General Notes

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THE CARR BOOK, SKETCHES OF THE LIVES OF MANY OF THE DECENDA
NTS OF ROBERT
ANDCALEB CARR, Whose Arrival on this Continent in 1635 Bega
n the
American Storyof Our Family, DAR Library #53430, Publishe
d by Arthur A.
Carr, Ticonderoga,NY, 1947. Page 8.
From the mention of Caleb, as a child of eleven years, in t
he shipping
record to his admission as a freeman in Newport, RI in 1655
, thereis no
mention in the early records.
Caleb took a prominent part in the affairs of the settlemen
t at Newport
and in the Colony of Rhode Ilsand. Among theoffices in whic
h he served
were: Town Commissioner, Deputy, Justice, GeneralTreasurer
, Colonial
Governor.
This last office was attained in 1695 and terminated by hi
s death later
that same year.
He and his wife Mercy were both buried in Newport, RI nea
r where the
Coddington School now stands. On Sept. 8,1900 the bodies o
f Caleb and
Mercy Carr were disenterred and removed to theisland of Jam
estown where
they still are. They lie on a small private cemetery and ar
e properly
marked with the stones that marked their graves in Newport.
Probably the thing that Caleb did that had the most lastin
g effect upon
the family was his purchase of large tracts of land on th
e island of
Conanicut(Jamestown). Here several of his children took u
p their
residence.
Another thing that perpetuated the memory and influence o
f Caleb Carr was
his establishment of a ferry between Newport and Jamestown
. This he did
about 1675. In 1695 his rights were confirmed by a grant o
f the ferry
rights to Jamestown fromboth the east and west approaches.
The ferry business seems to have been conveyed to his son J
ohn before his
death. From this son, John, the business cames down in th
e family for
about two hundred and fifty years. During all this span the
re was always
a Carr connected with the Ferry business. A bridge supersed
ed the west
ferry in 1940. The Newport-Jamestown Ferry Co. is now, 1945
, owned by the
town of Jamestown. Mr. George Carr and Miss Lucy Carr bot
h of thefamily
are connected with the company. Thus the ferry business whi
ch Caleb Carr
founded and from whose boat he was drowned still stands a
s a monument to
him. Indeed the commodious boat now in operation bears th
e name "Governor
Carr".
Governor Caleb, in the course of all these activities becam
e possessed of
consideration wealth. His residence was on what is now Mil
l St. in
Newport. He owned wharves and a warehouse at the foot of Mi
ll St. where
the ferry now docks. His will, for which disposed of huma
n as well as
real and personalproperty.
Eleven children were born to Caleb, ten of whom married an
d with the
exception of the daughter Mary are treated in Generation II
I.