John D. CARTER was born is Rose (sic, should be Ross) county Ohio. He was the second child in a family of eight children. When he was five-years-old his parents moved to Tippecanoe county, Indiana. He was raised on a farm and educated in the common schools. In 1843 the family moved to the then Territory of Iowa, locating in Jefferson county. Then in 1845 moved to Wapello county and settled on what is known as the Black Hawk Purchase. In 1843 and 1844 Mr. CARTER assisted on the government farm at Des Moines, under John S. SCOTT, government contractor, and helped break the land, and raise corn where East Des Moines now stands. After this he took a claim in Wapello county, which he improved and cultivated. On June 3, 1845, he was married to Miss Prissilla (sic, should be Priscilla) CLINTON, a native of Carroll county, Ohio, and a daughter of John and Sarah CLINTON, who came to Iowa in 1843. He remained in Wapello county until the first news came of gold being found in California. He joined the first gold rush company formed, leaving his wife and two children to await his return. They started in April, 1849, with ox teams, arriving in September of that year. He at once engaged in mining and met with great success, in gathering the golden ore. A year later he returned to his home in Fairfield. He was the first Californian to return. In 1855 he moved with his family to Ringgold county, entering part of his land in June of that year. His first cabin was made of logs 16 X 18 feet. In the fall of 1859 he was elected sheriff of Ringgold county. He took the oath of office January 1, 1860 and served two years. When the Civil war broke out he went forth in defense of union and liberty. He enlisted August 9, 1862 in company G, 29th Iowa Infantry. He was in the battle of Helena and was with General STEEL's division in the Red River expedition, also the battle of Saline where his horse was shot from under him, was at the taking of Mobile, Blakely, and Spanish Forts, and at Whistler, the last engagement of the war. His regiment was in twenty-nine of the hardest battles fought. [John Davis enlisted as a 5th Corporal and on February 15, 1864 was promoted to Sergeant Major.] He was honorably discharged August [10], 1865 [at New Orleans LA] and returned to his duties on the farm.

His farm contained several hundred acres of rich land. His farm was called Platte Valley. Here he raised Norman horses and Shorthorn cattle. He was often called "Wheel Horse" CARTER.

He was a member of the Board of Supervisors for four years and Justice of the Peace for eight or ten years. He was an attractive figure at the county fair, as astride one of his fine horses he could always be seen as the marshall of the day.

Mr. and Mrs. CARTER were the parents of nine children, John T., Day, Harriet Ellen, Mary L., Eliza and Priscilla (Thankful Jane, Samuel and Sarah Elizabeth). Mrs. Carter died in 1882 and in January [1 of 1884] he married her sister, Phebe (CLINTON) MARTIN.

No man stood higher politically or socially that Mr. CARTER. He was a republican.

Phebe (CLINTON) MARTIN was born August 10, 1832, Benton County, Ohio, and died June 24, 1898, Benton Township, Ringgold County, Iowa. Her funeral services were conducted at the home of her son Clay MARTIN north of Bloomfield, Davis County, Iowa, with interment at Westgrove Cemetery, Westgrove Township of Davis County, Iowa. Phebe married first Caleb G. MARTIN who died in 1880. Phebe and Caleb were the parents of five children, two died in infancy.

John Davis CARTER married third at the age of 85 on January 14, 1906 to Dorinda TURNER (1861-?).

John Davis CARTER died at the age of 95 on December 29, 1919, Maloy, Ringgold County, Iowa. He was interred at Platte River Cemetery near Maloy.

Priscilla Elvira CLINTON, John's first wife and sister of his second wife Phebe, was born January 23, 1826, Carroll County, Ohio, the daughter of John CLINTON (1798-1885) and Sarah (CRABS) CLINTON. Priscilla died in Ringgold County, Iowa on March 29, 1883 at the age of 57. She was interred at Platte River Cemetery near Maloy.

