements soundly organized. At this point he was content to step into the background and turn leadership over to others, always being available for counsel.
In 1842 banks throughout the country were having difficulty. Many banks, organized by individuals, had been established in the years just previous. These banks were known as "wild cat" banks and many were in trouble. The Bank of Utica was one of these. The State Legislature of Michigan passed an act to annul the corporate rights of certain banks. Under this act the receiver caused an appraisal of assets to be made of the Utica bank April 29th by James B, Cartter, James Covel Jr. and C. B. H. Fessenden. The bank was found to be short of funds and was closed.
We know little of James Covel Jr., though assume him to be a young man about the age of James Bruce. Both men seem to have had the pioneer spirit and were looking westward. They were aware that when Michigan had been made a state in 1836, the Wisconsin Territory was created including at the time parts of present day Iowa, Minnesota, and the Dakotas. This area seemed to offer new opportunities especially after public land surveys, which had begun in 1832, were completed in 1840 for all territory southeast of the Fox-Wisconsin waterway in Wisconsin Territory.
The fact that government land sales were opened in 1834 for the Green Bay and Mineral Point areas began to attract permanent settlers and when in 1839 the lands along Lake Michigan in the Milwaukee area were opened for sale, migration began in earnest from areas bordering the Great Lakes.
It is not surprising therefore that we find recorded in Vol. 2 of Racine County Transcript, now housed in the Kenosha County, Wisconsin Courthouse, a transfer of some 77-66/100 acres of land from the U.S. Government to James Covel and James B. Cartter. This transfer is dated July 1, 1843 and covers property described as the: --
"W ½ - SW ¼ - Sec 19 - T (1) N - R (19) E" located today in the town of Randall, County of Kenosha. No consideration is shown in the records.
Further search in Kenosha County by the author uncovered in Vol. No. 2 of Racine County Transcript page 150 a deed granted by James Covel, Jr. and wife (Nancy) to James B. Cartter, both of McComb County, Mich. The deed is dated August 24, 1843. Consideration being $350.00.
This deed covers three parcels of land described as follows and located in present day Walworth and Kenosha Counties of Wisconsin:
Parcel I "E ½ - SW ¼ - Sec. 36 - T (1) N - R (18) E"
Walworth County - containing 80 acres
Parcel II "W ½ - SW ¼ - Sec. 36 - T (1) N - R (18) E"
Walworth County - containing 80 acres
Parcel III "W ½ - SW ¼ - Sec 19 - T (1) N - R (19) E"
Kenosha County - containing 77-66/100 acres.
This deed was signed in the presence of H. Carter and C.S. Madison, State of Mich., County of McComb and acknowledged by Harleigh Cartter, Justice of Peace of McComb Co., Mich. (Recorded Vol "G" of deed p 500-501 Racine Co.) Harleigh was James Bruce's older brother, with a spelling he sometimes used.
It is very likely that this action was taken shortly before James Bruce left Utica, and very likely the transfer of land was part of the settlement of affairs in the Iron Company between the two partners. It is rather interesting to know also that James Covel Jr. in company with George Vinton repurchased the 77-66/100 acre tract from James Bruce on Dec. 2, 1850.
We know that James Bruce did leave Utica and arrived in Wisconsin late in 1843. It is here that we started our story in Chapter 1. James Bruce was twenty eight years of age, skilled in his trade, single, experienced in his associations with other men and respected by those who knew him. He was however a man still uncertain of just what further contributions he was to make as he continued his life in this territory known as Wisconsin.
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It would be interesting to know what the circumstances were that caused James Bruce to turn his attention toward the Wisconsin Territory in 1843. Had he made a trip west, as was implied in James Alexander's article, and returned undecided in 1836? There is a record in H. M. Simmons' Wisconsin Local History written in 1876 stating that "Hugh Longwell and 6 other men arrived (in what was then Milwaukee County) March 1835 in wagons from Michigan, following the trail of Jambeau." The South Port area later named Kenosha, was just being opened up at that time. Could James Bruce have been one of those six men and perhaps returned to Utica, not yet ready for frontier life in the Wisconsin Territory? Possibly he wanted to accumulate more finances with which to purchase land and was looking upon the Utica Iron Works as providing this opportunity.
