Henry D. Carter, now deceased, represented the third generation of the name in Grant county. He was a son of George Carter and a grandson of Solomon Carter, the one who first settled here, and concerning those worthy pioneers it is proper that some mention be made at this point.

Solomon Carter came of an old North Carolina family whose habitat there had long been Randolph county, which has in the past century contributed much new blood to the growth and upbuilding of this county. He was born there in the latter part of the eighteenth century, and there was reared. In young manhood he was married. His wife's surname was Jane, and with their family they migrated to Grant county, Indiana, about 1827. It is not to be thought that they found conditions other than most primitive in those early days. The state was young, having been admitted to the Union but a few years previous, and Grant county was in a particularly undeveloped and uninviting state. Mr. Carter had come to make a new home in a new land, however, and he did not permit the conditions that confronted him to daunt him in any manner. The result was that he settled down in what is now Center township, Grant county, his place being located on the turn of the Mississinewa River, a spot of singular beauty even in those wilderness days.

Here Solomon Carter and his wife passed the closing years of their busy and fruitful lives, death claiming them there not many years after they had settled, when they were somewhere between the ages of sixty and seventy years. They reared a fine family of seven sons and two or three daughters, none of which are living today. All of them married with the exception of Solomon, Jr., who was a veteran of the Civil war and died in the Soldier's Home in Illinois when he was quite an old man, and Jane, a daughter, who died aged 16 years.

Of these children, George Carter, who became the father of Henry D., of this review, was a good sized boy when his parents came north. He saw much of pioneering in the days of his residence on the home farm in Center township, and when he reached his majority and began to look about for himself, he felt that he could do no better than to take some Indiana land on his own account. He accordingly entered 120 acres in Section 9, Mill township, and when he married a little later, he located on this new and uncultivated spot of land. There he built a log house, small but comfortable, and until 1850 he lived the life of a pioneer farmer. In that year they built a fine frame house, in which they passed their remaining years. He died on April 3, 1889, and his wife passed away on April 10, 1903. Both had reached a fine old age, and were ready to go when their summons to another life came to them. They were reckoned among the finest citizenship of their time, and as successful farming people of a splendid type, they had a secure place in the esteem of their fellows. Mrs. Carter particularly was known to be one of the most excellent mangers of her day, and proved herself possessor of qualities and powers in matter of finance that undeniably had much to do with the prosperity they enjoyed. She retained her splendid mental vigor and much of her physical strength until the closing hours of her life. They were long active members of the United Brethren Church and were among its early organizers in their community. Mr. Carter was a prominent man in the community as an office holder, and his interest in the affairs of the church was such that he was usually to be found holding some important office in the administration of its activities. Their home was the free abiding place of all the itinerant preachers of the day, that being the period characterized by the circuit riders of the church, and all knew that the Carter latch string always hung out with a hearty welcome forthcoming to those who would avail themselves of it. Mr. Carter was a Republican in his political faith. Twelve children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Carter. The names of the twelve in the order of their birth are here given as follows: Eliza J., born in 1838 and died in 1848. Mary Ann, born in 1840, and now Mrs. Bond. She is without issue and has her residence at the Old Ladies' Home of Marion. John was born in 1842 and died in the same year. Susanna was born in 1843 and died in 1849. Elizabeth, born in 1845, died in 1846, Lydia, born in 1846, died in 1871. She married Thomas Knight and had one son. William Carter was born in 1850 and died in February, 1912, on his fine farm home in Mill township. He married Elizabeth Knight, now living in Marion, Ind., and they have one son. Martha was born in 1851 and she died in 1875, two years after her marriage to Jesse Bogue, without issue. Solomon Jr. was born in 1854 and now is a resident of Marion. He married Lydia Linder and is the father of three children. Lucy R. was born in 1856 and married Daniel Gibson. She died in 1898, leaving a son and daughter. Rachel J. was born in 1860 and died in 1862. Henry D.

Henry D. Carter grew up on his father's farm and early in his boyhood he gave evidence of those qualities that make for unqualified success in the farming experience. After he married he located on a farm of seventy acres in Section 31, Mill township, and there he spent the remainder of his life. He improved the place until it reached a high plane of modern completeness, and his barns and other similar buildings were built and equipped in a manner that left nothing to be desired. They were among the finest in the state and were built along scientific lines, in a manner most approved by experts in the line. His poultry house was a model of completeness with cement floors and every possible arrangement conductive to the comfort and general productiveness of the poultry.

