Patrick Tisdale also recently unearthed a long buried headstone on the slope of Mt Zion Cemetery, adjacent to the vault (believed to have been used for refuge during the Underground Railroad). Patrick observes, “It is a very nicely carved Virginia bluestone, about 5.75 ft tall, 2.75 ft wide and about 3.25 inches thick (approx 600 pounds).”
The carefully engraved wording on this bluestone marker reads:
Here lie the mortal remains
of
JOHN CARR
a native of Philadelphia
and by profession a mason;
he died in the hope
of a better hereafter
October 31st 1815.
To his memory this stone is erected by his well wisher
and friend when alive
Robert Leckie
The Phrasing on the Stone
The wording is resonant with early 19th century Methodist emphases on the good death. A proper passing was in a sense a sacred performance, in which the Dying voiced a visible profession of faith, a fervent belief in the better life to come. The ubiquitous nature of death, a major early 19th century concern, is also hinted at by the rather somber phrase, “his friend when alive,” looking back nostalgically towards the time of the two men’s friendship on earth, before death separated them.
Who were these men?
Robert Leckie is a well known figure in the antebellum history of the District of Columbia.T he Scottish-educated Leckie was, like John Carr, a stone mason. He constructed a good deal of public infrastructure in DC, including fortifications, aqueducts and portions of local canals.
John Carr, however is more obscure, leaving relatively little trace in the historical record so far as we can tell.
We should first note that this is clearly not the relatively well known John Carr, of Washington County, MD a revolutionary war hero and member of the “Maryland 400”, who died in 1819: https://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc3500/sc3520/016800/016816/html/16816bio.html
Rather, this John appears to be the man listed in the 1790, 1800, and 1810 Federal censuses in Philadelphia. The 1810 census records a John Carr resident in East Southwark Ward, the oldest area of European settlement in the city of Philadelphia. He is also in the Pennsylvania Septennial 1793 census, as resident in High Street Ward Philadelphia. John Carr married Mary Dean in Philadelphia on 5 August 1798. Their daughter Catherine Whiley Carr was born 6 April 1799 and christened on 12 July 1799 in Christ Church Philadelphia, indicating the family’s Anglican or Episcopal faith.
John and wife Mary are recorded buying and selling land between 1798 and 1811 in Philadelphia.
John Carr perhaps came down to Washington after the War of 1812 concluded. During the second half of the 13th Congress (1813–1815) the city of Washington was engaged in active rebuilding of the many public buildings burned by the invading British on August 24, 1814, the third year of the War of 1812. Masons such as Carr were in great demand, for the rebuilding of the US Capitol and for the completing of the Washington Canal, which facilitated local commercial transport, connecting Tiber Creek and the Anacostia (Eastern Branch) and Potomac rivers. Perhaps Leckie hired John Carr for some of the many public building projects he oversaw in the District.
The District of Columbia was generally considered an unhealthy climate, with numerous infections diseases extant and it possible that Carr succumbed to one of these maladies.
I have not found an 1815 newspaper death notice for John Carr in Philadelphia or Washington D.C.
Connection to James and Rachael Carr?
The 1810 Federal census (which only records heads of household) lists no household heads named Carr in the District of Columbia. . The census lists 30 household heads in Philadelphia with the surname Carr. Of these, two other Carr’s other than John Carr are listed in Philadelphia’s East Southwark Ward, the oldest site of European settlement in Philadelphia. These are James Carr and Rebecca Carr. James Carr’s household consists of 20 people, including one male over 44, whereas Rachel Carr is the sole member of her household. Rachel Carr in a will of James Carr proved 1 June 1810 is listed as the executrix of James Carr, and the apparent mother of another James Carr. Perhaps this older James Carr, dead before 1 June 1810, i was the father or kin of “our” John Carr. The younger James Carr evidently appears in the 1820 census, in North Mulberry Ward, thenon the western edge of the city.
Connections to other Carr Family Members?
It is possible that “our” John Carr was related to:
- Benjamin Carr, who emigrated from England in 1793 and settled in Philadelphia in 1797, and who was a prominent music publisher and singer, as well as the composer of the Federal Overture, 1794.
2. Overton Carr, b 1781 -d. 21 March 1838, the doorkeeper of the House of Representatives, buried in Congressional Cemetery, District of Columbia. Son of Overton Carr, b 12 July 1752 in Virginia, died 8 September 1804 in Baltimore. The elder Overton Carr was, I believe, one of the 19 “”Original Proprietors”or original owners of property transferred or sold on 31 March 1791 to create the District of Columbia
Mark Auslander 