Carter Family Album: The Carter Sisters

Florence Ella Carter Thompson had two sisters (Annie and Birdie) and a brother, (Benjamin). This photograph of the of the Carter Sisters with Florence's daugther and son (Donna and Uncle William), and Annie's daugther (Pattie) was on a photographic post card, which was very common for the era.

This photograph dates from around the turn of the century. Florence is the woman standing in the rear on the right as you look at it. The young girl sitting in front of her is Donna, her daughter (Viola Carter Harrod). The young boy seated on the left is her son, William McKinley Carter (Uncle William).

Assuming that the baby in the arms of the woman in the middle is Pattie Marie Carter (Donna's first cousin), then her mother Annie Carter Williams is the woman holding her. The woman standing on the left (behind Uncle William) must be Birdie Carter.

All I can use to date this photo is the fact that Donna was born in 1890, and looks to be past the age of puberty, i.e., there's something of a bussom under all that lace. (Her first child, Aunt Evelyn, was born when she was 19.) Her brother is wearing long pants, and he is less than five years younger than his sister, so I estimate his age as about twelve, and her at sixteen. Pattie's birthdate, since she appears less than one year old, would accurately date this photo.

Reality Check … After Maurice took a look at this (in Dec'95), he concluded that although the women on the right are Florence and Donna, the other women are NOT Annie and Birdie, but "friends" and their respective children, NOT William and Pattie. <Don't you just hate it when this happens?> -=DAH=- (10-Jan-96)