Who Were the Parents of Philander McCarter?

Philander McCarter was born in the state of New York on February 21, 1802, but his exact birth place, parents, and siblings, if any, remain a mystery.

The earliest record of Philander dates to September 22, 1832, when, at the age of thirty, he bought a tract of land on Elk Creek in Grayson County, Virginia. A few months later he married Thurza Williams, and they raised a large family in Grayson and, later, just over the state line in Ashe County, North Carolina. Philander died in 1870, and was buried on his farm in Grassy Creek.

There are a two family legends regarding Philander's origins. One holds that he was an indentured servant from Scotland, and that Thurza bought his bond so that she could marry him. This story likely originates with a Williams' family relative having cosigned the marriage bond with Philander. It was common practice at the time for the bride's family to pay for the marriage bond which had nothing to do with either party being an indentured servant, but it's easy to see how over the years there could haven been confusion on what a marriage bond entailed.

The second story, as told by his daughter-in-law, Mary Jane Senter, is that he came to Grayson County from New York peddling tinware. Everyone called him "Honest John" even though his name was Philander. He was said to be a "wood's colt" or illegitimate child.

Census records support the second story. In the 1840 census he was listed as being "employed in commerce" and, in both the 1850 and 1860 census, he gave his birth place as "New York." Since he was the postmaster for Elk Creek at the time of the 1840 census, it seems likely that he was running a general store – an obvious occupation for a salesman from New York who knew little about farming. (1)(2)

Another story which recently surfaced is that our McCarters originated from Cowen's Rock, Ireland, so this gives us another line of investigation, although we have as yet been unable to locate this village.

Also of interest is the unusual middle name Philander and Thurza gave their youngest child, George. The name is Crogein. Note that Philander's middle initial is also C. and only those in George's family seemed to have known this fact.

A croaghan, croaghaun, croghan, or crohane is a round or piled up hill. Croghan is pronounced Crawn. Cowen's Rock? Crawn's Rock? Here are the towns of this name in Ireland.

Croaghan, County Cavan
Croaghan, County Derry, Macosquin Parish
Croaghan, County Derry, Magilligan Parish
Croaghan, County Donegal, Aughnish Parish
Croaghan, County Donegal, Clondavaddog Parish
Croaghan, County Donegal, Clonleigh Parish
Croaghan, County Fermanagh, Aghalurcher Parish
Croaghan, County Fermanagh, Devenish Parish
Croaghan, County Monaghan
Croaghaun, County Clare, Drumcliff Parish
Croaghaun, County Clare, Kilnamona Parish
Croaghaun, County Mayo
Croghan, County Mayo
Croghan, County Roscommon
Croghan, County Tipperary
Crohane, County Cork, Kilnagross Parish
Crohane, County Cork, Kilroan Parish
Crohane, County Kerry, Aghadoe Parish
Crohane, County Kerry, Killaha

Counties Cork and Kerry are where most McCarthy, McCartys, etc. originated.

Records from 1800-1810

Two years before Philander's birth, only twelve McCarter families appeared in the 1800 census of the state of New York. New York City – the second largest city in the nation behind Philadelphia – had a population of just 60,000.

In the 1810 census, there were nineteen McCarter households in the state of New York, but only nine with a male child under 10 (Philander being 8). None of these households appears to fit the family situation described by Mary Jane Senter, but another does – that of James McCarter of New York City.

The story begins with bastardy court records in which Mary Fenton of NYC named James McCarter as the father of her out-of-wedlock child. On October 8, 1802 she successfully petitioned the court for support under the "Act for the Relief of Cities and Towns from the Maintenance of Bastard Children." This act was passed on March 6, 1801, so the child was born between March 1801 and October 1802. The timing is right for Philander, who was born February 21, 1802, but the records, which might have shown this child's sex and birth date, have been lost.

James also appeared in other Mayor's Court records around this time. On December 22, 1801 he filed a suit against Henry Newton for $100 in damages, and on July 1, 1802, Hugh O'Hare brought a suit against him – the reason undisclosed.

