Page:History of Southeast Missouri 1912 Volume 1.djvu/614

 554 HISTORY OF SOUTHEAST MISSOURI in Montgomery county, Virginia, in 1826. She received a common school education in Vir- ginia and was afterwards sent to school in South Bend, Indiana. She came to Missouri with her gi'andfather and in the spring of 1843 began her work as a teacher. This was in district No. 31, at Hickory Cabin school- house in Perry township, St. Francis count.y. ]Iiss Carleton received $3.00 in trade or $2.00 in cash for each pupil taught. With the pro- ceeds of her teaching she attended Arcadia College and was graduated with the degree Master of Arts. IMiss Carleton was a teacher at heart, and after her graduation contin- ued the work. She was impressed with the necessity of some further opportunities for education than were offered then to the youth of Southeast Missouri. Being a woman of initiative and development. Miss Carleton de- termined to build sijch a school herself. Ac- cordingly, in April, 1854, she opened a school eight miles north of Farmington, under the name of Carleton Institute, it being so called in honor of her father. About thirty pupils attended this school which was incorporated by an act of the legislature, March 4, 1859. To the work of this institution she gave her entire time and attention. In 1878 this school was moved to Farmington where was erected a large and commodious brick building in the midst of attractive surroundings. Up till her death IMiss Carleton remained in close con- nection with the school and lived to see it be- come a prosperous and influential institution. She was a consistent and devoted member of the Methodist Episcopal church and through her work undoiibtedly influenced for good the lives of many young people in this part of the state. The Carter family came to ^Missouri from South Carolina. The head of the family was Zimri Carter, who made a settlement on Cur- rent river, in what is now Carter county, about 1813, Zimri Carter was oue of the most influential and prominent men in Southeast Missouri, He was judge of the county court and the county was named for him. One of tlie children of the family was Hon. William Carter, born in 1830, He was educated in the common schools and also at Arcadia College, He then attended a Louisville law school and was graduated in law in 1855, beginning his practice at Potosi and then removing to Farmington in 1862. In 1864 he was elected circuit judge of the 20th circuit, which in- cluded the counties of Washington, Iron, St. Francis, iladison. Perry and Ste. Genevieve. He held this office until in 1874 ; he was then elected a member of the general assembly of the state where he was made chairman of the judiciary committee. Since that time he has devoted himself to the practice of law, but has held other positions of honor at the same time. For a number of years he was one of the curators of the University of ilissouri. Placide DeLassus was born in Xew Orleans June 28, 1839, and was the grandson of Charles de Hault DeLassus. who was lieu- tenant governor of Upper Louisiana at the time of the transfer to the United States, Governor DeLassus received many grants of land from the Spanish government; one of these was a tract in St, Francois county, Mis- souri, on which the village of DeLassus was located. The family was a very prominent one in Missouri, some of them living in St, Francois" county and others in Perry county, Placide DeLassus was educated in New Or- leans and in France, He served throughout the war in the Confederate army. He lived for a time after the war in St. Louis where he married Miss Mary Clark, the daughter of