In addition to his own place Mr. Carter came into owner ship of the old homestead farm of 120 acres, which is another of the fine places of the county. His widow now owns and operates these places, with a success that is praiseworthy and that reflects great credit upon her as a manger.

Mr. Carter was a man of splendid native ability and of wonderfully fine character. In addition to the care and conduct of his two farms he was largely engaged in the contracting business, road and street building being his line. Two years before he died he suffered a stroke of paralysis, and though he did not enjoy the best of health thereafter, he was able to attend to his duties in his former manner. He was a Republican and died a member of the Christian church.

On March 27, 1880, Mr. Carter was married in Fairmount township to Miss Sarah C. Lamm, born in Jackson township, Miami county, Ind., on January 18, 1857. Her mother, Johanna (Elliott) Lamm, died when Mrs. Carter was six weeks old, and she was reared by her grandparents, Isaac and Rachel (Overman) Elliott in Center township, Grant county, Ind. The home of the Elliotts in those days was on the spot now occupied by the National Soldiers' Home. The Elliotts in the earlier days entered the land from the government, and there they lived and finally died, after which the land was sold back to the government by their son, Isaac, Jr., as a site for the proposed National Soldiers' Home. The Elliotts were of an old Quaker family, and people of many excellent qualities of heart and mind. The father of Mrs. Carter was Edmond Lamm, a native of Randolph county, North Carolina, who came to Miami county, Indiana, as a young man, in company with his parents, Caleb and Sarah Lamm, who passed the closing years of their lives in that county. They, too, were Quakers. Edmond Lamm was reared to farm life and he entered land in Jackson township, in Miami county, there passing his life, which, though busy, was uneventful. He was sixty-two years of age when he died and he had been three times married. The children of his first marriage were three in number, and besides Mrs. Carter there were Mrs. Margaret J. Bundy, now living at Converse, in Miami county, and Rachel, who died at the age of eighteen years. By his last marriage Mr. Lamm had one daughter, who died in infancy.

Mrs. Carter was educated in the public and normal schools and was for five years prior to her marriage engaged in teaching. She is the mother of Prof. George E. Carter, of Port Arthur, Texas, and an instructor in manual training at that place. Professor Carter married Esther Shafer of Jonesboro, Indiana, and has one daughter, Margaret Catherine. Frank, another son of Mrs. Carter, is now in the branch house of a Cincinnati, Ohio, roofing concern, with headquarters in Chicago much of the time. He is not married.

Hazel Carter, a daughter, has been given an excellent education in the public schools and the Terre Haute (Ind.) Normal School and in Bradley Institute, having specialized in Domestic Science and Economy. She is now a successful instructor in that important branch in the Marion Normal.

Mary, the youngest daughter, is a graduate of the Marion Normal, and is engaged in kindergarten teaching.

Dwight is a graduate of the Marion Normal Institute in 1913, and he is busy at home, helping his mother to manage the farm, which is known as Oak Grove Terrace, and their combined skill and energy has been resultant in the most thriving and prosperous conditions about the place.

Mrs. Carter is a member of the Friends church, and is one of the most highly esteemed and popular women of the community.

"BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES INDIANA, A CHRONICLE OF THEIR PEOPLE PAST AND PRESENT WITH FAMILY LINEAGE AND PERSONAL MEMOIRS"; Complied Under the Editorial Supervision of BENJAMIN G. SHINN; vol. II ; THE LEWIS PUBLISHING COMPANY; CHICAGO AND NEW YORK; 1914
Submitted by:Peggy Karol and Karen Overholt

The family history is authentically traced back to John Luther, a brother of Martin Luther, the great German and reformer and founder of German Protestantism. One of the descendants of that John Luther came from German to England prior to 1630. The first American of the family was also named John Luther, born in England before 1630, and emigrating to the American colonies previous to 1640. This immigrant was known as Captain John Luther, and was killed by Indians in Delaware Bay in 1644. He married Sarah Butternut, who was probably an English girl, and they were probably married in England, since their son Hezekiah Luther, next in line of the family history, was born in England in 1626. Hezekiah Luther married and had children among whom was Michael Luther, who was born in Maryland about 1656-7. From Maryland he moved south into North Carolina, settling in Randolph county, the point or origin for so many Grant county settlers. There he died in 1734. In religion he was a Methodist. He was twice married and had children by both wives.

