Stephen and Sarah Jane Welch Carr
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Stephen and Sarah Jane Welch Carr
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Return to Harvey & Rachel Welch Page
Return to Carr Family on the Mercer County Web Site

Sarah Jane Welch was the third child and oldest daughter of Harvey & Rachel Woodward Welch of Wayne County, Indiana, and Mercer County, Illinois. She is shown as one year old in the 1840 census and is missed in the 1850 census but we can identify her by her marriage record in Mercer County.

Stephen Carr was the son of William & Elizabeth Carr who immigrated from England to Mercer County, Illinois, between 1840 and 1842. (See Mercer County Web page for Carr for more information on the family.) Stephen's brother William married Sarah Jane's sister Lydia Ellen Welch.. It is possible that Stephen had a second family (see 1900 census at the end of the page.)

 Stephen Carr
born abt 1833 England
died unknown 		Sarah Jane Welch
born abt 1839 Wayne Co, In
died possibly Texas

  Married: 12/5/1858 Mercer County, Illinois

Children:
Edward B. Carr, born about 1862, Mercer County, Illinois
B. Alfred Carr, born about 1868, Kansas (possibly named Timothy? see 1870 below)
Mary Ann Carr, born about 1870, Kansas

The children's names are taken from the 1880 census and there may have been more - see 1900 below.

1860 in Mercer County, Illinois

There were close connections between the Carr and Welch families in Mercer County. In 1860 Sarah Jane Welch Carr's brother William Welch and sister Lydia Ellen Welch were working for William Carr, Sr., Stephen's father, on his farm. Sarah Jane's brother John Welchwas working for her husband Stephen Carr on his farm.

The Move to Kansas

Family lore tells us that William & Lydia Ellen Welch Carr went to Osage Mission, Kansas, about 1868. Stephen & Sarah Welch Carr went with William & Ellen and are found there in 1870 in Neosho County: #73 Stephen Carr, 35, merchant, born England; Sarah J., 29, Indiana; Edward, 8, Ill, Timothy 1/12, Ks (May); Eliza Jackson, 52, Indiana. Eliza Jackson was Sarah Jane Welch's aunt who married Levi Jackson in Mercer County in December 1857. Note that Timothy does not quite agree with the 1880 census.

1880 in Grayson County, Texas

Stephen & Sarah Jane Carr are found in Dennison, Grayson County, Texas, in the 1880 census: Steven Carr, 48, Railroad Watchman, England; Sarah J., 45, In; Edward, 18, railroad laborer, Ill; B. Alf, 12, Kansas; Mary Ann, 10, Ks; William Welsh, 47 brother-in-law, laborer, born In. Sarah's brother William Welch is living with them and is listed as brother-in-law to Stephen. Comparing to the 1870 census it is a little confusing - we cannot tell if Timothy shown born May in 1870 is the same young man as B. Alf, 12, in the 1880 census.

Possible Second Marriage for Stephen Carr?

We find the following in the 1900 census in Deerhead Township in Barber County, Kansas: Stephen L. Carr, May 1833, 67, married 15 years,farmer, born England, parents born England; Maggie, Feb 1863, 37, 5 children born, 5 living, born Il, father NC, mother Il; Sidney M., son, Nov 1882, 17, Il, Eng, Il; Reuben, Dec 1885, 14, Ks, Eng, Il; ; Mertle, July 1888, 11, Ks Eng, Il; Fred R,, May 1890, 10, Ks, Eng, Il; William S., December 1898, 2, Ks, Eng, Il; Mary, daughter, December 1871, 28, Kansas, Eng, Il, servant. The statistics for Stephen and for daughter Mary seem to indicate this is the same family but we are not sure as the name Stephen Carr is relatively common. Also note that if this is the correct Stephen and he had married again in 1885 then Sidney might be an additional child of Sarah Jane. If anyone can shed any light on this please email Nadine on the About Us Page.


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