William Ingram 'Bill' Carter

Notes:

Actually, at the time of William Ingram Carter's birth, Cartersville was in old Darlington District, which became Darlington County only after the Civil War was over. In 1901 Florence County was part of the split-up of old Darlington County, and Cartersville then became a part of Florence County. It is just west of Timmonsville on U.S. Highway 76.

At the start of the War Between the States a.k.a. Civil War, the then Capt. Carter, known as "Bill" was the Commanding Officer of Company A, 14th Regiment, South Carolina Volunteers, Confederate States of America, headquartered out of old Cartersville, which was then a thriving town with a railroad running through the center, the same tracks that carried many of the men who enlisted there off to boot camp in what is now known as Dentsville in Richland County adjacent to Columbia. Cartersville was later destroyed by fire, and is now just a sleepy rural crossroads on U.S. Hwy. 76.

Bill Carter was the husband of Caroline "Mink"/"Minkie" Timmons Carter, and both of them rest within the fenced and gated cemetery, located in a field very near the crossroads. Also buried there is his brother, Giles Carter, who also served the South as a member of Company A.

Bill and Giles' father was a prominent area man named Charles Powell Carter II who reared a large family, predominately sons, along with his wife, the former Susan Ingram. It was Bill's father who inspired the name Cartersville.

Two of those sons were killed in the war. William was a Colonel by the end of the conflict. His brother, Company A's Adjutant, Lt. Sidney Carter, "Sid" sent letters home to his wife Ellen Timmons Carter, known commonly as "Bet" and "Bettie" during the unit's travels. The letters, for the most part, were well preserved, and led to the now out-of-print book "Dear Bet-The Carter Letters 1861-1863" by Bessie Mell Lane of Clemson, South Carolina. The book is registered in the Library of Congress. It was printed in 1978 and a 2nd printing was in 1979. Sidney was killed at Gettysburg, and the letters stopped. John Carter was killed at Chancellorsville, Virginia.

A few of William's male siblings were part of the pre-war militia group known as the "Lynches Creek Guards" which formed the basis of Cartersville's Company A.

William married Caroline 'Minkie' Timmons. Caroline was born 1825, South Carolina; died 20 May 1885, Timmonsville, Florence Co., South Carolina; was buried , Cartersville Cemetery Timmonsville Florence County South Carolina. [Group Sheet]

Susan married Hugh Ervin Cannon Fountain. Hugh was born 12 Sep 1840, Florence, South Carolina; died 12 Dec 1922, Florence, South Carolina; was buried , Cartersville Cemetery Timmonsville, Florence County, South Carolina. [Group Sheet]