William Carder and the Early Carders in Hampshire County, WV

William Carder was recorded in Hampshire County (now West Virginia) as early as 15 November 1777, when his name appeared on a survey, and in Ohio (then Northwest Territory) by 1800. His son, Sanford, had three children born in Kentucky in 1794-97. Armstead Carder, another native of Culpeper County, migrated to the south at about this time, his son George Carder having been recorded as born in Pendleton District (now Anderson County), South Carolina in 1803. William Carder appears in the tax records of Hampshire County from 1782 to 1798. He acquired 382 acres of land on Meadow Run in Hampshire County in 1790, on which he was assessed a land tax from 1790 to 1797. He is probably closely related to a John Carder (1767-1850) of Culpeper County and later Harrison County, W.Va. and a George Carder who moved from Culpeper County to Hampshire County in 1801 or shortly thereafter and died in Hampshire County about 1831. He is probably also closely related to the Armstead Carder mentioned above, because both William’s sons Sanford and Abbot had sons named Armstead. This was not a common first name for a male in the 1700s, so they were probably naming their sons after a close relative of the same name. Another possible close relative is John Carder who owned land in Hampshire County from 1767-1789, and was living in Greene County, Tennessee in 1789 when he sold his Hampshire County land.

William Carder had 4 sons and three daughters mentioned in his will in 1801. This book has a section on the descendants of his sons Sanford, William, and Abbot. There is some confusion as to which George is the son of William, so the descendants of these George Carders will be traced in separate sections. Abbot is the ancestor of the Hampshire County Carders who lived in the Romney area, while William (Jr.) and Sanford moved farther west, to Harrison County, W. Va. and Ohio, respectively. Just which George Carder is William’s son is questionable. There was a George Carder living in 1809 in Franklin County, Ohio, not too far from Ross County, Fayette County, and Pickaway County, where other descendants of William and Sarah Carder lived. There is the possibility that this is the George Carder who was William’s son. I (and others as well) had previously assumed that the George Carder who moved from Culpeper County to Hampshire County in 1801 or shortly thereafter and died there in 1831 was William’s son, but after studying the tax lists, it appears that a younger George Carder already lived in Hampshire County before 1801. William and Sarah Carder, the parents, lived in Hampshire County until about 1797 when they moved to Ross County, Ohio. Sanford Carder, William’s son, and Lucy and Frederick Bray, William’s daughter and son-in-law, moved to Ohio about this same time, also, Sanford having lived in Kentucky for a few years.

The George Carder who moved from Culpeper County to Hampshire County in 1801 or shortly thereafter has been listed as William Carder’s son in various Carder genealogies, including an earlier version of my own. However, it appears that this George Carder lived in Culpeper County prior to 1801, while another George Carder, probably the son of William Carder, lived in Hampshire County before the Culpeper County George Carder moved there, because the tax lists show a George Carder living in Hampshire County beginning in 1796 and an unidentified male over age 16 living with William Carder in 1793 and 1795. This male is probably the George Carder listed in 1796. The other three sons had already moved out by 1793. If this George Carder listed in the early tax lists is William’s son, then he would have been the youngest son of William Carder. This also matches the will of William Carder, which lists Sanford, William, and Abbot in order from oldest to youngest. George is listed after Abbot, and if William was naming his sons in order of age, it appears that George is the youngest. It is very probable that William’s son George moved west a few years before the other George Carder moved to Hampshire County from Culpeper. I will trace the descendants of each in a separate section.

The descendants of the Culpeper George Carder and the descendants of Abbot Carder, son of William, always referred to each other as cousins, so they were definitely closely related to the William Carder family, although the exact relationship cannot be proven. There also is a connection between this George Carder and the John Carder family of Culpeper County and Harrison County because this George sold land to John and Mary Carder of Culpeper County in 1801. Also, a William Carder and a Braxton Carder, probably from Culpeper County and probably sons of George Carder, purchased land bordering or very near to George Carder’s land in 1816 and 1814, respectively. A French Carder appears in the 1810 census of Hampshire County, living in close proximity to George Carder. This French Carder was the nephew of the John Carder who purchased 100 acres from George Carder in 1801. French Carder moved to Taylor County, WV in 1810 and was a schoolteacher there when he died in 1816.

Will of William Carder

In the Name of God Amen. I William Carder of Ross County North West Territory being weak in Body but in perfect memory Disanul all former wills and make this my last will and Testament. Do resign my soul to God who gave it and my body to the Dust from whence it came to be Decently buryed and my Worldly property to be divided in the following manner. Towit First of all unto my beloved son Sandford Carder I will and Bequeath five shillings sterling money. Likewise unto my beloved son William Carder I will and bequeath five shillings sterling money. And unto my beloved son Abbot Carder I will and bequeath five shillings sterling money. And to my beloved son George Carder I will and bequeath five shillings sterling money. And unto my beloved Daughter Rachel Cooper I will and bequeath five shillings sterling money. Likewise unto my beloved Daughter Lucy Bray I will and bequeath five shillings sterling money. Likewise unto my beloved Daughter Fanny Smith I will and bequeath five shillings sterling money. Likewise the respective sums mentioned to each Child to be payable at the expiration of Twelve months from my Deceace. And last of all unto my True Loving and beloved wife Sarah Carder I will and bequeath my whole estate lands and tenements goods and phattles(?) to be by her disposed of at pleasure during Life and to bequeath it to who she pleases at her death. In witness hereof I do set my hand and seal this ninth day of June in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and one.

