Jennie Carter’s Nevada County Setting 1860s, 2nd Marriage & Obituary

Jennie and her first husband, Mr. Correll (a Campbellite minister), moved from New Orleans to Grass Valley around 1860.

While Jennie was living in Nevada County, newspaper advertisements promoted

  • rubber clothing
  • the Glenbrook Race Track
  • ice dealers
  • fireproof bricks
  • Grass Valley’s installation of sewer lines
  • Alonzo Delano was selling fire and life insurance, and
  • A.A. Sargent promoted his law practice and was involved with running for office.

Frequent articles complained about the Chinese, Indian, and Negro.

Childhood deaths were frequently published in death notices.

The Many Names of Jennie Carter

A challenge of piecing together details from Jennie’s life is the various names she went by through two marriages and the variety of pen names she used as a writer.

Possible given name

Mary Jane (no known maiden name)

Married Names

Mary Jane Correll | Mrs. Correll
Jennie Carter | Mrs. D.D. Carter

Pen Names

Ann J. Trask
Semper Fidelis

 

Below are samples of newspaper articles that Jennie may have read while she was living in Grass Valley and Nevada City.

 

The Nevada Democrat
Saturday, October 19, 1861

The Nevada Democrat, Saturday, October 19, 1861

 

Grass Valley Daily Union

In the aftermath of the Civil War, much political and public churn was happening.

At one point in Nevada County, it was decided that southern supporters would not be allowed to vote in upcoming elections.

“Elder L. J. Correll” (Jennie’s first husband) is listed in regular advertisements in the Grass Valley Daily Union

The Christian Church the Corrells belonged to was built on “the east side of Church Street,
between Neal and Walsh Streets in 1859 (for $3,000).  It was destroyed by fire in 1869.”
– History of Nevada County 1880

March 14th, 1865 – Mrs. Correll (Jennie) is elected Vice President to the Grass Valley Christian Commission.

Grass Valley Daily Union – March 14, 1865

According to Byrne’s Directory of Grass Valley Township, the Corrells lived on School Street.

 

Also in the March 14th, 1865 Grass Valley Daily Union issue:

What is To Be Done With The Negro?

Our enemies say it will be a woful day for the negros when emancipation is “forced upon them.” Why is it not for the Indians, also? Can we not as safely and judiciously establish Negro Agencies as we can Indian Agencies? Yes, and with vastly more benefit to all concerned, because of the negro’s docility.

Is not the negro as justly entitled to his liberty as the Indian? And are they not as much entitled to our protection as the Indians? Why, then, become alarmed about the fate of the negro? What is the cause of this morbid sympathy? Simply this: to invent some pretext to prey upon the minds of the ignorant and credulous, and prejudice them against the progressive steps taken by our Government to eradicate this war, and secure a more perfect establishment of equal rights to the people who constitute the Government.

What shall be done for the free negroes? We answer let them work and maintain themselves, let them cultivate the rice fields, after the manner prescribed already by Gen. Sherman, and, if necessary, let agencies be established for giving proper direction to their labors.

June 1865

August 1865

 

A newspaper archive search (1965) motivated by a desire to find the cause of death of Jennie’s first husband did not yield definitive results. However; the following article was published on August 16th, the day before his last appearance in the paper. It may never be known if the two are related.

August 16, 1865

August 17th, 1865 is the final newspaper advertisement showing Elder Correll officiating.

Jennie Carter Poem published in The Elevator (1867)

The Lonely Grave

Why did they lay him to rest

Where human feet seldom tread?

Wild flowers bloom over his breast,

Too gaudy, alas, for the dead.

Tall pines sighing over the dust

Of one once loved and caressed.

The wild beasts are treading above

The heart a mother has pressed.

Birds singing and flying around

With notes all attuned for joy.

Little they heed him sleeping here,

Some mother’s own darling boy.

Oh! ’tis a weird lonely spot,

Away from all human strife;

The sleeper he heedeth not,

Nor careth for things of life.

 

August 29, 1866

Jennie’s marriage to Dennis Drummond Carter

 

Eric Gardner, editor of the Jennie Carter book, believes the connection between Jennie and The Elevator (San Francisco) came about through a relationship between Dennis and Phillip Bell, its publisher.
Click here to view Jennie’s work published in The Elevator 1867-1874.