The following statement found in Fathers of Wisconsin by Tenney and Atwood, written in 1880, may shed some light on the decisions made by James Bruce at this point in history.
"The period 1830 to 1837 was one of great and almost limitless financial currency expansion. In that year, in the states east of us, it reached a natural culmination, followed by a crash that speedily carried down most of the banking institutions in the U.S. The banks of Green Bay and Mineral Point, the only two within the territory, ended in the same way, and for some years the early settlers had little or no currency other than the small sums brought in by newly arrived immigrants. In the southwest counties, or lead region, citizens of all classes combined and refused to receive or use anything but gold and silver as a measure of exchangeable value. Immigration which had commenced coming in a flood soon after territorial organization was not only checked but actually recoiled eastward, and it was not until about 1843 that the current turned westward again since which time it has shown no abatement."
Whatever his reason he did, following the land purchase from James Covel, make his way in about 1843 to what was then Racine County. This area had been formed from part of Milwaukee County in 1863. Kenosha County did not become a separate unit of government until 1850.
It is interesting to note that the present city of Kenosha was the southernmost port on Lake Michigan at the time he arrived. It was situated at the mouth of the Pike River which provided a natural harbor. In fact the settlement here first bore the name "Pike" and the first post office carried that name. Later it was named Southport because of its location as the most southern port on the lake. The name Kenosha which came into use in 1850, is taken from the Indian word for "Pike River." This area of Wisconsin had been Indian territory and Indian presence had no doubt been responsible for delayed white settlement until after 1833. It was in that year, following the Black Hawk War, that a treaty was signed at Chicago by which the Chippewa, Ottawa and Potawatomi tribes ceded their lands south and west of Milwaukee to the U. S. Government.
In 1834 settlers began to arrive in larger numbers. The first steamboat line on Lake Michigan was established in 1834 between Buffalo and Chicago. The "Jambeau trail" referred to above, was named after a French explorer though it had been a well-traveled Indian trail for many years between Chicago and Milwaukee. Not until Aug. 15, 1835 did pioneers arrive by Lake schooners, a four weeks voyage from Oswego, N.Y., located on Lake Erie. The opening of the Erie Canal in 1825 had made waterway travel from the east much easier and contributed to the influx of people especially from New York State and New England. In November, 1835 L. M. and P. W. Dodge arrived having walked all the way from Detroit. By the fall of 1836 a weekly stage began to run from Chicago to Milwaukee.
Though the village of Southport did attract many workmen with trades, the major number of settlers who arrived had agricultural backgrounds. Throughout the Racine County area there developed many small clusters of agricultural settlers. The clusters grew into small villages, few of them reaching much size. Wheatland was one of these villages and it was here that James Bruce settled.
It was not until 1838 that the first civil towns in Racine County were established. The land purchased in 1843 by James Bruce was located in the towns of Wheatland and Randall in the southwestern corner of Kenosha County, as presently named, and in the town of Bloomfield in Walworth County to the west. He found upon arrival that a post office had just been established at Wheatland early in 1843. The location of this post office was changed to New Munster in the same civil town, but not until 1880.
Milwaukee and Racine started developing as cities about 1835. Chicago at that time passed from an army post (Fort Dearborn) to a pioneer village. James D. Doty, later Wisconsin's second territorial governor, in 1834 had marked out a road between Milwaukee and Chicago which passed inland from Kenosha but served as a north-south line of travel for new settlers.
The population recorded in the 1840 census shows a total of 30,945 whites present in the Wisconsin Territory. This number was to increase to 305,391 by 1850.
