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Carr Biographies

  NEWPORT COUNTY 

George W. CARR, Jr.-- The Carr family are of Scotch descent, the progenitor of the family in America, of which the subject of this sketch is a representative, having been Caleb Carr, who emigrated from London in the year 1635, sailing for Boston in the ship 'Elizabeth and Ann', when but eleven years of age.  Three years later he settled in Carr's lane, Newport, and subsequently became the owner of much land.  He was three times married, and left to his son, Nicholas, an extensive tract on Conanicut island, which is still owned and occupied by representatives of the family.  Another son, John, great-grandfather of George Washington Carr, Jr., married Waite, daughter of Peter Easton.  Among their children were John Carr, who won distinction as a captain at the battle of Trenton during the war of the revolution, and at the close of the conflict settled in Newport.  He married Mary Arnold and had children:  John, Mary, Sarah, Samuel, Caleb A., Richard, Abagail, Waite, Ebenezer, George Washington and Hannah.  Of this number George Washington was born July 12th, 1777, and married Margaret, daughter of William and Mary Thurston, born April 11th, 1779.  Their children are: Dolly T., Abby, Margaret, George W., Jr., Mary Ann, Caleb A., Thomas T., Sarah R., John and Amelia, of whom seven survive.

George W. Carr, Jr., was born in Newport of the 22d of April, 1808, where he now resides.  He enjoyed such advantages of education as that early day afforded, his tutor being Levi Tower, a teacher of repute at the time, and was apprenticed to the trade of a tailor.  On completing the allotted time he removed to New Bedford, and was for twenty years the successful manager of a merchant tailoring business for other parties.  Returning to Newport he opened a dry goods store, chiefly as a congenial means of occupying his leisure time, and to this he still gives his personal attention.  Devoted to books, an untiring reader of current literature, and a collector of old and rare manuscripts, Mr. Carr enjoys ample opportunity for the gratification of his taste in this direction.  Always either a whig or republican in politics, he has often been urged to accept office, but invariably declined. He is an active member of the Newport Historical Society, in which he is much interested, and was formerly a working member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.  He was educated in the religious faith of the Society of Friends with which he worships.

p. 703 - 704.

William F. CARR, deceased, son of Richmond Carr and grandson of Robert Carr, was born in 1807 and died in 1885.  His widow, Martha C., is a sister f Edward Sisson.  Mrs. Carr has had five children, four of whom are living Sarah (now Mrs. Nathaniel Brown), Orleana (Mrs. William Weaver of Middletown), Martha C. (Mrs. John B. F. Smith of Newport), William Franklin (whose wife is Frances E., daughter of Asa Cory) and Jane M., who died in 1861 aged 17 years.

p. 748.

George C. CARR. -- Caleb Carr, the progenitor of the family in Rhode Island, has been elsewhere mentioned in this volume.  His son Nicholas, who inherited an extensive tract of land on Conanicut island, had among his children a son Thomas, whose son Nicholas married Mary Eldred.  Their children were: Thomas, John, Mary and Hannah.  John Carr was born and resided in Jamestown, where he followed the occupation of a farmer.  He married Mary, daughter of Colonel Peleg Cross, of Charlestown, Rhode Island, and had ten children, as follows:  Peleg C., Mary E., Thomas J., Catherine C., Nicholas, John E., Celia A., William C., George C. and Hannah C., who died in youth.

George C. Carr was born December 22d, 1818, in Jamestown, and was educated at private schools on the island and at the Washington Academy at Wickford. He then engaged in farming with his uncle Thomas, on the land which was first acquired by Caleb Carr in 1638, and has been transmitted by will to successive generations since that date.  On the death of his uncle in 1837, this property was bequeathed to George C. Carr, and has since been his residence.  He married, in 1851, Sarah C., daughter of Reverend George Anthony, of Jamestown, and has one son, John Anthony, who is interested with his father in the cultivation of the farm.  Mr. Carr aided in organizing, and is now president of, the Ocean Highland Land Company, located on Conanicut island, and also fills the office of president of the Jamestown and Newport Ferry Company.  His political affiliations have always been either whig or republican.  He was the first state senator elected from his district under the new constitution in 1844, and was again chosen to that office in the years 1853-54.  He has been active in local affairs, and for many years president of the town council.  In all measures pertaining to the growth and development of the town, Mr. Carr has been a leading spirit and ever ready with his means and influence to advance all worthy enterprises. He is a supporter of St. Matthew's Protestant Episcopal Church, of Jamestown.

p. 748 - 749.

Thomas Carr WATSON was born October 6th, 1838, in Jamestown, where he has, since his early manhood, been one of the foremost citizens, enterprising, public spirited, and thoroughly imbued with the progressive tendency of the times.  He was educated at the public schools and at Greenwich Academy, East Greenwich, Rhode Island, after which he succeeded to the calling of his ancestors, tilling the land that had been for generations the property of various members of the family.  He has since that period devoted the time not absorbed by public duties to the pursuits of an agriculturist.  Mr. Watson first participated actively in politics in 1860, casting his earliest vote for Abraham Lincoln.  In 1863 and 1864 he represented his district in the legislature, and in 1877 was elected state senator, in which capacity he has, with an interval of three years, served continuously since that date. Among the committees to which he was appointed were those on accounts, fisheries and education.  He has also aided in the administration of town affairs, and has been for many years a member of the town council, of which he is now president.  He is often chosen a delegate to state conventions, and represented his constituents at the convention which appointed electors to the republican national convention that nominated Abraham Lincoln.  He is a director of the Jamestown and Newport Ferry Company and interested in other business pursuits.

Mr. Watson is a great-grandson of Job Watson, the first member of the family to settle on Conanicut island, where he was a large landholder and farmer. His son, Robert Watson, married Catherine Weeden, whose children were: Joseph, John J., Daniel, Robert H., Isabella, Mary B. and Hannah.  Robert H. Watson was born in March, 1805, on Conanicut island, and varied his farming employments by occasional participation in the political issues of the day. He was a delegate to the constitutional convention that framed the constitution in 1842.  He was also a member of the legislature on many occasions.  He married Catherine, daughter of John CARR, of Conanicut, born in April, 1811.  Their children are:  Thomas Carr, the subject of this biography; John J. and Mary Catherine, wife of Benjamin S. Anthony, of Portsmouth.  Robert H. Watson died in August, 1875.

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