CLARK ANCESTORS By Lloyd J. Stohler

The Clark Ancestors of Lloyd J. Stohler

And their Madison County Relation

In the early decades of its development

In the State of Indiana and

As a State of the United States

My ancestor Clarke family came to Albermarle Sound, North Carolina. There were two immigrant brothers: Goshen, my ancestor, and Cornelius. Both brothers settled in Pasquotank County near Elizabeth City in Elizabeth Township. A grove of trees near Elizabeth City is still known as the “Clarke Grove”, named after Goshen. The exact date and port of entry they entered, I do not know; but they are both included in the 1790 First Census.

Family legend spells the surname as C-l-a-r-k-e. I possess a reproduction of a letter written by Winfield Scott that states the Scott families and Clarke families came to Pasquotank County from Scotland originally, and that all the old men were sailors before settling in North Carolina.

My great-great Grandfather, Barnabus Clarke, appears in the early censuses of North Carolina, and in the 1840 census in Indiana with the surname spelled Clarke.

Goshen Clarke, father of Barnabus, was my immigrant ancestor of my Mother, and his wife was Sallie Pritchard. They were the parents of eight children, and I am a descendant of their son, Barnabus, born 31 July 1783.

Goshen was a sailor and worked on boats between Elizabeth City, Charleston, Savannah, the West Indies, and South America. Goshen bought a farm in Pasquotank County near Elizabeth City.

As a young man, Barnabus was a sailor and he was captured by the British Navy and held a prisoner for about six months during the United States and British War of 1812.

Barnabus Clarke married Nancy Scott, and she was born 18 April 1784. They had nine children. One boy, Selbia Harvey Clarke, born 12 June 1809, is my Great Grandfather. I am fortunate to possess his old family Bible.

Selbia came to Indiana when a young man. He obtained a marriage license at Wayne Circuit Court, Wayne County, Indiana, to marry Sarah Anne Davis, 16 April 1831. They were married by Joseph Curtis, Justice of the Peace, 17th day of April 1831. They settled in Adams Township, Madison County, Indiana. I do not know whether they returned from Madison County to Wayne County in order to obtain their marriage license or possibly the marriage took place on their way to Madison County. However, the Davis family of Sarah Anne also settled in Adams Township, Madison County. Selbia found employment in building some of the early canals in Indiana.

The parents of Selbia, Barnabus and Nancy (Scott) Clarke, came to Indiana in the early 1830 years and settled in Adams Township, Madison County. Many of their children came with them. Also several brothers and sisters of Barnabus came to Adams Township, Madison County.

Ephriam Clarke, son of Cornelius, moved his family from North Carolina to Madison County. Likewise many Scott relatives of Nancy came to Madison County.

Selbia and Sarah Anne were parents of fourteen children. One son was Francis Marion, born 29 January 1849. He married Mary Magdalene Hoppes 19 June 1860. My Mother, Mary Anne, was their daughter, and was born in Madison County 21 January 1875.

Barnabus and Selbia purchased land in Adams Township Madison County. Barnabus purchased a farm ½ mile south of New Columbus beginning at the Pee Wee Cemetery and west about ½ mile. Selbia purchased land north and east of New Columbus located about 3 ½ miles directly north of Markleville.

The old Cox Farm, west of New Columbus, is the location of the Jackson Cemetery. Barnabus and Nancy were buried there. Also Thamar, wife of Cornelius, and members or other Clark families, Cullipher families, Michael families, and Sexton families. In recent years, a man by the name of Wellington bought the ground because in contained a good deposit of gravel. He proceeded to open a deep trench, and buried the bones of the occupants and their memorial stones in the trench and covered them all with dirt. My wife, daughter mary, and a second cousin, Walther Stohler. Visited this cemetery about 196?. Only two children’s memorial stones were left: that of James H. Cullipher, son of James and Jeanette Cullipher, and the stone of the infant son of Sylvester and Polly (Mary) Clark.

Selbia and Sarah Anne were the parents of fourteen children. Barney, the eldest child, was blind most of his life and spent much of his lifetime in darkness. He could distinguish night from day. He lived much of his adult life in the home of his brother, Robert Henry Clark. Robert had installed ropes to the barn and other buildings, which Barney could follow. Barney was born 27 ?? 1832, and died 14 December 1912. Robert Henry was born 26 September 1853. Robert Henry gave ground to Adams Township from his farm for the purpose of erecting a school. It became the site for Allen Bethel School where I later was enrolled for eight years.

