East Texas Family Records, Volume 9, Number 1, Spring 1985 Page: 30
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EAST TEXAS FAMILY RECORDS VOL. 9, NO 1, SPRING 1985
(The Life of Rev. Elijah Milburn Carter continued)
reprimanded a member for having a part; she repented, and the minutes recorded
that Brother Carter resolved "....that she was (not) to have another party if she
could avoid it."
Elijah was a menber of the Masonic Lodge, and received a demit dated February
4, A. L. 1885 from Lodge No. 184 at Etna, which is now called Bullard. It stated
that Elijah was a Master Mason, in good standing, of the Hickory Grove Lodge, and
it recommended him to the "...fraternal regard of all regular Lodges and Brethren.
Elijah's obituary gives a great insight into his personality and lifestyle.
It reads, "Bro. Carter was ever ready to engage in the service of his master, he
endured much for the cause of Christ, he was divested of a man fearing or a man
pleasing spirit and never failed to declare the whole council of God as he understood
it claiming that it was better to please God than man, he was a strict disciplinarian....he
was ever ready to give council to both old and young, he was
firm in the doctrine of Salvation by Grace to the redeemed of God, he claimed that
he was a sinner saved by grace, he believed in those old Songs, such as Amazing
Graces How Sweet The Sound, Grace, 'Tis A Charming Sound and that old hymn How
Firm A Foundation Ye Saints of the Lord..., he was a great lover of Sacred music
vocal and engaged in teaching for many years, but he gave up all for work of the
ministry, which was his whole theme." Relatives say that Elijah and Lucretia
had the first in the area with glass windows, which they had shipped in. They
also had a portrait made of themselves, which in the possession of their granddaughter,
Willie Kansas Carter Willis, in Flint, Texas. The portrait reveals the
stern, yet loving, faces that had become so respected in the area in which they
had settled.
On October 25 and 26, 1895, the household effects of Elijah and Lucretia were
appraised and sold to their several children. The total amount of the items sold
was 83.25 dollars. This was four months before Elijah's death, though he was declared
"fully capassitated to attend to the business in hand both in mind and
boddy."
Elijah Milburn Carter died on February 9, 1896 at his home. He was 73 years
old, had been married almost 54 years, and had been a Baptist minister for almost
34 years. Elijah had fathered nine children, who gave him over 50 grandchildren.
He was buried in the Old Barron Cemetery next to his son, William James Carter.
The cemetery is nex to the New Bethel Cemetery (Black) and is no longer used. It
has been badly vandalized, and it is located just south of the Tyler city limits
on the Jacksonville Highway.
Elijah's death was summed up best in his obituary, which read, "...God in his
alwise providence has visited us with the hand of death and torn from us one of
our members (to wit) Bro. E. M. Carter, who departed this life at his residence
the 9th day of last February, with nervous prostration; he was confined about
eight months, during which time he suffered much (mentally)....alas he is gone,
he is no more with us but while he is gone his light still shines as though he
yet lives. He leaves an aged companion and an innumberable host of relatives and
friends to morn his departure but while we mourn it is not as for those who have
no hope, just a few days before his death he gave renewed evidence that he was
going home to heaven and we are thus enabled to cherish the fond hope that he is
at rest with his blest redeemer in that sweet paradise of God enjoying the
fruition of that world that is unknown to us and while we sing here, Bro. Carter
30
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East Texas Genealogical Society. East Texas Family Records, Volume 9, Number 1, Spring 1985, periodical, Spring 1985; Tyler, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth38038/m1/32/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting East Texas Genealogical Society.