At the time James was named as the father of Mary Fenton's child, he was married to Elizabeth Bertine and running a grocery store at the corner of Barley St. and Broadway in New York City. (Now the corner of Duane St. and Broadway in the TriBeCa neighborhood, near Lower Manhattan.) James and Elizabeth had been married on August 14, 1800 at the First and Second Presbyterian Church. According to the 1810 census, James would have been at least 35-years-old at the time of the wedding.

No McCarters were listed in the 1800 census of NYC, but there was a James McCarty living in the 6th ward. It seems highly likely that this is James McCarter based on the bastardy court documents that name him as a "6th Ward Grocer." In this "McCarty" household were three males in the 26-45 column, one female 26-45, and one girl under 10. Assuming this is his household, he and Elizabeth would not have been married until after the birth of their first child, or this little girl could have been a child from a previous marriage.

Just sixteen households away from James was the large family of Peter Fenton which included one girl in the 10-16 column. Could this have been Mary? The household also had three boys under 10, one boy 10-16, two males 10-26, one male 26-45, one female under 10, and one female 26-45. The only other Fenton household in NYC, was also headed by a Peter Fenton and had only two males in the 26-45 age range.

From 1801 to 1808, NYC directories show a John McCarter (carpenter) living with James, which could account for one of the other two males in the James "McCarty" household during the 1800 census.(3)

The NYC directory also listed an Arthur McCarter living with James from 1806 to 1808. Arthur may have been living with James even earlier, as he appeared in court in 1803 on a "complaint of being beaten by his bondsman" and also charged that "he was not being properly trained." He may even account for the other male in the "McCarty" household in 1800.

On 23 May 1805 an Arthur McCarter married Cornelia Somerindyke at the Trinity Church Parish in NYC. This is the same church in which James and Elizabeth were married.

In 1803, shortly after taking James to court, Mary Fenton was found living in a boarding house. This is the last trace of her. It may be that she married and moved away, or may have died in the epidemic of yellow fever that hit the city later that year.

On January 12, 1806, James appeared in court records again, "On an indictment from the sessions for assaulting and beating his wife Elizabeth McCarter. The said Elizabeth McCarter appeared in court and acknowledged satisfaction whereupon it was ordered that the said James McCarter be discharged."

It appears that Elizabeth left James around this time because the 1807 NYC directory lists a Margaret Fenton in James' household, and Elizabeth is missing in the 1810 census. Margaret was likely Mary's mother, having appeared as a witness at the bastardy hearing four years earlier. She may have been the woman in the 26-45 category in the 1800 census of Peter Fenton's household. In the 1810 census she was listed as "over 45," so was certainly old enough to have been Mary's mother. Maybe her reason for moving into the McCarter household in 1807 was to look after her five-year-old grandchild after Elizabeth left?

Because no children under 10 appear in the 1810 census of James' household, it seems that Elizabeth took any of their children with her when she left. Is it possible that Elizabeth also rescued James and Mary's child?

When she left James, she likely returned to her Bertine family. In the 1800 census, two of the seven New York Bertine families were located in the 7th ward of NYC. The other five were located in Westchester County, just north of the city. In 1810, all five New York Bertine families were located in Westchester County, and all five families listed at least one male child under the age of 10 (Philander being 8).

It is interesting to note that one McCarter researcher listed Philander as being born in Rye, Westchester, New York. The source of this information could not be found, and a search for McCarters in Westchester County turned up nothing, but the Bertines of that county may warrant a closer look.

Records from 1810-17

Margaret Fenton's arrangement with James didn't last long, because by the 1810 census she was living alone in ward 1, coincidentally next to Anthony Dey, Attorney for the Commissioners of the Alms House and Bridewell. It's possible that she was actually living in the Alms House, although the census records don't mention the institution. On February 6, 1811, Margaret was convicted of Grand Larceny and sentenced to three years and a day in the state prison.