Being curious about the presence of Carters or Cartters in the Wisconsin Territory in 1840 the author checked in the census of that year for the presence of this name among the state's resident family heads. Nine were found in all of Wisconsin Territory. All spelled their names with one (t) and they were scattered among four counties. Ackley, Harry, and John were located in Milwaukee County; three, Henry, Lorenze, and Orange in Walworth County; Benjamin and Francis in Iowa County and one, Franklin, lived in Jefferson County. Of these nine, five were involved in Agriculture, two in mining, one in manufacturing and trades and one not identified. So far as we know none of these families were in any way closely related to James Bruce.
We have little information concerning James Bruce after his arrival in Racine County other than his purchase or sale of land up to the time of his participation in the 1st Constitutional Convention. His efforts were evidently concentrated on accumulating land and developing it agriculturally. On February 24, 1844 for a consideration of $500.00 he purchased 160 acres of land from Eliphalet Cramer and his wife. The property being described as the N E ¼ - Sec. 21 - T-1-n - R 19 E in the town of Randall.
On May 16, 1846 he purchased 120 acres from George W. Plank and wife for a consideration of $300.00 described as:
"All of W ½ of NE ¼ of Sec. 21 - T (1) N - R 19 E also the SW ¼ of NW ¼ of Sec. 22 - T (1) N - R 19 E
On September 23, 1848 he purchased for $250.00, from Josiah Hyde and wife, 87 acres described as follows:
SE fractional ¼ of Sec. 21 - T (1) N - R 19 E.
His purchase of 45 acres from Pliney M. Perkins was made November 14, 1845 for the sum of $200.00 and carries the following description.
"All that tract or parcel of land situated on and being so much of the E ½ of the NW ¼ - Sec. 17 - T (1) N -R 19 E in County of Racine and Territory of Wis. Aforesaid as lies south of the road now running through said section leading from Southport (Kenosha) to Geneva and running nearly E. and W. through said section containing 45 acres of land." Land values increased rapidly during this period. As an illustration we note that the 160 acres purchased by James Bruce 1844 for $500.00 was sold by him nine years later for $3000.00.
James Bruce began selling property in December of 1845. His sale that year was to Abijah Pierce and included 45 acres.
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From the time of his arrival in Racine County James had evidently been active in community and agricultural circles. He had made clear his political stand on public issues and his concern for the public good. He had long before this become a staunch Democrat, a party he never forsook.
Just three years after his arrival in the Wisconsin Territory he was elected a member of Racine County's fourteen-member delegation to the first Constitutional Convention held in the Wisconsin Territory. He was at this time 31 years of age. All members of this Racine County delegation were Democrats.
Unfortunately he was sick when the Convention was convened in Madison on October 5, 1846. As a consequence he was two weeks late in arriving. All major committee assignments had been made so his chief contributions were made in open discussion preceding the final approval of each of the 19 articles which made up that first document. He was, however, appointed Nov. 18, 1846 on a committee of 12 to work on article 10 relative to distribution of representation in the legislature. The entire document may be found, by those desiring to read it, in H. A. Tenney and David Atwood's book Fathers of Wisconsin. In this book, which is a memorial record, we find the following assessment of the work of this 1st Convention.
"This convention was at the time, and has ever since been regarded as one of great, if not extraordinary, intellectual ability. Its members were all in the prime of life, the representatives of the systems of many states, generally highly educated and possessed of mental culture far above the average of men. In both their agreement and disagreement they exhibited an acuteness of logic and learning and a comprehension of fundamental principles of government rarely if ever witnessed in a deliberate assembly."
Statistics taken from this same book give the following information concerning the nativity and occupation of the 124 members who represented the twenty six counties which, at that point in history, had formed in the Territory of Wisconsin. There were delegates present who had been born in 11 different states. New York with 42 and Vermont with 18 numbered the most. Twelve delegates had been born in 4 other countries and had come to the U. S. as immigrants. Ireland was represented by seven sons and Germany by three. By occupation there were 69 farmers, 26 lawyers, 7 mechanics, 6 merchants, 5 miners, 3 physicians, 2 lumbermen, 1 miller with 5 not indicating. The oldest member was 65 yrs., the youngest 23.
