Joseph Thomas Carter was born around 1844, likely about 5 miles west of what would become Cedartown, Paulding County, Georgia (established in 1854). His father owned 80 acres of land on the east side of Dry Creek. Joseph was the second son of James Carter and Margaret Jane Hopkins.
On 20 December 1851, the area where the Carters lived became part of the newly formed Polk County. The land along Dry Creek was included in Militia District 1076 of Polk County.
The region now known as Cleburne County was part of Benton County, Alabama, until 1858 when it was renamed Calhoun County. This is where Joseph’s parents were married.
Around 1861, Joseph Carter married Adaline Alred, daughter of Maston Alred, according to the 1900 U.S. Census. The Alreds lived in the neighboring district, closer to Cedartown and extending towards Rockmart.
The American Civil War began on April 12, 1861. Motivated by either economic opportunities or a sense of duty and honor, Joseph Carter enlisted in the Confederate Army on March 8, 1862, in Dallas, Paulding County, Georgia.
Dallas, Georgia acted as a strategic location in northwest Georgia for its proxmity to key railroads and supply routes making it a practical location of gathering and organizing troops before sending them to various battlefronts.
Joseph Carter was assigned to Company D of the 1st Regiment of the Georgia Cavalry. On October 20, 1863, the 1st Regiment, under Colonel James J. Morrison’s Brigade, attacked a Union regiment (45th Ohio Volunteers) near Philadelphia, Tennessee, that was acting as a train guard. Morrison’s and Colonel George G. Dibrell’s Brigade successfully routed the Union force and captured an estimated 440 Union soldiers. Unfortunately, during the confrontation, Joseph Carter was captured by the Union.
The Union force retreated to Loudon, Tennessee. From there, prisoners were marched north to Camp Nelson, located near Nicholasville, Kentucky. Camp Nelson was primarily a Union supply depot and training camp.
Joseph Carter remained at Camp Nelson until November 14, 1863, when he was transferred to Camp Chase in Columbus, Ohio. Initially a training camp, Camp Chase was converted into a prison camp for Confederate soldiers in early 1862.
Enduring the harsh conditions at Camp Chase, Joseph was transferred again on January 17, 1864, this time to the newly constructed Rock Island prison.
Rock Island prison was built to address the increasing number of Confederate prisoners and the overcrowding at existing camps. The prison was constructed to include prisoner barracks, guardhouses, hospitals, and other necessary infrastructure to manage and house the prisoners. The prison was built on a strategic location on an island in the Mississippi River, which provided a natural barrier to escape and was logistically favorable for the Union army.
Joseph Carter remained at Rock Island until the end of the war, 9 April 1865.
In the weeks following the end of the war, Joseph Carter was likely transported down the Mississippi River. He departed from Rock Island on May 3, 1865, and reached New Orleans, Louisiana, on May 17, 1865. Over the next week, he underwent the formal process of parole and prisoner exchange. Finally, on May 23, 1865, Joseph Carter was exchanged and granted freedom after spending the previous 19 months in prison.
Upon returning from the war, Joseph and Adaline promptly began creating their family. In late 1866 they welcomed their first child William James Carter.
Then several months later, on April 9, 1867, Joseph’s father James Carter passed away (Polk County, Minutes, Book A, 1865-1884). Margaret Hopkins Carter was appointed Executrix and given control of all his real and personal property.
It seems Joseph Carter remained close to his mother, as evidenced by the 1870 U.S. Census and the 1870 Polk County tax list, where he was only charged a poll tax. Margaret Carter was taxed for lots 488 and 489, located adjacent to Persons Road, where James Carter had established the family home.
Left with the daunting task of raising six minor children, Margaret Carter would have needed as much help as possible.
Tragically, another blow struck when Joseph’s mother, Margaret Hopkins Carter, passed away on December 25, 1873.
