The Courier, Volume 32, No. 1 (2008)
WESTERN MAINE SAINTS [Part 4]
The York and Carter Families / Western Migration, by Carole York
Sources:

Arrington, Leonard J.  Brigham Young: American Moses.  Urbana and Chicago, University of Illinois Press (1989).

Arrington, Leonard J. and Davis Bitton.  The Mormon Experience: A History of the Latter-day Saints, Second Edition.  Urbana and Chicago (1992).

Roberts, Brigham H.  A Comprehensive History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  6 vols. Salt Lake City, Utah, Deseret News (1930).

Smith, Joseph, Jr.  History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Edited by B. H. Roberts.  6 vols. published 1902-1912, Vol. 7 published in 1932, revised reprint editions, Salt Lake City, Utah, Deseret Book Company.  This series is also known as the “Documentary History of the Church.”

Smart, Donna Toland (Editor).  Mormon Midwife: The 1846-1888 Diaries of Patty Bartlett Sessions.  Logan, Utah, Utah State University Press (1997).

Smart, Donna Toland (Editor).  Exemplary Elder: The Life and Missionary Diaries of Perrigrine Sessions, 1814-1893.  Provo, Utah, BYU Studies and Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Latter-day Saint History (2002).

Stegner, Wallace.  The Gathering of Zion: The Story of the Mormon Trail.  Lincoln and London, University of Nebraska Press (1964, 1981).

Whall, Les.  "Genealogy of Aaron Mereon York."  Typescript in the collection of the Bethel Historical Society.

York, Donald J. (compiler) DJY Collection, including genealogy and documents related to the York and Carter and Hallett families, in the author's collection.

Arrington, Leonard J. and Davis Bitton.  The Mormon Experience:  A History of the Latter-day Saints, Second Edition.  Urbana and Chicago (1992).


The Courier, Volume 32, No. 2 & Volume 33, No. 3 (2008)
WESTERN MAINE SAINTS [Part 4]
The York and Carter Families in Utah, by Carole York
Note:  This essay is based, in large part, upon personal recollections, letters, diaries and genealogies of the York and Carter families, as well as original church records.   From its beginning, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has encouraged its members to keep genealogies, diaries and family histories.  This record keeping is an integral part of Mormon doctrine and practice, and these sources provide a wealth of information unavailable elsewhere.   However, in many cases, these records were written after the fact, often years later, by persons who did not directly observe or participate in the events described. Grammatical and spelling errors, not unusual for that period of emigration and settlement, characterize many of the documents.  Names of persons and places are often spelled differently; accuracy in this regard was not considered as important as it is today.   Discrepancies, therefore, are inevitable.      Patronymics or the practice of naming children for their parents, grandparents, and other family members, ancestors, and respected personages creates confusion for the historical researcher attempting to sort out who, when, what, where and why.   Given these limitations, this writer has made every effort to present a factual account of the York and Carter families as they traveled from Bethel/Newry, Maine, westward to help settle the Great Salt Lake Basin.

Sources:

Secondary

Arrington, Leonard J. Great Basin Kingdom: An Economic History of the Latter-day Saints, 1830-1900, with an introduction by Ronald W. Walker.  Urbana and Chicago, University of Illinois Press (1958, 2005).

Arrington, Leonard J. and Davis Bitton.  The Mormon Experience: A History of the Latter-day Saints, Second Edition.  Urbana and Chicago (1992).

Bancroft, Hubert Howe.  History of Utah.  Salt Lake City, Bookcraft (originally published in San Francisco in 1889, 1964).

Carter, Barton L.  Dominicus Carter: Latter-Day Pioneer.  Sandy, Utah, self-published (1997).

Carter, D. Robert (no relation to the Carter family line discussed in this essay). Founding Fort Utah:  Provo’s Native Inhabitants, Early Explorers, and First Year of Settlement.  Provo, Provo City Corporation (2003).

Coleman, Arthur D.  Carter Pioneers.  Provo, Utah, J. Grant Stevenson (1996).

Compton, Todd.  In Sacred Loneliness: The Plural Wives of Joseph Smith.  Salt Lake City, Signature Books (1997).

Lapham, William B.  History of Bethel, Maine, with an Introduction by Stanley Russell Howe.  Somersworth, New Hampshire, New England History Press (facsimile of the 1891 edition, 1981).

Smart, Donna Toland (Editor).  Mormon Midwife: The 1846-1888 Diaries of Patty Bartlett Sessions.  Logan, Utah, Utah State University Press (1997).

Stegner, Wallace.  The Gathering of Zion: The Story of the Mormon Trail.  Lincoln and London, University of Nebraska Press (1964, 1981).

Primary

Letters from Aaron M. York to Brigham Young, and Young’s response regarding the Hallett orphans, LDS Family History Library and Archives

Documents from the DJY collection (genealogy and documents compiled by the writer’s father, Donald J. York, between 1970 and 1993), in the author's collection; includes Edna Holdaway Bentwet, “Gilberth Haws Family: Pioneer of  1848.” Provo, Utah (1966)


Route from Bethel, Maine, to the Great Salt Lake Basin, and Towns Settled by the Carter and York Families 1836-1900