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Carson, Letitia

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Early Life

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Letitia Carson was born into slavery in the state of Kentucky between 1814 and 1818. Nothing is known about her childhood.

 
Letitia Carson headstone[1]

Death & Funeral

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Carson died on February 2, 1888, and was buried at a private Benjamin Stephens Family Cemetery on the Benjamin Stephens Donation Claim in Myrtle Creek, Oregon in the South Myrtle Creek region. She was thought to be 85 years old when she died.[2] She is buried only 5.5 miles from the homestead that she claimed and lived on for most of her adult life.

Pioneering Work

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Letitia Carson was an Oregon pioneer and the only black woman to successfully make a land claim in Oregon under the Homestead Act of 1862. She was also one of first four women to have a homestead in the state at that time.[3] She was the inspiration for Jane Kirkpatrick's 2014 novel A Light In The Wilderness.

Some time before 1845, she arrived in Missouri. In May 1845, she set out for Oregon with David Carson, an Irish immigrant who owned land in Platte County, Missouri.[4] David Carson had six siblings, referred to as the "seven Carsons'", who migrated to the United States from Northern Ireland in approximately 1818. Their family was likely educated potentially with a political background. They migrated during an industrial industry shift that sparked controversy and poverty in Ireland.[5]It appears that Letitia was enslaved by David, he was her master and husband. [4] On June 9, 1845, Carson gave birth to their daughter, Martha Jane.

Upon their arrival, the Carson's staked a 640-acre land claim in the Soap Creek Valley, located in modern-day Benton County, Oregon. Government officials reduced the Carsons' land claim by half in 1850, possibly because David and Letitia could not legally marry. Letitia Carson gave birth to a son, Adam, in 1849. Adam would be the first black child born in the Benton County area.[6]

 
Probate document from Benton County, Oregon Territory showing Greenberry Smith as David Carson Estate Trustee

In September 1852, David Carson died from an illness. Neighbor Greenberry Smith was named executor of his estate. Smith claimed that Carson and the children were slaves who "were themselves property and therefore could not be heirs to the estate." Carson took Smith to court, stating that David Carson had promised "he would make me his sole heir or that he would give me his entire property" in the event of his death. She asked that the court award her $7,450 as compensation for her seven years of work on the Soap Creek Valley claim, "plus the value of livestock and other property to which she claimed she was entitled." On May 12, 1855, Carson was awarded $300 by a Benton County Jury, plus $229.50 to pay her court costs. On October 25, 1856, a federal court awarded her $1399.75 for the loss of her cattle. During or after the federal trial, Carson moved with her children to the upper Cow Creek Valley of Douglas County, Oregon, where she worked as a midwife.[6] It has been reported that Letitia served as a midwife for the Hardy Elliff family as well as the local community midwife while she resided in the upper Cow Creek Valley. [7]In this capacity, she was known as, "Aunt Tish."[2][6] Researchers from the Forestry department at Oregon State University discovered an Apple tree in Soap Creek Valley, that local residents claim was planted by “Aunt Tish”. This has subsequently been named the Letitia Carson apple.[8]

 
Letitia Carson Homestead Application
 
Letitia Carson affidavit dated 6 June 1863. Note her signature is an "x".
 
A sworn statement from Letitia Carsons' neighbors that they are aware of Ms. Carson improving the property that became her homestead in South Myrtle Creek.

On June 17, 1863, Carson filed a 160-acre claim under the Homestead Act of 1862. Her claim was certified on October 1, 1869. She was the only black woman to successfully file an Oregon claim under the act. Carson spent the rest of her life on her claim, which was located along South Myrtle Creek in Douglas County, Oregon. She built "a two-story house, a barn, [and] smokehouse" on the property, which also included a fruit orchard. [4]

 
Letitia Carson affidavit dated 19 June 1863. Here Mrs. Carson swears she's a United States Citizen and that she has settled on the land that is outside of Myrtle Creek, Oregon.

