Carrie Emory was the mother of Edward Gage and the wife of Sumner Gage. We are at that stage on the Aleck line where there are few public records to be found on women in history. While many of our maternal ancestors are elusive, there are still places where they hide. I am ever searching for Carrie’s hiding places, but she is not as elusive as most. I have a complete picture for her, just not much of an interesting story.
Carrie Gage was born Caroline A. Emory or Emery. She had one older sister, Calista. Carrie left traces for the names of her parents, but it is Calista who left the most diligent records.
Carrie and Sumner’s New Hampshire marriage records name her parents as Wm Emory and Anna. Calista’s marriage named them as William Emery and Hannah Merrifield. Their names were further confirmed through additional records left behind by the parents.
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| Marriage record for Calista Emery with full names of parents and possible birth locations for each. Ancestry.com, New Hampshire, Marriage and Divorce Records, 1659-1947. |
Vermont record
| New Hampshire record
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This version is a transcription split between two cards; a card for the groom and a card for the bride.
In this version, the card for Caroline Emory records her marriage to Sumner Gage on 3 July 1861 and does not name her parents.
The marriage was officiated by Rev. L.H. Patridge, F.W.B. Church in the town of Orange.
The bride was a resident of Topsham and is aged 18.
F.W.B. could mean Free Will Baptist Church.
 | This version is also a transcription on a double-sided card.
This record has an S____ Gage who married Caroline A. Emery (note each card spells Caroline’s maiden name differently).
The bride’s residence is Topsham and her birth is Warrick (sic), MA.
The date of marriage is 1 July 1861 in Topsham, Vermont by Patridge (a clergyman), but he reported the marriage from Orford, New Hampshire.
On the back of the card Caroline’s parents are named as Wm Emery and Anna.
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Carrie was born between 1843 and 1845 in either in Warwick, Massachusetts (NH Marriage records) or Vermont (presumably Orange County as that is where she lived until her marriage). Her mother was also from Massachusetts and she married William in that state, as well, so for Caroline to have been born in Massachusetts is not unrealistic (women often went to stay with mothers and sisters when nearing their due date to have assistance with birth). The records of birth for Carrie’s children have her birthplace as Salem, Massachusetts.
The differences between locations in Massachusetts is interesting. Warwick is due south of Orford just across the Massachusetts/New Hampshire line. Salem is near the coast (northeast of Boston). Hannah Merrifield had records tieing her to Greenwich, Warwick, and Warren, Massachusetts. Greenwich was south of Warwick and is now under the Quabbin reservoir. Warren is a little further south from where Greenwich once was. I think Salem probably refers to New Salem, which was named after the original (that of the famed witch trials) and was recorded incorrectly by clerks. New Salem is located near where Greenwich would have been and directly benefited from the creation of the Quabbin reservoir.
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| Locations of Orford, NH and it’s proximity to key locations in Massachusetts. To access the Google interactive map, you can follow this link. |
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| Closeup of key Massachusetts locations identified in Emery records. To access the Google interactive map, you can follow this link. |
Carrie married Sumner Gage in Topsham, Orange County, Vermont on 1 July 1861. After marriage, they lived in his hometown of Orford, Grafton County, New Hampshire. All but one of their children were born here, their last was born in Illinois.
Her parents remained in Orange County, Vermont after her marriage, but her mother moved to Orford, New Hampshire after the death of William. Her mother remained in Orford until her own death in 1877. Carrie and Sumner were still in Orford when Carrie’s mother died, but moved shortly afterward to Brookfield township, La Salle County, Illinois. Several of Sumner’s brothers made this move years before them, the Gage parents also having passed away.
Carrie stayed in Illinois until Sumner’s death in 1895. By this time, Edward and a cousin or two had moved on to Harrison County, Iowa. Having no family left in New Hampshire and no husband for support, she followed Edward to Iowa. I’m not sure what happened to Edward’s siblings, whether they stayed in Illinois or also moved to Iowa, but there were other Gage descendants who came to Iowa.
Carrie lived in Harrison County, Iowa for 10 years before her death there. Her headstone reads “Grandmother” Carrie Gage and she is buried in Pleasant Hill Cemetery in the same plot as Edward (Block 9, row 2).
Genealogy Summary
Caroline “Carrie” A. Emery was born in Massachusetts between 1843 and 1845 to William W. Emery and Hannah M. Merrifield. She married on 1 July 1861 to Sumner Gage in Topsham, Orange County, Vermont.
She died in Dunlap, Harrison County, Iowa in 1905 and is buried in Pleasant Hill Cemetery, Harrison County, Iowa.
Caroline and Sumner had the following children:
- Henry E. Gage b. in 1862 and d. 10 February 1863 in Orford, Grafton County, New Hampshire at the age of 8 months and 24 days.
- William H. Gage b. 20 January 1865 in Orford, Grafton County, New Hampshire.
- Maybe another child if we are to believe the order recorded on each birth record.
- Julius Edwin (Edward) Gage b. 16 November 1868 in Orford, Grafton County, New Hampshire and died 5 December 1952 in Dunlap, Harrison County, Iowa. He married Luella DeJean on 29 January 1890 in Dunlap, Harrison County, Iowa.
- Isaac Gage b. about 1869 in New Hampshire.
- Frank Gage b. about 1870 in New Hampshire.
- Charles Gage b. May 1872 in Orford, Grafton County, New Hampshire.
- Ida Mabel Gage b. 18 September 1876 in Orford, Grafton County, New Hampshire.
- Elmer Gage b. about 1879 in Illinois.
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