Peter Fenton's household in 1810 was located in the 5th ward, and listed none of the young boys that were living with him ten years before. His household consisted of himself (over 45), one girl 10-16, and a woman 26-45. Was this woman his second wife? Or was Margaret ever his wife? Perhaps she was his sister or some other relative?

The James McCarter household in 1810 was located in the 4th ward, and had just two men over the age of 45, and one boy in the 10-15 bracket. Although this boy was a couple of years too old to have been Philander, or a child of James and Elizabeth, the census taker could have made an error when checking the column, or may have obtained the information from a neighbor who didn't know the boy's actual age. It's certainly possible that this boy was James and Mary's child. (We once considered that this boy might be Arthur but this would have made him just 12, at the oldest, when he was listed as a "grocer" in the 1806 NYC directory. This doesn't seem likely.)

Around 1813 James moved his grocery store about ten blocks east, from its Broadway and Barley (Duane) location, to 16 Chatham Square. Since the mid-1700s, Chatham Square had served as the city's horse market, but in 1805 the Common Council permitted the sheriff to hold auctions there. Others soon obtained permits and the square became active with auctions featuring new and used household goods such as crockery, baskets, and furniture. The city's merchants and storekeepers formed societies for preventing sales by auction, and by March 1820 all Chatham Square auction permits were revoked. But the action came too late for James whose business apparently suffered. On July 29, 1814 his property was seized by the sheriff and auctioned off to William Cummings.[Lib.133, p.402]

Arthur was not listed in the household during this period. Most likely he was off at war, being the Arthur McCarter of NYC who appeared in "War of 1812" muster rolls. (A search for his service and pension records turned up nothing.) An Arthur McCarter in his forties later appears in Ward 12 in the NYC 1830 census. It's possible that this is the Arthur associated with James, although he could not have been one of the men in the "45 and up" category in the 1810 census of James McCarter's household. An apparently well-off Arthur McCarter and his wife Cornelia sold nine pieces of property in NYC between 1829 and 1848.

Grantors	Grantees	Lib.	Page	Date of Instrument	When Recorded
Arthur and Cornelia	Daniel Cashman	260	626	1 DEC 1829	1 May 1830
Arthur and Cornelia	Henry Gratacap	302	304	15 Jul 1833	18 Jul 1833
Arthur and Cornelia	Henry Wilkes	333	2	30 APR 1835	1 May 1835
Arthur and Cornelia	Daniel Cashman	260	622	1 DEC 1829	1 May 1830
Cornelia	John Newson	432	268	23 Jan 1843	24 Jan 1843
Cornelia	Jacob Tripp	439	301	21 Oct 1843	13 Nov 1843
Cornelia	Fernando Wood	507	341	8 Jul 1848	11 Jul 1848
Cornelia	Fernando Wood	508	365	12 Aug 1848	15 Aug 1848
Cornelia	Fernando Wood	508	367	12 Aug 1848	15 Aug 1848

On May 8, 1817 James McCarter and David Fenton were two of ten people brought up on charges of assault and beating. All were acquitted except Mary Moore who was fined $1.00, and James who was fined $5.00. David's relationship to Mary and Margaret is unknown.

What became of Mary, Margaret, James, and John is a mystery. They do not appear in any NYC directories after 1813, or even any national census records after 1810. It may be that James died sometime before April 11, 1819 when an "Elizabeth McCarter and others" sold property to Thomas Allen and William S. Ross. Is it possible that James could have left this much to his widow considering there was a sheriff's sale of his property in 1814, or is this another Elizabeth McCarter?

