The Carman Family


---- these are the years at Sangamon Town

Section IV
The CARMANS IN PIONEER ILLINOIS
1820 - 18610

Samuel and Jacob Carman and their families, for the time, cease to be wanderers and settle down. They become townsmen and craftsmen, following their trades .... in so doing, they become a part of the story of Abraham Lincoln.

... at Sangamo Town, Samuel Carman ran the carding machine ....
The Sangamon Saga

Samuel Carman
1751 - c.1850
Grandfather of the Western Migration

 Grandfathers of Pioneer Illinois
Family line: John(2), Thos. (3), Jos.(4), Adam (5), Jacob (6), Sam. (7)

Trade
Records
Restless
Carding
Family
The Name Merritt
Dutchess County, New York

Of the sons of Jacob Carman who migrated to Illinois, we have the most interest in Samuel from whom the writer's branch of the family is descended. He was probably born in Dutchess county, New York about 1781. While still very young he lived at Stanton Hill in Green county, New York. (one account says he was born at Stanton Hill (Green Co.) N.Y.) Too young to have served in the Revolutionary War, he would have been a youngster during the Canadian migration of his family.

His oldest son, Caleb, was born in Canada in 1805, indicating that Samuel may have married in Canada. We find a Samuel Carman listed in the New York census of 1800 and living in Green county. In the census of 1810 we find him living in Luzerne county, Pennsylvania. His wife has been identified as Sarah Moore. (she was a daughter of a Mary Moore, according to her son, Caleb. The Moore family was from Long Island, possibly Quakers and in the Canadian migration where the marriage may have taken place.) (also noted as Phebe in some records.)

Samuel's movements can be traced by the birthplaces of his children: Canada, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Illinois. The various birth dates giving us an approximate time schedule of this wanderer's movements.

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Trade

Early records indicate him being a farmer. In later reports we, find him referred to as a 'carder.' Being a carder was certainly a logical development from his father, Jacob, being a weaver. From carding by hand at. home to doing the same by a machine, would be an easy transition. Like most men of his time, he followed his trade, also doing other kinds of labor to provide for his family. Such assistance was needed as he had seven sons and one daughter.

The operation of a 'carding' mill may have been geared to the seasons. The millers took a 'tare' in wool, which in turn t hey traded for other merchandise or sold for cash. (cash was an extremely rare commodity in pioneer Illinois) No doubt his sons worked at the Sangamon Town mill with him. His son, John, as an adult was also a miller. Others of his family often listed their. occupations as 'carders.'

Samuel must have been a retiring man, completely over-shadowed in local affairs by his brother Jacob, with who he had come to Illinois. A search of the old County Commissioners records of Sangamon county (Ill.) did not reveal any transactions for him. Nor, do we find his name on the poll records or in the land transactions. He did, however , find a place in the surviving records of the Elijah Iles store at Springfield, where there is note of one transaction! On September 5, 1828, Samuel Carman purchased merchandise (on credit) to the amount of $2.00. Iles may have taken payment later in wool rolls from the mill.

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Records

Samuel is listed in the 1830 census of Illinois and there is a count of his household members. No record of him is found in the census of 1840.

The writer is of the opinion that he lived in Sangamon Town in a cabin provided by the Broadwells. Again, assuming that ‘carding' was seasona1, he likely worked at the saw mill and at other times engaged in cutting timber or working as a farm hand.

All the available accounts of Samuel recording the circumstances of his death are similar but do not give an exact date. It appears to have been sometime between 1840 and 1850. He was considered to be in his old age (for the times} somewhere in his sixties, perhaps!

Apparently the urge to return to New York for a visit was strong enough for him to undertake the journey back. He died at the home of his brother-in-law, Thomas Bedell, at Stanton Hill, New York where he was visiting. Thomas was married to Samuel's sister, Ester. (the Carman-Bedell relationships extended back to Long Island. the trip East was too strenuous for him, as he purportedly was not well.) He was buried in New work.

At a later date (possibly about 1850), Samuel's wife, Sarah, died and several accounts say that her death occurred at Springfield, the county seat. If so, she was buried in a local cemetery, long since abandoned.

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Restless

Samuel, the restless, went from New York to Canada, back to New York, then to Pennsylvania, migrating on to Illinois by the way of Ohio and finally going back to New York where death overtook him. His children were to remain in Illinois and to play an important role in that state's relatively short pioneer period.

Samuel Carman, as obscure as he seems in the surviving records, unbeknownst to him was to father some children that added to the family story: Three of his sons were in the Black Hawk War.
His only daughter, Lucretia, was mother of a son who became a U.S. Senator.
His sons, Merritt and Caleb, were to become part of the Lincoln story.
One son, Charles Lick, a successful business man; his son, John, a miller.
His youngest son, James L., was to serve in the Civil War as were five grandsons.