From Michael Luther to Godfrey Luther, there is a break in the family genealogy, of one or perhaps two generations. Godfrey Luther was born December 14, 1776, and died August 3, 1855. He grew up in Randolph county of North Carolina, and married Elizabeth Stride, who was born in 1779, and died in 1816. They were farming people and members of the Methodist faith. Godfrey and Elizabeth Luther had five children, Sarah, Jacob, Martin, William and Catherine. Of these children Martin was born in Randolph county, North Carolina, September 6, 1805. He grew up in his native vicinity, took up farming as his occupation, and married Sarah (Sally) Kearns. She was born in Randolph county in 1807. After their marriage, which occurred about 1830, they settled on a farm in Randolph county, and spent the rest of their lives there. He died March 26, 1883, and she on December 15, 1892. Their religious faith was Methodist.

The children of Martin and Sarah Luther were as follows: 1. Mary Ann, born August 18, 1832, died after her marriage to Richard Graves and left a family. 2. Ivy was born February 22, 1834, and is head of the well known Grant county family of that name. 3. James W. was born July 14, 1836, and died unmarried during the Civil war in North Carolina. 4. Josiah was born March 4, 1840, died in his native county, and married Anna Crawford, and their children were Elsa and Martin. 5. Martha E. died after her marriage to M. Lathrock, and left children, Ivy and Vetura. 6. Emily Maria is the wife of William Fletcher Hicks, and has seven children.

Ivy Luther, whose birth has been noted, and who is now in his eightieth year, has had a long and honorable career. Reared on a farm, he early found himself out of sympathy with the tide of public opinion before the war, and when the war broke out was conscripted for service in the Confederate army. Instead of going to the front he managed to secure an appointment in the Government Salt Works, but soon after left the south and journeyed to Henry county, Indiana. There he had his home for seven years, and then moved to Grant county, where he bought eighty acres of land adjoining the Fairmount corporation. He has placed many improvements including a fine home and barns and other outbuildings on that land, and is living in comfortable circumstances.

In Randolph county, North Carolina, Mr. Luther was married August 28, 1855, to Sarah Stuart, who was born in Randolph county, August 21, 1833. She was reared and educated in that vicinity, and she and her husband were school children together. Her parents were Jehu and Rebecca (Hicks) Stuart, natives of North Carolina, where they lived and died as substantial farm people and strict adherents of the Quaker faith. The Stuart family has an interesting genealogy. Jehu Stuart, father of Mrs. Luther, was a son of Henry and Mary (Nelson) Stuart, both natives of Chatham county, North Carolina, and farmers and Quakers. Henry Stuart was in turn the son of Alexander and Elizabeth (Pike) Stuart. They were married in Frederick county, Virginia, in 1759, thence moving to Chatham county in North Carolina, where they died at a good old age. Alexander Stuart, going back still another generation, was a son of Robert and Martha (Richardson) Stuart, natives of Pennsylvania, where they were married, and afterwards moved to Virginia. These last named couple were of English parents and were probably immediately descended from some of the Quakers who came over with or soon after William Penn and located in Chester county, Pennsylvania.

Mr. and Mrs. Ivy Luther have the following children: 1. Dorothy, was born in Grant county, received her education in the city high school, and also the Earlham College at Richmond and the State Normal School at Terre Haute. She was for seventeen years a successful teacher in the city public schools and now lives at home. 2. Narcissa is the wife of Elias Bundy, an attorney of Marion. Their two children are Homer L., and Howard E., both in the city schools. 3. James A., is one of the prominent business men of Terre Haute, Indiana. He is one of the executive officials in the National Drain Tile Company, is connected with the Lower Vein Coal Company, and an official in various banks and other corporations. He married Lizzie Scott, and their children, Forest J., and E. Agnes, are both married. 4. Emily R., is the wife of Alvin B. Scott, a well known business man of Fairmount, and at the present time in point of years are the oldest couple in the local congregation. Their children were all reared in the same faith. Mr. Luther in political allegiance is a Prohibitionist.

"BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES INDIANA, A CHRONICLE OF THEIR PEOPLE PAST AND PRESENT WITH FAMILY LINEAGE AND PERSONAL MEMOIRS"; Complied Under the Editorial Supervision of BENJAMIN G. SHINN; vol. II ; THE LEWIS PUBLISHING COMPANY; CHICAGO AND NEW YORK; 1914
Submitted by:Peggy Karol and Karen Overholt

Reuben Frtiz was born in Fairfield county, Ohio, January 22, 1851. His grandfather Peter Fritz was born near Pottstown, Pennsylvania, was a farmer, and of good German stock, known in that locality as Pennsylvania Germans. His wife was a native of the same state, and soon after their marriage they moved to Ohio with a little colony of Pennsylvania people, numbering about half a dozen families. They made settlement on new land in Liberty township of Fairfield county. There the grandparents developed a fine farm, and prospered. They died when well past seventy years of age and were members of the German Reformed Church, where the grandfather was a Democrat in politics. There was a large family of children, and two sons and about half a dozen daughters grew up, were married and had children. Two are still living. Mrs. Rachel Bowser is a widow living in Allen county, Indiana, while Mrs. Mary Mauger now lives at Eton, Ohio, with a daughter.

