Tombstone Tuesday - Frances (Freeland) Carter

This stone is pretty weathered and hard to read but it marks the grave of Frances Freeland who married Dr. Timothy Carter on July 7, 1793 in Sutton, Massachusetts. She and Dr. Timothy came to Bethel in 1799. Her husband had studied medicine under her father, Dr. James Freeland, a Revolutionary War surgeon. Dr. Timothy Carter became the first doctor in Bethel. I wrote about them and their journey to Maine in a previous post. Frances was the daughter of James & Mehitable (Mellen) Freeland. She was born on September 4, 1771 in Sutton, Massachusetts and died November 14, 1815 in Bethel, Maine. 

Dr. Timothy Carter and Frances, or Fanny as she was called (and is recorded on her headstone), were my 4th great-grandparents and had the following children:

Rev. Lawson Carter 1793-1868 - Findagrave memorial
Galen Carter 1795-1870
James Freeland Carter 1797-1840
Timothy Jarvis Carter 1805-1838 - blog post about his death - Congressman from ME
Luther Cullen Carter 1805-1875 - Findagrave memorial - Congressman from NY
Frances Carter 1809-1902
Elias Mellen Carter 1811-1880 - My 3rd great-grandfather

She is buried in the Middle Intervale Cemetery, on Intervale Rd. in Bethel, Maine. This cemetery is located behind a meetinghouse built in 1816. For much of my life, the meetinghouse was in the possession of the Carter family. When the upkeep became too much, the family donated it to the Middle Intervale Meetinghouse Association. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1998. 

Elias M. Carter married Rebecca Williamson, an Irish immigrant. Their son, Augustus Mellen Carter married Mary Frances Abbott. Their son, Edward Mellen Carter married Fanny May Capen. Their son, Thomas Richard Carter, was my grandfather.