The Carver Connection

Who is the Carver in our family?

Our great-grandfather was Frederick Carver Fox. His great-grandchild was given Carver for a middle name
in memory of Frederick. But we've never really know who the original Carver was in our family.

After much digging, I found that Frederick Carver Fox's mother was Sarah Britton Carver. Sarah was born in Cape Vincent, New York in 1843 and died in the Village of Potsdam in September of 1923. ¹

The State Historical Society of Wisconsin Registration of Marriages from 1868 (page 173/4) shows that Sarah B. Carver married our gg-Grandfather, James Harris Fox in Buena Vista, Richland County, Wisconsin on July 12, 1868. This was probably at or near the farm of Sarah's brother and sister-in-law, Nathaniel E. Carver and Julia McIntyre Carver. Sarah and Nathaniel's mother lived nearby.

James is listed as residing in Wilton, Iowa. Sarah was James' third wife, the first two, Mantle sisters, had died in childbirth or soon there after.

This marriage record states that her parents were Nathaniel Carver and Sarah J. Carver. Research shows that her mother's name was Sarah Jane Britton Carver. She is referred to as Jane or Sarah in different sources. Sarah Jane Britton Carver moved to Wisconsin after she was widowed and bought land there according to the Bureau of East Lands records.

Further documentation of Sarah Carver identity is found in a book by her stepdaughter, Lydia Mantle Fox. The book, Eighty Plus - 1861 to 1945  ². Pertinent sections are quoted below.  This book mentions that Sarah's brother is 'Nat' Carver. This is in line with listings that show a Nathaniel Carver, Sr. having a son Nathaniel Eleazer Carver with his wife Sarah.

Once I figured out (from Flower Memorial Library in New York) that James Fox's wife was named Sarah Carver I went looking for any other information about her. It wasn't until I tracked down a copy of Lydia Mantle Fox's book that I found the clue that Sarah's brother and father were named Nathaniel. Then backtracking through all of your various resources I found her brother, father, mother and wedding. It was a wonderful puzzle, particularly once solved.

More detailed information on Sarah and her family can be found on my genealogy Web page: http:/www.anlex.com/revre001.php

CARVER Eighty Plus - 1861 to 1945, Lydia Mantle Fox:

On pages 29-30 : "That winter, Sarah Carver was the schoolteacher and Grandfather made a match between her and my father. It used to be said that that was the only match he engineered in his family, and the one he liked least in later years. Sarah Carver and her family went in the spring to Wisconsin and father, Aunt Stears and I went back to Iowa, leaving Hattie and Baby Jim at Grandfather's in the care of Grandmother Olive and Aunt Manie. Tradition has it that Aunt Stears hinted that Father's marriage to a third Mantle girl would be appropriate, though she was much older than he and had been a widow many years. However, Father wasn't having any. Besides, he was going to Wisconsin later after Sarah Carver."

Pages 30 "... and down the street I sped, determined to walk to Wilton, fifteen miles away. Father had married Sarah Carver by this time and the rest of the family were there. ... After we were settled, Father in Wilton and Aunt Stears and I in Tipton, Father took me with him to, Wisconsin where he married Sarah Carver, and then we all went to New York State after little Hattie and Baby Jim. Hattie was a lovely child and Jim a dumpling of a baby. I have often thought how hard it must have been for Mother Sarah, a prude to the nth degree, and not in the least domestic or adaptable, to start out her married life on a long railroad journey with three children.

It took three days to go from Iowa to New York . There were no sleeping cars and had there been, Father would have thought that an unpardonable extravagance.

Mother Sarah was a strange woman. I have always believed that had my mother or Mother Van lived, they would have smoothed out or never allowed to develop, Father's eccentricities, for he admired and respected both so highly and he adored my mother as long as he lived. But, with Sarah, his oddities increased. ... Mother Sarah's brother, Uncle Nat Carver, traveled over the country introducing Ivison, Phinney & Blakeman's text books a revolution from the old McGuffey's readers..."

2 - The Christopher Publishing House, Boston, Mass,1950