The constitution, as framed, was submitted to popular vote April 5, 1847. It was defeated by a vote of 20,233 to 14,119.
Wm. Raney in his book Wisconsin Story of Progress published in 1940 sums up the points at issue and how they were resolved in the second Constitutional Convention which was approved by vote of the people in March of 1848 as follows:
"Though the two constitutions differed in their wording, they were in substantial agreement in describing the framework of government. The majority in the first convention belonged to the Democratic party, and had the Democrats been united in favor of the constitution of 1846, it would have been accepted, but the Democrats were divided into a radical group and a more conservative one. There were some points in the first constitution that were too radical for the conservative Democrats, and they joined with the Whigs in opposition and brought about the rejection of the document on four items.
(1) By 1846 the appointment of judges was gradually but widely giving way to popular election. The constitution of 1846 provided for election, and this provision was repeated in the accepted constitution.
(2) Another advance that the conservative mind of that day could not approve was that a married woman might have property, either real or personal, separate from her husband. This was provided in 1846, omitted in the second constitution and then accomplished by the legislature soon after admission to statehood.
(3) The frontier was always peculiarly sensitive to the afflictions of the debtor. Wisconsin Territory borrowed the Michigan Code of laws almost entire, but in 1837 was careful to abolish imprisonment for debt, which that code authorized. When making a constitution in 1846 the "fathers" went a step further. A homestead, not to exceed forty acres in the country, or property worth $1,000 in a town, was exempt from seizure and forced sale to satisfy a debt. This too was omitted from the constitution that was adopted, but was enacted by the legislature soon after.
(4) The Jacksonian distrust of banks and the experience of the people of Wisconsin in the territorial period accounted of the provision of 1846: 'There shall be no banks of issue in this state.' The second constitution provided that if a general law permitting banks were desired at any time the legislature should submit to the people the question of 'banks' or no banks.' If a banking law were thus demanded, the legislature might then pass a general banking law and submit it to the people for approval. This procedure was followed in 1851 and 1852, and both votes were overwhelmingly in favor of banks."
Of interest to present day readers may be the results of an advisory ballot voted on along with the ballot seeking popular acceptance of the first draft of the constitution. This ballot sought public response to the question "Should equal sufferage be granted to colored persons?" State-wide the result was, Yes - 7,664; No - 15, 415. Wide differences between counties were shown reflecting most likely the residential origin of the early settlers. Racine County approved 1206 to 763; as did Walworth, 1094 to 714 and Waukesha 1107 to 617. On the other side - Grant Co. voted No - 2215 to 93, Iowa, LaFayette and Richmond voted likewise 2504 to 69 while Milwaukee voted No - 1832 to 616.
James Bruce returned from his participation at the first convention unchanged in his desire to avoid public attention to himself, and though he thought deeply and and expressed himself freely, he avoided running for any public office. He chose rather to serve the people in his home community and county as they sought to bring about change. He had been a strong advocate of the two articles on "Women's Rights" and "Liberal Exemption Policy From Debt Seizure" and rejoiced t see his viewpoints justified by later legislative action.
When the call for the second Constitutional Convention went out James Bruce was asked to serve as a member, but he declined the invitation as did all but six of the members active at the first convention. One member from the 1st Racine County delegation, Fred S. Lovel, was among the six. The number of delegates to the second convention was reduced to 69 and as history relates, the second constitution was approved by popular vote and Wisconsin became the 30th state of the Union by Act of Congress approved May 29, 1848.
Though James Bruce was not a member of the convention the Carter name was represented by another early arrival in the state with that name, Almerin Marshall Carter of Rock County (no close relationship has been established) From an article entitled "The attainment of Statehood" written by _______ Quaife and appearing in Vol. 29 of Wisconsin Historical Publications, p. 919 we become acquainted with this gentleman who was the same age as James Bruce.