Polk County, Georgia; Minutes, Book A, 1865-1884, page 157
January Term of the Court of Ordinary. Polk County GA
State of Georgia, Polk County. To the Ordinary of said county. The petition of Joseph T Carter, Respectfully showeth that James Carter his father who departed this life on or about the 9th day of April 1867 leaving a will in which he appointed petitioners mother Margrett J Carter as his Executrix and in which will he bequeated that the said Executrix should have and control all his property both real and personal for and during her natural life and at her death to be equally divided between all his children share and share a like and whereas the said Margrett J Carter Executrix as aforesaid did depart this life on the twenty fifth of December last part, leaving a considerable amount of said estate both real and personal and there being several minor children heirs to said estate and it being impossible to make a division of said property in kind and there being no legal respresentation of said estate. Petitioner therefore makes application for Administration on said estate with the will annexed and as in duty bound he will ever pray. This January the 5th 1874.
Upon examining the above petition of Joseph T Carter and considering the same, it is ordered that the usual citation do issue in said case and be published in the Rockmart Reporter in terms of the law notiying all persons concerned to be and appear at the next term of this court to show cause why said application should not be granted. Signed Joel Brewer, Ordinary
By April 1784, Joseph Carter had failed to secure the bond to administer the estate and the courts would assign W.C. Knight, probable public administrator, as the estate administrator.
By the fall 1874, Joseph Carter moved his family to Borden Springs, Cleburne County, Alabama, situated approximately ten miles west across the Georgia and Alabama border. Borden Springs, nestled high in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, was a small community named after the notable Borden family who settled in the area during the early to mid-19th century.
The Carter’s appear to have remained in the Borden Springs area for over two decades. They are presumed to have lived close to Rowell’s Mill as derived by the incident involving their son Charles Carter (visit article).
Around the fall of 1897, Joseph Carter and his two sons William Carter and Charlie Carter and their familes moved 35 miles west to Alabama City, Etowah County. The 1900 U.S. Census for Etowah County shows Joseph Carter living next to his two sons on Kyle Street, which was located directly adjacent to the Dwight Mill.
The census, records Joseph as a Night Watcher at the factory. His daughter Mattie Carter (Spooler) and two sons Herbert Carter (Doffer) and Ivy Carter (Spinner) worked at the factory as well. His older son Charles Carter also worked at the mill as a speeder tender.
The Carters all rented homes within The Mill Village. These were homes that The Mill built to accommodate their employees. In 1900, these homes lacked indoor plumbing and electricity. The roads and streets were dirt, and the sidewalks were wooden, lined with trees on both sides.
Based on the 1910 U.S. Census and the burial records of the Carter family at the Whorton Bend Baptist Church Cemetery, it is presumed that Joseph T Carter passed away sometime between June 1900 and June 1906.
His widow, Adaline Alred Carter, resided with her son Charles Carter for the following decade and eventually passed away on September 19, 1915. She was laid to rest at the Whorton Bend Baptist Church Cemetery, although her headstone only commemorates her, suggesting that Joseph Carter may have been buried elsewhere before the family established the Whorton Bend Baptist Church Cemetery as their family burial ground.
Joseph T Carter and Adaline Alred Carter had the following children:
William James Carter, b. 1866, Polk County, Georgia; d. 31 July 1918, Etowah County, Alabama
Charles Carter, b. 2 March 1868, Polk County, Geogia; d. 9 March 1941, Etowah County, Alabama
Sarah Carter, b. March 1870, Polk County, Georgia; d. 1920-1929, Alabama
Joseph Robert Carter, b. 5 January 1873, Polk County, Georgia; d. 6 December 1906, Alabama
Rufus Marcus Carter, b. 31 December 1895, Cleburne County, Alabama; d. 8 October 1951, Piedmont, Calhoun County, Alabama
Mary Holly Carter, b. 22 February 1878, Cleburne County, Alabama; d. 5 Jun 1949, Calhoun County, Alabama
Thomas Jackson Carter, 28 August 1880, Cleburne County, Alabama; d. 25 September 1945, Gadsden, Etowah County, Alabama
Mattie Carter, b. February 1883, Cleburne County, Alabama; d. 23 August 1966, Rome, Floyd County, Georgia
Herbert Carter, 12 December 1884, Cleburne County, Alabama; d. 22 March 1964, Anniston, Calhoun County, Alabama
Ivy Thompson Carter, 10 January 1886, Cleburne County, Alabama; d. 9 February 1966, Etowah County, Alabama
Lilly Frances Carter, b. 25 July 1889, Cleburne County, Alabama; d. 6 May 1920, Etowah County, Alabama
digging our roots 
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