Some Realistic Genealogical & Historical Research/Writing Goals for 2013

I've been following several blogs written by successful genealogists, historians, writers and editors who have shared their guidelines for identifying goals and developing successful strategies for reaching them. They have shared their own personal goals for the year to come, and have encouraged their readers to do so as well. The following is my list of goals which I believe are attainable.

1. Reconstructing Co. B & G 14th Regiment USCT
2. Finish transcribing and analyzing the Civil War Pension File of my great grandfather-in-law, Isaac Carter;
3. Create an index of all the soldiers within these units, download their service records & pension file applications;
4. Order Civil War Pension Files for Isaac Carter's comrades, and note corresponding testimony;
5. Speak with authorities regarding events at Carolina City during November 1864;
6. Set up the Carter Family Tree in Legacy 7.5 Deluxe in order to bring our tree up to professional standards, including proper documentation and attached digitized records;
7. Organize my paper files using the method promoted by Genealogy Research Associates, Inc. ;
8. Continue writing the family history memoir using Scrivener trial edition, and consider purchasing the full version; 
9. Purchase Randy Ingermanson's writing software, Snowflake Pro to streamline  character development, lining up scenes, creating a book summary and proposal in order to attract editors and agents;
10. Complete the first draft of my family history memoir on Isaac Carter and the following two generations: Antebellum Period to the Great Migration;
11. Take the 2013 Family History Writing Challenge this February and begin my personal memoir, the second in the series;
12. Read, read, read... Currently I am reading The Gravedigger's Daughter, by Joyce Carol Oates. The next book I'd like to read, also by Oates, is  A Widow's Story: A Memoir;
13. Continue blogging and journaling my progress at least three times per week. 

Any more than this would be a completely unrealistic expectation...and even this will take daily diligence to move me along to the next phase of writing. I hope you'll take the time to critique my list, and perhaps even share your own goals for the year to come!

Updated September 5, 2025

The Mystery of Samuel Windley, alias Samuel Keach: Analysis of Document #19

In the spirit of discovering who each of these men were who had shared bits of Sergeant Isaac Carter's life, and who had come forth to testify on his behalf for a Civil War Pension, I began my search for Samuel Keach with a search on Ancestry.com and on Fold3.

Surprisingly, only two documents surfaced:

1. (4) U.S. Civil War Pension Index: General Index to Pension Files: 1861-1934, and
2. (1) U.S. Colored Troops Military Service Records, 1861-1865.

Search Results Provided By Ancestry.com

---

Data Source: U.S., Civil War Pension Index: General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934

Tue Dec 25 2012 16:53:22 GMT-0500 (Eastern Standard Time)

---

View Record Name Widow State Filed View Record Samuel Keach  Louisa Keach North Carolina View Record Samuel Windley [Samuel Keach]  Luvenine Reach North Carolina View Record Samuel Windley [Samuel Keach]  Louisa Keach North Carolina View Record Samuel Windley [Samuel Keach]  North Carolina

Looking at the screenshot of my Ancestry.com search #1, I wondered about this surname, Windley. Often you will find a transcription error in indexing, or perhaps even an enumeration error where the name was spelled phonetically, based on the informant's accent or regional dialect. However, there's a large difference between Keach and Windley. The widow's name, Luvenine Reach, is identified immediately as a transcription error. Her name should read: Luvennie Keach. But in two documents listed, the widow's surname is recorded as Louisa Keach. The question is now whether this is a reporting/recording error, or if there are two widows.

Image No. 1

Image No. 1, however, notes that Samuel Keach was an alias. With that said, I began looking for Windley information (more to come). 

Let's take a look at the information provided on this application card:

• There are three other persons reported here: 1.) the widow: Louisa Keach; 2.) a minor: Louisa Harrison, Gdn; and, 3.) the contesting widow: Luvennie Keach. 
• Two types of service were recorded: Co. B, 1st Regiment North Carolina Colored Infantry, and Co. B, 14th Regiment US Colored Heavy Artillery. 
• The dates of filing show that:

1.  the Invalid (Samuel Keach) filed on Feb. 11, 1888: Application No. 639.673, Certificate No. 749.574;
2.  the widow on March 19, 1898: Application No. 673.017;
3.  the minor on Aug. 10, 1905, Application No. 833.267; and,
4.  the contesting widow on July 5, 1900, Application No. 743.387. 

Image No. 2

If I were to apply for Samuel Keach's Civil War Pension File from NARA, I would need all of the above information in order to request his complete file.

Image No. 4

Image No. 3

Images 2-4 are the individual applications of the widow, minor and contesting widow.