"ALMERIN MARSHALL CARTER a native of Litchfield County, Conn., where he was born Oct. 4, 1814, the son of Guy and Sarepta Marshall Carter. About a year later the family removed to Paris, Oneida County, N. Y. where his father became a trustee of Madison University at Hamilton. There Almerin graduated in 1832. The life of a farmer attracted the young man, and for ten years he remained near his family home. In 1843 he removed to Wisconsin to take up government land in Johnstown Township in Rock County, whence he was elected on the Whig ticket to the 2nd Constitutional Convention. He died June 7, 1898." Mr. Carter prepared in 1896 an interesting paper relating to his memories of that second convention which is on file with the Historical Society of Wisconsin.
There is little record of James Bruce's activities between 1848 and 1850 other than for a sale of additional land to Abijah Pearce, which adjoined property purchased earlier. This was the last transaction found in the Racine County Transcript Vol. 5. The census of 1850 lists him as a resident of Kenosha County - Age 35 - male - single - farmer - value of real estate $6,000 - place of birth, N. Y. His place of residence was a boarding house operated by Lewis Robertson.
The same census recognizes the presence of John Swift as head of a family. This family was listed as "John F. Swift, 47; Chloe P. (his wife) 47; Charles W. 22; Oliver C. 19; Isadore F., 15; Maria J., 13; and William Well, 22, a cooper living with them.
The first evidence we have of James Bruce meeting John F. Swift and his family is when we see his signature as witness to a purchase made by Mr. Swift from George Parkhurst and wife of the Town of Wheatland. This purchase described as SE ¼ - NW ¼ - S 21 T 1 N, R 19 E contained forty acres. A second purchase was made by Mr. Swift from Josiah Hyde and wife on the same day. This was for an irregular piece of property in Section 21 comprising 5 acres to be used as a residence site near Lake Marie.
James Bruce's future was to be closely tied with this family, for in 1855 he married the older of Mr. Swift's daughters. But more of this later.
Farming operations were no doubt keeping James busy in addition to the blacksmithing he was called on to do for his neighbors. He kept all of his land save the 77-66/100 acres which he sold back to James Covel Jr., his former partner in Utica. Wheat was becoming an increasingly important crop. In addition the pressure of new settlers was building up. Starting this influx were the Germans who in 1850 numbered 38,000 in Wisconsin settling most heavily in the southeastern counties including Kenosha. The German farmers were quickly followed by numbers of immigrants from other central European countries.
This group of people regarded the farm as a permanent family possession, not as a short time investment to be expoited and left behind. Consequently to the westward-migrating Americans the represented both competitors as farmers and prospective purchasers for land to be left behind in the ever westward movement.
We may well wonder if James Bruce (between 1848 and '54) was becoming dissatisfied with his Wheatland location? Was he beginning to feel the urge to move on to new surroundings where settlement was not so crowded; where the industrial centers did not seem to threaten the peace and quiet of family life, where he might, with a young bride, build a home life which he had undoubtedly longed for and unfortunately had been deprived of throughout all his growing years? Was he becoming encouraged by his younger brother George to come west to California, and was he questioning whether his failing health would permit such a move?
He was becoming closely associated with the John Swift family finding there a touch of family life he hadn't experienced as a young man. Charles was only 13 years younger with pioneering instincts, Oliver was three years younger than Charles but adventuresome. However, it was Isadora, 20 years his junior, who became the center of his attention.
As further evidence of the unrest that had settled over James we note his disposal of accumulated properties which he had been earlier intent on accumulating. All of his final properties in the Wheatland area were sold before 1854 as follows:
Dec. 31 - 1845 - 45 acres to Abijah Pearce.
Oct. 13 - 1849 - 40 acres to Abijah Pearce.
Dec. 2 - 1850 - 77-66/100 acres to James Covel.
Sept. 13 - 1853 - 160 acres to Josiah Bond.
Was James Bruce getting ready for another and final move?