On June 19, 1868, Letitia went to Roseburg, Oregon to file papers to take final possession of the property she had worked and lived on for five years per the homestead law and agreement. She signed the final agreement like the few before, with an "x." These final papers she listed that she'd built all buildings list above, plus a granary. It can be noted that the creek that runs through her property is known as "Letitia Creek."[6]

In 1869 a Douglas County tax roll document showed that Mrs. Carson owned, "39 cows, 4 pigs, and one horse." By the time of the 1870 Federal Census Letitia Carson had real estate valued at $1,000 and another $625 value in taxable personal property. [9] Toward the end of her life, on July 31, 1884, Letitia signed her 154 acre homestead over to her son, Adam "Jack" Carson.[9]

Carson's daughter, Martha Jane, moved to the Umatilla Indian Reservation in 1886. She had one child before her marriage, and ten children after her marriage to Narcisse Lavadour, a former Hudson's Bay Company employee.

Legacy/Honors

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Carson is the heroine of Jane Kirkpatrick's 2014 historical fiction novel, A Light In The Wilderness. The novel chronicles her relationship with David Carson, journey to Oregon, and legal battle with Greenberry Smith.

 
Letitia Carson's Headstone at Stephens Cemetery, South Myrtle Creek, Oregon[1]

Author, Janet Meranda has written two books about Letitia Carson. Freedom's Light: The Letitia Carson Begins. It is considered historical fiction as Ms. Meranda fills in details that are currently unknown. The other, Oregon Trail Diary: Letitia Carson, 1845, is also historical fiction. Letitia Carson could not read or write and therefore probably left no diary behind.[10]

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Letitia Carson's story is covered extensively in Oregon's Black Pioneers, a 2019 television documentary.[11]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Findagrave.com". Retrieved 28 Feb 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  2. ^ a b Casebeer, Robert (August 20, 2009). "African American Widow Demonstrates Spirit". Jefferson Public Radio. Retrieved 28 February 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  3. ^ "Shaping America's History, the Homestead Act" (PDF). bureau of Land Management, United States Government. Retrieved 28 Feb 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  4. ^ a b c Zybach, Ph.D, Robert (December 2014). "The Search for Letitia Carson, in Douglas County, Part I". The Umpqua Trapper. Vol. L, No. 4: 6–7 – via Douglas County Historical Society, Roseburg, Oregon. {{cite journal}}: |volume= has extra text (help)
  5. ^ "ORWW: Oregon History: Letitia Carson, 1845-1888". www.orww.org. Retrieved 2020-02-27.
  6. ^ a b c d Zybach, Ph.D, Robert (2015). The Search for Letitia Carson in Douglas County, Part II. Vol. LI, No. 1. Roseburg, Oregon: Douglas County Historical Society. pp. 4, 8, 15. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |The Umpqua Trapper= (help)
  7. ^ "Oregon Secretary of State: Letitia Carson". sos.oregon.gov. Retrieved 2020-03-01.
  8. ^ "Jefferson Public Radio - JPR Feature". archive.ijpr.org. Retrieved 2020-03-01.
  9. ^ a b Zybach, Ph.D., Robert (2015). The Search for Letitia Carson, in Douglas County Part III. Vol. Vol LI, No. 2. Roseburg, Oregon: Douglas County Historical Society. pp. 15, 17. {{cite book}}: |volume= has extra text (help)
  10. ^ Zybach, Ph.D., Dr. Robert (October 2016). "Strangely Absent from History, Carson vs. Smith, 1852-1857". Oregon State Bar Bulletin. Vol. 77, No. 1: 24–28. {{cite journal}}: |volume= has extra text (help)
  11. ^ "Oregon Black Pioneers Documentary". Oregon Public Broadcasting.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  • a b c d e f g h i j k l m n "Letitia Carson (ca.1814-1888) • BlackPast". BlackPast. 2015-05-07. Retrieved 2019-04-15.
  • Jump up to: a b "Oregon Secretary of State: Martha Jane Carson". sos.oregon.gov. Retrieved 2019-04-15.^
  • Jump up to:
  • a b c d e f g h i j "Oregon Secretary of State: Letitia Carson". sos.oregon.gov. Retrieved 2019-04-15.
  • ^ Oregonian, East. "Award-winning author shines light on freed slave's story". eastoregonian.com. Retrieved 2019-04-15.
  • ^ Kirkpatrick, Jane. A light in the wilderness : a novel. ISBN 9781441219565. OCLC 896805423.


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