The Carman Family

Jacob Carman
1754 - 1814
The Grandfather Of The Canadian Migration

The Revolutionary Period
.... the Carmans are now in the textile industry ...
family line: John (1), John (2), Thomas (3), Joseph (4), Adam (5), Jacob (6)

Trade
Canada
Names
Family
Westward
Family of Jacob and Rachel


Jacob Carman was born about 1754 at Jericho, L.I. and accompanied his 'family to Dutchess county. His wife was Rachel Weeks, thought to be a daughter of Abel Weeks of an early Long Island family. He was likely married at the time of the move up-state. ‘There is some question about the exact date of his birth and 1754 should be considered a compromise date, based on the records of the Carman Family Association - which are various manuscripts on file in the New York City Public Library.' (Dueryer)

Jacob and Rachel had thirteen children, the older of which may have been born on Long Island, some in Dutchess county, and the younger ones in Green county, New York. They were: Townsend, Margaret, Caleb, Ester, Adam, Freelove, Samuel, Rachel, Jacob, Hannah, Phila. Walter and Solomon. (in arrroximate order of birth)

Family tradition says they moved from Dutchess county, N.Y., to Canada about 1790, remaining there for two years, then coming back and settling in Green county. (Very likely tre Province of New Brunswick) (This Canadian move was tied to the family's Quakerism and the Revolutionary War.) Since Samuel's oldest son, Caleb, was born in Canada in 1805, the Canadian junket must rave extended over longer than a two year period for the entire family.

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Trade

Jacob is said to have died near Catskill in Green county in 1814 and by that time he was a weaver. It has been noted that the early Carmans were millers, operating mills for grinding grain and sawing lumber. Now, for the first time , we have mention of them as workers with cloth. This is an indication that a new industry was coming to the fore in America. Several of Jacob's sons and grandsons were ' carders' --- persons who prepared wool for spinning and weaving.

During the first part of the 19th. Century, weaving was a major home industry, both in furnishing cloth for the household and for trade. Surprising to moderns, is the fact that weaving was a man's work because the early looms were cumbersome and heavy. Usually, they were of local manufacture. The women of the household spun the wool into yarn and the older children 'hand-carded' the wool for making the yarn. This practice of family cloth-making is still followed in parts of the world today.

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Canada- Revolution

It was in following their trades that the Carnians became a part of the westward movement after the Candaian interlude and American Revolution. It was the opportunity to operate mills that brought them to Illinois.

Jacob Carman should have been the Revolutionary War ancestor of this branch of the Carman family, but he was not; nor were any of his immediate fami1y as can be determined from the existing records. Earlier Carrmans, before their conversion to Quakerism, were in the Colonial and Indian wars. In the years ahead they would serve in the nations future wars.

As described it the section on Carmans and the Revolutionary War, family disruptions caused by this conflict were very severe in New York State. Thousands of persons migrated from New York to Canada. The more affluent went back to England. (Hundreds fled to Connecticut for the duration of the war.) These migrants were not all Torys. Many were Quakers seeking to avoid taking sides. As with other families, the Carmans were divided, brother against brother, cousin against cousin.

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Names

Jacob Carman would have been of age to serve, if not in active service, in some form of public service. As a Quaker, he along with his family, were probably harassed and he may have suffered loss of property. The records of Dutchess county show that one of the Van Wycks, a Carman kinsman, suffered greatly, so much that he left the area. (Theodore Van Wyck, later a prominent politician in New York.) New Brunswick, Canada was the goal of most of these migrants from the war. Although many returned at the Peace, others did not. Many Carmans, henceforth could be Canadians.

In naming their children, the Carmans at this period still kept some of the old family names that dated back to the 1600s. They extensively used names of families into which they had married as given names. A common name was Townsend, given to several generations of the boys. This name came from the Townsend family on Long Island. (See: The Name of Merritt in the Carman. Family.)

In Jacob's family the f.amily linage can be discerned in the given names. Margaret , Caleb, Adam, Jacob, Hannah and Phila. The influence of the Titus family was great. There seems to be little Dutch influence in the names, indicating perhaps that there is no Dutch blood in this family line. For example, in the Dutch naming Jacob would have been Jacobus.