John Davis and Priscilla E. (CLINTON) CARTER were the parents of nine children:

1) Thankful Jane (CARTER)
    Born: 26 Feb 1847, Wapello Co. IA; Died: 19 Jul 1881, Mount Ayr, Ringgold Co. IA
    Married circa 1867, Ringgold Co. IA to Pierce Jefferson WISDOM (1843- ?)
2) Sarah Elizabeth (CARTER)
    Born: 14 Mar 1848, Wapello Co. IA; Died: 31 Oct 1851, Wapello Co. IA
3) Harriet Ellen (CARTER)
    Born: 01 Nov 1851, Ringgold Co. IA; Died: 07 Jun 1901
    Married circa 1867 James Madison ZOLLMAN (1841-1915); divorced circa 1900, Butte MT
4) Mary Louise (CARTER)
    Born: 18 Mar 1853, Wapello Co. IA; Died: 20 Jun 1890, Lancaster Co. NE
    Married Josiah TURNER (1847- ?)
5) John Thomas Carter
    Born: 17 Aug 1854, Fairfield, Jefferson Co. IA; Died: 20 Jun 1940, Reddley, Fresno Co. CA
    Interment: Modesto, Stanislaus Co. CA
    Married 10 Feb 1882, Taylor Co. IA to Lora Isabell DOWLIN (1863-1919)
6) Eliza Turner (CARTER)
    Born: 05 Feb 1856, Maloy, Ringgold Co. IA; Died: 19 Apr 1931, Blockton, Taylor Co. IA
    Interment: Rose Hill Cemetery, Mount Ayr, Ringgold Co. IA
    Married Lawrence L. OGLE (1851-1900)
7) Samuel W. CARTER
    Born: 08 Oct 1860, Maloy, Ringgold Co. IA; Died: 12 Dec 1885, Maloy, Ringgold Co. IA
    Interment: Platte River Cemetery near Maloy, Ringgold Co. IA
8) Priscilla (CARTER) DULANY
    Born: 06 Sep 1862, Maloy, Ringgold Co. IA; Died: 20 Nov 1889, Ringgold Co. IA
    Married 16 Mar 1879, Ringgold Co. IA Lindsey Seaton DULANY (1852-1932)
9) Day CARTER
    Born: 03 Aug 1867, Maloy, Ringgold Co. IA; Died: 16 Nov 1939, Ringgold Co. IA
    Married circa 1890 Madona RUSH (1868- ?)

SOURCES:  LESAN, Mrs. B.E. Early History of Ringgold County, Iowa  p. 212.
                   Civil War Soldiers and Sailors Database "History of the 29th Iowa Infantry"

Transcription by Sharon R. Becker, January of 2009

John Davis CARTER, proprietor of Platte Valley stock farm, resides on section 27, Benton Township. Perhaps no name among the pioneers of Ringgold County is more familiar to the early settlers than is that of Mr. CARTER, who has been identified with its interests for more than thirty years. He was born in Ross County, Ohio, December 21, 1824. His father, Thomas CARTER, was a native of Loudoun County, Virginia, and his mother, Harriet (DAVIS) CARTER, was a native of Ohio. They were married in Ohio, and reared a family of eight children, five sons and three daughters. Our subject was the second child. When he was five years old his parents removed to Tippecanoe County, Indiana. He was reared on a farm, and educated in the common schools. In 1843 the family removed to the then Territory of Iowa, locating in Jefferson County, where they resided about two years, and in 1845 removed to Wapello County and settled upon land known as the Black Hawk Purchase. In 1843-'4, Mr. CARTER assisted on the Government farm at Des Moines, under John S. SCOTT, Government contractor, and helped to break the land and raise corn where East Des Moines now stands. After this he took a claim in Wapello County, which he improved and cultivated. June 3, 1845, he was united in marriage with Miss Priscilla CLINTON, a native of Carroll County, Ohio, and daughter of John and Sarah CLINTON, who came to Iowa in 1843.

Mr. CARTER resided in Wapello County and attended to his farm duties until the first news of gold being found in California was received, when he joined the first company that started for that golden shore, leaving a wife and two children at home to await his return. They started in April 1849, with ox teams, arriving in September of the same year. He at once engaged in mining, meeting with good success in gathering the golden ore, and a year later he returned to his home in Fairfield. He was the first Californian to return. In 1855 he removed to Ringgold County, entering a portion of his land in June of that same year, and settled upon it in the fall.