In search of the Windley surname

My first step was to check the Public Member Trees: <Samuel Windley, USA, North Carolina.> At the time of his affidavit he was 45 years old, making him born abt. 1846. He had enlisted in Washington, NC, so I'll be searching for people living in Beaufort County. I discovered a tree entitled, Windley Family Tree, with an individual named, Samuel S. Windley, b. 7 June 1848; d. 1911.

I always look for a documented tree, but note that this has no documentation on this individual. So, I search for some Census records for this Samuel S. Windley, son of Samuel and Angelica (Jones) Windley.

In 1850 he was living in Broad Creek, Beaufort, NC. This family is composed of the parents and five children. One small problem. The family is white, and there are no black families listed. So, I check out the 1850 Slave Schedules to see if Samuel & Ann Windley owned any slaves.

Sure enough, they owned three slaves: a black female (23), a black male (20), and a black male (4). The child would have been born abt. 1846, the same age as Samuel Keach Windley. I located an obituary for him at New-Bern Craven County Public Library posted in the New Bern Daily Journal, 30 October 1896. I am hopeful to discover some other information about him from the obituary, but must wait till I receive it to know for sure.

Another document I located naming this Samuel Keach Windley was the death certificate of his second wife, Louvina Eborn. It states that she was the daughter of Frank Blount and Jennie Eborn, both of Roanoke Island, NC. She died on October 28, 1922 at the age of 100. She had been divorced from her husband, Samuel Windley.

Samuel Keach Windley survived five years, seven months and twelve days beyond his testimony. Beyond his obituary, the only other hope of gaining any information about this man would be from his Civil War Pension File. Perhaps one day we'll have more to report, but until then...

Amanuensis Monday: The Civil War Pension File of Isaac Carter: Document #19

The Formation of a Civil War Artillery Regiment
I had taken a break from the pension file to reassess my goals here. At first I thought of skipping over documents to post based on the criteria of whether the actual content provided additional clues to Isaac Carter's disability, and the conditions under which he acquired said disability.

Also, since we moved in early November, I have not been in the frame of mind to sit down and focus on these details, and give them my undivided attention until now. The legal-sized binder which contains volume one of the pension file has sat opened on my desk next to my laptop since I first unpacked the boxes containing my genealogical binders. It has remained a constant reminder of what steps I should take next.

I skipped Document #17, a two-page sworn statement by David Lawson, who was acquainted with Isaac Carter after the war. Document #18 was a one page form requesting a report from the records of the Adjutant General U.S. A. about the sworn statements of David Lawson and Silas Fenner. I had thought of skipping over Document #19 as well, since it contained no new information...so I thought. However, if I plan on reconstructing the 14th Regiment Heavy Artillery USCT, I must examine all statements sworn by members of the unit. So, I will proceed with the following statement sworn by Samuel Keach.

Transcription: Samuel Keach's Affidavit on behalf of Isaac Carter:
State of North Carolina)
County of Craven         )
In the matter of original claim No
662812 of Isaac Carter Late a
Sergeant of the B & G 14 Regt U.S. C.H.
Arty.  On this 18 Day of March
A.D. 1891 Personally appeared before
me a Notary Public fort & within
the County & state aforesaid
Samuel Keach age 45 years
Resident of New Berne N.C.
well Known to be reputable &
and Entitled to creed who being
duly sworn according to Law
Declares as follows  I enlisted in
March A.D. 1864 at Washington, N.C.
I became acquainted with Isaac
Carter at New Berne, N.C. on about
April A.D. 1864 he was a Sergeant of
my Company B 14 Regiment USHArty
He was a well & a Harty (sic) man at
that time from all appearence (sic) I did not
hear him complain of any thing not
until on about May here at New Berne
N.C. he complained of Rheumatism,
& Diarrhea & Piles at Caroine (sic) City He

and on about November 1864 while we
was at Carolina City N.C. was with
out tents & we was Exposed in cold
& Rain & sleet & snow & Isaac
Carter Taken Down with Diarrhea
& Piles & Rheumatism his feet swollen
up & he was Excuse from Duty. I was
Down at the same time & Place
& Isaac Carter continued to complain
of the afore said complaints. and
when he was Discharge he was sick
We was all Discharge at the same
time on the 11 day of Dec 1865
at Fort Macon N.C. & since Discharge
the solder (sic) continues to complain
of the afore said complaints &
he is about Two Thirds Disable to
[                     ] Manual Labor
By Reason of the afore said complaints
I saw him the 18 day of March 1891
& he Look very Bad & complain of
the afore said complaints he could
barely get about  I am no
relation to the claimant My
Post office address is New Berne
HE was Transferred from Co B to
Co G 14 Regt U.S.C.H Arty.
I have no interest in his claim

                                                     his
                                    Samuel       X   Keach
                                                     mark
witness
E.W. Carpenter
Lewis F. Carter
   
                                              Sworn & sub-
scribed to before me this
18th day of Mch/91 & I certify that
the affiant states that the
foregoing was read to him
before making his mark
to same & that he is the
identical person he claim
to be & is credible & worthy of belief.
                                                       
                                                              EWCarpenter
                                                              Notary Public
Cert filed

On the last day of Blog Caroling...