Martin Fritz, father of Reuben, was born in Fairfield county, Ohio, in 1828, and died in the latter part of 1851, soon after the birth of his first and only child, Reuben. He was married in Fairfield county to Catherine Soliday, who was born in that county about 1830. Her parents came from Pennsylvania, at an early day, and were among the pioneers of Fairfield county, where they lived and died as prosperous farmers, and as members of the German Reformed church. Mrs. Catherine Frtiz after the death of her husband married Absalom Arnold, of Fairfield county, where he was a farmer. Mr. and Mrs. Arnold lived in Fairfield county until their death, she at the age of seventy-six, while he preceded her in death. There were five Arnold children, and Nansen, George, Frederick, and Emma all married and have families, and all are residents of Fairfield county, except the daughter, whose home is in Denver, Colorado. Mr. Arnold married for his first wife a Miss Weist, and has two sons and two daughters, of whom the two sons are still living.

Martin Fritz was a member of the German Reformed church, while his wife after her second marriage joined the United Brethren church. Reuben Fritz, after the death of his father, lived in the home of his grandfather Peter Fritz, until he was about twelve years old, and after that with his step-father Mr. Arnold. When he reached his majority, he started out to make his way as a farmer. He was married at Baltimore, Ohio, to Catherine Gehring, who was born in Licking county, Ohio, a daughter of Henry and Mary Gehring, natives of Wuertemberg, Germany, and married in Newark, Ohio, where they lived, and also in other places in that state until locating at Baltimore. Mr. Henry Gehring died at Baltimore fifteen years ago at the age of sixty-four, while his widow later moved to Fairmount in Grant county, and lived with her daughter Mrs. Fritz, until her death in November, 1910, at the age of seventy-six. The Gehring family were Methodists. There were a large number of children, and two sons and two daughters are still living.

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Fritz lived in Baltimore, Ohio, were he learned the trade of butcher, and did business in that line there until 1900. He then moved to Fort Wayne, Indiana, and eighteen months later to Fairmount.

Mr. and Mrs. Fritz are the parents of two children. Nellie is the wife of William H. Lamb, a stock buyer and real estate dealer in Baltimore, Ohio. They have three children, William, Catherine L., and Virginia. The son Harley H., the partner of his father in the meat market at Fairmount, was born, reared, and educated in Baltimore, Ohio. He learned the trade of butcher under his father, and has been in partnership since 1890. He was married in Fairmount to Miss Myrtle Hart, who was born and reared near Warsaw, Indiana. They have no children. Both Mr. Fritz and his son reside on South Main Street in Marion. Both are loyal Democrats, and all the family attend worship in the Methodist church.

"BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES INDIANA, A CHRONICLE OF THEIR PEOPLE PAST AND PRESENT WITH FAMILY LINEAGE AND PERSONAL MEMOIRS"; Complied Under the Editorial Supervision of BENJAMIN G. SHINN; vol. II ; THE LEWIS PUBLISHING COMPANY; CHICAGO AND NEW YORK; 1914
Submitted by:Peggy Karol and Karen Overholt

John Alpheus Carter was one of the family of Isaac W. and Phebe (Whitson) Carter. Isaac W. Carter came from Clinton county, Ohio, in 1855. Two years earlier he had married a Grant county woman, Miss Phebe Whitson. She was a daughter of Amos Whitson, a pioneer of Liberty township in the Bethel Friends neighborhood. He father moved to Valley Mills many years before his death. Phebe Whitson had three sisters, Mrs. Ann Shugart, Mrs. Hannah Ellis, and Mrs. Mary Metcalf, all of whom reared families in Grant county. Isaac W. Carter also had a sister, Mrs. Louisa Walthall, who reared a family in this county. Isaac and Phebe Carter were among the best known pioneer Quaker families in Grant county, and both were useful citizens in the Bethel community. He always looked out for the welfare of his family and she was a woman to go about the neighborhood wherever there was sickness and need of neighborly ministrations. Her death occurred at the family homestead, and he died at the home of a daughter in Marion, having abandoned the country as a place to live, although he always maintained citizenship in Liberty, caring more to vote in that township.

