The 300 (1713-2013) Year Genealogy of the Carrs
of Carr’s Cove, Union Springs, New York
Based on the Genealogy of MARGARET GANNON CARR MILLER
DAR No: 836478 dated July 5, 2005
1714 – FIRST KARR GENERATION
JOHN KARR (KERR or CARR) was born in the Teviotdale area of Scotland’s borderlands with England probably sometime in the year 1714. He then joined his older brother Bradford Karr in New Hampshire sometime before 1742,(1)
The exact spelling of family’s original name (phonetically pronounced Carr) before it immigrated to America from the Teviotdale area is unknown, and was most probably spelled either Karr, Kerr, Carr, or Car.
No explanation is available for either of the Karr brothers trip to the New World from the Scottish borderlands. The Union of 1707 forced Scotland to unite with England and started decades of French and Spanish intrigues among the borderland Scots which led to numerous rebellions in which the Karr’s were undoubtedly involved. These intrigues generally failed, forcing large numbers of Scottish borderland families to depart for the America’s in search of a better life.
The first record of Margaret Gannon Carr’s (Karr) lineage appeared in Chester, New Hampshire, when that town conducted a population inventory of adult males in 1724. The inventory recorded the presence of Bradford Karr, John Karr’s older brother.(2)
The census showed that Bradford had married a woman named Anna in Chester, and their union in the following years produced four children, Joseph Karr (born November 20, 1742), Molly Karr (born Feb 16, 1747), Parker Karr (born May 29, 1750), and Judith Karr (born May 28, 1752). None of these however are in Margaret’s direct line as it was Bradford’s younger brother, John Karr from whom Margo’s line emerged in the United States.
The first official record ofthe presence of Bradford’s younger brother John Karr was recorded in Boscawen, New Hampshire, nineteen years later when he married Margaret Kile on or about December 6, 1743. Six children came from their union, the fourth of which was Margaret Gannon Carr’s progenitor. The death of John Karr’s wife on June 16, 1763, only eleven days after the birth of her sixth child suggests she may have died from complications of childbirth.
John Karr and Margaret Kile’s Children
| | Name | Birthdate | Birthplace |
| 1 | Jane Karr | January 15, 1745 | |
| 2 | John Karr | January 17, 1747 | |
| 3 | Thomas Karr | January 17, 1755 | Boscawen, New Hampshire |
| 4 | James Karr(3) | June 5, 1759 | Londonderry, New Hampshire |
| 5 | Elizabeth Karr | June 6, 1761 | Boscawen, New Hampshire |
| 6 | Alexander Karr | June 19, 1763 |
1759 – THE SECOND KARR/CARR GENERATION
JAMES KARR, was born on 5 June 1759, at Londonderry, New Hampshire. He spent his youth in the area around Londonderry, and at age eighteen decided to join the local militia in Albany, N.Y. fighting against the British. In late spring of 1777 he agreed to serve as a substitute for a man named Jacob Williamson, and signed up to serve in Captain Adiel Sherwood’s Company of Colonel Graham’s Regiment, which was organized under the Malcolm Levy. History decades later would reveal that when he signed up, the man who enlisted him wrote his family name as James Carr instead of James Karr. Less than a week after James signed up, he was captured by the British on July 8, 1777, at the Battle of Fort Ann, New York, and transferred as a prisoner of war to Montreal, Canada, where he spent the next two years. He was released in a prisoner exchange conducted at Castleton, Vermont in November 1782. After release he returned to the Londonderry area.
