My Genealogy Hound

MRS. JULIA A. CARTER, wife of Washington G. Carter, was born in Montgomery county, Ind. Feb. 20, 1826. Here she spent her childhood days until fifteen years old, when she removed with her father, Samuel Cooley, to the Southwest, settling near Smithfield, Twin Grove township. She was married to W. G. Carter, of Jasper county, June 5, 1848, her maiden name being Julia Ann Cooley. Excepting three years spent at Ft. Scott, during the civil war, she has been over forty years in Jasper county, almost on the same farm, returning in 1866 to find all buildings burned, and the farm a barren waste. The names of the children are George M., Thomas L., James H., Salathiel E., Norris H., Laura M., Alfred G., William L., and Mary Ellen. Several of the children are dead and gone; Thomas died Oct. 80, 1859; James, March 3, 1860; Norris, Sept. 10, 1862; George, Nov. 15, 1882; and their father, Aug. 23, 1874, at the home farm. The widow and her young children reside on the home farm lying on the banks of Center Creek, and the residence is on an elevation near a fine spring, in a grove of native oaks which wrap the spot in quiet and retirement. Mrs. Carter’s farm is about half way between the towns of Oronogo and Webb City on the Joplin branch, comprising about 456 acres in a body, 100 acres are under cultivation and 200 in pasture, and the remainder in timberland. Her sons, besides raising grain, devote considerable attention to the raising of hogs, cattle, and sheep. A nice orchard of about four acres adds greatly both to the income of the farm and the comforts of the kitchen and table. The comforts of their present home are in strong contrast with the early home-life of this family forty years ago. Towns and villages are in nearly as close proximity and numerous as the deer, wolves, and Indians were. Her father, Judge Cooloy, was the first school-master in the county, teaching in a log-hut without floor, and with benches of hewn logs, with pins driven in for legs. He was also judge of the first court of Jasper and Newton counties, and known far and near for his justice, generosity, and kindness. Boonville, 200 miles distant, was the trading point for groceries, and they often spent two months on the road, grazing their ox teams along the way. Horses were little used, and the farmers were compelled to plow the corn after dark, so terrible were the flies. The hardships of these times, though in strange contrast with modern convenience, were mingled with pleasures.