Benjamin W. Carroll Family Line
Eva King Carroll Painter (1870-1934)
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by Carolyn Ann Howard
My great grandmother, Eva Painter, was what my Uncle Willis called "a very nice person." She was born in 1870 most likely near Birdseye, Indiana. Her maiden name was King. Click on photos to enlarge
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| Eva King Carroll Painter Carolyn Ann Howard Family Collection |
Eva was the second wife of Hickman Carroll. Hickman Carroll's sister was Sarah Carroll who married Jacob Painter. Hickman died. Sarah died. And so Eva married Jacob Painter, her brother-in-law. From what I understand, my grandmother Grace, Eva's daughter, was L-I-V-I-D!
But why?
My father, from my recollections, said it was because of the relationship, in that they were "related" as in-laws. My grandmother was strictly Pilgrim Holiness and for a while, this thought held up. But now, after having scanned through Holiness doctrine, I find nothing in it that states a member can't marry an in-law. There are some laws against what is called a consanguine marriage, which, according to Wikipedia, is a "marriage between two family members who are second cousins or closer." Although, according to National Institute of Health (NIH), this definition is a bit simple, we'll use the Wikimedia definition for our purposes here.
The problems allegedly with this type of arrangement - marrying a cousin - is some evidence of birth defects in their offspring. It is illegal here in the United States in some states to marry a first cousin. It is perfectly legal, however, to marry an in-law.
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| My great grandmother, Eva, with her husband, Hickman, and their children Carolyn Ann Howard Family Collection |
Next, I checked the family tree to see if somehow Jacob Painter was blood related to Eva Carroll. I could find no evidence of any blood relations. So what was really going on here with Eva's daughter, Grace - my grandmother - and her anger at her mother marrying Jacob Painter?
My father told me that he believed his grandmother, Eva, was sickly. He said that his mother, Grace, had to take care of her brothers and sisters, taking over the cooking and other household duties, at the age of 12. And I can believe it, as my grandmother Grace was a power house in running a household. A widow when her youngest of seven children was just three years old, my father told me they had no bills growing up. No electricity, water, or phone bills!
Grace reared her children in the rural community of Alfordsville, Indiana, which at the time was a bustling community with its own school and general store. Many of the men of that town worked at the nearby Crane Naval Base, and a bus picked them up every morning. My father sings of a happy childhood filled with friends and neighbors, pick-up basketball games, and one school that served the entire community. He also dimly speaks of being forbidden food between meals - even a cracker - and how he fell down one day and hit his head, drawing blood and seeing stars, and was too afraid to tell anyone. He hid for hours until the dizziness passed.
Not having an income, except for a small pension from the Methodist Church, Grace grew and canned all their vegetables. It wouldn't surprise me if she made her own butter. She kept chickens but not a cow. Grace was an excellent cook, and we all stuffed ourselves with her yeast rolls and dumplings whenever we visited her at her final residence in Loogootee, Indiana.
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| Eva in her last days Carolyn Ann Howard Family Collection |
Eva's first husband, Hickman, died in 1920. I'm pretty sure Eva got the house they lived in, because I remember my dad talking about how his mother got the house when Eva died. Apparently this was a source of contention within the family. Eva received a small settlement from her husband's death, about $600. She waited six years before remarrying her brother-in-law, and she might have jumped at the chance to improve her situation. Jacob Painter offered her, at the least, stability and at best, which I believe he was, a companion.
After marrying Jacob Painter, she moved in with him in French Lick, Indiana. Did her house in Newton Stewart stay empty? I don't know. But there, in French Lick, in 1930, she watched as her 26-year-old daughter, Esther, died. Once shrouded in mystery, we now know she died from typhoid fever. Her obit states she was rejoicing and singing hymns as she died, which I doubt. I take little comfort that Esther was, at least, with her mom as she died.
Three years later, Jacob Painter died. My great grandmother Eva was then shuffled back to her daughter and son-in-law's home in Union, Indiana. My father, who was born in 1929, remembered Eva living with them. Eva died shortly after her husband, two days before Christmas Day, 1934. Her obit states, "She was sick a number of weeks but bore her suffering patiently till death relieved her and her spirit took its flight." That sounds like something my grandmother would have written.
My grandmother Grace perhaps had the last word. Using the weather as an excuse to keep Eva's body from being taken to the cemetery in Newton Stewart, to be buried with her first husband, Hickman, Grace had the body taken to Loogootee, IN, where she had a plot of six graves. Already buried in that plot were her sister, Esther, and a daughter who died as an infant. Newton Stewart would've been about a drive of 1 hour and 15 minutes today. Loogootee was not much better at an hour from Union, Indiana. Perhaps the roads were better? Perhaps, in the end, Grace wanted to keep her beloved family close?
Whatever the reason, my grandmother took total charge. Her mother is buried next to her and the name on the stone? It should've been Eva Painter. Instead, it says Amanda Carroll, using Eva's legal first name and the last name of her first husband. Such are the nightmares of a genealogist!
Jacob Painter is buried with his first wife, Hickman's sister, Sarah, in Wickliffe Cemetery, Crawford County, Indiana.
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