Henry Clay and Mary Ellen 'Nellie' Word Carl Family

Henry Clay Carl was born 17 Oct 1853 in Arkansas and died 16 Jun 1932 in Decatur, Arkansas. He was the youngest son of Thomas and Synthia Maxwell Carl. Mary Ellen 'Nellie' Word was born in Feb 1860 in Tennessee and died in 1939 in Junction City, Kansas. Their children, all born in Arkansas, were: Thomas W. Carl (b: 1879); Cora E. Carl (b: 1880, d: 1881); James Monroe Carl (b: 1883); Samuel O. Carl (b: 1886); Henry Cuthbert 'Cutty' Carl (b: 1887); Virginia B. Carl (b: 1889); Charles Spurgeon Carl (b: 1892); Gertie Jewell Carl (b: 1894, d. 1895); Sarah Maxwell Carl (b: Aug 1895); and Jessie Carl (b: Jan 1900). There may have been additional children including June and Ginger Word. In the  1920 US census for Decatur, Benton Co. AR, a Henry C, 66 and Mary E Carl, 57 had a 17 year old son  George living with them. He was listed as being born abt 1903.

There are two versions of a family reunion photo taken in 1890. The photo above was originally identified as a picture of Thomas and Synthia Carl and Thomas' first family, his children by Nancy Sheid. Since Synthia died in 1871, the assumption was that it had to be taken before that. This has since been disproved. A group of Carl researchers, all descendants of Thomas Carl, have decided the photo is actually of a Carl-Chastain reunion in 1890. Some of the original identifications, those of some of the sons, still stand, but the central couple is not Thomas and Synthia Carl, but Dennis Gaddis Chastain and his wife, Nancy Jane Carl Chastain, in whose home her father, Thomas died in 1891. The people identified so far are, front row seated: Jessie Jenkins Carl, Thomas R. Carl Jr, Manson Augustus Carl, James Harvey Carl, Dennis Gaddis Chastain, Nancy Jane Carl Chastain, Sara Carl Keith, and Henry Clay Carl. The woman originally identified as Ann Carl Marrs, standing between the central couple, is probably Kate McPhail Carl, the wife of Thomas R Carl, Jr. Both Sara Carl Keith and Henry Clay Carl were not identified originally but have since been.

The photo below is obviously taken at the same time and at the same event since the same people are shown wearing the same clothes. This photo appeared in the Summer 1986, volume 31, number 2 edition of The Benton County Arkansas genealogical magazine, The Pioneer. It was contributed by Joan Carl Hancock who identified the man leaning on the pillar as the husband of Sara Carl Keith. Looking closely at the photo, someone has written the names of H C Carl underneath the man seated by the pillar and MEW Carl on the woman standing with her hand on his shoulder. That would be Henry Clay Carl and his wife, Mary Ellen Word Carl. (Thomas and Synthia Carl are buried in the Word cemetery in Arkansas.)

The photo above left is a close-up of Henry and Mary Ellen Carl from the 1890 reunion photo. The photo above right is of HC and ME Carl and their family. It was taken in 1894 in Siloam Springs, Arkansas. On the back the people are identified, front row L to R: Charles, Virgie, Gertie; Middle row: Henry Carl, Henry Jr & Mary Ellen; top row: Tom, Sam, Monroe. Also noted was "Sarah Maxwell, June & Ginger Word were born after this photo." Jesse was not mentioned on the photo but June and Ginger weren't listed on the family work sheet I received from Calvin Bain.

Since the husbands and wives seemed to be placed together in the second reunion photo, I thought perhaps the children would be as well. The photo above is a close-up from the reunion photo with the children on the balcony. The child with the dark hair appears to be the same as the one standing at ME's right shoulder in the photo above left. The boy in the white shirt appears to be the same in both as well. I don't know if that means they're two of HC and ME's children or not. We need to find some descendants that can help us identify them. I can’t make a positive identification from the 1894 family photo.