This morning we are making a brief departure from Civil War Pension Files and the Waterman's Song for an interlude of Blog Caroling.

Started by the Footnote Maven's Tradition of Blog Caroling, she encourages all us GeneaBloggers to assist her in raising our "voices" with lyrics of the Christmas Season.

Here is my offering, The Coventry Carol.

Courtesy: DVIchannel,
Uploaded December 20, 2008

The Coventry Carol

Lully, lullay, Thou little tiny Child,

By, by, lully, lullay.

Lullay, thou little tiny Child.

By, by, lully, lullay.

O sisters too, how may we do,

For to preserve this day

This poor youngling for whom we do sing

By, by, lully, lullay.

Herod, the king, in his raging,

Charged he hath this day

His men of might, in his own sight,

All children young to slay.

Then, woe is me, poor Child for Thee!

And ever mourn and sigh

For they parting neither say nor sing,

By, by, lully, lullay.

There is an interesting history behind this English Carol of which I have only recently learned. The Coventry Carol was part of the Coventry Mystery Plays, of which there were originally ten in all. They were performed in Coventry, England in the 16th Century. The plays were performed by different guilds, each guild performing one. 

In an article entitled, Coventry Mystery Plays, the author notes that they were first performed as early as 1392. Each year the King of England would visit Coventry to see the performances. 

Traditionally, this carol was part of a pageant known as The Pageant of The Shearers and the Tailors, called such because of the two guilds which performed it. 

In a book entitled, Medieval and Tudor Drama: Twenty-Four Plays, by John Gassner, you will find a modernized version of the play. 

For a digital copy of the original manuscript, go to Archive.org.

I hope you will enjoy it as I have for many years, although it is quite a mournful song for the Christmas Season. Below you will find a choral version of The Coventry Carol.

The Civil War Pension File: Taking a step back to breathe

Since our move to the new apartment, I have been debating whether to post the next document in the pension file, or to take a step back to look at what I had. Taking a step back won out over forging ahead full steam.

In exploring Document #16, we became acquainted with Pvt. Sharper Williams through his testimony regarding his Sgt., Isaac Carter, in February 1865. His affidavit was sworn on June 3, 1890. A closer look at this comrade at arms revealed the following:

Civil War Service Records
Sharp[er] Williams, born in Bertie County, NC, enlisted in New Berne, NC at the age of forty years for a period of one year. He was a black farmer, five foot four inches tall on the day of his enlistment, February 17, 1865.

He was Mustered-In at Morehead City, NC on April 30, 1865. He was assigned to Company G, 14th Regiment USCT Heavy Artillery, and was due $100.00 pay.
He was present March & April 1865. First installment of bounty due: $33.33.
Present May & June 1865.
Present July & August 1865.
Present September & October 1865.
Mustered-Out December 11, 1865. Last paid June 30, 1865. Last settled: never. Drawn since: $109.11.
Due U.S. for arms, equipments, &c.:$6.00.
Bounty Paid: $33.33. Due: $33.33.

The Declaration of Recruit shows that he was sworn in at Plymouth, NC. and the recruiting agent was J.P. French.

The Volunteer Enlistment document shows actual recruitment took place in the State of Maine, Searsmont, Waldo County.

Freedman's Bank Records, 1865-1871
No. 4087, RECORD for Sharper J. Williams
Date, June 2nd 1874
Where born, Bertie County, NC
Where brought up, Bertie County, NC
Residence, Lanes Branch Newberne
Age, 54         Complexion, Dark
Occupation, Farming
Wife, Gatsey
Father, dead
Mother,   "  [dead]
Brothers and Sisters, Don't know.
Signature: Sharper J. Williams

No. 4094, RECORD for Gatsey Williams
Date, June 5th 1874
Where born, Wayne Co., NC
Where brought up,  "      "  [Wayne Co., NC]
Age, 40 odd         Complexion, Black
Husband, Sharper J. Williams
REMARKS: Should she die with money in the Bank it is to go to Gatsey Cole, Katie Cole. Gatsey is her mother and they both live at Goldsboro.
                            her
Signature, Gatsey  X  Williams
                          mark

Courtesy: FindAGrave,
Added by, Phil Weller,
11 July 2011

Death and Interment Records
Name: Sharper Williams
Pvt. Co. G, 14th Reg't USCT Heavy Artillery
Death Date: 6 Jan 1891
Cemetery Ledger: New Bern National Cemetery
Burial Place: New Bern, North Carolina
Plot: 18
Grave No.: 3280





Civil War Pension Index, 1861-1934
Name of Soldier: Williams, Sharper
Name of Dependent: Widow: Williams, Gatsey
Service: G 14 USC H A
Date of Filing: 1891 Jan 24
Widow: Application No. 496956
Certificate No.: 308751
State from which filed: N.C.

