Job Carr. Husband to Rebecca Vail Pittman. Father to Anthony Pittman Carr, Francis Howard Carr, Marrietta Elizabeth Carr and Margaret Ann Carr. Job Carr arrives at the future site of Tacoma, WA, on Commencement Bay on December 25, 1864. A veteran of the Union Army from Indiana, who came West to seek opportunities. Job Carr was the founding father of Tacoma. The first Mayor of Tacoma. The first Postmaster of Tacoma. Carr was the first permanent Euro-American settler in Tacoma, after the abondoment of earlier claims in 1855, due to the Indian War of 1855-1856. Carr later sold most of 168 acre-claim to McCarver which combined his town of "New Tacoma" and Carr's town of Tacoma, to form one city of Tacoma. All on a land site the Nisqually and Puyallup Peoples called Shubahlup, or "sheltered place".

My family tree footnote:

Job Carr's son, Francis Howard Car, married the daughter of Pierce County's first appointed sheriff, John Bradley & Mary Elizabeth Reylea (a fourth great Aunt of this author). Mary Elizabeth's sister was Frances Louisa Reylea, who married & divorced Frederick Meyer. She later married a Philipp Hansleman. Frances would be my fourth Great Grandmother. Mary Elizabeth (Reylea) Bradley, later married A.C. Heisen. Mary and A.C. Heisen are buried in the Crawford Cemetery, near Battle Ground, WA. Her sister, Frances Louise (Reylea) Meyer & her second husband, Philipp Hanselman, are buried in the Illwaco Cemetery, Illwaco, WA.

Also see Frederick Meyer, Frances Louisa Reylea, Wilhelmina Mary Meyer, Nettie Greenlaw and my Grandfather, Byron C. Turner.

There was a wounded Civil War veteran by the name of Job Carr from Pennsylvania. He was a Quaker, but his hatred of slavery overrode his Pacifistic beliefs. In his late 40s, he enlisted in the Union Army and was wounded twice. The second time so grievously, the Army discharged him. Not wanting to deal with the shambles of war in the East, he came out West. He was staying in Steilacoom, which predates Tacoma. Rumor was he was taking a canoe trip and they went around Point Defiance and came to this little area called 'shebalah' by the locals, meaning a sheltered place. It's where Old Town dock is now. Legend has it, Carr stood up in the canoe and shouted, 'Eureka! I've found it!' So, he started his township there. Carr was a heck of a handyman, but he didn't have any connections. He wasn't a promoter. Enter Martin Matthew McCarver, professional town-builder. McCarver was a Commissary General (Quartermaster today). For a time, there were actually three Tacomas: Old Town, New Tacoma and Tacoma on The Wharf. There's a great book by his son-in-law at the Tacoma Public Library called McCarver in Tacoma. In 1884, the city got out of the cemetery business and the Tacoma Cemetery Association began."

Source: https://www.southsoundtalk.com/2020/08/18/christopher-engh-brings-tacoma-cemetery-to-life/

Job Carr and Quakerism

Contributed By Family Search profile K69F-ZV4

Job officially followed Rebecca out of organized Quakerism two years later when he was disowned for not attending worship and being "out of unity." Although not practicing a Quaker, Job did not abandon religion altogether. Instead, he lived an "unconventional" life for a Quaker. This means that he still identified as a Quaker but did not follow all of the Quaker practices or beliefs. Job Carr is reputed to have "spent many hours with his Bible. He was a constant reader of the Scripture and fairly knew it all, but he never argued it. He took it straight." He and his family, however, were abolitionists and their Quaker pacifism was at odds with their desire to join the fight against slavery. Job and his two sons enlisted with the U.S. Army during the Civil War, and Rebecca added her services as a nurse matron.

Job and Rebecca's divorce in June 1864 was also unconventional since Quakerism only allowed for divorce on biblical grounds, when one party was unfaithful to the other.

https://www.jobcarrmuseum.org/blog/religion-and-the-carr-family-quaker-heritage-part-2