It is likely that Samuel knew Abe Lincoln at Sangamon Town but of course would not know of the part the ‘flatboater’ was to play in American history.

Fortunately, he never knew that one of his g/g grandson would try to write his life history!

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Carding

Carding was the process by which the Miller took the cleaned raw wool from the farmer who had sheared the sheep and combed it by machine into fibrous strands which were then taken by the farmer's wife and spun into yarn so that he wool could be woven into cloth. The woolen yarn was also inter-woven with linen (flax) threads to make the frontier linsey-woolsy cloth. The wool garments for winter; the wool-linen mixture for summer clothing.

The carded wool was also made into wool rolls, which served as currency on the frontier. The wool rolls were sold for cash or traded for other merchandise. (salt, sugar, needles, etc.)

In earlier times carding was done by hand, using a carding comb; later, by crude machines operated by horse, oxen, or water power; An improved carding machine can be seen at New Salem State Park which is operated by oxen on a treading wheel.

The old ' Iles' ledger in the Ill. State Historical Library shows many 'trading' transactions as cash was scarce. Iles was a shrewd merchant. In addition to merchandising, he also ran a pioneer bank and was a money lender. There were still a few Indians in central Illinois during the period under discussion. Samuel Carman' s nearest business place was Springfield, the county seat. However, most of his needs could be supplied at Sangamon Town.

As mill operator, although he did not own it, Samuel Carman was an important resident of Sangamon Town and probably well known throughout the neighboring countryside. As a tradesman (or craftsman) he had little need for owning land - his living was as good or better than that of the average settler

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The Family of Samuel (7) and Sarah (Moore) Carman
all generation (8)

Caleb Carman 1805 - ,1888 b. Canada
Lucretia Carman 1806 - 1853 b. Canada or New York
Townsend Carman c. 1808 - b. New York
Merritt M. Carman 1810 - b. Pennsylvania
John Carman 1813 - 1866 b. Pennsylvania
Jacob Carman 1816 - b. Ohio
Charles Lisk Carman 1820-1884 b. Ohio
James L. Carman 1822 - 1887 b. Illinois


Caleb, John and Jacob were traditional family given names.
Townsend and Lisk were given names derived from family marriages.
No names have been discovered for various middle initials.
The name Merritt apparently has a different origin (see: The Name Merritt in the Carman family.)
James L. Carman, the author's g/gf wil1 be discussed in a separate section.

Names of the wives' families will be introduced in the discussion of each family member if known.

Author's notes: The various birthplaces of Samuel Carman's children indicate the westward migration path taken to Illinois on his return from Canada following the American Revolution. He may have traveled from one Quaker settlement to another. Quakerism dies out in this generation. All of Samuel's children, with the exception of Townsend of whom little is known, remained in central Illinois throughout their lives. Jacob, in his final years, migrated to Missouri to be with his family and possibly died there.

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The name 'Merritt' in the Carman Family

Early Carman family members frequently used the surnames of families into which they had married as given names for their boys. Soon after the 'American Revolution the name 'Merritt' for boys came into the family, but there is no record of a Carman-Merritt marriage.

The name appears to stem from their ‘Quaker' belief.

During the Revolution, Quakers in New York State suffered greatly. There was a mass migration of them from that state to Canada. Among them were some of the Carmans of our family branch. Adam's (5) son Jacob (6) with his family and members of Adam's were among the migrating Carmans. In that group was Samuel (9), son of Jacob.

Aiding the New York Quakers were members of the Merritt family - also Quakers. They were well-to-do and not only aided the less fortunate of. their faith financially, but inter-ceded with the authorities to protect the properties and rights of less-fortunate Quakers' families.

Since the Carmans were of modest circumstances, it likely they received assistance from the Merritts.

The name 'Merritt' came into the Carman family with the naming of one of Samuel's sons. The name continued as a given name for several generations. Incidentally, this name has not been found in other family branches.

Here are the known ' Merritt' Carmans Merritt M. Carman (8), 1806 - c. 1860
Adalaska Merritt Carman (9), 1855 - 1908
Stanley Merritt Carman (10) 1881 - 1926
Stanley Merritt Carman (12), 1950 -

As used, the name is spelled variously as: 'Merit' - Merrit - etc.

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Dutchess County, New York

Adam Carman (5) led the migration of Carmans from Long Island, N. Y. to Dutchess county. Adam was a Quaker Grandfather as was his son Jacob (6). This migration northward in New York state was likely tied to their Quakerism.

From the History Of Dutchess Co., N.Y. , 1909, p. 650.
“Dutchess County had more Friend Meetings (organized congregations) than any other county in the State."






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