Pvt. Williams had sworn his testimony on behalf of his 

Sgt. Isaac Carter on 3 June 1890. 

Who would have known that only 
7 months and 21 days later 

he would take his last breath. 

And, who would have known that only 18 days from his death, 

his widow would apply for a Civil War Widow's Pension.

The Civil War Pension File of Isaac Carter, Document #16

The following document is an affidavit sworn by Sharper Williams of Company G, USCT 14th Heavy Artillery. I knew that our Isaac Carter had transferred from Company B to Company G; but, I began to wonder when this transpired.

A careful examination of his service record revealed something interesting.

May 2007:
Isaac Carter's Great Grandson at Fort Macon

• March 12, 1864: Isaac enlisted in 1st North Carolina Heavy Artillery, later known as USCT 14th Heavy Artillery. Rank: Sergeant, Company B.
• He was present at company muster roll through June 1865: Sergeant.
• July & August 1865 Company B muster roll reveals he had been demoted to Private. Remarks: Transferred to Company G Res S.O. No. 78....
• In the next page, also for July & August 1865, he appears in company muster roll for Company G as a Private with the following remarks: Free April 19, 1861. Transferred from Company "B", August 28, 1865 By S.O. No. 78 Hd Qrts 14 U.S. Promoted to Corpl (Sept. 1, 1865 By S.O. No. 82). [two lines down]: Roll Mutilated. 
• September & October 1865: Rank: Sergeant, Company G. Remarks: Promoted Sergt Sept. 20, 1865.

Now that I'm aware of when the transfer occurred, I can more carefully recreate Co. B & G for the time periods when Isaac served in both. (See Brainstorming for Backstory and USCT 14th Heavy Artillery A-Z for further info on this sub-project.) 

Transcription: Sharper Williams' Affidavit on behalf of Isaac Carter

North Carolina}

Craven County}

No. 612812 of Isaac Carter Co. G. 14 U.S.C.H.A.

On this 3rd day of June A.D. 1890  Personally

appeared before me a clerk of the

Superior Court a Court of record in

and for the County & State aforesaid

Sharper Williams aged 65 yrs well 

known to be reputable and en-

titled to credit & who being duly

sworn according to Law declares:

I enlisted Pvt. Co_ G. 14 USCHArty Feb

1865 and became acquainted

with Isaac Carter Sgt of my Co at

the same time. When I first

became acquainted with him

he was very sick with diarrhea

& piles also with Chronic Rheumatism

at Carolina City N.C. on about

Feb 1865 he was in the hospital

and was healed by the Surgeon,

And he was also taken with

a heavy cold which resulted in

the asthma and he continued

to complain and have a 

severe cough and was at a 

severe strain all the remainder

of the service with the diarrhea 

and piles and complained

being afflicted with rheumatism

in the feet and Legs, which

swell up & to such extent that

at times he cannot walk.

And he was in this condition all 

the rest of the service. Since the

war I have at times seen 

him at times very week (sic)

two or three times a month

And so for as i know he is

down for two or three times

a year for a month or more

at at (sic) a time with rheumatism so

he can't walk and from straining

diarrhea & piles pains in throat

& heart. He has continued to

suffer in such condition ever since

the war. I have no interest in

the claim.  My P.O. address is

New Bern N.C.

witness              )                      his

E.W. Carpenter )      Sharper    X   Williams

AM Baker         )                    mark

                                          Sworn & subscribed

to before me this 3rd day of June 1890

& I certify that the foregoing was read

to affiant as he stated before making

his mart to same & that he is the

identical person he claims to be & is cred-

ible & worthy of belief also that I have no

interest in this claim.

                                        EWCarpenter

Amanuensis Monday: The Civil War Pension File of Isaac Carter, Document #15

Below is a transcription of an affidavit sworn out by Theophilus George. This could either be Isaac's brother-in-law (b. 10 Jul 1850), or his father-in-law (b. abt. 1804). Upon completion, further analysis will determine the realtionship.

 North Carolina

Craven County

Also personally appeared before 

me a clerk of Superior Court

a court of record in and 

for the County & State aforesaid

Theophilus George age 40 yrs. 

well known unto be respectable and

entitled to credit & who being duly

declares: I have been acquainted

with Isaac Carter the soldier

all my Life. When he came home

from the war Dec 1865 he appeared

to be quite sick from Rheumatism

and was stiff in his joints of feet & 

Legs and he would be unable

to walk and he also complains 

of diarrhea & piles and asthma

soreness of throat and heart.

