CARTER, Joseph Oliver
Joseph Oliver Carter
THE progenitor of the Carter family in Hawaii was born in Charlestown,
Mass., on September 15th, 1802. His father was the great-great-great-grandson of
Rev. Thomas Carter of Woburn, Mass. His mother was Rebecca Wellington, a
descendant of the famous Roger Wellington and Richard Palgrave. He was the third
child in a family of five, three of which did not survive their infancy. Anne
Rebecca, his sister, was born on April 26th, being two years younger than
himself. When twenty-three years of age, his father died, January 28th, 1825,
and the following year, in January, 1826, his mother also passed away in
Charlestown. In Paige's History of Cambridge, Mass., mention is made of their home.
His childhood was passed in surroundings of culture and refinement, if not
of luxury. What prompted him to go to sea or to go out to the Sandwich Islands
is not known, nor is the date of his first arrival here.
Like other young men of good family in and around Boston at that time, young
Carter may have been stimulated to seek his fortune in the Pacific,
preferring the risks of this great ocean and the returns on its commerce rather than
to remain quietly at home in Charlestown. American ships had already made
large fortunes for the bold merchants of Salem and Boston. He may have
heard that the Northwest fur-traders often wintered at these Islands, or perhaps
some sea-captain had told him of the sandal-wood trade, how this wood could be
bought in the Sandwich Islands by the cord and sold in China by the
ounce. Again, it may have been the love of adventure that caused this young
Massachusetts man to finally venture forth into the great basin of the
little-known Pacific.
There is a family tradition that he first went to sea in the U. S. Frigate
"Constitution" as chaplain's assistant. This vessel being a training-ship, as
assistant chaplain it was young Carter's duty to help teach the sailors
reading and writing.
Joseph Oliver Carter
THE progenitor of the Carter family in Hawaii was born in Charlestown,
Mass., on September 15th, 1802. His father was the great-great-great-grandson of
Rev. Thomas Carter of Woburn, Mass. His mother was Rebecca Wellington, a
descendant of the famous Roger Wellington and Richard Palgrave. He was the third
child in a family of five, three of which did not survive their infancy. Anne
Rebecca, his sister, was born on April 26th, being two years younger than
himself. When twenty-three years of age, his father died, January 28th, 1825,
and the following year, in January, 1826, his mother also passed away in
Charlestown. In Paige's History of Cambridge, Mass., mention is made of their home.
His childhood was passed in surroundings of culture and refinement, if not
of luxury. What prompted him to go to sea or to go out to the Sandwich Islands
is not known, nor is the date of his first arrival here.
Like other young men of good family in and around Boston at that time, young
Carter may have been stimulated to seek his fortune in the Pacific,
preferring the risks of this great ocean and the returns on its commerce rather than
to remain quietly at home in Charlestown. American ships had already made
large fortunes for the bold merchants of Salem and Boston. He may have
heard that the Northwest fur-traders often wintered at these Islands, or perhaps
some sea-captain had told him of the sandal-wood trade, how this wood could be
bought in the Sandwich Islands by the cord and sold in China by the
ounce. Again, it may have been the love of adventure that caused this young
Massachusetts man to finally venture forth into the great basin of the
little-known Pacific.
There is a family tradition that he first went to sea in the U. S. Frigate
"Constitution" as chaplain's assistant. This vessel being a training-ship, as
assistant chaplain it was young Carter's duty to help teach the sailors
reading and writing.
CARTER, Joseph Oliver
Joseph Oliver Carter
THE progenitor of the Carter family in Hawaii was born in Charlestown,
Mass., on September 15th, 1802. His father was the great-great-great-grandson of
Rev. Thomas Carter of Woburn, Mass. His mother was Rebecca Wellington, a
descendant of the famous Roger Wellington and Richard Palgrave. He was the third
child in a family of five, three of which did not survive their infancy. Anne
Rebecca, his sister, was born on April 26th, being two years younger than
himself. When twenty-three years of age, his father died, January 28th, 1825,
and the following year, in January, 1826, his mother also passed away in
Charlestown. In Paige's History of Cambridge, Mass., mention is made of their home.
His childhood was passed in surroundings of culture and refinement, if not
of luxury. What prompted him to go to sea or to go out to the Sandwich Islands
is not known, nor is the date of his first arrival here.
Like other young men of good family in and around Boston at that time, young
Carter may have been stimulated to seek his fortune in the Pacific,
preferring the risks of this great ocean and the returns on its commerce rather than
to remain quietly at home in Charlestown. American ships had already made
large fortunes for the bold merchants of Salem and Boston. He may have
heard that the Northwest fur-traders often wintered at these Islands, or perhaps
some sea-captain had told him of the sandal-wood trade, how this wood could be
bought in the Sandwich Islands by the cord and sold in China by the
ounce. Again, it may have been the love of adventure that caused this young
Massachusetts man to finally venture forth into the great basin of the
little-known Pacific.
There is a family tradition that he first went to sea in the U. S. Frigate
"Constitution" as chaplain's assistant. This vessel being a training-ship, as
assistant chaplain it was young Carter's duty to help teach the sailors
reading and writing.
Joseph Oliver Carter
THE progenitor of the Carter family in Hawaii was born in Charlestown,
Mass., on September 15th, 1802. His father was the great-great-great-grandson of
Rev. Thomas Carter of Woburn, Mass. His mother was Rebecca Wellington, a
descendant of the famous Roger Wellington and Richard Palgrave. He was the third
child in a family of five, three of which did not survive their infancy. Anne
Rebecca, his sister, was born on April 26th, being two years younger than
himself. When twenty-three years of age, his father died, January 28th, 1825,
and the following year, in January, 1826, his mother also passed away in
Charlestown. In Paige's History of Cambridge, Mass., mention is made of their home.
His childhood was passed in surroundings of culture and refinement, if not
of luxury. What prompted him to go to sea or to go out to the Sandwich Islands
is not known, nor is the date of his first arrival here.
Like other young men of good family in and around Boston at that time, young
Carter may have been stimulated to seek his fortune in the Pacific,
preferring the risks of this great ocean and the returns on its commerce rather than
to remain quietly at home in Charlestown. American ships had already made
large fortunes for the bold merchants of Salem and Boston. He may have
heard that the Northwest fur-traders often wintered at these Islands, or perhaps
some sea-captain had told him of the sandal-wood trade, how this wood could be
bought in the Sandwich Islands by the cord and sold in China by the
ounce. Again, it may have been the love of adventure that caused this young
Massachusetts man to finally venture forth into the great basin of the
little-known Pacific.
There is a family tradition that he first went to sea in the U. S. Frigate
"Constitution" as chaplain's assistant. This vessel being a training-ship, as
assistant chaplain it was young Carter's duty to help teach the sailors
reading and writing.
Family Members
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