Anthony Willis family tree » Hannah Knight Libby (1786-1867)

Personal data Hannah Knight Libby 

• She was born on October 9, 1786 in Scarborough, Cumberland County, Maine, USA.Source 2
• She was christened on December 9, 1786 in Scarborough, Cumberland, Maine, United States.
• Immigrated in the year 1851 vanuit Deseret, United States.
• Immigrated in the year 1851 vanuit Utah, United States.
• Religion: in the year 1836 The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints - Baptism.
• Resident:
• in the year 1850: Pottawattamie county, Pottawattamie, Iowa, United States.
• in the year 1851: Utah Territory, United States.
• in the year 1860: Provo, Utah, Utah Territory, United States.
• (Reburial of Hannah Knight Libby Carter) about 1879 in Provo City Cemetery, Provo, Utah, Utah Territory, United States: Hannah's remains were removed to Provo City Cemetery from Grandville Cemetery.
• (Cemetery) : Provo City Cemetery.
• (FamilySearch ID) : KWVM-MGY.
• She died on November 17, 1867 in Provo, Utah County, Utah, USA, she was 81 years old.Source 2
• She is buried in Provo, Utah County, Utah, USA.Source 2

Household of Hannah Knight Libby

She is married to John Harrison Carter.

They got married on March 2, 1806 at Scarborough, Cumberland, Maine, she was 19 years old.

Child(ren):

1. Dominicus Carter  1806-1884 
2. Almira Carter  1808-1894
3. Hannah Carter  1809-1894
4. William Furlsbury Carter  1811-1888 
5. Phillip Libby Carter  1813-1876
6. John Harrison Carter  1815-1815
7. John Harrison Carter  1816-1896
8. Eliza Ann Carter  1818-1897
9. Richard Harrison Carter  1820-1846
10. Mary Jane Carter  1823-1911
11. Rufus Carter  1825-1827

Notes about Hannah Knight Libby

Hannah Knight Libby was born October 9, 1786, at
Scarborough, Cumberland, Maine. This was on the Atlantic
coast. She was the daughter of Captain Zebulon Libby and
Lydia Andrews. Her father was born about 1757, and as a
young man served three years in the American Revolution, and
was afterwards a Captain in the militia of the state of Maine.
He married Lydia Andrews, daughter of Deacon Amos
Andrews and Ann Seavy, on October 19, 1780. Hannah was
their fourth child.

Hannah's brother, Amos, married, but his wife died a
few years later. Then he enlisted in the American army for one
year and lost his life at the Battle of Plattsburg in Canada on
October 26, 1813, during the war then being waged between
Canada and the United States--the War of 1812.

Most of Hannah's ancestors on both her father's and mother's lines have been traced
back to the immigrant ancestors in America. The Libby genealogy was traced many years ago
by a young man of 18, naturally inclined to genealogy, who conceived the idea of tracing all
his ancestors back to the first American immigrant. The first of the Libby family in Maine
whom he found was John Libby, who came from Broadstaire, near Canterbury, Kent,
England. He, with others, settled at an early day in what later became known as Scarborough.
There they suffered many attacks from the Indians, had many stirring adventures, and a
number of their families were killed or carried into captivity.

* * * * * * * * * *

Hannah married John Carter in 1805. She was a refined, cultured woman. The family
belonged to the Methodist church. In 1834, Mormon elders brought the gospel to their home
in Maine. Hannah was healed by the power of laying on of hands, and when she was made
whole, she arose and walked one-half mile to the Bear Waters and was baptized.

John Carter did not join the Church. When his wife was healed, he said, "That beats
doctor bills," but he never joined the Church. Of their nine living children, six were baptized-
-Dominicus, Hannah, William F., Eliza Ann, John, and Richard. Two of their children died in
infancy. Responding to the spirit of the gospel, the family left Maine in 1836 and traveled all
the long way to Kirtland, Ohio, which was then the headquarters of the Church. They
attended the temple, took part in the meetings, and joined the Saints in singing the songs of
Zion.