The sons and daughters of Isaac W. and Phebe (Whitson) Carter are: John A Carter; Joseph E. Carter; Mrs. Louise C. Harmon; and Mrs. Ida C. Kem; William A. Carter, deceased, and Alice and Rosetta Carter, who died in childhood. All the other children have families about them.

William A. Carter, now deceased, married Miss Anna May Jay, and their children are: Chester, Eli, Jennie and David. Chester Carter married Miss Chestie Wise, and has two children, Ilene and Margaret. Eli Carter married Miss Dessie Hubert, and has a son, Hubert Carter. Joseph E. Carter married Miss Della Coggeshall, now deceased, and their children are: Pearl; Earl; Ray, who married Miss Marie Kelly; and Arthur, who married Miss Tabitha Emmons. Mrs. Louise C. Harmon is the wife of J. F. Harmon and their children are Madonna, Frances and Robert, and a daughter Clyde, who died in childhood. Mrs. Ida C. Kem is the wife of Oren E. Kem (see sketch of Augustin Kem), and their children are Edith and Carter Kem.

John Alpheus Carter, who recites the family history, married Miss Minerva Hiatt, and their children are: Omar Isaac Carter; Mrs. Lena H. Moore; and Miss Hazel May Carter; and Harry, who died in infancy. Mrs. Lena H. Moore is the wife of E. L. Moore, and has three children, Harold, Herbert and John Moore.

The will of Isaac W. Carter provided that the three sons have the farm land and that the two daughters be paid in cash for their interests, and thus the homestead remained in the family name. William A. Carter, who became owner of the old home, was the first to die, and a son lives on the farm, while Mrs. Carter lives in Fairmount.

John A. Carter left the farm several years before his death of his father, although he continued to reside in the country for a few years after taking a position as rural mail carrier. He began his duties in that position on July 16, 1900, while the system was still an experiment in Grant county. The first carrier over a country mail route out of Marion was A. B. Comer, and his service began in September, 1899. The second was L. E. Rinehart, who is still doing duty, while Mr. Carter has been on route No. 3 for more than thirteen years, and is the second oldest rural carrier. All the rural routes in Grant county were completely covered for the first time on August 15, 1902, a little more than two years after Mr. Carter first began delivering mail to country patrons. In all his thirteen years he has missed less than a week except for his annual vacation, and he has always had the friendly support of his patrons.

The Carter family has always been relied upon in the community where these sons and daughters were reared, and their friendly interests will always remain there, although J. E. Carter is now the only representative of the family in the township of Liberty. When the Strawtown road was built—the second gravel road in Grant county, I. W. Carter, the father, was a promoter, and with two neighbors, Willis Cammack and George Davis, undertook the contract for the mile beginning at the Liberty-Franklin Line, and passing the Carter farm to the Bethel road. The contract for the next half mile was taken by Tristam Conner, David M. B. Whitson, and Richard Jay. The neighbors thus concerned worked much together in developing the community, and it is that kind of cooperation that counts for community advancement. Isaac Carter, Willis Cammack, and David Whitson owned a horse-power threshing machine together for several years. That was at a time when it required many more men and horses to thresh the crop than now, and the dinners served all over the neighborhood were the products of many women clubbing together. Threshing was always a social event and there has always been a subsequent friendship among the younger generation of all those families.

In speaking of this old neighborhood policy and the Carter participation A. J. Carter said the rule was "Always go or send a hand," no matter what was going on in the community that required cooperation. And even while the interview was in progress, arrangements were being made over the telephone for all the town relatives to go out to the old farm on the following day for the annual threshing event. Although Isaac W. and Phebe Carter are gone, they will not soon be forgotten in the neighborhood centering about Bethel Friends church in Liberty. J. A. Carter's mail route is past the old home, and while he no longer follows the plow, he is in daily communication with the people who look after affairs, and the Carter ambition, as in the past, is to be abreast of the times in everything. The young people in the second and third generations have all been given splendid educational advantages, and citizenship is of a high type in the family. The Carter farm in Liberty has always been a model and when results are in evidence anywhere the crops there have been abundant. The Carter burial plot is near the entrance to Friends Cemetery, and a beautiful shaft marks the last resting place of the family.

"BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES INDIANA, A CHRONICLE OF THEIR PEOPLE PAST AND PRESENT WITH FAMILY LINEAGE AND PERSONAL MEMOIRS"; Complied Under the Editorial Supervision of BENJAMIN G. SHINN; vol. II ; THE LEWIS PUBLISHING COMPANY; CHICAGO AND NEW YORK; 1914
Submitted by:Peggy Karol and Karen Overholt