Wordless Wednesday - Portraits of Dr. Timothy & Lydia (Russell) Carter

Dr. Timothy Carter

Lydia (Russell) Carter

Dr. Timothy Carter is my 4th great-grandfather. Lydia Russell was his second wife and not in my direct line. These portraits hang in the Brick End House in Bethel, Maine. This house was built by Dr. Timothy and is occupied by my cousin, John Carter, the 7th generation to live there. 

Dr. Timothy Carter

Elias Mellen Carter

Augustus Mellen Carter

Edward Mellen Carter

T. Richard Carter - my grandfather

The Carter Homestead - 52 Ancestors #25 Dr. Timothy Carter

The Carter Family Farm/Middle Intervale Farm

In 1799, Dr. Timothy Carter and his wife, Frances (Freeland), made the trek from Massachusetts to Maine. They settled in Bethel in an area, along the Androscoggin River, known as Middle Intervale. There they built "The Brick End House" and a farm on land that later encompassed a meetinghouse across the road and another house on the other side of the barnyard. These four buildings are my family homestead. All but the meetinghouse have been in my family for seven generations. My cousin John lives in the Brick End House now and his father, my Uncle Timmy, lives in the other house. In the late 1970s, the meetinghouse was turned over to the local historical society and was renovated, in keeping with the period. 

Aunt Becky & friend in front of the Brick End House
Notice the long shed that at one time connected a stable
and then connected to the barn. 

View of the barn and the other house - taken
from the pasture and cornfield across the road

The old barn and stable

When I was very young, my parents and I lived in the house with the green roof and my grandparents lived in the Brick End House. Later we moved away from the farm and my grandparents moved into the house on the left and my uncle and his family lived in the Brick End House. Still, this place has always felt the most like home.

                                      

                                   The Middle Intervale Meetinghouse

The meetinghouse and cemetery

Meetinghouse sign

The meetinghouse from the front
I have many relatives buried in the cemetery

The Brick End House

Not sure of the date on this picture 

Sometime in the 1970s

Me in front of the Brick End House

The massive stand of lilac bushes, roof of my
grandparents' house & view of the Brick End House 

My Grandparents' House

 

My grandparents' house
approaching on the road

Closer and in summer

I always loved these beautiful
doors - Back: Me & my sister, Lorna
Front: Cousins Becky & John 

The old stone steps - notice that the height varied
from step to step

  Other pictures around the farm

Back of the barn

Me and my cousin, Nancy
on Patches

Grammie's Flowers

The Sand Pasture

The Brook

Seated: Gus Carter holding his daughter, Ann, Fanny (Capen) Carter holding Teddy (son of Gus & Dora, Dick Carter holding sons, Timmy and Tommy
Standing: Stanley Carter, Becky Carter, Paul Carter, Frances Carter, Dora (wife of Gus), Lyndell (wife of Dick)

Fanny (Capen) Carter was the mother of Gus, Rebecca, Dick, Stanley, and Paul. Frances Carter was her sister-in-law who never married. Fanny's husband, Edward, was killed in 1922. She raised her children on the farm. 

Dr. Timothy & Frances (Freeland) Carter

Elias Mellen & Rebecca (Williamson) Carter

Augustus Mellen & Mary Frances (Stanley) Carter

Edward Mellen & Fanny (Capen) Carter

T. Richard "Dick" & Fern Lyndell (Cotton) Carter

Timothy & Jodi (Reue) Carter

John Richard Carter - current owner/operator of the farm

The Brick End House - 52 Ancestors #14

 This week's optional prompt for the 52 ancestors in 52 weeks challenge is to post a favorite picture and tell the story. I had such a hard time picking a picture. While going through the pictures, I found one of my grandfather, Thomas Richard Carter (1914-2005) and one of me. We are both standing in front of the home built by the first Carter in Bethel. I decided to choose the house as the subject and include more than one picture. 