A son, Jesse, born 13 May 1847, died as a small boy 11 November 1849.

Son Joseph, born 25 July 1839, served in the Union Army in the Civil War, in Company B, 130th Regiment. He was captured by the Confederate Army, held a prisoner and almost starved. His health was destroyed and he died 24 January 1865. He had married a neighbor girl, Sarah A. Little, but died childless.

Son Samuel, born 2 February 1841, served in the Union Army in the Civil War in Company K, 8th Regiment.

Son George Washington Clark, born 22 October 1843, served in the Union Army in the Civil War. He returned from the war with his lungs damaged from weather exposure and he never regained robust health. He married Parmelia Comer 1 November 1868 and became a successful farmer on land purchased northwest of Florida Station. Prior to his death, they had a family and some of the original farm belongs to descendants. He died 2 February 1865.

Sarah Anne (Davis) Clark and Selbia Clark are buried in the Capp Cemetery in Adams Township, Madison County. Their children buried near them are: Jesse, Barney, Joseph and Harriett. Harriett was born 14 December 18?? and died 11 July 1896. She was never married.

The Bethel Baptist congregation was formed (cannot decipher next word) from immigrants to Adams Township from North Carolina. In 1836 Selbia Clark was a Trustee when a log cabin Church was built about three miles north of Markleville. Other Trustees were Jackson Judd and James Ellison. Later the congregation built a frame Church house 26 feet by 36 feet in 1853. Afterward the Church members disagreed so strongly over some matters that the Church ceased to exist in 18862. The building has been removed from its site for many, many years.

After the passage of some time many members of the above Baptist Church regrouped and formed a new Church congregation. In time they built a new Church on a site of the northwest corner of Road 300 East and Road 200 South in Union Township, Madison County. It assumed the name Clern Chapel. The Selbia Clark family affiliated with this Church. It was a member of a conference known as “Church of God”. This was a Church founded by an American clergyman, John Winebrenner. He had been ordained a minister of the German Reformed Church in 1820. He was called as pastor of the Salem Church in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. His outspoken attitude against slavery and the traffic in intoxicating drink led to a request that he withdraw from the Reformed Church. In 1828 he ceased to be connected with the Reformed Church. In 1830 he established the denomination called the “Church of God”, whose members also became known as” Winebrenners”. Also for some time he edited the “Gospel Publisher”, afterward the “Church Advocate”. Three ordinances were recognized: Baptism by immersion in an open stream of water, the Lord (one whole line is unintelligible) with the “Church of God” that established headquarters in Anderson, Indiana. There were other Winebrenner sisters Churches in Central Indiana that I recall: 1) Clern near Anderson; 2) near Logansport; 3) in Newcastle; and 4) Chicago (?) Corner, which is south and west of Millersville, Indiana in H??? County. It is about midway between Newcastle and Hagerstown on State Road 38.

A family legend, that I have never attempted to verify, connects our family ancestors in Scotland to the family of General George Rogers Clarke. The parents of George Rogers Clarke were John Clarke and Anne Rogers. They purchased a farm about two miles east of Charlottesville, Albermarle County, Virginia. The farm was adjoining to the boyhood home of Thomas Jefferson. George Rogers Clarke was an elder brother of William Clarke who accompanied Merriwether Lewis to the Pacific on the Lewis and Clarke Expedition across the uncharted continent. They wert at the request of President Jefferson. Merriwether Lewis was born near Charlottesville. Three of the early Presidents of the United States have memorial homes maintained near Charlottesville: Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and James Monroe.

The distance between Charlottesville, Virginia, and Elizabeth City, North Carolina, was not prohibitive to travel even in Colonial Days.

Clarke County, Virginia, still used the spelling Clarke, and it was named after George Rogers Clarke in Indiana, Kentucky, and in the Midwest the name is spelled C-l-a-r-k. Our family no longer adds the letter “e”. George Rogers was never married and left no descendants.

The last farm my Grandfather, Francis Clark, owned was about one and one quarter miles north of my homestead land one half mile west to the nearest line. He owned several hundred acres of land along the Scatterfield Road. The buildings were just south of the “T” junction, where Road 400 begins at the west terminal and runs east to Middletown. This farm was located beginning less than one mile north of Alliance. My great Grandfather Stohler owned 240 acres of land that included all of the Alliance area. Alliance was not founded until after the railroad to Rushville was constructed in 1893.