Grantors	Grantees	Lib.	Page	Date of Instrument	When Recorded
Elizabeth McCarter	Thomas Allen	135	313	13 APR 1819	30 APR 1819
Elizabeth McCarter	William Ross	136	17	13 APR 1819	1 May 1819
Elizabeth McCarter	John Penn	171	398	20 DEC 1823	20 DEC 1823
Elizabeth McCarter	Deborah Field	420	344	29 Oct 1841	3 Nov 1841

Alms House and Bridewell

Bridewell, also known as the "House of Employment," was the institution mentioned in the bastardy court papers. It is the large building, shown above, with the pediments and four chimneys. In 1784 the Mayor of New York City appointed a commission to oversee the Alms House and Bridewell, and to provide general relief to the poor of New York City. Under the jurisdiction of the commissioners, orphaned and abandoned children were either adopted, bound out as servants, or apprenticed to learn a skill.

In the center foreground is Charity School, with its playground, which opened on May 1, 1807, under the direction of the Free School Society, to educate fifty Alms House children. To the left is the west wing of the unfinished City Hall which appears to be topped off by the steeple of the Brick Presbyterian Church on Beekman Street. To the right is the Board of Health building, whose staff had to contend with streets inhabited by free ranging pigs and cows.

See more 19th century views of Manhattan at the New York Public Library.

Read more about New York City poorhouses at the Poorhouse Story.

Read more about Philander in the McCarter Family History.

Notes

1. Only 14 of the over 1,500 households in Grayson were employed in commerce in 1840. The storekeepers were predictably scattered throughout the farming community with the exception of Philander and Charles Dougherty, who were practically next-door neighbors. Could Charles and Philander have been partners in a store, and if so, might their families have known each other back in New York?

Charles was born 1805 in Guilford County, North Carolina to Samuel Dougherty and Dorcas Flack.The only other Dougherty in Grayson County census records was Elizabeth Daugherty born October 29, 1777 in New York. She was the wife of Daniel Daugherty born November 7, 1770 and died April 6, 1843. Samuel and Daniel were both living in Guilford County in 1820. Were they brothers and did they also come from New York like Daniel's wife Elizabeth?

An ethnicity analysis of the 1850 census at New River Notes shows that only six of Grayson County's families came from New York, and only two of these immigrated from Ireland – the McCarters and Doughertys. More research may reveal a connection between these families in New York and help solve the mystery of Philander's parentage.

2. Other McCarters in the Grayson County area were William McCarter, who appeared in the 1842 Carroll County, Virginia Personal Property Tax List. There was also a William and Lydia McCarter, age 66, who appeared in the 1860 census of the North Fork District of Ashe County, North Carolina. Both were born in North Carolina.

3. Was he the same John McCarter who married Margaret Burkett at the Trinity Church on October 25, 1797? It seems unlikely, since Margaret didn't show up in the 1800 census of the "McCarty" household. Was he the John McCarter a few pages from James in the 1810 census? This doesn't seem likely either, because that John had a large family with older children. Perhaps the John McCarter in the 1810 census of NYC was the same John of NYC in the 1790 census? Maybe it was he who married Margaret Burkett?

Sources Checked

NYC Birth Certificates for Philander (none as early as 1802)

NYC Mayor's Court Records for the year 1802 for the original case Mary brought against James on October 8, 1802 ( nothing found)

NYC Church Records* for James, Mary, or Philander (nothing found)

NYC Alms House Census, Admission, Discharge and Death Records for Mary and Philander (Nothing found. Records prior to 1815 are not complete.)

NYC Probate Indexes for James or Mary (nothing found)

Philander's Marriage License (parents not listed)

Philander's Death Certificate (none issued in either Virginia or North Carolina)

Philander's probate records (none in either Ashe Co., NC or Grayson Co., VA.)

Obituary (no newspapers in Ashe Co., NC or Grayson Co., VA at that time)

1870 Census Mortality Index (no listing for Philander)

* Churches in McCarter-Fenton neighborhood that were searched: New York Reformed Dutch Church, South Reformed Dutch Church, Reformed Dutch Church of Greenwich Village, Trinity Episcopal Church, St. Mark's Church, St. Peter's Church, Friends Church, Trinity First and Second Presbyterian Churches, Christ Church, and All Staints Church.

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