Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

Carr, Charles D.

Born: 1824-12-09 Lexington, Kentucky

Died: 1875-05-24 Lexington, Kentucky

Charles D. Carr was a lawyer, city attorney, and judge. He was the seventh son of Elizabeth Todd Carr, a sister of Robert S. Todd, and a first cousin of Mary Lincoln. Carr enjoyed the benefits of a good preparatory education and matriculated to Centre College, graduating in 1841. He read law and earned admission to the Kentucky bar in 1845. Carr practiced law in Lexington, Kentucky. An adherent of the Whig Party, Carr also took an active interest in local and state politics, and in 1851, he won election as Fayette County attorney. Also in 1851, Carr married Mary B. Didlake, with whom he would have six children. After the death of Robert S. Todd, Carr represented Abraham Lincoln, Mary Lincoln, and other litigants in cases resulting from the settlement of the Todd estate. Carr became the Lexington city attorney in 1856 and judge of the Fayette County Court in 1858. By 1860, he had accumulated nearly $30,000 in real estate, owned $9,000 worth of personal property, and ten enslaved persons. In 1862, Carr won re-election as county judge. During the Civil War, he remained loyal to the Union, but at the end of the conflict he shifted his political allegiance to the Democratic Party.

William Henry Perrin, ed., History of Fayette County, Kentucky (Chicago: O. L. Baskin, 1882), 591; Donna D. McCreary, The Kentucky Todds in Lexington Cemetery (Indiana: Lincoln Presentations, 2012), 38; Edison I. Carr, The Carr Family Records (Rockton, IL: Herald, 1894), 309, 458; William H. Townsend, Lincoln and His Wife’s Home Town (Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1929), 159; U.S. Census Office, Eighth Census of the United States (1860), Ward 4, Lexington, Fayette County, KY, 82; U.S. Census Office, Eighth Census of the United States (1860), Slave Schedule, Ward 4, Lexington, Fayette County, KY, 51; For Carr's involvement in the Todd estate cases, search Participant, “Carr, Charles D.,” Martha L. Benner and Cullom Davis et al., eds., The Law Practice of Abraham Lincoln: Complete Documentary Edition , 2d edition (Springfield: Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, 2009), http://www.lawpracticeofabrahamlincoln.org; Gravestone, The Lexington Cemetery, Lexington, KY.