Transfer date 24 July 1902, my Father, Ollie Stohler, purchased 39 acres of land in Adams Township from John Franklin, and on the same date, a40 acres of land from Martin Wisehart. The total purchase price was $2,570.00. I was born in the home on this form, the third child and third son of Ollie Stohler and Mary Anne (Clark) Stohler. My eldest brother was named Clark, born 15 June 1899, and the middle brother was Orville, born 3 May 1903. Theodore Roosevelt had been elected President of the U.S.A. in November prior to my birth in December.

Agriculture was the leading occupation of Indiana at this time, and this was the rewarding occupation of my parents. Corn and hogs were the big income producers from our family farm. Other animals we produced on the farm were horses, cows and sheep. Fowls were chickens, ducks, geese, and turkeys grown for home consumption and for sale.

The land was level when purchased, but some of it was un-cleared, virgin ground and some ditching was necessary to drain out low spots. Corn, wheat, rye, barley, oats and hay were the leading farm crops. My father purchased an adjoining 81 acres of land a few years after purchasing the original 79 acres, so the labor was fairly utilized of my Father and we three brothers. Horses served as the beast of burden in cultivating, planting, and harvesting of crops. The horses and a team of mules pulled our bussies, carriages, wagons, and any other road vehicle.

The ten leading manufacturing industries in Indiana at this time ranked as follows: slaughtering and meat packing, flour and grist milling, lumber and timber products, liquor, iron and steel products, foundry and machine shop processing, carriages and wagons manufactured, glass, railroad cars, and clothing.

Coal, limestone, natural gas, oil, clay, sand and gravel were products mined in Indiana. The natural gas boom in east central Indiana brought manufacturing to Alexandria, Anderson, Elwood, and Pendleton. Natural gas was excellent prime fuel for the glass industry. May people are now collectors of the early glass produced in the area.

Indiana had about 6,600 miles of steam railroad lines in 1900. There were many gravel roads constructed for horse drawn vehicles. The advent and popular acceptance of automobiles stimulated improvement and hard surfacing of the streets and highways. Later came the horse drawn rail car followed by the electric cars which brought into existence the Interurban cars. I believe the first Interurban in Indiana was between Anderson and Alexandria, and it could have been the first in the U.S.A.

Telegraph and telephones were widely used in 1903. Many rural homes did not have telephones because of a lack of transmission lines. Many small user-owned telephone exchanges were formed by the various villages and communities. Service was performed free of charge by stock holders.

Free common schools offering eight grades of schooling were the only schools in Adams Township, Madison County, in 1903. The school year opened in September and closed in March. This made the pupils available for agricultural labor in the most advantageous season of the year. The rural school building provided one room, which was utilized for recitation, study, opening exercises, and punishment. A pot-bellied stove furnished heat in the winter.

Protestant churches provided the only Churches in Adams Township, Madison, County. Leading Protestant denominations were Methodist, Baptist, Lutheran, Dunkard, and Christian (Diciples of Christ), The Clern Church, located in Union Township, a congregation belonging to the Winebrenners, was our family Church.

As I recall my youth, labor and thrift were exalted virtues. Government, at all levels, existed to provide order and protection. Anyone applying to the Township Trustee for poor relief was considered to be indolent and shiftless. Any use of alcoholic beverages and card playing was considered wicked by my parents and was a no-no.

In 1908 the limited states gave France $1,000,000 in settlement of their claim to right-of-way for a Panama Canal. Our Federal Government pushed the project through to completion. In 1908 tunnels were opened under the Hudson River connecting New York and New Jersey. The first aviation fatality in the United States occurred to Lieutenant Selfridge, U.S. Army, who was killed and Orville Wright injured, in the fall of the inventors aeroplane of Fort Meyer. A penny postage rate for letters was inaugurated between the United States and Great Britain.

In 10-0 Commander Robert E. Perry visited the North Pole. Orville Wright made a successful flight that resulted in the governments’ acceptance of his machine.

After the crop harvest in the summer of 1909, Uncle Marcus Clark and his wife, Nettie, and their son, Howard, my Father, Mother, two brothers and I traveled by train to visit relatives near Corbin, Kansas. Later we visited Colorado Springs, Colorado. We returned through Nebraska and visited other relatives at York.

In 1910 brought the incorporation of Boy Scouts of America. The first Boy Scout Troop was organized in England in 1906.

In September of 1910 I enrolled in Allen Bethel Public School. Ward Gray Biddle was the teacher of all eight grades. Later he was to become Vice President and Treasurer of Indiana University.