The next year, an apostate movement arose, and John F. Boynton, the missionary who
had converted them and who was now a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles,
began one of the bitterest, most violent attacks on the Prophet. So intense was the persecution
that those who remained staunch and faithful were forced to leave for Far West, Missouri.
Early in 1838, two of Hannah's children, William and Eliza Ann, who had recently married
James Chauncy Snow, set out together for Missouri, driving an ox team. That story is told in
the history of James Chauncy. Two more of Hannah's children traveled with the famous
Kirtland Camp, which traveled from Kirtland to Far West. These were Dominicus Carter with
six in his family and John Carter with two. Dominicus was appointed commissary of the
camp on July 18. Once, when three of the camp members were unjustly thrown into prison,
Dominicus voluntarily returned and stayed with them in prison until their release was
obtained. The camp arrived at their destination on July 4.

* * * * * * * * *

The mobs in Missouri were raging also. During this time, Lydia, the wife of
Dominicus Carter, had a baby. The baby was only five days old when she was ordered by a
mob with blackened faces to vacate her home by midnight, as they were going to burn it. She
went into the nearby woods with her children and remained there throughout the night. There
was a cold, heavy rainfall, and as a result of exposure so soon after the birth of her baby, she
took cold and passed away shortly afterwards, on October 23. Her surviving children were
spread out among the relatives.

Exactly when Hannah and her husband left Kirtland, I could not find out from the
history written by Frances McEwan. It may be assumed that they followed the exodus to
Missouri, and then to Nauvoo. They moved to Nauvoo as early as 1843, when they signed the
deed in Hancock County purchasing land at Morley's Settlement. She received a patriarchal
blessing from Isaac Morley in 1844. At last the day of separation came. John Carter
persistently refused to join the Church. Hannah, his wife, decided to come west with her
people and her children who had embraced the gospel. Before leaving Nauvoo, she was
sealed for time and eternity to Isaac Morley, on Jan. 22, 1846. All her children were sealed to
Isaac Morley on April 2, 1853. Nothing is known as to what became of John Carter after this
time.

* * * * * * * * *

Hannah and her children traveled westward with the body of the Saints as far as
Council Bluffs. When the call for the Mormon Battalion came, Richard Carter, her youngest
son, enrolled and was mustered into service July 14, 1846. He was almost 26 years old and
had a wife and two children. On November 28, 1846, he died on that march to California, and
was buried by his comrades at Pueblo, New Mexico on the Rio Grande River. His wife,
Hannah Parker, remained in Council Bluffs until April of 1851 when she died of smallpox.
Her two children were brought across the plains by their Aunt Eliza Ann Carter Snow.

Dominicus Carter, Hannah's oldest son, was an expert blacksmith. He was requested
by the Church leaders to remain at Council Bluffs and help prepare the immigrant trains for
the long journey. He crossed the plains in 1851, accompanied by his aged mother, Hannah,
who was nearing 65 years old. They arrived in Salt Lake City on June 20, 1851 and settled in
Provo shortly after. In 1852, Hannah's son William was called on a mission to India.

* * * * * * * * *

Hannah's death occurred shortly before November 23, 1867, for on that day a letter
was written by Mary F. Whiting from Springville, Utah, to a relative in Manti stating, "Mother
Carter is dead." She was 81 years old. Her funeral was held at the grave side at the Provo
Cemetery. Her son, Dominicus, spoke on her faithfulness and that she would come forth in
the first resurrection. The true spirit of her life mission is summarized in these inspired words
of her Patriarchal Blessing: "The heavens and the earth are stored with blessings for thee and
thy posterity after thee. Thou hast been faithful in the day of trial. The principles of virtue
were planted within thy bosom. Thy last days shall be thy best days. As the desires of thy
heart shall it be. Thou hast the blood of Israel and art a lawful heir, and by proxy thou shalt
administer and be blessed in the administration in behalf of thine progenitors." (Blessing
given May 3, 1844 in Nauvoo.)

On Memorial Day in 1941, 155 years after her birth, 90 years after she crossed the
plains, and 74 years after her death, 90 members of her posterity held a memorial service in
her honor. They sang again the songs that had been sung at her funeral and listened to a
sketch of her life. Then once again they gathered at her grave and dedicated a bronze marker
as a lasting memorial to her name and noble character. It read: "Hannah Knight Libby Carter,
October 9, 1786 - Nov. 1867. Faithful in the day of trial."

--This was taken mostly from a history written by Hannah's great
granddaughter, Frances Snow McEwan. The other source was the family group record.
Typed by Edith Baker, Feb. 1990.

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