He has suffered to a great

excess each and every year

to the present that he has been

down for two or three times each

year or a month or more at a 

time. And I have lived near

his house ever since the war

and have been able to see

him every week at times and

I so on. When ever I see

He is complaining and is at times 

laid up from Rheumatism

diarrhea piles and asthma.

and he is continually sick

from said disabilities.

I have no interest in the

claim. My P.I. address is

Harlowe N. C. 

witness               )

E.W. Carpenter  )  Theophilus George

J.B. Willis         )

sworn & sub-

scribed to before me this 3rd day of

June 1890 & I certify that officiant states'that the foregoing was read to him before

signing same & that he is the identical

person he claims to be & is credible &

worthy of belief.                            E.W. Carpenter

[stamp]

Frederick Douglass,

U.S. Claim Agent.

Box 590, New Berne, N.C.

Analysis

• Taking into account that Theophilus George was 40 years old on 3 June 1890, he would have been born in 1850, which is compatible with Isaac Carter's brother-in-law. Certain he would have known Isaac all his life as Isaac was eleven years old when Theophilus was born. 
• Theophilus reports Isaac's condition following the war in 1865. He married Theophilus' older sister, Martha Ann, one and a half years later (15 May 1867). 
• The informant reports that I have lived near his house ever since the war. Perhaps an examination of land deeds and Census documents for 1870 and 1880 would determine the location of this land, whether it corresponds to the current Martha Ann (George) Carter Heirs Land. Also, where both Carter and George resided before the war. 

The Civil War Pension File of Isaac Carter, Document #11

The next affidavit was sworn by Silas Fenner, one of Isaac Carter's comrade in arms in the USCT Heavy Artillery 14th Regiment.

As I read over this document, I became aware of some colloquialisms of the era. I am hoping that by studying enough records, a pattern will emerge which will be able to assist me in writing dialog.

* * * * *

Department of the Interior,
BUREAU OF PENSIONS,
Jan. 20, 1890

Respectfully requested of the ADJUTANT
GENERAL U.S.A. a report from the records of his
Office as to the presence or absence, on or about
Winter of 1864 & 65
of Silas Fenner
of Co. G. 14 U.S.C.H Art.
and the station, at that date, of the Co
Invalid Claim No. 662812
Isaac Carter
Co. G. 14 U.S. C. H. Art.
Green B. Raum, Commissioner.

War Department,
Record of Pension Division,
Washington, JAN 21 1890
Respectfully returned to the
Commissioner of Pensions
With the information that the name
Silas Fenner is not
born on rolls Co. G
14 U.S.C. H Arty
BY AUTHORITY OF THE SECRETARY OF WAR:
F. G. Ainsworth,
Captain and Ass't Surgeon, U.S. Army

* * * * *

662812

Isaac Carter

G. 14 USCHA

State of North Carolina

County of Craven

In matter of original claim

of Isaac Carter of Co. G 14

Regt U.S.C.H. Arty No 612812

On this 15th Day of May AD 1889

personally appeared Before one

clerk of the Superior Court Being

a court of record in and for

the county of Craven and State

of North Carolina  Sergeant

Silas Fenner age 49 years

Resident of Harlow N.C. Craven

County, well known to be

reputable and Entitled to credit

Who Being duly sworn according

to Law Declares as follows, I

and Sergeant Isaac Carter

was play boys together and

he and I Enlisted in the US

Army together, and when he

Enlisted he was a Well and

hardy man from all appearance

until. until on about Winter

1964 he contracted the Diarrhea

and piles at Carolina City

he contracted the Rheumatism

at Carolina City by Exposure

and cold, and the Diarrhea

by drinking bad Water.

and he was Sent to the Hospital

for treatment, and he was treated

By Surgeon, he complained

Very much he seemed as he

was bad off  We Was discharged

on about the 11th day of December

1865 at Fort Macon N.C. and

then We got on the train and

came to New Berne N.C.  We then

got off the train and Went to

Harlows Creek and that has

Been our resident every since

and he and I lived about

three miles apart and I

know he continues to suffer

With the Rheumatism  Diarrhea

and piles and the Asthma

he is down three and four

times a year so he cant do

anything, and he is about

two thirds disabled to perform

manual Labor by reason

of the Diarrhea  Rheumatism

Asthma & piles he is suffering

for the necessaries of

this Life, he depending on

the hand of Charity for

This Support by reason he

is unable to work.

This is all I know about the 

claim and I am no

relation. I have no interest

in his claim.

                           My post Office

                           Address is

                           Harlowe        N.C.

