CHARLES B. CARTER is an old and honored resident of the township of Lowell, where he has lived since the spring of 1855. Mr. Carter was born in Lowville, Lewis county, N. Y., September 21, I816, and is a son of Benjamin S. and Polly (Bennett) Carter. The paternal ancestry came to America in early colonial times and some of the family bore an active part in the struggle for independence, notable among whom was Jabez Carter, one of the subject's antecedents, who distinguished himself during the seven years of that memorable conflict. Benjamin S. and Polly Carter lived to be very old people and died many years age at Seneca Falls, N. Y. Charles B. Carter assisted his father on the farm and worked at lumbering until twenty-one years of age, when he purchased a part of the paternal homestead near Savannah, N. Y., and began life for himself as a tiller of the soil. September 3, I839, he entered into the marriage relation with Miss Calista Sheldon, who was born in the town of Brutus, Cayuga county, N. Y., May 22, 18I8, a daughter of Silas and Betsey (Morley) Sheldon. Mr. Carter remained in his native state until 1853, when he came to Michigan and bought the farm upon which he has since resided in Lowell township, Kent county. When he purchased the place, there were few improvements, including a small cleared field and the skeleton of a house, and the condition of his finances compelled Mr. Carter to go in debt for the greater part of the price of his home. To remove the forest growth and fit the soil for tillage was a task before which the majority of men of the present day would retire discouraged; not so with Mr. Carter, whose strong arms and determined will eventually overcame the many obstacles that beset him, and in due time a beautiful home, free from debt, rewarded his labors. For some years Mr. Carter added to his income by taking contracts to cut and deliver pine timber, and frequently employed from twenty to forty men to assist in floating the logs to their destination in the spring seasons. As a farmer, he has been careful and methodical, and by energy and well-directed thrift during the years of his prime, is now enabled to pass his declining days in the enjoyment of the competence thus accumulated. By reason of advanced age and infirmities incident thereto, he has done no manual labor for several years, nevertheless he oversees the farm and carefully directs and controls its operation. Mr. and Mrs. Carter have had children as follows: Theodore B., of Lowell township; Zeno W., a farmer of Ionia county, Mich.; Sophia Cynthia, wife of L. F. Savery, of Lansing; Ella Calista, wife of Leander J. Post, of Lowell, and Martha Louisa, the only one born in Michigan, now Mrs. Stevens, residing in Colorado. The descendants of this worthy old couple include, in addition to the children named, eighteen grandchildren and five great grandchildren. The fiftieth anniversary of their marriage was appropriately celebrated, upon which occasion all but one of their children were present; nearly ten years have elapsed since that joyous event, and they are still spared to comfort each other, as hand in hand they travel onward toward the twilight and the journey's end. At the celebration of the golden wedding an incident occurred which is worthy of mention -the presentation to Mrs. Carter, by her children, of a beautiful morocco-bound Bible. She at once recited the following verse, which she had committed to memory when a little girl: And what have I? A book, a book! It says, Is it not pretty? Only look. In red morocco bound, its leaves are gilt. What can it be? Undo the clasp and let me see. It must be something grand. A Bible! Yes, it is indeed; A Bible of our own to read, And teach me how to pray: And on the leaf is written, too, Father and mother, this book is given you, That you may read it every day. Mr. Carter has lived a quiet and uneventful life, contributing toward the material and moral up building of the community and shaping his conduct so as to avoid giving offense to God or man. Formerly a whig, he now supports the republican party, and, while not a member of any religious body, he contributes liberally to churches.