Thomas Richard Carter - my grandfather, probably about age 7, standing in front of the home built by Dr. Timothy Carter, his second great-grandfather. Middle Intervale, Bethel, Maine. This home has been in my family for seven generations: Dr. Timothy Carter, Elias Mellen Carter, Augustus Mellen Carter, Edward Mellen Carter, Thomas Richard Carter (pictured above), Timothy Andrew Carter (my uncle), John Richard Carter (my cousin who currently resides in the Brick End House and runs the family farm). 

Me (Pamela Lyn Carter), probably about age 2, in front of the Brick End House

A better picture of the house itself. Dr. Timothy Carter and his wife, Frances (Freeland) Carter came to Bethel in 1799. He trained to be a doctor under his father-in-law, James Freeland, a surgeon in the Revolutionary War. He built this home and the meetinghouse across the road. He and Frances had seven children. The youngest was Elias Mellen Carter. After Frances died in 1815, Dr. Timothy married Lydia Russell and they had five more children.

Another view of the Brick End House. At one time, the shed connected to a stable and then to a large barn. The main part of the house has a kitchen, dining room, a small bedroom, and two parlors downstairs. Upstairs there are 4 large bedrooms, a bathroom, and my favorite spot, the window seat between two of the bedrooms. 

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. 

"We Consider Her Very Dangerous"

On August 5th, I received two letters written by my 3rd great-grandfather, Elias Mellen Carter. One was written to his brother, Timothy Jarvis Carter in 1832 and the other was written to Timothy's widow, Arabella (Rawson) Carter, daughter of Samuel & Polla (Freeland) Rawson in 1844. Timothy Jarvis Carter died in 1838 while serving in the House of Representatives. He had gone out of his mind when his close friend was killed in a duel just eighteen days before. You can read the news accounts of his decline and death in this post that I published in November 2012. This second letter sent me scrambling to figure out the identity of several people mentioned and added some detail to my family story. I have transcribed it as written - with the abbreviations, grammatical errors and misspellings preserved. Elias was known for his beautiful penmanship and hopefully you can see some of that in the photos of the letters.

Folded letter showing address

Text of letter

Close up of signature and handwriting

Outside of letter unfolded

Outside of folded paper
Ea Bethel Me
Nov 28

Mrs. Timo J. Carter
Paris Me

Inside of folded paper
East Bethel Nov 27 1844
Dear Sister Arabella,
I take a few moments this eve to inform you of the health of the friends in this neighborhood. As to Mother she is no better but is still runing down, and it is very doubtfull whither she ever gets well, the rest of Father's family are as well as usual, Sister Harriet and Octavia are still at my house, Harriet's helth is very good, you proverbly learnt something of Octavia's sickness from Mr Brown. We did not think her much sick until Sunday, and then she sat up some 2 or 3 hours but on her going to bed again she grew worse, and now we consider her very dangerous, so much so that I should not be surprised if she did not live till morning, the Docts think there is but a little chance of her recovery, and it is very uncertain whither Mother ever gets up again, but still she may. My family are in as good health as usual - in haste.
Your Brother
E.M. Carter

The first thing I had to explain was the reference to "Mother" because the mother of Timothy & Elias, Frances (Freeland) Carter, died in 1815, when Timothy was ten and Elias was just five years old. However, their father, Dr. Timothy Carter, remarried in 1818 and had five additional children. Both Dr. Timothy and his second wife, Lydia (Russell) Carter were still living in 1844. As seen in the letter, Lydia's health was failing and she passed away on December 5, 1844. Dr. Timothy would also pass away that winter on February 5, 1845.

