contributed by: Sherry Scoffield and Kim Callan (date not indicated)

In May of 1836, Bradley County, Tennessee was formed. One of the first officials appointed for the county was Sheriff William Carter.

William Carter and his wife Ruth McFarland Carter were married in Dayton, Rhea County, Tennessee and continued to live there until 1835. Their four children James, Elizabeth Ann, Charles Lee, and William Landon Carter were all born in Rhea County.

William Carter’s term in office was to be a short one, for he died in October of 1837, leaving an un-expired term that was filled by A. A. Clingan.

Ruth continued to reside in Bradley County raising her four children and providing a home for her mother Elizabeth McFarland until 1852. Prior to that time, the eldest son James moved to Missouri and Elizabeth Ann left the home in 1851 to marry Rufus Wrinkle. In 1852 Charles Lee and William Landon moved Ruth to Pleasant Hill, Cass County, Missouri where their uncle Joseph H. Carter had preceded them from Tennessee.

Joseph H. Carter was an assessor in Cass County at the time. In 1858 when the original townsite of Holden was platted they purchased lots and erected the first dwelling in Holden, Johnson County, Missouri.

Since there is no mention of Elizabeth McFarland also moving to Missouri, it is assumed that she died before they left Bradley County.

Elizabeth Ann and Rufus remained in Bradley County. Elizabeth gave birth to her first child the year her family left to go to Missouri, naming the first child Rutha Minerva Elizabeth Wrinkle. Most of Elizabeth and Rufus’ nine children bear names of Elizabeth’s family and all nine of them were born in Bradley County Tennessee.

During the Civil War Rufus was a Union Recruiter.

According to the account given in the obituary for William Landon Carter, when the Civil War began the sons decided to take their mother Ruth Carter to Pike County, Illinois where she would be safe.

William enlisted with the Union Army in Co. C, 99th Illinois Infantry serving with credit to his country. In recognition of his valor he was promoted to second lieutenant. When the war was over, Ruth was brought back to Missouri and died in 1880 at the home of her son Charles Lee in Holden, Johnson County, Missouri.

Charles Lee Carter became the first doctor in Holden, Johnson County,Missouri.

It is believed that the eldest son James resided in Bolivar, Missouri, but little is known of the uncle that was in Cass County Missouri at the time of the family’s arrival in Missouri.

The Carter Line may be viewed at: page [only available in the Internet Archive as of October, 2015]

For further information, inquiries, etc. contact either Sherry Scoffield and Kim Callan.