James Karr, whose name was now spelled James Carr on state enlistment records, married Margaret Morrell in February 1784 at Cambridge, New York. The newlyweds then moved to Johnstown, N.Y, where the first seven of their ten children were born. They did not move to ‘Carr’s Cove’ in Union Springs until 1798 when James was thirty eight years of age.(4)
James Carr and Margaret Morrell’s Children
| | Name | Birthdate | Birthplace |
| 1 | Margaret Carr | c. 1781 | Johnstown, New York |
| 2 | Jacob Carr | June 10, 1783 | Johnstown, New York |
| 3 | Betsy Carr | February 17, 1786 | Johnstown, New York |
| 4 | John Carr | June 6, 1787 | Johnstown, New York |
| 5 | Jonathan Carr | July 13, 1789 | Johnstown, New York |
| 6 | Alexander Carr | September 24, 1793 | Johnstown, New York |
| 7 | Hartman Carr | August 11, 1797 | Johnstown, New York |
| 8 | Daniel W. Carr | c. 1800 | Union Springs, New York |
| 9 | James Carr(7) | July 8, 1801 | Union Springs, New York |
| 10 | Deborah Carr | c. 1815 | Union Springs, New York |
The Continental Congress, in the years after Independence, became interested in pacifying the Upstate New York area which still contained large numbers of “British loyalists,” sympathetic to King George of England. Congress therefore decided to settle American veterans among them who’d fought for independence. In 1798, James Carr and his family of seven children left Johnstown, and headed into Upstate New York where they settled on a 640 acre land grant given to James Carr, one and a quarter miles south of Union Springs on the shores of Lake Cayuga. The property at the time belonged to the Cayuga Indian tribe chieftain named Canistoga. His tribe was part of the Iroquois Confederation which included the Cayuga, Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, and Seneca. When Chief Canistoga died about three years after John Carr took up residence at Carr’s Cove in 1798, three of his sons, Jonathan, Jacob and Hartman cared for the Chief in his final days and then helped bury him in accordance with tribal burial tradition: wrapped in his chieftain’s blanket and beside him his favorite musket, some pottery vessels with food enough for three days, extra leggings and moccasins. His grave is on the west ridge of the great gully near to Utt’s barn which today is near the Macintosh Farm.(8)
James Carr also buried a second Indian chief on his Carr property within a year or so, at the place known today as Farley’s point. This was the chief of the Tuscarora, known as Canistaigia, also known as, ‘Steel Trap.’ He was buried secretly by James Carr and his son Hartmann, and the location of the grave kept a secret down through the generations, only shared with a one or two Carrs in each generation until today.(9)
The Cayugas around Union Springs had sided with the British during the Revolution, and as a defeated enemy, their lands were later given to the American veterans who had secured independence, while the Cayuga’s were resettled northwards into Canada.
On 17 September 1832, now 69 years of age, James Carr had worked in Union Springs as a brick maker for thirty-five years and wanted to retire. He applied as a revolutionary war veteran for a pension, which was approved for he and his wife Margaret by the Continental Congress.(10)
His pension approval noted the following:
A letter dated 23 October 1929, from Earl D. Church, Commissioner of
Pensions advises that from papers contained in Revolutionary War
Claim #W1652, it appears that James Carr was born in Londonderry,
New Hampshire, and married Margaret Morrell at Cambridge, New York, in 1784.1779 – THE THIRD CARR GENERATION
Hartman Carr, the sixth child of James Carr and Margaret Morrell, married Ann Brock of Newburgh (or Fishkill), N.Y. in 1821, and they spent their entire lives at ‘Carr’s Cove’ in Union Springs, N.Y. Fourteen children were produced from their union.
Hartman Carr and Ann Brock’s Children
| | Name | Birthdate | Birthplace |
| 1 | Mary Jane Carr | February 17, 1822 | Union Springs, New York |
| 2 | Jacob Carr | May 9, 1823 | Union Springs, New York |
| 3 | Margaret Carr | December 23, 1825 | Union Springs, New York |
| 4 | Ashbel W. Carr | August 1, 1826 | Union Springs, New York |
| 5 | William H. Carr | January 4, 1828 | Union Springs, New York |
| 6 | Jonathan Carr | December 19, 1829 | Union Springs, New York |
| 7 | Betsy Carr | July 25, 1832 | Union Springs, New York |
| 8 | Deborah Carr | September 3, 1833 | Union Springs, New York |
| 9 | Ellen Carr | July 15, 1838 | Union Springs, New York |
| 10 | Henry Clay Carr(11) | March 1, 1839 | Union Springs, New York |
| 11 | George Carr | May 24, 1840 | Union Springs, New York |
| 12 | Glorian Cook Carr | January 24, 1842 | Union Springs, New York |
| 13 | Hartman Carr Jr. | December 24, 1844 | Union Springs, New York |
| 14 | Charles H. Carr | May 14, 1846 | Union Springs, New York |
1839 – THE FOURTH CARR GENERATION
Henry Clay Carr, the tenth child of Hartman Carr and Ann Brock, married Georgia Simmons at Union Springs, N.Y. in 1869, and they spent the rest of their lives at ‘Carr’s Cove’ in Union Springs. Their union produced six children.