                           Craven County

                                     his

                            Silas  X  Fenner

                                    mark

Witness

E.W. Carpenter

J. D. Willis

                              sworn & sub-

scribed to before me this 15th

day of may 1889 & I certify that

the foregoing was read to [          ]

before making his mark in

same & that he is the iden-

tical person he claims 

to be & is credible & worthy

of belief

                                                E.W. Carpenter

                                                [                     ]

 

The Civil War Pension File of Isaac Carter, Document #8

If you had been following this series at its inception in August 2011, you may discover that I have skipped over documents 4-7. Perhaps one day I'll go back and fill in the missing information, but its contents were insignificant for this study. Currently I am most interested in documents which help us gain an understanding of this ancestor's character and experience which affected his quality of life. Document #8 is a three and one-half page affidavit which sheds a little more light on the incidents leading to Isaac's disability. I have chosen to transcribe this one at this time because the details proved interesting to the conditions leading to his disability.

State of North Carolina)

County of Craven         )

In matters of original Claim No. 662872

of Isaac Carter [--ot] 2 Sergeant of Co. G 14 Regt U.S.C.H. Arty on this 17 "Day of Oct-- A.D. 1888 Personally appeared before me a Clerk of Superior Court a Court of record in and for the County of Craven and State of North Carolina  Isaac Carter age 48 "years" Resident of Clubfoots Creek, Craven County N.C. P.O. address P.O. Box 570 New Bern N.C., well known to me to be reputable and Entitled to credit who being Duly sworn according to Law Decloses (sic) as follows, I was Born and Rais (sic) in Craven County N.C. I never had any sickness Prior to my Enlistment. I Enlisted as Privet (sic) in Co. B. 14 Regt U.S.C.H. Arty on the 12 Day of March 1864  I was promoted Corporal in Fall 1864 and transferred to Company G. 14 Regt U.S.C. H. Arty on a bout March 1865   I was promoted Second Sergeant of Co. G. 14 Regt U.S.C.H. Arty under Captain John B. Willett. the first time I Every having the Dirrhea (sic) and Piles it was at Moorhead City on about November 1864 I was taken with the Rheumatism in feet Legs and pains in the Breast and Shortness of Breath and [houghtness] I contracted the Rheumatism in the following manner viz on a bout Nov 1864 the Regiment was ordered from New Berne N.C. to Moorhead City N.C. and we arrive there in the night  We Layed out all Night for Three or four Nights with out any tents in the open air Nothing but our Blankets. our Tents was Left to New Berne and it Rain and [         ] and I got wet. I was taken first with a Deep cold up on the Lung. I could not Speak Louder than a whisper and my feet taken to swelling and I sent Hospital. I Remain the Hospital for Three

Months, More Less and was Treated by the Surgeon  I am able to give the Surgeon Name. This was Two and Three Surgeon Moor Less and I have Suffered Every Since with Diarhea (sic)

and Piles and Swelling Feeling Legs Pains in Back and Shoulders and Knees and Larger Joints and Shortness of the Breath I am Generally Down in Bed Two and Three times a year Each and every years Generally in fall and though the winter and Spring and Bothered a great Deal. Asthma and weakness of the Eyes from Date of Discharge up to the Present   I have lived on Clubfoot Creek Craven County N.C. My occupation have been that of a farmer when I could Do any thing. I have not been able to work one third of any Time. I have Suffered a great Deal for the Necessaries of this Life and have not been able to work. My children and wife has work to suport me. I have not been able to Employ any Doctor to Treat Me. I have Bought Medician (sic) from First one Doctor then and other. I generally use Linement and Balsom to Rub my Back there has not been any change in my Resident  My P.O. address is P.O. Box 590 New Berne N.C. I am unable to Prove my Disability by Commissioned officers of my Company by Reason I do not know where they are at or Post Office address. I have not seen or heard from them since the 11 Day of December 1865 or the Surgeon or Assistant Surgeon. I am able to prove it by my Comrads (sic) which I ask to be accepted in Lieu of Commissioned officers or Surgeons, of My Regiment

my P.O. address is P.O. Box 590 New Berne N.C.

                                         
Witness                   Isaac  his X mark Carter
E.W. Carpenter               
J. B. Willis

Sworn & subscribed to before me this 17th day of Oct 1888 & I certify that the foregoing was read to Claimant before executing samd & that he is the identical person he claimed to be & is creditable & worthy of belief.

                           E.W. Carpenter
                           Clerk Sup Court

Updated September 5, 2025

____________

Source: 

Isaac Carter (Sgt. Co. B & G, 14th U.S.C.T. Heavy Artillery, North Carolina, Civil War), invalid pension application no. 662812, certificate no. 782903, Case Files of Approved Pension Applications..., 1861-1934; Civil War and Later Pension Files; Department of Veterans Affairs, Record Group 15; National Archives, Washington, D.C.

