Francis Carr (December 6, 1751 – October 6, 1821) was a

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

from the District of

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and ...

, which was then part of

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

. He was also the father of U.S. Congressman James Carr, and the founder of a political and mercantile family in Bangor, Maine. Carr was born and attended common schools in Newbury in the

Province of Massachusetts Bay The Province of Massachusetts Bay was a colony in British America which became one of the thirteen original states of the United States. It was chartered on October 7, 1691, by William III and Mary II, the joint monarchs of the kingdoms of ...

. He later moved to Haverhill, married Mary Elliot (b. 1755 in Amesbury), and engaged in the mercantile and shipbuilding business. He also represented Haverhill in the

Massachusetts House of Representatives The Massachusetts House of Representatives is the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court, the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is composed of 160 members elected from 14 counties each divided into single-member ...

.Edson Irving Carr, ''The Carr Family Records'' (1894), pp. 69, 105.

Political career

In 1793, Carr moved to Bangor in Massachusetts' District of Maine, which had incorporated as a town only two years before. As in Haverhill, he was elected to represent the area in the

(1806–1808), and later the

Massachusetts State Senate The Massachusetts Senate is the upper house of the Massachusetts General Court, the bicameral state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Senate comprises 40 elected members from 40 single-member senatorial districts in the st ...

(1809–1811). Carr was the first citizen of Bangor to serve in the U.S. Congress. He was elected as a

Democratic-Republican The Democratic-Republican Party, known at the time as the Republican Party and also referred to as the Jeffersonian Republican Party among other names, was an American political party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the early ...

to the Twelfth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Barzillai Gannett and served from April 6, 1812, to March 3, 1813. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1812 to the Thirteenth Congress, and resumed mercantile pursuits. In 1814, he witnessed the British sacking of Bangor following the rout of local militia in the

Battle of Hampden The Battle of Hampden was an action in the British campaign to conquer present-day Maine and remake it into the colony of New Ireland during the War of 1812. Sir John Sherbrooke led a British force from Halifax, Nova Scotia to establish New Ire ...

. He died in Bangor, Maine, October 6, 1821, and was interred in Mount Hope Cemetery.

Carr Family

The Carrs remained an important mercantile and political family in Bangor well into the 19th century. Francis' son James Carr succeeded him as a U.S. Congressman (1815–1817), though he died by drowning in 1818 on the Ohio River. Another family member, Joshua Wingate Carr (1796–1879), became Mayor of Bangor (1839–1840) and the city's U.S. Postmaster. The Carr-Wing House on State Street in Bangor, which Joshua Carr remodeled in the Gothic Revival style in 1844, remains a local architectural landmark. Joshua's great-grandson Elliott Carr Cutler (b. Bangor, 1888), became a famous surgeon and professor of surgery at the

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the graduate medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is one of the oldest medical schools in the United States and is consi ...

, while Elliott's brother

Robert Cutler Robert Cutler (June 12, 1895 – May 8, 1974) was an American government official who was the first person appointed as the president's National Security Advisor. He served US President Dwight Eisenhower in that role between 1953 and 1955 and fr ...

, became the first National Security Advisor under President Dwight Eisenhower. Robert wrote about the Carr-Wing House and his "Great-Uncle Frank" (Francis Wingate Carr) in his autobiography ''No Time for Rest'' (1966).Robert Cutler, ''No Time for Rest'' (Little, Brown, 1966), pp. 1-18

Sources

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carr, Francis 1751 births 1821 deaths Members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives Massachusetts state senators Politicians from Bangor, Maine Politicians from Haverhill, Massachusetts Massachusetts Democratic-Republicans Burials at Mount Hope Cemetery (Bangor, Maine) Democratic-Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from the District of Maine Members of the United States House of Representatives from Massachusetts