Henry Clay Carr and Georgia Simmons Children
| | Name | Birthdate | Birthplace |
| 1 | Clinton Carr | unk | Union Springs, New York |
| 2 | Sydney Carr | unk | Union Springs, New York |
| 3 | Louis Carr | unk | Union Springs, New York |
| 4 | William Z. Carr | unk | Union Springs, New York |
| 5 | Hartman Carr (12) | December 30, 1876 | Union Springs, New York |
| 6 | Hattie Farely Carr | c. 1883 | Union Springs, New York |
1876 – THE FIFTH CARR GENERATION
Hartman Carr, the 5th child of Henry Clay Carr and Georgia Simmons, married Leona Mae Carr, (A first cousin) in Union Springs, N.Y., on March 11, 1899, and spent the rest of their lives at ‘Carr’s Cove’ in Union Springs. Leona was also the postmistress at Union Springs for 15 years. Their union produced three children.Hartman Carr and Leona Mae Carr’s Children
1. Henry Clay Carr October 12, 1899 Union Springs, N.Y.
2. Harlan Bradley Carr 1903 “
3. Marjory Carr 1906 “
1903 – THE SIXTH CARR GENERATION
Harlan Bradley “Gotch” Carr, the 2nd child of Hartman Carr and Georgia Simmons, married Dorothy Kelley on 24 November 1932, at the Syracuse Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. He, a famous football player at Syracuse University, and his wife, a well known socialite in Upstate New York, were separated in the late 1940’s, but never divorced. Dorothy lived out her life in Syracuse while her husband spent his time between Carr’s Cove in Union Springs, and South Florida. Harlan died at Syracuse, New York on May 19, 1970, and is buried in Union Springs. Dorothy died sixteen years later at Syracuse, on January 24th, 1982 and is buried in Holy Cross Cemetery in DeWitt, New York. Their union produced three children.
Harlan Bradley Carr and Dorothy Kelly’s children
1. Nancy Kelley Carr February 16, 1935 Syracuse, N.Y.
2. Bradley James Carr April 20, 1938 “
3. Margaret Gannon Carr December 30, 1940 “19
1940 – THE SEVENTH CARR GENERATION
Margaret Gannon Carr married Robert Shirley Miller. Jr. at Syracuse, New York, on October 29, 1966, and their union produced three children.
Margaret Gannon Carr and Robert Miller’s Children
1. Robert Shirley Miller III November 16, 1967 Riverside, CA
2. Bradley Richard Miller October 20, 1970 Bellevue, NE
3. Brent James Miller April19, 1973 Tehran, Iran
Nancy Kelley Carr, the eldest daughter of Harlan Bradley Carr and Dorothy Kelley married Robert Gordon Shepard in Syracuse, New York on January 30th, 1956. Their union produced seven children
Nancy Kelley Carr and Robert Gordon Shepard’s Children
1. Cynthia Ann Shepard November 7, 1956 Syracuse, NY
2. Robert Gordon Shepard Jr March 23, 1958 “
3. Kelley Norman Shepard May 29, 1959 “
4. Amy Marie Shepard Sep 7, 1960 “
5. Bradley Richard Shepard Sep 12, 1962 “
6. James Michael Shepard Apr 18, 1964 “
7. Michael Andrews Shepard Mar 25, 1968 “
Bradley James Carr, the 2nd child of Harlan Bradley Carr and Dorothy Kelley married Barbara Russell in Skaneateles, New York on June 19, 1965. Their union produced seven children
Bradley James Carr and Barbara Russell’s Children
1. Bradley James Carr Feb 19, 1966 Syracuse, New York
2. Kelley Russell Carr Feb 19, 1966 “
3. Jeffrey Harlan Carr Feb 13, 1967 “
4. Holly Margaret Carr Oct 16, 1968 “
5. Amy Louise Carr July 28, 1970 “
6. Brian Patrick Carr Jan 17, 1974 “
7. Katy Sue Carr Apr 2, 1975 “
1956 – THE EIGHTH CARR GENERATION
RobertS. Miller III Jr, the eldest son of Margaret Carr Miller, married Laura McKeller in Baltimore, Maryland on ——— and their union produced two children:
Bradley Richard Miller married Elizabeth Elliot in ————- on ——— and their union produced two children:
- Emily Miller
- Elliot Miller
Brent James Miller married Holly on Whitman in ————- on ——— and their union produced 1 child:
- Guy Miller