Introduction to The Autograph Book of Lovina Jane Record Carson

The signature of Lovina Jane (Record) Carson

My paternal grandmother's grandparents,
Thomas Riley Carson and Lovina Jane Record Carson

The frontispiece and outside cover of  the autograph book of
Lovina Jane Record Carson

Once upon a time there lived a little girl named Pansy.  Flower names were popular as the 19th century turned into the 20th.  Pansy grew up, married and had children.  Eventually her children begat children, and one of those begats was me.  My name is Deborah, or Debbie.  “Debbie” was a very popular name in the middle of the 20th century.


On my 32nd birthday, Pansy, known to me as Mema, gave me her grandmother’s autograph book.  This posting introduces Lovina Jane and her autograph book.  Subsequent postings to this blog will feature one autograph and information that has been gathered about that particular person who signed Lovina's autograph book. (Lovina was a popular name in the middle of the 19th century.)

Lovina Jane Record was born June 2, 1853 in Rensselaer County, New York.  She was the eighth and final child of John A. W. Record and Esther B. Hakes Record.  Around the age of 3, Lovina and her family moved to Peoria County, Illinois, settling in the vicinity of West Hallock, Peoria County, Illinois.  It was there that Lovina’s father, John Record, passed away May 31, 1861.  He is buried in the West Hallock Cemetery.  

Lovina probably met her future husband, Thomas Riley Carson, a native of Illinois, through her mother’s third husband and Thomas’s grandfather, Thomas B. Reed.  Lovina’s mother Esther married Thomas Carson’s grandfather, Thomas B. Reed on Jan. 30, 1870, and she and Lovina moved in with him.  (More information about Esther B. Hakes Record Button Reed appears in a previous posting on this blog.)

When Lovina met him, Thomas already had his own farm.  His father Wilson Carson died in April of 1870.  Wilson left a will leaving all of his property, real and person, to his wife, Harriet Reed Carson.  Then, on November 1 of that same year, Thomas’s mother, Harriet, passed away.  Her death must have been sudden.  There was no last will and testament.  That left Thomas and his little sister Alice.  Great aunt Mary once wrote, “. . . though he was just in his teen years, about 16, he (Thomas Riley Carson) went ahead and worked the farm like a grown man.” 

On May 23, 1872, Lovina Jane Record and Thomas Riley Carson were joined in marriage by Nathan Wardner in West Hallock, Peoria County, Illinois.  And sometime between the birth of their first child, John Wilson Carson, in 1873 in Peoria County, Illinois, and the 1875 Kansas state census, the Carson family moved to Cowley County, Kansas, settling in Richland township.

Scanned image of the marriage license for
Thomas Riley Carson and Lovina Jane Record Carson

According to Richard Kay and Mary Ann Wortman’s History of Cowley County, Kansas, Volume 1, (an excellent book especially if you have ancestors who lived in this particular county), Cowley County was part of the Osage Diminished Reserve.  All of Kansas Territory had been opened to settlement in 1854 except for that reserve.  Osage Indians had used today’s Cowley County as a hunting ground since the 1600s.  Today’s Cowley County was opened to settlement in 1870, the treaty being ratified by the Osages on Drum Creek on October 29, 1870.    Surveying began in 1871 and the land office in Cowley  County was not opened until July 10 of that year.

  

The first mention of Thomas and his windmill was made in the Winfield Courier on October 18, 1877.  “T. R. Carson, of Richland Township, made us a call on Tuesday.  He says the wheat in his section is very fine, completely covering the ground with a green carpet.  He is a young farmer who uses brains as well as muscle in his farm operations.  His windmill is one of his machines and is used principally in pumping water for his stock and saves a great deal of labor, but can be put to a variety of uses.  He is agent for the sale of such mills.”

The homestead of
Thomas Riley Carson and Lovina Jane Record Carson,
Rock, Richland Township, Cowley County, Kansas

“One of the finest stock farms in Cowley!“ trumpeted the Winfield Courier, dated Jan 15, 1885.  In  a little over 10 years, Thomas and Lovina had built a wonderful homestead and they had three children -- John Wilson, Lillie, and my great grandmother, Harriet, with whom to share it. 

 

Women lived in the shadows of their husbands in the 19th century.  When I talk about Thomas, I speak also about Lovina.  Wives labored alongside their husbands, in addition to raising the children and household tasks.  I imagine that when people came to Lovina’s and Thomas’s farm, she asked them to please sign her autograph book.  The earliest signature in the book is dated 1875 so one can make the assumption that Lovina began keeping the autograph book in Cowley County.  Perhaps it was given to her as a goodbye gift from friends and family in Peoria County, Illinois.

(The pictures featured in this posting have been scanned from originals which are in my possession.  The scanned copy of the marriage license was obtained from 

http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/   The Winfield Courier articles were found at http://www.ausbcomp.com/~bbott/index.html)