My grandfather, Francis Clark, had a grove of Maple trees. Each February the trees were tapped, he gathered spigots, buckets, a sled with mounted barrels in which the sugar water was gathered. He had constructed a building with variable size vats installed in order to boil the water and move it from the beginning vat through to the finishing vat where the product became either syrup or sugar, depending upon which was desired.

Another group of useful machines was the equipment he owned to process wool and flax. He owned a carding machine, coiling machines to coil the thread, a machine to form the coils of yarn into a skein, spinning wheels, and a weaving press to interface the thread or yarn into cloth. I recall the winter evenings when my Mother and Aunt wove rag rugs. Most of these machines had foot treadles and the operator furnished the power.

Grandfather Clark had a large orchard with many varieties of apples, pears, and peaches. He had a few apricot trees and some quince trees. He grew many berries including strawberries, blackberries, black raspberries, red raspberries, gooseberries and currants. My father had orchards and gardens that contained most of the same fruit and berries except we had no apricots or quince. We had an additional berry: dewberries.

My eight years of common grade schooling were all attended at Allen Bethel. My four years of High School were in Markleville High School; and my four years of advanced education were taken at Indiana University, where I was awarded a Batchelor of Science degree from the School of Commerce and Finance in the Class of 1927.

After one year at Indiana University, I wrote on a state examination with the objective of obtaining a license to teach school. This was in the summer of 1923. I passed the examination and was granted a license to teach common school grades. In the school year of 1923 and 1924 I taught the 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th grades at Halford or Hamilton, Indiana. This was a consolidated school about five miles west of Anderson out the Eighth Street Road in Jackson Township.

During spring vacation of my senior year at Indiana University, I visited Delco-Remy Division of General Motors Corporation at Anderson, with the objective of receiving a promise of employment. I did not receive a promise, but was invited to return to the employment department upon receiving my sheepskin from Indiana University.

In June of 1927, I received a BS degree and again applied at Delco-Remy for employment, I was given employment beginning June 15, 1927.

My employment with General Motors was almost completely spent in various assignments in the Financial Departments of two divisions: Delco-Remy and Allison. September 1, 1942, I was transferred from Delco-Remy to Allison Division. The Allison Division was rapidly expanding at this time in order to meet the demand for the only American designed engine with a high horsepower rating.

I retired from Allison December 31, 1967. After about twenty months of retirement, I was invited to prepare a cost study for the Business Manager of APA.

After retiring from APA, I have done no work for remuneration. I have helped some years in The United Way campaign by arranging for speakers and promotional materials when requested for meetings in industry, business groups, professional groups, etc.

Also, I have conducted audits of books maintained by Red Cross Chapters in central Indiana. I did audits at Spencer, Greencastle, Franklin, Rushville, and other locations.

I have helped withdraw the night deposit and prepare the funds for deposit at the band on Mondays for Third Christian Church. I am a member of this Church.

In writing about my Stohler family, I tried to tell of those items concerning my marriage, my family, organizations in which I held membership and something about the assignments and work I did in my years of employment. I do not consider it necessary to repeat that information which is already included in the Stohler family record.

Contributed by Sarah A. Jones

CLARK GENEALOGY By J. N. Keesling (1928)

Source: North Carolina Bible Records – Compiled by Wilma Cartwright Spence and Edna Morrisette Shannonhouse (1973).

SOME MEMORIES OF THE CARTER FAMILY – By Sarah Frances Carter

SOME MEMORIES OF THE CARTER FAMILY

(By Sarah Frances Carter, daughter of W.K.’s 4^th wife)

My father, William Kennedy Carter, was born in 1850 (I don’t have the date).

He was married four times.

His first wife, Victoria, presented him with four children: Spencer, Jack, Thomas, and Lenora.

His second wife*, whose name I have forgotten, died during childbirth, only two years or less after her marriage. The child died also.

The third wife, Eliza, bore seven children: Annie, Emma, Jess, George, James, Nixon, and Daniel.

His forth wife, Mary Elizabeth, also bore seven: Sarah, Claud, Katie, Leslie, Melvin, Mattie, and Calvin.

