Tags
Attica, Campbell, Carter, Firman, Flint, Genesee, Harrington, Ionia, Lapeer, Michigan, Nellie Harrington, Webb
A photograph of William Firman Carter as a child. It was taken in Attica, Lapeer, Michigan. Courtesy of Beth Mowery
William Firman Carter was born on January 20, 1880 in Attica, Lapeer County, Michigan. His father was Dana Parker Carter and his mother was Eliza Marie Firman. William was the fourth of eight children born to the couple, all of which were born in Lapeer County, Michigan. William and the rest of his siblings all lived to adulthood. As an adult, William was a short man of medium build (according to 1918 WWI draft card). He had black hair and brown eyes, and from pictures appears to be of a tan complexion. By the 1890s, William Firman Carter traveled to Campbell Corners, Ionia County. His grandmother, Sarah Bradshaw Firman, may have had some connection to Ionia County.
Perhaps a wedding photo of Nellie & William Carter, circa 1898. The photo is damaged and may have been kept in William Firman Carter's wallet.
On September 22, 1898, William F. Carter married Nellie J. Harrington in Campbell Corners, Ionia County, Michigan. At the time, William F. Carter was 18 years old and Miss Harrington was 16 years old. The couple had three children: Florence Gladys on April 11 1899; Leon Jay Carter on June 17 1901; and Sanford White Carter on December 21 1903. Nellie Carter died from complications of childbirth in December of 1903, but the baby, Sanford, survived. While all three of the children’s birth certificates are filed in Ionia County, Sanford White Carter was actually born in and Nellie Carter died in Attica, Lapeer County, Michigan.
On June 12, 1906, William Firman Carter married Dora May Webb, a woman 14 years his senior who had never been married before. According to family stories, she went by the name “Dory” and used to be a school teacher. My grandfather (William Firman Carter’s grandson) refers to her as a “mean old biddy.”
William Firman Carter & Dora Webb Carter
In 1910, William, Dora, Florence, and Leon lived at 318 Plum Avenue in Flint, Genesee County, Michigan. (The street no longer exists and is now part of the University of Michigan-Flint Campus). According to the 1910 US Census, Seven-year-old Sanford did not reside with his father, but instead lived with his grandparents Dana Parker and Eliza Marie Carter in Attica, Lapeer, Michigan. In June 1911, Dana Parker Carter committed suicide by hanging himself and Eliza Marie Carter went to live in the Michigan State Home for the Feeble-Minded in Lapeer. She died in February 1920.
By 1920, William and Dory lived in a large four-square at 1357 Broadway Avenue in Flint. William worked as a street car conductor for the Detroit Urban Railway. By then, his daughter Florence had married Claude Scramlin and had two children. Sanford, then 17 years old, lived with Claude and Florence. Leon lived elsewhere but is missing from the 1920 census. According to family stories, Dory did not care much for William’s children, particularly when they were young. This may be the reason why seven year old Sanford lived with his grandparents.
Left to Right: grandson Jay, daughter Florence with great granddaughter Janet, and William F. Carter
According to my grandfather (William Firman Carter’s grandson), Dory pushed the children out of the house as soon as she could, and since William worked most of the day, he let her run the house as she saw fit. In 1921, both of the boys married. On April 30, Leon married Hazel Pearl Hill in Lapeer, Michigan. On October 15, Sanford married Emma Fern Everdon. In June of 1926, Sanford contracted laborer’s pneumonia and died. By 1930, William and Dory live in a house on Genesee Road in Genesee Township. According to my grandfather, William also owned a farm in Flushing, Genesee County, Michigan in the 1940s. My grandfather distinctly remembers traveling to Flushing as a ten year old boy to visit his grandfather, who had a large farmhouse.
Stories about William Firman Carter’s disposition vary based on family accounts. According to descendants of William’s daughter, Florence Scramlin, William Firman Carter was a good, kind man with beautiful blue eyes who often smiled, but also seemed to be sad. According to my grandfather, William Firman Carter was a man controlled by his second wife, Dory, and who seemed bitter about his relationship, or lack of relationship, with his family, and as a result, drank.
Between 1930 and 1954, four of William Firman Carter’s seven siblings passed away. It is unclear whether these losses had any effect on the man. In February 1954, William’s son, Leon Jay Carter, died from complications of Rheumatic Heart Disease and Psorosis of the Liver. William was reportedly so devestated at the lost of a second child, as well as the realization that he had pushed his children away, that he committed suicide seven months later by stepping in front of a train in Lapeer, Michigan.
According to my grandfather, the conductor of the train stated that he saw a man who appeared to be drunk wait for the train to approach and purposefully step on to the tracks as it came closer. The conductor also stated that it appeared that William changed his mind at the last minute and tried to jump out of the way of the train, but because of his age and possible intoxication, he could not move fast enough. According to the death record, William Firman Carter died on September 2, 1954 from a crushed skull and mutilated body as a result of being struck by a train.
Line of Descent 
I’m not sure if this is relavant, but my grandmother, Mable Sholes lived in Attica, my grandfather, Alvin Sholes passed away in Attica, Michigan after sliding on to the railroad tracks in the 30’s sometime. My mother was Helen Kathryn Sholes who passed away in the early 90’s.
I remember the Carter name but probably can’t provide very much information on them.
I have a bunch of photos, showing Jonathan Sholes (his father, I think).
My grandmother, Mable Sholes mother lived with us until she passed away in the 50’s. Her name was Lucinda Jane Hogle.
My father, Robert F. Kempf still lives in the home my grandmother owned on Attica Road, in Attica … the home in which I was born.
Should you need any additional information, please feel free to contact me at the e-mail address above.
It’s very relavant! Jonathan Sholes married Philena Carter, who was my great great great grandfather’s sister. I will email you with more info, but I’m so glad you stopped by!
I’ve just checked back in and saw your note. As mentioned previously, I have many photo’s of Jonathan Sholes (I think). Again, if you would like copies, please send me an e-mail address to provide those to you. You can contact me at who2wbpd@aol.com if you wish.
I’ve been meaning to write for ages! Thanks for all the photos and stories – I don’t have any stories so I really appreciate reading these. One correction though – my husband is the son of Janet Scramlin and Jay Scramlin is Florence’s son, not grandson so Janet is her granddaughter, not her great-granddaugther. It’s confusing because the generations ages overlap because Janet was the oldest grandchild. Also, I have a couple of questions. Do you have a source for William Firman Carter’s birthdate as 20 Jan 1880? Because I have 3 Jan 1880 based on his WWI draft registration card. Also, have you seen the record that says a William F. Carter and Nellie White married in Polk County, Georgia on 1 Feb 1897? I just always wondered if there were stories about them running off to get married before they then married in Michigan? It’s probably a coincidence, but one that makes me curious. Thanks again for this great info!
Hi Stacy! Thank you for reading and commenting! In the caption, I meant that Jay is the grandson and Janet is the great-granddaughter of William F. Carter. You are right, William F’s birth date should be the 3rd of January. It was a typo, and I will fix it. I did see the Polk County record for William F. Carter and Nellie White. It is possible, of course, that they ran away to get married, perhaps when Nellie was 16 and unable to get married without parental consent in Michigan (I’m not sure about the laws back then, but my own grandparents ran away to Iuka, MS for that reason in the late 1940s). However, I did find a 1900 census record for a William F. and Nellie E. Corter/Carter in Bartow County, Georgia who married in 1897. Nellie E. Corter’s record is linked to one for a Nellie White, born 1878 in Paulding County, GA, so most likely, these are the William and Nellie who married in GA, not ours. But given that their wedding day was the same day as our William F’s birthday, it is very coincidental!