Next , who were "Sister Harriet and Octavia"? I started tracing the siblings of Elias and Timothy Jarvis to find the answer. The answer was found in the family of their older brother, James Freeland Carter. James married Harriet Rawson, daughter of Ebenezer & Elizabeth (Taylor) Rawson. I haven't traced the Rawson family enough to find the connection between Arabella, wife of Timothy J. Carter and Harriet, wife of James F. Carter but I assume they are related in some way. James and Harriet had a daughter, Harriet Octavia Carter. She was called Octavia to distinguish her from her mother. James Freeland Carter died October 30, 1840 and his widow and daughter appear to be living with or on an extended visit to Elias Mellen's family.

Findagrave provided the rest of the story. I found a picture of the gravestone of James F. Carter and it included the information for his wife and daughter. A quick email to the photographer and I gained permission to share the photo here. As seen on the gravestone, Octavia did die the day after the letter was written, probably during the night based on the concern expressed in the letter. Her condition was correctly assessed as "very dangerous" and within a week, Lydia (Russell) Carter was also dead.

Photo taken by Ken Oliver and posted on Findagrave

Puzzles unsolved - the causes of death of Octavia, Lydia, and Dr. Timothy. I'd love to find a death certificate for Timothy Jarvis Carter. He was only 38 when he died and having delusions that someone had challenged him to a duel (according on one newspaper account). I wonder if he took his own life, had a heart attack, or stroke brought on by the extreme stress after his friend was killed in the duel.

Thanksgiving in Paris?

Last week, I wrote about winning an Ebay auction of letters written by my 3X great-grandfather, Elias Mellen Carter. Here is the transcription and some context for the oldest of the two letters. I have retained the spelling of the original. 

Letter folded - no stamp - appears to have been hand delivered

Main text of letter - one line continued on the inside of the paper 

Wax remaining from seal on the letter

Date & signature of Elias Mellen Carter

Back or outside of paper
East Bethel Nov 19

Timo J Carter Esq.
Paris Me

Bethel Nov. 18, 1832   - Wax from seal

Front or inside of paper
East Bethel Nov 18, 1832

Dear brother,
Yours of the 13 came safe to hand in due time. I received one likewise by the hand of Capt. Hastings from you. As it respects the note for the colt, I called on Mr. Kimball and he got another of his sons to sign, which I suspose to be good for that amount, and I have made inquire and have been informed that the old man's note is good without any other security. I have likewise ben told that Virgin has settled up his affairs and that he is better off now than he was before and I have no doubt but what it is true. Father has not ben to Portland yet & I have not heard him say anything about going, but I should think he would not go till after sleighing.

I have consulted Frances about going to Paris to Thanksgiving and she has concluded to go if I do & if Father is willing and the going will permit I think we shall go, but it is very uncertain but should we not come then I come out before long. We are all well - in haste from your affectionate brother.
Mellen

Timo J Carter Esq.

Elias Mellen Carter is writing to his brother, Timothy Jarvis Carter. It sounds like this letter is in response to one from Timothy that was written on the 13th of the month. Elias was twenty-two years old and unmarried. Timothy J. Carter was six years older and had married, Harriet Rawson in 1828. They had a young son, Samuel Rawson Carter, born in 1829. Kimball and Hastings are two surnames of families who are among the earliest settlers of this area of Bethel. Virgin is a surname that is commonly found in the Rumford area, only a few miles away. The father of both men was Dr. Timothy Carter and his wife, Frances (Freeland) Carter. Their mother died when they were young and their step-mother was Lydia (Russell) Carter. In 1833, there were still five young children from the second marriage living at home, Lydia (age 10), Sarah (age 9), Abigail (age 8), Theodore (age 6), and Benjamin (age 1). The Frances referenced in the letter is the sister of both men. She was twenty-four and not yet married. She would marry Robert Chapman on March 28, 1833. She and Elias were the youngest children of Dr. Timothy & his first wife. While going to Paris for Thanksgiving sounds very exciting, the Paris referred to in the letter is Paris, Maine where Timothy J. and Arabella lived - a distance of about 21 miles. I wonder if the Bethel family made it to Paris for Thanksgiving.

East Bethel to Paris Hill