Mrs. Lillian Carter Obituary

MRS. LILLIAN CARTER-PIONEER RANCH WOMAN DIES-(Big Spring Herald, July 15, 1956)

Mrs. Lillian Carter, 81, who came to Glasscock County from Kentucky 60 years ago to teach school, died at 1:30 p.m. Saturday (July 14, 1956) in a hospital here. With the exception of a few years’ residence in Big Spring, she lived continuously on the same ranch in the same house she and her husband erected in Glasscock County shortly after their marriage in 1897. Her husband, Joseph George Carter, died Aug. 18, 1935. He came to this area to work as a cowboy. Born at Bardstown, Ky., July 11, 1875, Miss Lilly Marks came to Glasscock County in 1896 to visit an uncle and aunt, the late Mr. and Mrs. W. R. Settles. She stayed to teach at the old Panther Draw School about a mile south of the Settles ranch house. She and Mr. Carter were married June 16, 1897.He managed to save enough from his cowboy wages to buy land of his own and he and his bride constructed their home south of the Ranch Road 33 in Glasscock County.

They lived on Gregg Street in Big Spring for a few years while their children attended school. While living here, she played a prominent role in church and civic affairs and was one of those who financed and established the first free public library in the old city hall building on the corner of the courthouse square. She became a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Big Spring in 1906 and maintained that membership throughout the years. Early in the century, she became widely known throughout this area for poems, essays and a weekly news column she wrote, “Along the Garden City Road.” She also wrote feature stories for several newspapers in the East, picturing the early days of West Texas as she and her neighbors lived then. Mrs. Carter pictured the country as one without fences and without mesquite, with plenty of grass and antelope grazed with the cattle. She is credited with implanting in this section many of the cultural traditions of the Old South. And for several years, she served as teacher for her neighbors children as well as her own.

At the time of her death, Mrs. Carter had been seriously ill for 45 days and in failing health for several years. She is survived by two sons, Temp Carter of Asher, Okla. and Joe Carter of Glasscock County; four daughters, Mrs. Ben Schafer and Mrs. Bismarck Schafer, both of Glasscock County, Mrs. Nathan Allen and Mrs. Frank Covert, both of Big Spring. One child is deceased. Also surviving are two sisters, Mrs. Bertha Borders, Bardstown, Ky., and Mrs. Nell Montfort, Louisville, Ky.; an uncle, Tom Greer, Bardstown; and two sisters-in-law, Mrs. Vila Mercer of El Monte, Calif., and Mrs. Laura Kemp, Austin; 22 grandchildren and 20 great-grandchildren.

Funeral services will be conducted at 4 p.m. Monday in the First Presbyterian Church with the pastor, Dr. R. Gage Lloyd, officiating. Interment under the direction of River Funeral Home will be in the family plot in the city cemetery, beside the grave of Mr. Carter. Grandsons will serve as pallbearers. They include Nathan Allen, Jr. Gene Schafer, William Covert, Charles Schafer, Leonard Schafer, William Schafer and Marion Carter. All friends will be honorary pallbearers.

Submitted by Gene Schafer on April 21, 2002.

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