Carter

Carter

The great mystery

Beginning with what I know

My Maternal Grandparents

BERTHA CAROLINE CARTER - Born Dec. 6, 1872 IL (?) Died Nov. 28, 1965 in CO
JOHN PHILIP KOONTZ - Born Sep 6, 1862 IL. Died Nov. 16, 1956 in CO
Both are buried at Fairview Cemetery in La Junta, Colorado.

See KOONTZ for children.

UPDATE

Received a copy of my grandparents marriage license. It verifies that Carrie's parents were JOHN CARTER and FRANCES KIBLER.

JOHN CARTER - Born August 19,1841,IL or VA. Died Sept. 29,1881, Newton Co., MO
m. FRANCES KIBLER Nov. 15, 1860 in Jasper County, IL.
Frances was born June 4, 1842 in Virginia.

Tentative list of children, based mostly on two censuses:

MARY MELINDA - Born 1862 in IL, m. 1)Benjamin Turner, m.2)G.A. Wheeler, m.3)Simon Muller

JANE - Born about 1863in IL.

ELIZABETH or ANN - Born about 1865 in IL

EMMA - Born about 1868. Married Calvin Clapper, Aug. 1883 in MO

WILLIAM - Born 1870 per census. May have died in 1872 per grave stone found in Slate Point Cemetery in Jasper County IL.

CARRIE - Born Dec. 6, 1872 in IL. Married JOHN KOONTZ.

GEORGE E. - Born about 1875 in IL.

DAVID - Born about 1877 in IL.

IDA MAE - Born Dec. 9, 1881 in Newton County, MO. Married FRANK SUTTON April 8, 1900 in Hutchinson, Kansas. Ida died Oct. 19, 1959 in Hutchinson.

JAMES "JIMMIE" - Born sometime around 1885, probably in Missouri.

Frances married Henry Clapper in 1883. She divorced him in 1885. We do not believe that Jimmie was the child of Frances and Henry Clapper. She may have remarried in 1885.

I have transcribed all of the Carters I found in the 1900 Reno County, Kansas and 1920 Prowers County, Colorado censuses. So far I have not been able to connect any of these Carters to my grandmother. Click HERE to view the transcriptions.

Grandma was born in Illinois, but one aunt remembers that she was "from Texas". All agree that she lived in Texas when she was a child. Apparently it must have been sometime between 1885 and 1892, the year my grandparents were married. One story is that my great grandmother took "the girls" from Texas to Hutchinson, KS. I have searched the 1885 and 1895 Kansas State censuses for Reno County and have not definitely found anyone in the family except my grandparents.

UPDATE
I found David Carter and family in Denver, CO in the 1920 Census Soundex Index. He was married to "Luella". (I remember her as "Aunt Lulu".) Their children were Gladys and Earl Carter. Earl Carter and his wife, Norma, had two children that I know of - Delores, who would have been born about 1932, and Lloyd, who was probably born about 1942. If anyone who reads this knows my cousins Delores and Lloyd, please contact me. I would like very much to get in touch with them!

We have an old portrait of "The Mary Carter Family". Thanks to the wonderful help of a cousin, the wife of a descendant of Mary, she now has been indentified as Grandma's sister, with 2nd husband, George A. Wheeler and three of her children.
Note: In 1900, James Carter, the youngest son of Frances, was living with Mary and George Wheeler in Douglas County, KS.

**SEE PHOTO**

Update, Feb, 2002.
My research has led me to the strong possibility that the father of John Carter was James Carter, born about 1800 in Kentucky - possibly Montgomery County KY. I also have reason to believe that John's mother was Margurite REFFETT, also from Montgomery County KY.

Sources:
1.Doyleen Turner, wife of Jim Turner, who is a descendant of Mary Carter and Benjamin Turner.
2. John and Richard Sutton, grandsons of Ida Carter Sutton.
Thanks cousins! I could never have gotten this far without your help!
3. Census records, 1850 through 1910, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas.
4. Marriage records, obituaries etc.

Back to Ancestors Page

"The Spinning Song" was found at Hammered Dulcimers, etc.,
probably sequenced by Barry Taylor.