James Carr
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Massachusetts's 17th district
In office
March 4, 1815 – March 3, 1817
Preceded byAbiel Wood
Succeeded byJohn Wilson
Member of the
Massachusetts House of Representatives
for the District of Maine
In office
1806–1811
Personal details
Born(1777-09-09)September 9, 1777
Haverhill, Massachusetts
DiedAugust 24, 1818(1818-08-24) (aged 40)
Louisville, Kentucky
Political partyFederalist
SpouseBetsey Stelle Jarvis
RelationsU.S. Congressman Francis Carr
ChildrenMary, d. August 24, 1818
Alma materPhillips Exeter Academy
Byfield Academy

James Carr (September 9, 1777 – August 24, 1818), son of U.S. Congressman Francis Carr, was a member of the United States House of Representatives from Maine, then a District of Massachusetts.

Carr was born in Haverhill, Massachusetts, on September 9, 1777. He attended Phillips Exeter and Byfield Academies, and then went to sea as clerk on the U.S.S. Crescent. He served two years as secretary to the United States Consul at Algiers. He then joined his parents (who had migrated to Bangor, Maine), engaging in mercantile pursuits and serving as a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives (1806–1811) for the District of Maine.

Carr was elected as a Federalist to the Fourteenth United States Congress (1815–1817), the second person from Bangor to occupy that office (following his father).

Carr was drowned in the Ohio River on August 24, 1818. While traveling with his family on a steamboat, his 9-year-old daughter Mary fell overboard just below Louisville, Kentucky, and Carr entered the water in a failed attempt to save her. Neither of their bodies were ever recovered, though a memorial to Carr was erected at Bangor's Mount Hope Cemetery.[1]

Carr was married to Betsey Stelle Jarvis, who migrated to Illinois along with two brothers following the tragedy on the river. The Carrs remained a prominent mercantile and political family in Bangor despite James' death (see Francis Carr).

References

  1. ↑ Natalie Park Shutz, The Park Story: Some Descendants of Richard Park of Newton, Mass. (2001), pp. 161-164, 371.
  • United States Congress. "James Carr (id: C000176)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
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