Remembering Tuolumne….

By TCMM Research Committee member,

Joseph Celentano

This month we will look at the Carter Family.

The following information is taken from the Memoirs and Genealogy of Representatives Citizens of Northern California published in 1901. As you read this, keep in mind this was before Tuolumne was even named.

"As long as the town of Carter stands it will be a monument to the enterprise and progressive spirit of Charles H. Carter, who is its pioneer businessman. He is still a prominent representative of its commercial interests, and its postmaster, having filled the position since the establishment of the office. He took up his abode in its present location in 1860, having already been a resident of California for eleven years.

"Mr. Carter was born in Cayuga County, New York, June 13, 1829, and is of English lineage.

"Great-grandfather Benjamin Carter I was born in New England. The grandfather also the same section of the country, but removed to Eastern New York, where Mr. Carter's father, the third Benjamin Carter, was born. The place of his nativity was Washington County.

"The third Benjamin Carter married Elizabeth Cole, a native of Rhode Island, and a daughter of a Revolutionary soldier. His son Benjamin Carter Jr. loyally served his country in the war of 1812. He lived to be more than eighty years of age. Throughout his active business career he was an industrious and well-to-do farmer. Both he and his wife were of the Presbyterian faith. They departed this life in the sixty-fifth year of her age, and only three of their eight children now survive.

"Charles H. Carter is the youngest of the surviving boys, having a younger sister. He acquired his education in Fulton Academy and in [the] Academy at Waterloo, but put aside his textbooks on learning of the discovery of gold in California. By the hope of rapidly acquiring wealth he was lured to the Pacific coast, sailing from New York to Panama. On its western coast he took passage on pacific waters for San Francisco, where he arrived on the first day of July 1849.

"He eagerly made his way to the gold diggings, going up to the Sacramento to the city of that name and thence to the mining district of the Feather River.

"Accordingly, he returned to Sacramento, where he spent the winter months and later engaged in mining at various places on the Trinity until 1858. He left that locality with about five thousand dollars that he had accumulated as the savings of his earnest labor.

"In that year, Mr. Charles H. Carter came to Tuolumne County and opened a mercantile establishment at Long Gulch, two miles south of his present location. Long Gulch has long since disappeared, only a few stone foundations are left to show where it once existed.

"Two years later he erected his present business block and residence, which formed the nucleus of the present town. Here he has continued for a period of 42 years and by close attention, unflagging industry, and persistency of purpose, he has built a large and constantly growing trade, the profits there from annually augmenting his capital. He has a very large store building, from garret to basement filled with all kinds of merchandise, including produce and miner's supplies.

"The Carters have a beautiful and commodious home, surrounded by magnificent trees of his own planting, including stately oaks that stand sentinel over his abode (and are still standing) casting a grateful shade over house and lawn.

"Mr. Carter also has valuable mining interests and is the owner of fifty acres of the Townsite, thirty acres of which he has platted, under the name of Carter's Addition. Here he is selling residence lots, and that section of the city is being built up with a good class of dwellings.

"In May, 1865 occurred the marriage of Mr. Charles H. Carter and Miss Sarah J. Crossett, a native of East New York and a daughter of Edward J. Crossett, who became one of the pioneer dentists of the state.

"Unto Mr. and Mrs. Carter have been born seven children, of whom four are still living, namely George G. and Woodard Truman who are capable business men and are now conducting their father's store. Their daughter Ida E. is a graduate of the State Normal School and is a teacher of ability in East Oakland, California. Their youngest daughter, Addie is at home with her parents.

"Mr. Carter is a member of the Baptist church, while he belongs to the Knights of the Maccabees and the Independent Order of Good Templars. His political support is given the Republican Party, and of its principle he is a staunch advocate, believing fervently in the policy, which has been followed through the past four years.

"He is one of the best preserved of the 49ers and has the appearance and vigor of a man many years his junior. His memory forms a link of the primitive past and the progressive future, and his labors have contributed in a large measure to the substantial development of the state, which attracted him to its boundaries more than half a century ago."

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The Carter Family donated the land for the Methodist Church and parsonage. (The Church burned in 1952--the parsonage was moved here from Morgan Chapel at Blanket Creek). They helped build the church and donated the huge bell that pleads for people to come to services and tolls always in their memory. (It was destroyed in the fire and two memorial bells have been put in its place.)

George Carter served as Justice of the Peace in Carter in the early 1900's. He married Miss Bessie Murray who was living in Oakland. He held a position at the Presido in San Francisco and passed away in December 1947.

Miss Ida Carter made her home in Berkeley, even after retirement and died about 1960.

Miss Addie Carter married J.B. Ginn, who taught school in San Joaquin County. They had two sons, Carter, who works for the Southern Pacific in Tracy, and Harmon, who was a druggist in Berkeley. Their mother died in 1933.

Woodward (Woody) Truman Carter married Sarah Frances Coones in 1949. He remained a resident of Carter all his life. He took care of his many real estate enterprises, and had an active interest in town affairs. He died in 1952. Although there are no grandchildren to carry on the name of Carter, the town, the street and the cemetery will always bear the name.

The TCMM has on display a collection of photographs of the original C.H. Carter's store.

…..and thus, another page turns in the History of Remembering Tuolumne.