MS 964 - Lena B. Rees & James L. Carter Family Papers
MLA Citation
Tags
| Title | MS 964 - Lena B. Rees & James L. Carter Family Papers |
|---|---|
| Subject | Civil War |
| Introduction | The Lena B. Rees and James L. Carter Family Papers were donated to the Center for Archival Collections by their grandchildren, through Jill Carter Knuth, on May 30, 2002, with additional material transferred on August 15, 2007, and September 5, 2013. The collection consists of 3 feet of personal papers, genealogical notes, correspondence, photographs, and printed material related to multiple generations of a family living in the Fostoria, Risingsun, and Bradner, Ohio areas. The collection was processed and finding aid prepared by Marilyn Levinson, Curator of Manuscripts in August 2002, with revisions made in September 2013. |
| Biographical Sketch | The multiple generations of the families associated with this collection center around the family of Lena B. Rees and James L. Carter and include the Rees, James, Showalter, Carter, and Stubbs lines. The Rees family material focuses on descendants of two apparently unrelated men named Theophilus Rees, who each came to the U.S. from Wales. Theophilus Thomas Rees, originally from Meidrim, Carmarthenshire, came to the U.S. in 1795 and settled for eight years in the Beulah Colony, Cambria Co, Pennsylvania. He then lived for the remainder of his life in the north-east quarter of Granville Township, Licking County, Ohio. Descendants migrated to Morrow County, and then to Wood County, Ohio. The Rev. Theophilus Rees, emigrating in 1796, was from Llandyssul, Cardiganshire. He and two of his four children died of yellow fever in Baltimore, Maryland, a few months after arriving from Wales. His widow remarried and the family followed a similar migratory path from Pennsylvania to Licking County, and Morrow County, Ohio. The daughter of Rev. Theophilus Rees married the son of Theophilus Thomas Rees, and in the following generation there was a first-cousin marriage. The included charts trace the complex relationships of the Rees families. Several members of a later generation of the family from Morrow County and Wood County served in the U.S. Civil War with Company D of the 72nd Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Evan Rees was discharged early on certificate of disability and died at home a short time later. His brother-in-law, John Rees died in New York of privation suffered in a Southern prison, and John's brother, Morris Rees was honorably discharged at the end of the war, having acheived the rank of Captain. The core family of this collection follows the line descending from Evan Rees, through his son Alfred and his wife Ida James, to Lena Bernice Rees, born in 1882. The Carter Family documented in this material deals with more recent generations, particularly James Llewellyn Carter, born in 1880, son of Benjamin Franklin Carter and Mary Elizabeth Stubbs. Before coming to Wood County, James L. Carter taught school in Belmont County, Ohio. In Risingsun, he worked as a telegraph operator for the Hocking Valley Railroad, and operated a combination jewelry business and ice cream parlor. In 1914, he opened an optometric practice in Fostoria where he was active locally in fraternal groups such as the Masons, was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and served on the Fostoria Board of Education. He died in 1935 at the relatively young age of 54 from a ruptured appendix, leaving a family that included his wife Lena, and children Elizabeth, James, Dorothae, Juanita, Anna Belle, and Robert. After the death of her husband, James, Lena was the mainstay of her family and managed to put all six children through school. Active with such groups as the Order of the Eastern Star, the Methodist Church in Fostoria, the Gold Star Mothers, and the WCTU, in 1958 she was named Mother of the Year by the Fostoria Women's Club. She died in 1974. Extensive material related to Robert Allen Carter, the youngest child of James L. and Lena Carter, is included with the collection. Born in 1922, he was involved in such activities as competition target shooting and music. After graduation from Fostoria High School in 1940, he worked at Western Union until 1942 when he joined the U.S. Navy during World War II. His correspondence home from several bases details the period of his training as a torpedoman for the submarine service. He was declared missing in action when his ship, the U.S.S. Herring, disappeared in 1944 in the North Pacific, and he was officially declared dead in 1946. |
| Scope and Content | The material that makes up this collection can be useful both for genealogical research for the families involved and as a source for primary history into aspects of 19th and 20th century life. Although there are only a few letters surviving as photocopies or transcripts, the correspondence to Theophilus Thomas Rees written from Wales between 1796 and 1809 provides insight into the immediate concerns of families separated by immigration, brings news from the old home and neighbors, asks questions about the new country, and airs political concerns during the era of the Napoleonic Wars. The letters of the Rees brothers, John and Morris, serving in Co.D of the 72nd Ohio Volunteer Infantry during the Civil War, were written from March through November of 1863 when that regiment was engaged in the Western Theater (Evan having already been discharged). Although the letters primarily cover family concerns, religious life, daily duty, and news about friends and neighbors, the letter of April 17, 1863 deals with aspects of the siege of Vicksburg, particularly with the use of artillery and the river blockade of the city. Robert A. Carter's World War II letters are the most extensive segment of the collection and they provide a very detailed look into the military experience typical of many young men who served during the war, starting with his basic training at Great Lakes, Illinois, continued training to be a torpedoman at Norfolk, Virginia, then finally submarine school at New Haven, Connecticut. Through it all Robert describes the daily routine, special events such as USO shows and instances where the casts of Broadway shows performed at New Haven, the food, the barracks, fellow servicemen, and features of his training, particularly once he is getting intensive introduction into the workings of the submarine service. Letters written once he began active duty on the U.S.S. Herring are more sporadic due to periods when the ship was on station and out of contact. Because of wartime censorship these later letters do not contain many details of service action. Those printed items that didn't pertain directly to the family, including those associated with Wesley United Methodist Church in Fostoria, have been transferred out of the collection to be cataloged separately and are listed at the end of the inventory. |
| Series Description | LITERARY PRODUCTIONS RESEARCH NOTES - GENERAL GENEALOGICAL RESEARCH NOTES - FAMILY FOLDERS DIARIES - LENA REES CARTER DIARIES - ANNA REES TOWNSEND CORRESPONDENCE CORRESPONDENCE - ROBERT A. CARTER SUBJECT FILES JAMES FAMILY PRINTED MATERIAL PAMPHLETS/BOOK S PHOTOGRAPHIC MATERIAL PHOTOGRAPHIC PRINTS AND ALBUMS ELI A. JAMES PHOTO ALBUM |
| Inventory | Box 1 Folder
Box 2 Folder
Box 3 Folder
Box 4 Folder
Box 5 Folder (Transcriptions are selected items)
Box 6 Folder
Box 7 Folder
Box 8 Folder
Box 9 Folder
Oversized Photograph
Material Removed to be Separately Cataloged
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