My piece of the past: Agnes Loretta Warren Carter (1877-1951)

Agnes Loretta Warren Carter (1877-1951), about 1900.
Photograph and digital image in possession of Susan Brubaker Knapp

Agnes Loretta Warren Carter
Born in Beaver County, PA, 1877
Died in Sharon, Beaver County, PA, 1951
Mother: Emily Cowling Warren (1843-1932)
Father: Isaac Warren (1838-1922)
Husband: Thomas Lynn Carter (1870-1912)
Children: Lynn McKee Carter (1901-1938) and Miriam Leedom Carter (1904-196?)

Agnes’ siblings were:
William, b. 1863
Mary “Molly,” b. 1865
Emily b. 1869
Adalaide, b. 1871
James Raymond, b. 1875
Hannah, b. 1879
Edward Isaac, b. 1880

Edward Isaac Warren, Agnes Loretta Warren Carter, and James Cowling Warren.
Photograph and digital image in the possession of Susan Brubaker Knapp

This is a photo of Agnes with her brothers Edward Isaac Warren (left) and James Cowling Warren (right). This photo was probably taken in 1935. It looks like the photo below was taken the same day. After conferring with some distant Warren relatives via e-mail, we think we have figured out who all these folks are.

Susan Foreman Warren (Edward’s wife), Edward Isaac Warren, Agnes Loretta Warren Carter, James Cowling Warren. (back row, from left:) Ila and William Warren (Edward and Susan’s children), and James Raymond Warren.
Photograph and digital image in the possession of Susan Brubaker Knapp.

Warren family?
Photograph and digital image in the possession of Susan Brubaker Knapp

This photo has no information on the back, but I believe it is of the Warren family and their relatives. That is my grandfather, Lynn McKee Carter sitting second from the right in the front row, and I think Agnes is peeping out in the back row, next to the woman smiling at the baby. Based on my grandfather’s age, this photo was probably taken around 1915-20. The older woman at the center may be Emily Cowling Warren, and the older man on the far right (where the photo starts to fade) may be Isaac Warren.The third girl from the right in the second row, behind and to the right of Lynn, might be Miriam, Agnes’ daughter.

Warren family?
Photograph and digital image in the possession of Susan Brubaker Knapp

This photo was taken earlier, perhaps 1910. Lynn McKee is standing to the left, right in front of Agnes. That might be Miriam in the middle of the group of girls, with the other girl’s arms around her. The same older woman from the previous photo is at the center of this photo, in a very similar pose, with arms crossed.

Thomas Lynn Carter, about 1900.
Photograph and digital image in the possession of Susan Brubaker Knapp

Agnes married Thomas McKee Carter of Amelia Courthouse, Virginia, on Jan. 3, 1899 in Sharon, PA. The minister, alderman or Justice of the Peace who signed the marriage certificate, was George B. McKee, possibly Thomas’ uncle (half brother to Thomas’ mother, Elizabeth McKee).

Marriage Certificate for Thomas McKee Carter and Agnes Loretta Warren.
Document and digital image in the possession of Susan Brubaker Knapp

18K yellow gold wedding band, inscribed T.L.C. to A.L.W.

Thomas and Agnes, probably around the time of their marriage in 1899.
Photo in possession of Mark Brubaker; digital image in the possession of Susan Brubaker Knapp.

My mother’s charm bracelet also has the tiny gold heart, inscribed with the letter C, from Thomas’ watch chain. It may be the one shown in the photo above.

Agnes was involved with the Temperance Movement, and was a member of The Lincoln Legion.

Agnes signed in 1911
Document and digital image in the possession of Susan Brubaker Knapp.

Agnes had two children with Thomas: Lynn McKee (1901-1938) and Miriam Leedom (1903-1965). After a fall from a ladder in 1913, Thomas died.

Agnes and Thomas Carter’s son married Dorothy Eleanor Paulson, and had the two children shown in the photo below with Agnes:

Thomas Lynn Carter, Eleanor Ann Carter, and their grandmother, Agnes.
Late 1936 or early 1937. Photograph and digital image in the possession of Susan Brubaker Knap

According to my mother, Agnes’ daughter, Miriam, as the only daughter (and only child after the death of Lynn) was expected to help care for her mother. She worked as an English teacher, lived with her mother, and never married. Agnes and Miriam made several trips to Los Angeles to visit Lynn and Dorothy.


Miriam and her mother, Agnes. Date unknown. Photo and digital image in the possession of Susan Brubaker Knapp.

Agnes, Miriam and Dorothy. 1930s, probably in Los Angeles.
Photo and digital image in the possession of Susan Brubaker Knapp

Agnes with a native American. Probably 1920s.
Photo and digital image in the possession of Susan Brubaker Knapp.

Agnes, Miriam and Dorothy, 1920s.
Photo and digital image in the possession of Susan Brubaker Knapp.

Agnes, Miriam and Dorothy, possibly in Yosemite. 1920s
Photo and digital image in the possession of Susan Brubaker Knapp.

After Lynn’s early death in 1938, Dorothy and her children came back from Los Angeles to Beaver County, and lived for some time with Agnes. Dorothy did not get along well with Agnes, whom Eleanor remembers as a very stern woman, and they later moved out into their own house.