Keeping an Online Family History Journal

You may have noticed something new on the website...a new link to

The Bizzy Bee's Family History Journal.

Besides following genealogy and history blogs, I also follow writer's blogs, and Mary Carrol Moore's How to Plan, Write and Develop a Book is one of my favorites! In her post, Staying in the Room with the Writing--How to keep yourself from getting blocked, distracted or stopping altogether, was just the motivation I needed to start another dimension to this blog....the family history journal.

My first post, Messaging Dominique: Debunking Family Myths, was the catalyst. The previous day I had been messaging our cousin whom I had just recently met online! It is rare that I come across a descendant of Elisha Carter, my husband's grandfather's oldest brother...and she is only the fourth I have met, although I have only ever met one in person! So, Hey Dominique! So glad you found us!!!

I had read Mary's post and was mulling the idea over in my mind, but how would I do this? I contacted our California cousin Yvette Porter Moore and asked her how she got her new website to look so good? How did she link all her blogs to her main page? She messaged me with some good advice and a lot of encouragement, and with a little experimenting, I finally got it right!

My goal is to apply her weekly writing exercises to my research/writing regimen. I hope you'll stop by and see what the Bizzy Bee's been up to!

Drawing Upon Parallel Personal Memories

According to author/editor C. S. Lakin, your first paragraph needs three things to hook your readers into the story:

1. Your protagonist (Isaac Carter),
2. A catalyst or incident (the binding out of the four orphaned Carter children at the County Courthouse), and
3. A hint of the protagonist's core need  (to keep his siblings together, to watch over and protect them).

I have researched how they might have journeyed from North Harlowe to New Bern...the route they may have taken to get to the Courthouse once arriving to the city...what the Courthouse may have looked like...

...and now, I need to recreate the emotional responses the protagonist and subordinate characters in this first scene may have had to the incident.

For this I rely on personal memories of a similar event. 

Going to the Courthouse

Hampshire County Courthouse, Northampton, MA

On November 28, 1990, nearly one month after our youngest child's death in a vehicle/pedestrian accident, my husband and I, the driver of the vehicle, our lawyers and a clerk magistrate sat down together at a closed session in Northampton District Court for a show-cause hearing.

The clerk magistrate announced that she had just come back from vacation and had not yet read the background of the case...and it looks like no one was injured. Almost in unison, everyone in the room cried out, Someone died!

We met for thirty minutes...one half hour...reviewed the circumstances, and resolved it among ourselves. Looking back, it seemed like more time than that had elapsed; and if I hadn't read it for myself in the newspaper I wouldn't have believed it.

It was an accident in the truest sense of the word, [the driver] said of Nichelle's death. It was a tragedy, he added, one that happened in three seconds, the time it took my truck to move eight feet. (Charges Ruled Out In Stroller Death, Union-News (Springfield, MA), Thursday, November 29, 1990, by Richard Bourie: Staff: Union-News.)

As we emerged from the small room upon a long, dark, narrow hall, a reporter approached us from the stairwell ahead. The questions he asked seemed trivial and intrusive. I recall a sense of annoyance that he would invade our privacy, not taking into account that we were in a public place. I answered tersely, then walked past him and descended the stairs.

Our two surviving children were not with us. I don't remember where they were...perhaps with their grandparents. That day's events preceding and following the hearing are as lost to traumatic forgetfulness as the memory of the hearing is forever etched in my mind. Even the memory of approaching the reporter is as walking through a haze, buffered by a valley of no recall.

Roughing out the courtroom scene...
And how must young Isaac Carter have felt...a fourteen-year-old young man, huddling his younger siblings about him, as they entered the courthouse. Master Temple instructed them to go with the Negro matron to the upper gallery and wait until their case was called.

The bell tolled in the cupola above, bidding the townspeople to come to court. It was a big day when the Quarter Session began. The Sheriff had rounded up a jury from among the planters and prominent men of the county, and onlookers and curiosity seekers pushed their way through the doors, hoping to get a seat in one of the plain, straight-backed benches of the gallery. . . .

I imagine Isaac felt an unnatural calm, like time was moving past him in a blur. The chatter of innumerable groups of people rose to a roar, yet muffled by a buffer of distortion. He saw people shoving, pushing, scurrying, but he felt detached from it.

And then the Sheriff entered:

Oyez, Oyez, Oyez. All manner of persons who have any thing to do before the Honorable the Judges of the Court of Common Pleas, Orphans' Court, and Court of Quarter Sessions, here holden this day, let them come forward and they shall be heard. (A Book of Forms for Practice in the Courts and for Conveyancing, Volume 2, p. 2102.)

Everyone stood as the Justice of the Peace entered and stepped up to the dias and took his seat on the tall bench, and then the people sat down.

