Richard CARTER

                   SHORT HISTORY OF JOHN CARTER:
       The Carters were early settlers in America, arriving from Devonshire, England before 1640, at least 140 years before John was born. They came to Dover, New Hampshire, an Atlantic port city and spent all of their lives in this vicinity before joining the LDS Church or "Mormon" movement west. The seaport divides NH and the southern tip of Maine. Scarborough and Newry, ME, where they were living when they joined the Church, are only about 30 miles up the coast from Dover and Portsmouth, NH. There are some conflicting reports of two of these early settlers. The material reported in this genealogy shows the Richard Carter that married Mary Ricord in about 1672 as being different from Richard Carter who married Elizabeth about 1690. The "Carter Pioneers of Provo, Utah," book seems to place these two together. There are so many Richard's it is hard to keep them straight -  hence, the numeric titles were inserted.  And, the name of Agnes Madwear who married Richard in England is not certain.
       Except for clarity and accuracy there should not be great concern about temple sealings. Every possible combination seems to have been covered. Further, there were many, many Carters in England, and there must have been some in Africa too. Name variations include Cartor, Cater, Cator and Catter. Same of the early settlers could not write their names, and their pronunciations may not have been clear.
       John married Hannah Knight Libby in Scarsburough, ME, 2 Mar 1805. They had 11 children, 9 of which lived to have families of their own.  The youngest living child was 11 when the Mormon or LDS missionaries came in 1834. Hannah was sick and in bed. When they healed her with a priesthood blessing John said, "That beats doctor bills"; and he never joined the church with most of the rest of his family. He did, however, follow the movement west traveling to Ohio and Illinois. He stayed in Lima, IL, a settlement midway between Quincy and Nauvoo, when the saints left Nauvoo. Hannah, however, went with Dominicus to Council Bluffs or Winter Quarters and on to Salt Lake City and Provo.
       There is no record that John and Hannah divorced, but John did live with a woman named Anna Shute and Hannah was sealed to Isaac Morley, a settlement leader, in the Nauvoo Temple before departing west. Hannah and Isaac never lived together. Sealings to church leaders were a popular thing for disgruntled Mormon wives to do in those days.
       An accounting of John and Hannah's living children follows:
DOMINICUS: married Lydia Smith, joined the Church and moved west becoming a leader in Provo, UT. He had 7 more wives and over 49 children.
ALMIRA: married Alva Tripp,  did not join the Church or come to Utah.
HANNAH: married Aaron York, joined the Church and movement west. Aaron also married Mary Trueworthy Carter, a niece, as one of his plural wives. They lived in Provo, UT.
WILLIAM F.: married Cordelia Meacham, joined the Church and movement west. He lived in the Santiquin area. He married 5 more times.
PHILIP: Married Martha York, did not join the Church or come to Utah. He did move to Morley's Settlement in Illinois.
JOHN "H": Married Elizabeth Sweat, joined the Church and movement west and became a leader in Provo, UT. He also married Elizabeth's sister Sophia.
ELIZA ANN: Married James Snow, joined the Church and movement west. They settled in Sanpete County, UT. He married 3 more plural wives.
RICHARD: Married Hannah Parker, joined the Church and movement west. Died in the Mormon Battalion.
MARY JANE: Married Jacob Dooley, did not join the Church. She had 3 more husbands and died in the state of Washingtom.  SCJ