Test                                his

Thos Harrod          William     Carder

Solomon Temples(?)       mark

Wm Nampton(?)

Bill of Sale, 10 Oct 1791

William Carder of Commonwealth of Virginia, County of Hampshire, to Abbot Carder, of same.

For 100 pounds current money; one still, one gun, one horse, one mare, two cows, three heads of sheep, thirteen heads of Hoggs, ten geese, two feather beds, bedsteads, and furniture, two pots, thirteen pewter plates, one pewter dish, one stack of hay, one big wheel, two little wheels, one loom and gear, five hogsheads, corn and corn fodder, now on my dwelling place, one broad hoe and one ax.

Witness:                       his

Abrm Johnson    William     Carder

William Jacob              mark

Recorded 15 Dec 1791

Deed, 13 Apr 1792

William Carder and wife Sarah, of Hampshire Co., Va., to William Hill of Culpeper Co., Va. For 41 pounds, fifteen shillings, ten pence, and one half penny current money of Virginia; all that tract or parcel of land, whereon the said William Carder now lives, containing 382 acres lying on Bartons Medow Run, adjoining the lands of Andrew Wodrow, Perez Drew, and others, being the same which was granted to the said William Carder by Patent bearing date 21 March 1790. Together with all houses, buildings, orchards, ways, priveledges, and appurtenances to the same.

                                                    his

Witness:                           William    Carder          

And. Wodrow                               mark

Francis Taggart

J———- Herndon

W1 Family of William (died 1801) and Sarah Carder (died 1807)

• 1 Sanford Carder (16 Sep 1760 - 7 Aug 1845), born in Culpeper County, Va., later lived in Hampshire County, W. Va., Bourbon County, Kentucky around 1794, and was in Ohio by 1800. He was a veteran of the Revolutionary War, and some of his records are on file in the National Archives. He married 1st Nancy Hoffman, daughter of Conrad Hoffman of Hampshire County, before 1786, 2nd to Sarah Bragg Davis, a widow, 1829. Sanford Carder’s recruitment record shows him to be 5’8" tall, sandy hair, light complexion, and gray eyes. His occupation was planter. He was issued a pension in 1833 for his military service. He died in 1845 and is buried in a grave on his 100 acre farm in Fayette County, Ohio. He left no will.
• 2 William Carder (19 May 1762 - 13 Nov 1839), Born in either Culpeper or Hampshire County. He moved to Harrison County, W.Va. about 1783 or 1784 and later to Lewis County, W.Va. He married about 1785, to a widow named Nancy or Rebecca Lowther Washburn. He served in the American Revolution, but did not receive a pension because his service was not sufficient to justify a pension. He was stationed at the jail at Romney, in Hampshire County to guard the Tories who were being held there. He later served as an Indian spy in and around Harrison County. He lived at Two Lick Run near Good Hope in Harrison County, and was a trustee of the Old Bethel Church where he is buried.
• 3 Abbot Carder (1771?-184?), born in either Culpeper or Hampshire County. He was a farmer. He was married three times, 3rd to Edna _____ (1795-187?). He had at least 23 children by these three wives. The children by his first wife, two boys, William and Armstead, were taken west and raised by their Uncle (Fred Bray?) when Abbot’s first wife died. He married again and had 7 children by his 2nd wife, who died before 1817. He married Edna and had 14 more children. Abbot Carder lived near the city of Romney, and at one time owned several lots in the city limits. In 1830, he (or his son Abbott, Jr.) was one of thirty road overseers in Hampshire County and made fifty cents per day. He died after 1840 and before 1850, as indicated by Census records. His burial place is unknown. When he died he owned 260 acres, but did not leave a will, and his estate was not settled until 1886.
• 4 George Carder, born in either Culpeper County, Va., or Hampshire County, W.Va. He lived in Hampshire County with his parents. Due to the fact that there were three George Carders living in Hampshire County around 1800, it is difficult to determine which one is William’s son. However, it is probable that George Carder went to Ross County, Ohio, with his parents around 1797 because he appears on the tax lists in 1796, but does not appear from 1797 to 1800. A George Carder of Culpeper County purchased 424 acres in Hampshire County in 1801 and probably is the George Carder who appears in the tax lists beginning in 1800, which confuses the matter. There is also a George Carder, originally from Virginia, who lived in Franklin County, Ohio, in 1809, which is not far from Ross County, Fayette County, and Pickaway County, where other descendants of William Carder and Sanford Carder lived. This George Carder is probably the same person as George CORDER who married Jenny Ross in Ross County, Ohio, in 1805. In Franklin County, Ohio records, George Carder’s wife is named Jane. I believe it is this George Carder who is William and Sarah Carder’s son, and that he went to Ohio with his parents.
• 5 Lucy Carder, married Frederick Bray. She is buried at the Old Methodist Cemetery at Frankfort, Ross County, Ohio, beside her nephew Armstead Carder (Abbot’s son) and his wife Mary Roberts Carder. Frederick and Lucy Bray share a tombstone with Armstead and Mary Carder. On the stone, Frederick’s age is given as 104 years. Lucy Carder Bray is also mentioned in her father William Carder’s will.
• 6 Rachel Carder, married a Cooper. She is mentioned in her father William Carder’s will.
• 7 Fanny Carder, married a Smith. She is mentioned in her father William Carder’s will.

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