Papa was an undertaker, and his funeral home was on the same property as our house. He had three hearses: a large, black, very ornate one for adults (which was pulled by two magnificent coal black horses); a gray one for young people (pulled by a beautiful gray horse); and a pretty white hearse for children (pulled by a white horse). To me, they made an awesome sight, as the horses stepped majestically away, bearing the bodies of the departed ones to church or home for the funeral. In about an hour, they would pass our home, followed by a long procession of mourners, on the way to the cemetery. It was a very sad business, and I do not wonder that our father, W.K.C., needed to keep close to the Lord for strength and help.

In later years, he bought an “automobile hearse” after he had tried driving in our first car.

When I was about five years old (1910), Papa bought his first car. Until that exciting event happened, the family traveled by buggy or “surrey”. This was a two seated vehicle with no canopy nor protection of any kind from bad weather. We rode with “lap-robes” over our knees because of the dust kicked up by the horses on the dirt roads. This was fine in good weather, but if a sudden rain storm came up, we had to seek shelter anywhere we could find it.

But after Papa bought the car, things changed. Now, when we went several miles to rural churches, or to visit relatives, Papa drove the car. It was a one cylinder car, and had to be cranked to make it start (which was a long process). I recall once when Papa took me with him to a rural church, almost the whole congregation came out to see him crank the car. Very few people owned cars at that time, so they were quite a novelty.

This car was rather odd. It had an enclosed seat and a platform on the back which was useful for hauling things. Resourceful Papa built a removable wooden seat for the platform, which accommodated three kids. We enjoyed this, riding in the wind and seeing the sights without being checked on by our parents.

One Sunday, we took off for a trip of about 20 miles, so Mama packed a little basket of snacks for us in case we kids became hungry. I held the basket, and as we began to get hungry, I opened it just as the car hit a terrible bump in the road, scattering some of the precious snacks. I had to cover the basket quickly, lest it should happen again.

Sometimes the car got stuck on muddy roads, and Papa would have to trudge to a nearby farm to find a farmer who would bring his horses and pull us out.

In the city, we lived only a few blocks from our church, so we walked. I remember one Sunday a rainstorm came up while we were at church. Papa had brought an umbrella, which he held over Mama and the baby in her arms. Katie and I walked just behind them (supposedly under the protection of the umbrella). But we were just under the edge, and the rain poured off on our heads when it came over the edge.

Eventually, Papa bought a large car, a “seven passenger” which seated the whole family comfortably, and the old car was retired. Now when a heavy rain occurred on our trips, we just fastened on the curtains all around the car, and we were quite cozy.

One Sunday, an older brother and his family dined with us, and after dinner, we all piled in the big car for a drive. After we were all wedged in, and on our way, my youngest brother (about a year old) could not be found! We finally located him between Mama and the daughter-in-law, completely covered by their long, full skirts! Understandably, the car suffered some broken springs that day.

We children walked the eight blocks to school, but when rain came up during the day, Papa sent one of his employees to pick us up, while the other students watched enviously.

As the years went by, the stress and strain of the funeral home began to tell on Papa, and he was apparently headed for a breakdown. The doctor advised him to move to the country and spend as much time out of doors as he could. He bought a 92 acre farm, and tilled the ground, with the help of his children, who were growing up. Several horses were needed here, for plowing and harrowing. My sister Katie loved them and enjoyed riding them bareback. But I was afraid of them, and it was only when they were hitched to a plow or harrow that I dared approach them and drive them, with fear and trembling, up and down the field.

John, a frisky young bay, enjoyed teasing me at times. One day, he stopped in the middle of a row and refused to go on. I slapped him with the reins, and yelled at him, but he continued to stand stock still and refused to go on. He looked back at me, seemingly amused, and his expression said, “Make me.” Finally, I called Papa from another part of the field. He came, and just looked John in the eye and said quietly, “Go on John.” Respectfully, John went. Papa had a wonderful way with horses. I felt that he not only understood them, but they understood him. They respected him and obeyed him. All except Dynamite

We never understood why he kept this mean, uncooperative horse, unless it was to break his obstinate, evil spirit, and teach him to be cooperative. We kids were afraid of Dynamite. He loved to run down anyone he saw, so we tried to keep out of his way. He ran down Mattie one day, and it was only by God’s mercy that she was not hurt. Papa gave him a terrible beating for that. One day, I was trying to harrow a piece of land with him, and he was so ornery and rebellious that I had to call Papa, who tied him under a tree for the day. He had to watch the other horses go to their meal, while he had none.

