-----Original Message-----
From: Mary Myers [mailto:BigJ@primenet.com]
Sent: Tuesday, May 16, 2000 8:30 PM
To: Jane Lachs
Subject: Re:KARR CARR Family
I am sending this to you for information since I see you are
researching the
CARR Family.
My Grandmothers brother Thomas ROBINSON's daughter Della ROBINSON
married a
William Ketcham KARR. The daughter of Della and William wrote a book
about her
and her husbands family history of which I have a copy. The title of
the book
is SCHOONOVER - KARR - HAYES - ROBINSON and is written by Tedford
Schoonover and
Katherine KARR Schoonover.
The following is the first couple of pages that she wrote on the Karr
family.
I thought that you might like to have it.
_________________
" As an introduction to the history of the Karr family in New
Jersey, we quote
below from two documents on file in the Library of the DAR in
Washington D.C.
One deals with the Karr family in general and its origin as follows:
"The history of the English speaking family of the CARRS and KERRS
is as old
as the Norman Conquest (1066) according to "Carr Family Records" by
Edson J.
Car. One of the followers of William 1st bears the name of Karre
(taken from
Charter in Battle Abbey). The early posterity of this Norman soldier
undoubtedly settled in the north of England and succeeding generations
spread on
both sides of the borderland of England and Scotland and afterward
into the
north of Ireland.
_______________________________________________________
The original name was modified by the English and Irish branches of
the
family from the Norman French Karre or Carre to the present name Carr,
and the
Scotch branch generally used either Karr, Kerr or Ker. Families of
these names
obtained immense possessions in the Scottish lowlands in the 14th,
15th, and
16th centuries, principally in Selkirkshire and Roxburghshire. Most
of the
families which became great landowners in these centuries, trace their
descent
to one of the two great families of that time; the Kers of Cessford of
Ferniehirst, now represented by Marquis of Lothian.
The history of the rise of the Ker family is one of exceptional
interest as
it gives a vivid picture of border life in the 14th, 15th, 16th
centuries.
Aggressive attempts of the English kings to reduce Scotland to a state
of
vassalage had reduced the border countries of the two kingdoms to a
state of
anarchy in which might became right. The English wardens of the
Marches of
England were instructed to ravage and waste the lowlands of Scotland,
and the
wardens of Scotland retaliated. Constant raid and forage. Either a
Kerr of
Cessford or Earl of Home were wardens of Scotland. So the Kers
figured
prominently in this history of occupation. The great castle of
Cessford (now in
ruins) was the rendezvous of many raids.
The ancestral home of the Karrs in America today was Sunderland
Hall in the
village of Zair, county of Roxinburgshire, Scotland the first county
over the
border from Northumberland, England.
Burkes General Armory page 552 lists this branch of the family as
the only
one using the spelling Karr. An authority on British surnames says
the
variation of Carr, Ker, Carrs, and Kerr are of the same descent.
However, he
does point out that the Karr comes from the Old Norse word Kjarr
meaning a
brushwood or wet ground and a family who resides by a marsh or fenny
copse.
Also that the "j" in Kjarr is supposed to be silent leaving Karr as
more correct
and traditional.
Here in Roxinburgshire County the stately Homes like Sunderland
Hall dot the
Scottish landscape."
The Karr coat of arms is, Gules on a chevron argent 3 stars of the
first, in
base of stag's head erased or, guttee de san proper all within a
border invected
of the second, the Crest a dexter hand holding a dagger proper. Mott:
Abest
Timor. (Fear is absent)
Listed in 1878 edition Burkes Armory page 561
_________________________________________________________
The second document deals with Walter Ker of Freehold, Monmouth
County, New
Jersey and traces his emigration from Scotland. This document was
prepared by
William C. Armstrong and published by the Shawyer Publishing Company,
Morrison,
Illinois, 1931.
_____________________________________________________
"The Kerrs constituted a clan in Scotland. They were Highlanders;
their
domain was in the west and bordered on the Atlantic. When the clan
system of
local government was broken up by the king, some of the clansmen,
assuming kerr
as a surname became scattered throughout the British Isles. Some say
that the
word Kerr is an older form of the Crag; if so it means a high jutting
rock;
another family name probably derived from the same root is Craig; thus
Kerr and
Craig are variants.
When James II came to the throne of Scotland, intolerance broke out
afresh;
sever laws were enacted and sternly enforced against nonconformists,
such as
confinement in loathsome dungeons and clipping off the left ear.
George Scot, the Laird of Pitlochie, a leader among the
Presbyterians,
suffered great hardships for conscience's sake. His persecutors,
finding that
they could not break his spirit, offered to release him from prison if
he would
go into exile. He accepted the offer, saying: "I will go to the
American
plantations provided I may take a colony of my countrymen with me."
To this
they agreed.
Ninety of his coreligionists volunteered to go with him. Scot at
once
chartered the Henry and Francis, a ship of 350 tons and 20 great guns,
Richard
Hutton, master. The vessel prepared for sea and Leith near
Edinbourgh, on the
easter coast of Scotland. Here he obtained permission to take with
him some
non-conformists who were lying there in prison. These numbered 105;
this gave
him a company of nearly 200 emigrants.
On September 5, 1685, they set sail, passing southward through the
North Sea
and then westward through the English Channel.
Scarcely were they out of sight of land when fever of a very
malignant type
broke out among the passengers. Scot himself died; and his
son-in-law, John
Johnstone, became the leader of the exiles. For twelve weeks the
ship's company
battled against deadly disease within and raging storms without.
In December the vessel dropped anchor in the harbor of Perth Amboy.
Seventy
of those who had started for the new world with high hopes, had died
and been
buried at sea.
Among the passengers who disembarked from the death plagued ship
was a young
man named Walter Ker."
_____________________________________________________
First Generation in America
It is believed Walter and Margaret were married about 1686 after
arriving in
America. To this union were born five sons. We have no record of any
daughters. The relative ages and order of the sons is not known
except as shown
below.
a. William Ker, b. about 1700
b. Samuel Ker
c. Joseph Ker
d. John Ker
The other son was James Ker. Of all the sons we have the only other
record we
have deals with James who benefited by the following action:
"In 1691 James Johnstone deeded land to Walter Ker in right of his
second
son, James Ker."
Evidence of the cruelty suffered in Scotland is the fact that on
landing in
America he had only one eye and one ear.
He was an active member of the old Tennant Church. One of his
descendants,
Charles Ker, is presently the grounds keeper at this famous landmark.
(This book
written February 1979) In the foundation of the church on a corner
that would
serve as a corner stone in this day and age Walter Ker signed his
initials. He
died in Freehold on June 10, 1748 in his 92nd year and is buried in
the Kerr
burying ground located one-half mile east of the Tennant Church
building. His
wife, Margaret, died October 1, 1734 and is buried in the same
location. The
Old Tennant Church is a landmark of the Presbyterian faith in America.
His name
is listed among the elders of this church in 1746.
There is more for subsequent generations and if it connects with any
you are
researching I will type off more.
Love and Happy Searching.
Mary M. in Arizona, USA
researching Burris, Robinson, Crosswait/Crosthwaite, Goodall,
Waddington, John
Shadrach BROWN and Jane MANSFIELD
at bigj(a)primenet.com