A letter written by Harleigh, his brother, from Mt. Clement, Michigan on July 12, 1852 and addressed to James Bruce at Black River Falls indicates that he must have been in northwestern Wisconsin at Black River Falls during the fall of 1851 with James.
"Dear Brother: Since I was at your place last fall I have made up my mind to leave here next fall, winter, or early spring, and go west. I want you to advise me where to go --- When I was at your place I though that the Falls was likely to make a good place and that soon there would be a good business there. I want to work at my profession (Law) starting anew. --- Let me know what your opinion of your village is and what the prospects might be there for me."
Evidently Harleigh decided to stay at Mt. Clement - face squarely his problems there and make his new start among people he knew. We have no knowledge of how James responded to his letter. This letter is the only evidence which the author has indicating that James Bruce had been at Black River Falls as early as 1851. If he was there it might have been in company with Charles and Oliver Swift, for we know they had a common desire to move away from what seemed for them to be a condition of over-crowding in Kenosha County.
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Our first real evidence of James' inner feelings can be secured from a series of letters written to him by Isadora Swift who later was to become his wife. She saved these letters and thanks to the careful and efficient handling by one of James Bruce's great grand-daughters, Mrs. Ruth Knapp Forssen of Missoula, Montana, they are summarized as to content and indexed for all those who are interested to read. It is unfortunate that Isadora's letters to him in response were not saved.
These letters were written when James made a trip, starting early in May 1854, which took him into the new state of Iowa. It was so declared in 1846. James is traveling by light wagon with a team of horses and is definitely in search of new land on which to settle. The state of Iowa had only recently been opened for settlement. The quotes being used are selected first of all to give a better picture of the man, James Bruce, his inner thoughts, his human concerns and his longings for a place he could call homes with a life's companion at his side. In addition we may get from these letters a glimpse of that mad rush by many people who were seeking land they might call their own. We can thus know better the accompanying hardships these people faced as witnessed by a personal observer.
The letters were sent from a settlement then known as Bradford in Chickasaw County located in the northeastern corner of the state of Iowa, almost due west from Prairie du Chien, Wis. Today's maps do not show a Bradford there, indicating that the name may have been changed to avoid conflict with a Bradford now located in Franklin County, Iowa. Its present name is New Hampton, the county seat of Chickasaw County.
The quotes which follow are copied just as written and the dates of letters are given.
Letter - May 25 - 1854 - "Another week is past in this new land. It has been a lonesome one to me among strangers not anyone that I am acquainted with, none to converse with but strangers. They have no sympathy in common with me. It makes my spirits sad when I think of those that I have left behind but I suppose I shall get over it as we get over all the ils of life. Home-sick I am not, sad I am. I should like to see you more than enny one. If I could talk with you but for a few minutes I should feel better. It would seem like home and oald times. - - - We have had some very bad weather since I crossed the Mississippi. I never saw such bad roads. The streames were so high that they had to be swam if crossed. But it is very pleasant now. This is one of the most beautiful days that I ever saw. The sun shines bright, the air is pure, my body feels strong.
Tomorrow in company with George Tower I shal go up the east branch of the Seder (Cedar) river some twelve miles for the purpos of looking at the country before I make up my mind whear to setle. Mest weak I intend to go up the mane branch of the Seder River some thirty or forty miles and then on the Shelrock River some twenty miles west of Seder.
- - - This is a new cuntrey but time will make an oald cuntrey as it makes us oald. What mater whether it be an oald or a new cuntrey - contentment is all. This makes one happy. - - - This little village some two years oald has some twenty houses in it. There is three large houses building in the place and lots of small ones. I think it will be a smart town in a few years."
