Blog Caroling 2013: Mary Did You Know

by Mark Lowry and Buddy Greene

Sung by CeeLo Green, on The Bible

The Christmas Season is once more upon us, and what is it that we hear? 

Is there anything positive out there? 

Or is it all squabbling over who said this, or who did that? 

Is there any peace in our homes...our communities...our towns, cities and nations? 

Or is this a time of unrest? 

Do you have that same child-like expectancy of Christmas morn as when you were a child? And were they really "the good old days?" 

And if so, for whom?

I am finding more and more the older I get that Christmas was just the beginning...

A time at the end of our calendar to help us to refocus on the true meaning of our existence. 

And as we enter a new year...2014...will it bring us closer to the Reason for the Season?

It is my earnest prayer that we...my family...my friends...and my brothers and sisters in Christ...will rekindle that flame that once burned with a Passion...so that all may see your light shine that they, too, might know Him...Jesus.

Mary did you know...

Mary did you know that your baby boy will one day walk on water?

Mary did you know that your baby boy will save our sons and daughters?

Did you know that your baby boy has come to make you new?

This child that you've delivered, will soon deliver you.

Mary did you know that your baby boy will make a blind man see?

Mary did you know that your baby boy will calm a storm with his hand?

Did you know that your baby boy has walked where angels trod?

And when you kiss your little baby, you have kissed the face of God.

The blind will see, the deaf will hear and the dead will live again.

The lame will leap, the mute will speak, the praises of the lamb.

Mary did you know that your baby boy is Lord of all creation?

Mary did you know that your baby boy will one day rule the nations?

Did you know that your baby boy is heaven's perfect Lamb?

This sleeping child you're holding is the great I am.

The Estate File of William Carter (1867): An Index

"North Carolina, Estate Files, 1663-1979," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/VKJM-XLD : accessed 29 Aug 2013), William Carter, 1867; 32 Images.

1/32: Folder: Carter, William  1867
2/32: June 5, 1917: S.R. Street, Commissioned Notary Public, Craven County, NC
3/32: June 11, 1917: Oath of Notary Public/S.R. Street
4/32: S.R. Street Qualified June 11/1917
5/32: Application of Guardian, Guardian's Oath and Letters of Guardianship: Effie Carter Dove: June 1, 1917
6/32: Application Cover
7/32: 11 March 1867: On petition of Rachel G. Carter, widow of Wm Carter, One Year Provisions
8/32: Writ to lay off year's provisions: $265
9/32: Petition "to have her year's support out of the estate of her said husband [William Carter]...to set apart to her so much of the crop, stock, and provisions, belonging thereto, as may be adequate to support herself and her family for one year". March Term, 1867.
10/32: Petition Cover
11/32: Court Costs or administrating one year's provisions
12/32: 27 July 1868: Court Order to Sheriff to bring in the taxed monies assessed to Rachel G. Carter in the amount of $10.67, on the second Monday of March next.
13/32: James E. Flemming, Sheriff of Craven County, attended by the following Jury of good and lawful men...proceeded on the 26th day of May 1868...to lay off and allot to Rachael Carter her dower and thirds in the lands of William Carter...South Side of Neuse River, West Side of Clubfoots Creek, adjoining to the lands of John [George] and brothers...twenty-five acres.
14/32: Cover sheet
15/32: Petition for Dower: Rachel G. Carter vs. Heirs at Law of William Carter
16/32: Cover sheet
17/32: To James Carter: To appear in Court on 2nd Monday in June 1867
18/32: Cover for Subpoena & Copy of Petition to James Carter
19/32: To Jesse Godett: To appear in Court on 2nd Monday in June 1867
20/32: Cover for Subpoena & Copy of Petition to Jesse Godett 
21/32: To Amos Carter: To appear in Court on 2nd Monday in June 1867
22/32: Cover for Subpoena & Copy of Petition to Amos Carter
23/32: To Martha A. Godett: To appear in Court on 2nd Monday in June 1867
24/32: Cover for Subpoena & Copy of Petition to Martha A. Godett
25/32: Handwritten note on torn paper: "200 acres of land adjoining the lands of Hetty George & the Heirs at Law of Theophilus George.
26/32: To the Sheriff of Craven County: summons to form a Jury to come to the premises of William Carter's lands to lay off the Dower, one third part, of Rachel Carter
27/32: Cover: Trial: Writ to Lay off Dower for Rachel G. Carter
28/32: To the Sheriff of Craven County: to appear with a Jury of men in Court on the 2nd Monday of March 1868
29/32: Cover sheet
30/32: Paid to Wm H. Marshall, $5.00, for laying Rachel Carter's dower in lands
31/32: Petition for Dower, Cover sheet
32/32: The Petition of Rachel G. Carter, Widow of William Carter; Heirs at Law: Martha A. Godet, Jesse Godet, James Carter, Amos Carter, Cassie J. Carter, Josephus Carter, Eliza M. Carter, Isaac H. Carter, & Garrison E. Carter, the last six infants; lands adjoining Hetty George & the Heirs at Law of Theophilus George & others, "and containing by estimation about 200 acres".

Mixed Records in Estate Files: William Carter (1867)

When browsing documents in an estate file, you would think that all the records contained in that file would belong to the estate of the person recorded on the file's name. While looking at documents for the estate of my husband's 2nd great grand uncle, William Carter, I was surprised to find that the first five documents actually had nothing to do with his estate. Or was there some connection less obvious?

"North Carolina, Estate Files, 1663-1979," 
index and images, FamilySearch 
(https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/VKJM-XLD : 
accessed 29 Aug 2013), 
William Carter, 1867; Image 5/32.

To the right is the main document in question. It is an application of Guardianship made by Effie Carter Dove on behalf of James Harrington Carter, Lena Stanley Carter and Willie Benjamin Carter, dated 1 June 1917.

How does a document drawn up fifty years after the deceased's file is closed end up within that file?

Let's start by taking a look at the relationship held within this document. Effie Carter Dove. She was the daughter of Enoch & Abigail (Hyman) Hargett, b. abt. 1892. She married first William Benjamin Carter, Sr.; and following his death, she married Jacob Dove. Using this information, we can see that she was the mother of these children, Willie Benjamin Carter being named for his father, who died abt. 1911; however, she did not make the petition until she was remarried. But that still doesn't answer the question of how this document would end up in William Carter's estate file of 1867.

William Carter was the great grand uncle of William Benjamin Carter, Sr. through the George Carter, Sr. branch. Their common ancestor is Isaac Carter (md. Sarah Perkins).

While these children might be considered heirs at law of William Carter's Estate (1867), there is no direct connection made through the documents contained within the file itself.

So the question remains...why would the records of William B. Carter, Sr.'s heirs be filed in the William Carter (1867) file? Could it be something as simple as they were both named William Carter? Perhaps.

This leads me to believe that in searching for estate records, it might necessitate browsing all the records for a given surname in a given locale to weed out the possibility of other such mix-ups. Otherwise, we might overlook some valuable evidence hiding within the folder of some other deceased ancestor.