Rev. Joshua⁵ Carman (Caleb⁴, Joshua³, Caleb², John¹) was born 28 February 1759 in Cecil County, Maryland; died 1 December 1844 in Cleo, Greene County, Ohio; and is buried in the Old Baptist Cemetery, Bellbrook, Greene County, Ohio.  He married in 1778 at Fort Pitt (known today as Pittsburgh), Pennsylvania to Sarah Bruce, born 1 June 1762 in Frederick County, Virginia; died 25 October 1839 in Cleo, Greene County, Ohio; daughter of James and Margaret (McMahon) Bruce, Mr. Bruce having been born in Scotland in 1720.

"Caleb... had but one son Joshua, born 2 yrs only before his fathers death in 1761. Joshua, it is true, also lived awhile in Va., and then settled in Ky (Nelson Co. on Cox Creek). Had there 10 children. With his wife and the 9 living children - then he removed in 1801, to the vicinity of Waynesville, Warren Co., Ohio where John and William (my father) were born and still live, the 10 of Ky birth all being dead... My grandfather died in '44, nearly 86 years old. He had been for a great many years a well known and influential Baptist Minister, though he was always a farmer also, and a prosperous one. I was 15 when he died He married Sarah Brice at Fort Pitt (Pittsburgh) Pa. when I think he was not yet of age, and by her had 12 children, of whom my father was the youngest..." Respectfully, I.N. Carman" - Letter in the 'Carman file', collection of the NYGBS Library, New York City

Joshua Carman is mentioned by Col. R. T. Durrett in the sketch of "Ancient Louisville," which was first published in the Louisville Courier-Journal on the opening of the Southern Exposition, in 1883, as one of the early preachers at the Falls of the Ohio. In the year 1787, Mr. Carman became pastor of the Severns Valley (Elizabethtown) Baptist Church, to which he preached for only a short time. Concerning his work after that pastorate, the following is quoted from Spencer's "History of Kentucky Baptists"--"Rolling Fork Church was located in the southern part of Nelson County. It was constituted in 1788, and united with the Salem Association the same year. * * * It was probably gathered by Joshua Carman, an enthusiastic Emancipationist. This church sent with its letter to the Association (in October, 1789), the year after it obtained admission into that body, the following query: 'Is it lawful in the sight of God for a member of Christ's Church to keep his fellow-creatures in perpetual slavery?' (Answer) 'The Association judge it improper to enter into so important and critical a matter at present.' This answer was unsatisfactory. The church continued to agitate the subject of slavery, till, in 1796, it withdrew from the Association." Again, Mr. Spencer says of Joshua Carman: "He was among the early settlers of Nelson County, Kentucky. For a number of years he was an active minister in the bounds of Salem Association and was several times appointed to preach the introductory sermon before that body. He was regarded as a man of good ability, and was much beloved by the brethren. But, becoming fanatical on the subject of slavery, he induced Rolling Fork Church to withdraw from the Association, in 1796, and declare non-fellowship with all slave-holders." In connection with Josiah Dodge he organized an Emancipation Church, about six miles northwest of Bardstown, supposed to have been the first organization of this kind in Kentucky. "Mr. Carman, finding himself unable to bring any considerable number of Baptists to his views, moved to Eastern Ohio, where, it is said, he raised up a respectable church and preached to it till the Lord took him away."-- (Spencer).

Southern Nelson County, Kentucky is bordered by LaRue County and the home of Joshua's cousin Carmans who married in with the LaRue family.  Among the other residents in the area was a young Abraham Lincoln who was born and raised in this area (Lincoln's midwife's first husband was son of Isaac and Phebe (Carman) LaRue and young Abraham probably had occasion to hear Rev. Joshua's thoughts on slavery in Sunday sermon.

 "Amos Wilson, up to 1801, was living upon a pre-empted right about three miles northwest of where Waynesville now is. This pre-emption right he exchanged with the Rev. Joshua Carman (we find this name also spelled Carmen), well known to many of our citizens, for 100 acres of land in the eastern quarter of the county. Mr. Carman was, at the time of the exchange, living in the State of Kentucky, near Louisville, and had come into the Miami county on an exploring expedition. Having secured Mr. Wilson's claim, he returned to Kentucky for his family, and, in the fall of the same year, brought them out to the Waynesville neighborhood. On his arrival, Mr. Wilson vacated the house on the pre-emption, and Mr. Carman entered into possession. Whether Mr. Wilson at once came up to settle on the land he had acquired, or not until the following spring, has not been ascertained with certainty." - p. 255, History of Clinton County

Children of Joshua and Sarah (Bruce) Carman:

10/07/2006