A rail divided the general courtroom from the spectator's gallery, and beyond that sat two oval tables where the attorneys sat. Below the judge's bench were benches for the Sheriff and his deputies, and a smaller table where the clerk of court recorded the proceedings.

The gavel cracked three times, and the murmur of the crowd died down to complete silence. The Sheriff called the first case on the docket and people came forward and sat with the attorney at an oval table.

It seemed that case after case was called of one sort or another....

Turning a 2-D scene into 3-D
As I wrote the sketch for the opening of the courtroom scene, I noticed that while I could imagine the disjointed feeling of grief mixed with responsibility and living in the present, I was struggling with getting into the head of a fourteen-year-old boy.

I can see that after we move and get settled in, I'll be spending some time in my new office, surrounded with photos, the apprenticeship documents (which are currently packed away in boxes labeled, "Debra's Gen. Binders/Bedroom #2") and spending some quiet time imagining.

Forming Your Character's Distinctive Personality

Vintage Puzzle by Fel1x

Following the post on composite likeness,
I began giving some thought to the next step....Since I am writing about a person I've never met...a black male in a time not my own...in a world with differing social mores...I must find devices to piece together the complete man from a fourteen-year-old boy through the stages of manhood.

Composite Personality
Just as I had morphed the photos of four generations of Carter males to come up with a visual representation of my protagonist's physical appearance, I have overlaid the layers of our elders' comments with observations of living descendants for three generations of Carter men.

Layer 1: Hezekiah Carter (son; deceased)
In the summer of 2004 our family traveled from our home in New England to the Livingston Grand Reunion in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Prior to the in-gathering of the descendants of Frank Livingston, we stopped over in Whiteville, North Carolina to visit with family from the Prince Livingston branch who were unable to attend the reunion.

Our first stop after visiting the Charles Spencer Livingston home place on Fruit Ridge Road was to interview the matriarch of our family's branch. Now Aunt Albertha holds another special place in our family because she is a double aunt. She was married to my husband's paternal Uncle Jesse Carter...and her youngest sister Lillie Stean had married Uncle Jesse's youngest half-brother, my husband's father...Chester Carter.

As my husband and I interviewed Aunt Albertha and Cousin Ruth about the Carter side of the family, our aunt recounted the day she met Hezekiah and Hannah Jane Carter...my husband's grandparents.

Hezekiah was also our protagonist's third born son of nine surviving children. Born in 1874, Isaac Carter was 35-years-old at his son's birth.

Hezekiah was a very kind, soft spoken man. And you could tell he loved his wife very much. He said he was glad that Jesse had me in his life because his first wife had been so much older...more like a mother figure.

The first wife is a mystery....

 Layer 2: Bert Carter (grandson, oldest son of the first wife; deceased)
Although we attended two George family reunions in North Harlowe, North Carolina, I met our cousin Napoleon online via Ancestry.com. In a correspondence thread back in February 2011 he said:

I used to visit Miss Hannah when I was small and I knew your Uncle Bert pretty well. And like most Carter men in our family...they had a temper...smile...I guess it skipped me...

Layer 3: Chester Carter (grandson, youngest surviving son of the second wife; deceased)
My mother was also so impressed with my father-in-law, stating that he was a fine, distinguished looking man. I will always remember him as a quiet, peaceful man who sacrificed for his family whom he loved dearly. Pushed far enough, however, his anger would flare...but only momentarily. He would take quick, decisive action, and then resume his normal state.

There is a story which he told me years ago when my husband and I were newlyweds, living in their home.... I was suffering from a lung infection caused by a severe allergy to cats. The doctor had told me that even if we got rid of the cat, it would take ten years of vacuuming to rid the carpets of the cat hair and dander unless they were torn up, the floors cleaned, and new carpeting laid down.

Years ago, he said, I was frying a pan of fish and had set it out to cool. I came back into the kitchen later only to find that the cat had eaten the fish! I got angry and Stean yelled, Why don't you just shoot the cat? I think I will, I said, and got my gun. I nearly lost my marriage over that cat, so you'll understand why we don't get rid of it....

Layer 4: Living Carter males (great grandsons)
Though diverse in interests and expression, each of one of the next generation of Carter males has several aspects of personality in common:

• a deep and sincere faith in God
• issues they feel passionately about
• a deep sense of responsibility and love for family
• a good sense of humor
• an even-tempered outward disposition
• enjoyment when interacting with people

Composite temperament for Isaac Carter's character
I see Isaac as a mixture of all these aspects of personality. The challenge will be in finding situations that occurred in his life to visually illustrate these inner facets of personality.

I can see now that I need to devise a check-list to ensure that I reach my scene objectives. For me, this is uncharted territory. . . .