Description

Harley "Hal" High Cartter, Jr. (b. 1849 - d. 1913) was born on September 12, 1849 in Utica, Michigan. He was the son of Harley High Cartter (b. 1810) and Jane Louisa (Scranton) Cartter (b. 1813). His father was appointed associate Supreme Court Justice of Arizona by President Ulysses S. Grant.

Harley resided in Prescott, Arizona since 1868. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in the early 1870s. He held every office in Yavapai County, Arizona except for district judgeship. He was known for his exemplary character and trustworthiness.

Harley married Serilda Alwida Miller on March 2, 1874 in Miller Valley, Arizona at the home of her uncle Sam Miller.

Serilda's father and his brother Sam had come to Prescott, Arizona Territory in May, 1863 with the Walker party. Jacob had long before left his wife and three children, including Serilda, behind in Illinois, where Jane remarried. Serilda came to Prescott, A.T. in May, 1873 and reunited with her estranged father. She moved into the Miller Valley home of Sam Miller with her father, sister Cynthia and brother Roll.

Harley and Serilda had a son, Frank, born in July, 1877 but he died the following month. Five more children were stillborn. In the early 1880s, the Cartters informally adopted Florence (Ida Belle) Murphy (b. Skull Valley, Yavapai County, Arizona Territory, c. 1878) after the deaths of her parents William C. and Julia Murphy.

Harley became mentally ill in 1910 and Serilda had him committed to the Territorial Asylum in Phoenix, Maricopa County, Arizona Territory, in April. He died there in August, 1913.

Serilda died February 22, 1919 and was buried in the Citizens Cemetery in Prescott beside her husband.

Sources: findagrave.com; US Census 1880 and1900; Sharlot Hall Museum Rose Garden Honorees

For more information regarding Serilda (Miller) Cartter, please read her biography in the Rose Garden Honorees section of the SHM Library & Archives.