 

Jennie Carter’s headstone in Pine Grove Cemetery, Nevada City

The Daily Transcript (Nevada City)
Friday, August 12, 1881

The Daily Transcript (Nevada City), August 12, 1881

 

“When I die, I hope no one will eulogize me, but simply say Mrs. Trask has gone to sleep. That will be the truth.”
– Jennie Carter writing under the pen name Ann J. Trask, December 1867

 

 

 

click on image to purchase or view more Life on the Creek art

“A good laugh is better than drugs from apothecaries.”  – Jennie Carter, 1867

If you enjoyed this post, check out

Jennie Carter’s Thoughts & Words from Nevada City 1867 – 1874 (video)
Jennie Carter’s Pre-Civil War, Civil War & Reconstruction-era 1846-1870
Jennie Carter Book Review
Jennie Carter – Filming Behind-the-Scenes & Creative Partners
Nineteenth-Century Creole Snacks & Jennie Carter (Shared Tastes recipe blog)

 

Additional Grass Valley Daily Union Articles:

Opposition to 15th Amendment – Grass Valley Union – June 23, 1865

Poor White Trash, Negros & Voting  – Grass Valley Union – August 12, 1865

 

Resources:

American Historical Association – *LARGE* educator resource list addressing Confederate Monument Debate

Jennie Carter: A Black Journalist of the Early West edited by Eric Gardner, Copyright © 2007 published by University Press of Mississippi

National Geographic TV – America Inside Out with Katie Couric – season one – Confederate statue removal

Nevada County Historical Society | African American Pioneers of Nevada County

The New Republic – California’s Forgotten Confederate History

 

 

 

 

 

Art for a Cause – Deer Creek Bridges & Native Plants

Art Creation for Events

Events where I plan to show art provides motivation to create new pieces.

click image to see more Life on the Creek art

‘Deer Creek Bridges’ was created for the 2018 Nevada County Fair photography competition.

click on image to see more Life on the Creek art

The ‘Pine Street Historic Bridge’ piece was made for display and sale during the 2018 Fall Colors Open Studio Tour.

Video Productions doing Double Duty

This video was created for the blog post, Native Plants for Healing the Land After Fire.   It was produced a few weeks before the Redbud Chapter of the California Native Plant Society conducted their annual Native Plant Sale. It helped tell the story  about the importance of native plants in the Deer Creek Watershed and promote the event.

Responsible Art Production

Since most of my work is digital, time and hydroelectric generated power (as well as computing hardware) are the main production resources involved in making these creations.

Historical Research Inspires New Design Concepts

As I do background research for posts, I also generate an art piece. At the time of this writing, 62 designs are in the Life on the Creek collection.

While I started with graphic designs involving text, Latin names, and waves, several recent posts inspired a new layout direction.

$5 from every online sale helps support the Following Deer Creek website/film project. (Production cost of selected item + $5  LoC savings + tax & shipping = total price.)
Pony Express help wanted advertisement.

‘Pony Express Riders’ is a blending of a public domain map and a help wanted advertisement.  This came about after discovering that Joaquin Miller, Poet of the Sierras (and a mining camp cook who developed scurvy for the post Scurvy in California’s Food Capital) was also a Pony Express rider.

The extinct and disrupted Life on the Creek designs are from the posts Grizzly Entertainment and California Bear Extinction, and Dammed Disrupted Salmon.

*In the newer designs, you may notice an absence in the ” wording at the bottom of the Following Deer Creek logo. These pieces were created after I moved the website from a free site to a paid site in an attempt to reduce unwanted advertising clutter.

Made-to-Order Art Reduces Environmental Impacts

FineArtAmerica.com hosts my artwork online and produces made-to-order prints and household items.

At my Open Studios Tour booth (#30) October 13th and 14th, I will have a number of these pieces on display.

Display Pieces Donated after Show

Prominently featured will be Space Invaders – Invasive Species pieces that will be donated to Sierra Streams Institute (SSI).

SSI will be using them as incentive gifts for community Scotch Broom pulls that they will be organizing in the fall.

Art for a cause…while attempting to lessen resource use…is very satisfying!

 

click on image to see more Life on the Creek art

 

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