A nearby neighbor who had treated Papa very badly, asked him one day for a loan of a horse for a few hours. To my delight, he loaned him Dynamite, who was probably the only horse that could be spared. We kids went to an upstairs window to watch the fun, as he hitched Dynamite to a plow. Of course the stubborn horse would not go one step, in spite of the lashing and yelling that our profane neighbor dished out to him. So Dynamite was brought back, and we kids celebrated the event by laughing and dancing around because our ornery neighbor “got his”.

Papa depended on Maude, the oldest of the horses for his heaviest work. There seemed to be a special bond between them. She always seemed to be so understanding and helpful that I never minded working with her. When Papa died, a very strange thing happened. She refused to eat from that day on and she herself died a few days later. As no one had noticed anything wrong with her before, we wondered if it could be connected to Father’s death. Was this a coincidence? Horse instinct? Or did she just miss him? We will never know.

Papa was most kind and understanding with everyone. One could not help appreciating and responding to this. He seldom punished us, and when he felt that it was necessary, he did it with tears, seeming to feel each stroke of the whip himself. This made more impression of the culprit than the chastisement, and made for better behavior in the future.

Papa’s business was very time consuming and wearisome. But he always made time to be a devoted husband and a loving father to his children. He never missed morning devotions before breakfast, when he read the Bible and prayed with us and for us. No matter how long he was delayed by his business, we had to wait for breakfast. No devotions, no breakfast, regardless of the delicacies Mama had prepared. I did not then understand the vast importance of this, but I do now. I can still remember some of the things Papa read to us, and the prayers he made.

Papa was a very efficient man. In addition to his funeral home, he had a blacksmith shop where he repaired axles and wagon wheels and other farm equipment. He had a gun shop where he repaired guns and pistols. He installed lightning rods on houses. He seemed able to correct any problem known to man!

He even pulled our teeth when it was necessary, so we did not have to go to a dentist!

Papa never said much about his ancestors, so we never had much information. I think he felt that it did not matter where we came from, but that the important thing is where we are going when we leave this world. I remember just once hearing him speak about this. We were gathered around the big fireplace where we sang hymns together, roasted oysters, and popped corn.

Papa told us about his great, great, great uncle; Harvey Chase, who was very wealthy. We later deducted that he was from Wales, as the Carters came here from England. Evidently, Chase was uncle to Papa’s maternal great, great grandmother. She, with her husband, apparently came to America in the 1700s before the Revolutionary War. When Chase died, she should have inherited his millions. But in the meantime, her husband had died, soon after they came to America, so as she had no one to plead her cause, and knew not how to do it herself, Chase’s wealth went to the government. I was quite small when Papa told us about this, and had no interest then, in places and dates. But I don’t think Papa knew too much about it himself. This tells us little about the Carters, just that the great, great, grandmother was married to one. I never heard his name.

In later years, I learned that we were descended from Robert “King” Carter, considered the richest man in Colonial Virginia, the owner of Carter’s Grove plantation near Colonial Williamsburg, and Shirley Plantation, 18 miles from Richmond, Virginia; since 1723.

Anne Hill Carter, wife of “Light Horse” Harry Lee, and mother of General Robert E. Lee, was born at Shirley. Our cousin, Frank Carter, offered the information that King Carter was our ancestor, but I don’t know where he got his information. And we can’t ask him for he died many years ago. I am sure you have already examined all the records available about the Carters, so there’s little I can add.

Papa was a kind man always ready to help others. He was very understanding. He knew how to relate to the sorrows of others and comfort them. He was very generous. He gave liberally to the church, and also to those in need. Once he buried a poor man free and gave his widow $100. He was certainly not wealthy as undertakers must be today. Funerals were cheap in those days, and also, Papa did not demand immediate payments for his services, but trusted people to pay him when they were able. Consequently people owed him large sums of money which he never received. He was gentle, not forcing his opinions on anyone. But people were won by his gentle, loving ways, and respected his opinions. He was a happy man, and his joy was contagious, for it was based on his faith and love for the Lord. He was a patient man, putting up with our mistakes and helping us to do better “next time”.

Papa lived to be about 75 years old. When he died, I felt that my world had come to an end. But Katie, my youngest sister, comforted me. She said, “Papa always said that God would take care of us, and I believe He will.” And thank God, He always has.

What a wonderful legacy!

Contributed by Betty Sanders Lanier.

*NOTE – The second wife of William K. Carter whose name Sarah Frances Carter could not recall was Isadora Davis of Perquimans County, North Carolina. Isadora was the daughter of Sanford Davis and his wife, Elizabeth Nichols. –Susan Griffin