His first dwelling was a long cabin, 16 x 18 feet, and it consisted a kitchen, dining room, parlor and sleeping rooms. In the fall of 1859 he was elected sheriff, and took the oath of office January 1, 1866. He served creditably for two years.

At the breaking out of the civil war he was one to go forth in defense of union and liberty. He enlisted August 9, 1862, in Company G, Twenty-ninth Iowa Infantry. He participated in the engagement at Helena, Arkansas, and was with General STEELE’s division in the Red River expedition; was at the battle of Saline, where his horse was shot from under him; was at the taking of Mobile, Blakeley, and the Spanish Forts, where the regiment lost heavily; was at Whistler, the last engagement of the war. His regiment was in twenty-nine hard-fought battles. He was honorably discharged in August, 1865, and returned to his home to resume his duties upon his farm.

Platte Valley farm contains 400 acres of as rich land as can be found in the county. Mr. CARTER is making a specialty of the fine stock, and owns, in company with three others, one of the best registered Norman horses in Southern Iowa; also some thorough-bred short horns. On this farm can be seen some of the best horses and cattle in Ringgold County. His residence is a fine two-story building, modern style and well furnished, and buildings for stock, orchard, etc. Politically Mr. Carter is a Republican, and has always been one of the "wheel-horses" ever since coming to the county. He served as a member of the Board of Supervisors four years, and justice of the peace eight or ten years.

Mr. and Mrs. CARTER are the parents of six children – John T., Day, Harriet Ellen, Mary L., Eliza and Priscilla. Jane and Sarah are deceased. Mrs. CARTER died in 1882, and in January, 1883, he was married to Mrs. Phebe MARTIN, a sister of his former wife. Mr. CARTER has won many friends, and no man in the county stands higher politically or socially.

NOTE: John D. CARTER died December 29, 1919. Priscilla (CLINTON) CARTER was born January 23, 1826, and died March 29, 1883. J. D. and Priscilla were interred at Platte River Cemetery near Maloy, Ringgold County, Iowa. Sharing a grave plot with J. D. and Priscilla is their son Samuel W., born October 8, 1860, and died October 12, 1885 at the age of 25 years, 2 months and 4 days.

After Priscilla's death, John married second Priscilla's younger widowed sister, Phoebe (CLINTON) MARTIN. No children were born to this marriage.

Phoebe (CLINTON) MARTIN DAVIS was married first to Caleb G. MARTIN (1824, Chester Co., PA - 1880, Bloomfield, Davis County, IA), and they were the parents of three children who lived to adulthood. Their son Francisco "Frank" C. MARTIN (1851-1928) married Minnie BANDEL (1860-1919), and they had three sons, one being Edward Day "Edd" MARTIN (1878-?) who married N. Cordelia "Corda" BOLWAR, parents of Paul E. MARTIN

John Davis married a third time to Dorinda TURNER, her first marriage at age 43. No children was born to this union. Dorinda (TURNER) CARTER was the daughter of William TURNER (1819-?) and Milderd (PARKER) TURNER (1818-?). Dorinda's brother Josiah "Bud" TURNER married John DAVIS' daughter, Mary Louise CARTER.

John DAVIS was a 49er.

J. T. [John Thomas] CARTER, son of J. D. and Priscilla (CLINTON) CARTER, was born August 17, 1854, Fairfield, Jefferson County, Iowa, and died June 20, 1940, Reedley, Fresno County, California with interment at Acacia Memorial Park, Modesto, Stanislaus County, California. He was the husband of Lora Isabel (DOWLIN) CARTER (1863-1929)

Guy Dowlin CARTER, son of J. D. and Priscilla (CLINTON) CARTER, was born December 21, 1888, Ringgold County, Iowa, and died January 8, 1933, Turlock, Stanislaus County, California, with interment at Turlock Memorial Park. Guy was a farmer and a dairyman, married to Nora (WHITE) (1887-1969), and the father of Herschel Thomas CARTER (1917-1991), Elizabeth Mary (CARTER) SWINGLE (1914-1943), and Mima Leonora (CARTER) MOODY (born October 10, 1924, and died December 30 1997.).

SOURCES:
Biography & Historical Record of Ringgold County, Iowa, Pp. 261-62, 1887.

WPA Graves Survey

Transcription and note by Sharon R. Becker, January of 2009

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