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Family

It is noted from his family chart that Jacob had three members of his broad marry into the Lisk family - Caleb, Margaret and Freelove. This was a Quaker family and the name Lisk persisted in this branch of the family for a generation or two as a given name.

The Quakerism of Jacob's family is evident in what is known of his family members. "About 1811, Adam, Jacob's son, together with his brothers Townsend and Caleb moved into the Genesee county (in New York state). They left Green county and moved to Hector in Seneca county afterwards known as Tompkins county now as Schuyler where they bought land. Adam and Townsend later sold out and moved to Seneca county.

"Some of the Carman neighbors and family of Caleb, feeling the need of a meeting place for the Society of Friends met in Caleb's house, who lived near Ferry City (N.Y.). Later, a church was built in a nearby town.

"Benjamin Lisk, father of Caleb's wife Mary, said in his will of 1833 that Caleb and Mary are buried on land donated by Caleb to Perry City." (From collected family correspondence.)

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Westward

Of Jacob's children, it is known that descendants of Adam and his sister, Freelove, migrated to Iowa and Nebraska - a move made later than that of Jacob and Samuel who settled in central Illinois in the Sangamon-Menard counties area. (More on this in the section titled: The Westward Movement.)

The move westward for the family was to diminish their Quakerism and by the time of the Civil War, Jacob was to have a number of descendants to serve in the Union forces. (See: Carmans in the Civil War.) No service records have been discovered for his descendants who remained in New York state, but it is very likely that they, too, particpated in the wars to come.

To offset their abandoment of Quakerism, a number of his descendants became ministers in various denominations. Others obtained prominence in other ways in their communities and at least three of his line were members of the Nebraska legislature. A great-great grandson became a U.S. Senator.

Jacob's daughter Esther, who married Thomas Bedell, remained in Green county, New York which is in the picturesque Catskill region. In about 1850 her brother Samuel, who had migrated to Illinois. died at her home on a return visit.

Note: additional information on Jacob's family that stayed in New York: '"Three of Jacob's sons came to the Genessee country near 1811, Townsend, Caleb and Adam. Townsend and Adam moved to the town of Junius, Seneca Co. N.Y. But Caleb stayed. He bought land...whicn at that date had an apple orchard old enough to bear fruit. He was a staunch and generous Friend. When Hector meeting was first organized, it was held at his home, and later at a dwelling furnished by him, until the meeting house was built in 1826. Then he and his wife, Anna Frost (Caleb's second wife.), donated two acres for the building site."

The writer believes that Carman descendants are to be found today in this section of New York State. Reunions were held there for many years and a family member prepared a history, which has not been located. There has teen no direct contact with family descendants in this area; altho from time-to-time references to them have been noted. -cch

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Family of Jacob and Rachel (Weeks) Carman
all generation (7)

Townsend Carman (Gurney))
Margaret Carman (Lisk)
Caleb Carman (Lisk) (Frost) -1770
Adam Carman (Dean) -1841
Ester Carman (Bedell)
Freelove Carman (Lisk)
Samuel Carman (Moore) 1781 - c. 1850
Rachel Carman (Powell)
Jacob Carman (Golden) (Conrad) 1785 -1870
Hannah Carman (Powell)
Philadelphia 'Phila' Carman (Smith)
Walter Carman -1792
Solomon Carman (Ray)

It should be noted by the reader that Jacob Carman's family was shattered by the American Revolution and by the westward sweep of peoples in the years that followed. New 'pockets' of Carman were formed by this family. Some stayed in central New York, others may have remained in Canada, some settled the Lake country of New York, still others migrated westward to Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa and Nebraska.

As time went on, descendants were to span the nation.

More specific genealogical information is on file in the Illinois State Historical Library, Springfield.

According to textile historians, the 'carding' in working with wool was mechanized before satisfactory mechanized looms for weaving were developed. Because hand carding was so slow and tedious, its mechanization was readilly accepted. Not so, with power looms. The power loom was slow in gaining acceptance - in some areas meeting the violent opposition of the weavers. In general, it was only in the latter part of the nineteenth century that any appreciable progress was made in the mechanizing of the textile industry. Steam power, not water power, was most important in this industry.





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