During Black History Month, Nevada County will recognize the Nevada City homesite of two prominent 19th century African American pioneers who were nearly forgotten.
Members of the Nevada County Historical Landmarks Commission have installed a new marker at the homesite of Jennie Correll Carter and Dennis Drummond Carter on a small triangular lot at the intersection of Drummond Street and American Hill Road. A public designation ceremony will be announced later this spring.
“I think it’s important for the community to understand what the community looked like. These are folks that made the community great,” said Chairman Bernie Zimmerman.
The Landmark Commission has designated more than 200 historic sites in Nevada County and in recent years has made a point to identify sites that represent the diversity of the gold rush – from Jewish miners at Hirschman Pond to Chinese railroad workers and Black families and churches.
In December, Nevada County Board of Supervisors approved the Carter landmark.
“It’s very exciting to unearth this history and give people a voice and recognition that may have been forgotten. African Americans are a vital part of our history, and their accomplishments should be duly noted. I’m grateful to the Historical Landmarks Commission for doing this important research and helping to illuminate all of our prominent citizens,” said District 1 Supervisor Heidi Hall.
Supervisor Hall served on the County’s Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Subcommittee in 2021 and has been a leader in this area. In January 2023, the Board of Supervisors added equity and inclusion to their value statements.
Black History Month or African-American History Month is an annual observance that originated in the United States as a way to remember important people and events in the history of the African diaspora.
A Black woman journalist in the West
The landmark designation is exciting to local historian and author Linda Jack, a board member of Nevada County Historical Society who is writing a book about Black history in Nevada County and hopes to publish this year, with a book on Jennie Carter to follow.
“It’s gratifying to bring them forward,” said Jack.
When she first moved to Grass Valley in 2012, Linda Jack wanted to learn more about the history of her new neighborhood. So, she looked up old census records and was surprised to learn that a thriving Black community once lived in the historic settlement of Boston Ravine on the outskirts of Grass Valley in the 1800s.
This led her on a decade-long journey to learn more about Nevada County’s early Black pioneers. As was common in Gold Rush communities, Nevada County’s Black population was transient, but Jack estimates 200-300 African American individuals lived in the county at any given time.
Jennie Carter’s name popped up repeatedly in her research.
Jennie Carter was an accomplished writer and journalist who served as a local correspondent for “The Elevator,” a San Francisco newspaper serving Black audiences in Northern California.
“She was quite rare. A Black woman journalist in the West,” said Jack.
Jennie Carter’s husband, Dennis Carter was an accomplished musician, music teacher and civil rights advocate. Hailing from Philadelphia, Carter performed in the internationally acclaimed Frank Johnson Band, known to have toured Europe and played before Queen Victoria. He performed with white musicians in San Francisco, was well connected to civil rights activists in Sacramento and San Francisco, belonged to several literary societies and even ran for constable (sheriff) in Nevada County.
“I believe they were the most accomplished Black couple in the community,” said Jack.
When Jennie Correll Carter was about 36 and Dennis Drummond Carter was about 52, the couple married in Nevada City in 1866. Dennis Carter may have known Jennie’s editor Philip Bell earlier, as they both came to California from Philadelphia.
From 1867 to 1873 the couple lived on Drummond Street in Nevada City. Dennis Carter had bought the property years earlier and Drummond Street is believed to have been named after his mother’s family. The professional couple later moved to what is now Grove Street.
“Dennis, like everyone else, came to prospect for gold… and like most people realized he couldn’t make a living mining,” said Jack.
Jennie Carter was known to have her nose in a book all the time. She was from New York state and had previously been married to a white itinerant preacher with whom she had three children. Little is known about their separation or if Carter had contact with her children after the divorce.
“It would appear that he was an abolitionist,” said Jack.
For the past decade, Jack has searched old newspaper articles along with birth and death records looking for information about the Carters. She is painstakingly comparing Carter’s published essays with what little supporting facts and documents she can find. No correspondence letters or photos of the couple are known to exist.
“It’s very time consuming but interesting. I wish they had the Internet in the 1860s,” Jack said.
Jennie Carter’s monthly columns and essays for Black educated audiences in San Francisco are loaded with self-deprecating humor and sometimes allude to deeper domestic issues of the time, such as temperance and colorism. Glimpses of daily life and interactions with the folks living in Nevada City can be found in her writing.
“One of the things I love about her is that she was really funny,” said Linda. “For me, what is so interesting, you can see Nevada City through her eyes,” said Jack.
Later, Jennie Carter became ill and her writing ceased. She died of a heart condition at the estimated age of 51 at home in 1881 and is buried in the historic Pine Grove Cemetery with the words, “My Beloved Wife” etched on her tombstone. Dennis Carter died at the age of 80 in 1894 of an unknown cause and is likely buried in the adjacent unmarked grave.
Tracy Pepper, Executive Director of Color Me Human, first learned about Jennie Carter after living in Nevada County for a few years. She has visited her gravesite and had a chance to play her during a skit presentation of women who have made a difference in Nevada County.
“I was just amazed that there was a Black woman writer in Nevada County, a self-realized black woman, who was respected in this small community. It was inspiring and means so much to me that there was a local, visible and accomplished person of color – a woman – and that we are still talking about her impact in Nevada County today.”
“She was a good troublemaker even back then. She wrote about life as a free black woman in Nevada County when Black voices were oftennot listened to.”
The Carter Homesite plaque will be featured in the Landmark Commission’s interactive map and its guidebook, “Exploring Nevada County.”
Created in 1969, the purpose of the Historical Landmarks Commission is to promote the general welfare of Nevada County and its citizens through official recognition, recording, marking, preserving and promoting the historical resources of Nevada County. Ten volunteer members appointed by the Board of Supervisors (two from each district) hold monthly meetings open to the public at various sites throughout Nevada County.
Learn more about Color Me Human: https://www.colormehuman.org/
Learn more about the Historical Landmarks Commission:
https://www.nevadacountyca.gov/1061/Historical-Landmarks-Commission.
Explore an interactive map:
https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/c140a2e3c6bf4d979e4c554496522d88
Laura Petersen is a freelance writer living in Grass Valley. She can be reached at laurapetersenmedia@gmail.comv