Letter - June 1 - 1854: " - - - Their stands in the road in front of the barn four covered wagons with movers bound west up the Seder and the Shelrock rivers. You can see morestrangers here in one day that you would with you in one year, all hunting for homes. This country is settling verry fast. It mite be settles as thick as Wheatland in a short time. - - - Inhabitance most of them from the East, New York and New England, is largely represented hear, some from the South. There is a school in this place with some sixty schollars and a prospect of a large town someday. - - - Oald Rock and Charley (his horses) are wel they send their best repects to you. They are out in the pasture today. - - - There is not the least danger of their jumping over the outside fence for the one is the Atlantcik and the other the Pasifick. - - "
Letter - June 22 - 1854: " - - - Since I came to this state I have when the weather would permit spent moast of the time in looking at the cuntry; I want to finde a place that sutes me. When I make another home I want to make it for life. - - - -You wish to know when I will come back. I will come as soon as it is consistent. You must not be unesy I shall come if life is spared to me. I want to see you but we must be reasonable. When you come hear I want you to come and be comfortable. - - - -Thousands come here and suffer very much, they come unprepared, come before they have a place to lay their heades, they have to live in their wagons and lay on the ground. - - - - Imigration has been verey great this year to this state. You have know idea what a number of strangers there is in this state. Thousands are coming and will continue to come till this state is filed up. - - - - I think I shall be one of the number. - - - "
Letter - July 5 - 1854: - "- - - For the last three weeks it has been the hottest weather I ever saw this season of the year. It has fairly prostrated me. I have not done much since hot weather commensed, I could not. - - - - I have often wished that I was in your front room with the doors and windows open and fresh breeze blowing on me from the lake. - - - - I often think of that old rocking chair and seated in it with you on my lap, your arm around my neck, your cheek against mine and the sweet kiss impressed on my cheek. I wish I had one now. I would give one in return loved one, but we must wait a little longer. - - -
I have maid up my mind to stay in this country - today I have bought a peace of property in this state. It is in the village of St. Charles 15 miles northwest from Bradford in the county of Floid (Floyd). You have been anxious for me to buy some property here. I have done it. I think the reason you had for wishing me to buy here was the fear of my going to California. I do not think I shall go there at present dear one. - - - Your friend Sarah Grifeth lives thirty miles from this place in Rock Grove in Floid County. Her faterh is building a mil in the grove. There is a great excitement in this part of the state at the present. Theres about 800 Indians at Clear Lake at the present time and at Rock Grove the families have gathered into one hous for difence at the difrent points. The whites, about twenty-fice at Clear Lake, sent out for help. About one hundred have gone to their relief. Folks threw this county are badly scairt. - - - - - The name of the Indians is the Sues (Sioux) they have killed one Winabago that they found at Clear Lake. - - - "
Letter - July 6 - 1854: - - - "Time flys fast, you are thought of often and always with love. - - - My thoughts are in Wheatland, they are with you. How often I have drawn you to my breast and imprinted a sweet kiss on your lips and cheek. I hope to repeat the same love token often again if nothing happens this fall. - - - - The second month of summer comes. It will soon be gone then comes the falling leaves - with them the chil blasts. - - - - I have not written to Oliver (Isadora's brother) yet but will as soon as I am settled as to what business I shall follow. When you write to him give him my compliments I should like to hear from him and see him. He could get wages in this country. Carpenters and Joiners get twelve shillings a day here and a great call for them at present, but lumber is scarce. - - -"
Letter - July 29 - 1854: "- - - If nothing happens tomorrow I shall start from St. Charles a few miles from hear. I may go to Clear Lake some 60 miles from hear before I return. - - - - I shall be home sometime in September. God willing, perhaps before, I am anxious to see you but shall not come till I have looked this country threw to my satisfaction. When I settle down I mean to make it a perminant home. I want Oliver when he comes home, if it is before I return, to stay at home until I return. If I settle west I want him to settle with me. We should be lonesome if there is not some of our friends with us. Price is homesick bad, I think he will be home soon. I pity anyone that is homesick. - - - - I have seen many of your sex sit down and have a harty cry for their home that they left. I hope that if it should be your lot to some west you will not be homesick. Many a lonesome hour have I passed among strangers here. If you had been with me I think it would have been different. One cause of my lonesomeness here