Ambrose Carner Family
Ambrose Carner was born in Massachusetts on March 11, 1807, to Felix Karner (1764–1821) and Elizabeth Goldbery (1772–1855), who were descendants of Nicolaus and Magdalena Karner, who came to America during the Palatine emigration in 1790. The family moved to Delaware County, Ohio, where Ambrose grew up and married Rosalinda Wells on April 5, 1829. They had nine children: Hiram Wells (1829), James Madison (1832), Elizabeth (1833), and Jason (1835), all born in Ohio; and Richmond (1838), Mary (1841), Loretta (1844), Rosalinda (1847), and John Melvin (1852), also born in Ohio. Ambrose and Rosalinda moved several times throughout Ohio and Illinois.
When gold was discovered in California in 1848, the fever struck Ambrose, and he decided to leave his family to seek his fortune in California. However, it wasn’t long before he returned home. On May 15, 1860, after selling all his properties, Ambrose and Rosalinda, along with others, loaded into covered ox-drawn wagons and left Cox Creek, Iowa. Their nine children, their spouses, and grandchildren were all part of the group, along with possibly others.
After delays and slow travel, they reached Camp Floyd, Utah, a military post located 50 miles south of Salt Lake City. They were not allowed to proceed further, as the Ute Indians were hostile at the time. The family was assigned rations and quarters for the winter of 1860.
On April 29, 1861, after spending the winter at Camp Floyd, the family was allowed to continue on to California. On May 21, 1861, Charles Ambrose Carner, a longtime resident of Potter Valley, was born to Ambrose’s son Hiram and his wife Eliza Carner. The families continued across Nevada to the Carson River and crossed the Sierra Nevada Mountains, leading them to Meridian in Sutter County in 1861. In the spring of 1864, Ambrose, Rosalinda, their sons John Melvin, Hiram and his family, James Madison and his family, Elizabeth and her husband James Riley Ross, and Mary Carner Preston with her husband Leander came over the mountains from Upper Lake. After sighting Potter Valley, it took several days before they could get their wagons down into the valley. Other members of the family followed over the next few years.
On September 14, 1864, Ambrose purchased his first property from William Davis for $1,000. This marked the beginning of many properties he bought and sold during his 26 years in Potter Valley. The Carner family took an active role in building the grange in 1874.
Rosalinda Carner, Ambrose’s wife, died on September 22, 1878, and is buried in the Potter Valley Cemetery. As the years passed, some family members left the valley, moving to places such as Willits, Round Valley, and Southern California. Ambrose traveled to visit family numerous times, and in 1894 he moved in with his son Jason. Ambrose died in Orange County on December 25, 1895, and is buried at the Garden Grove Cemetery.
Hiram Wells Carner was born on April 29, 1829, in Ohio, the first son of Ambrose and Rosalinda Carner. When his parents settled in Iowa, Hiram met Eliza Jane Snow, and they were married on October 5, 1854. At the time, Eliza was 17 and Hiram was 25. Like the rest of his family, he worked as a farmer and had a particular fondness for raising potatoes.
Hiram and Eliza had seven children: Melvilla Mason (1855), James William (1856), John M. (1858), Rosalinda (1859), Charles Ambrose (1861), Loretta (1862), and George C. (1864).
While living in Iowa, Hiram owned 40 acres of unimproved land, six acres planted with corn, a quarter acre in potatoes, and four head of cattle. In 1860, he moved to California with his parents and siblings.
In 1864, Hiram settled in Potter Valley with his father and other family members. At one point, he traveled to Point Arena with a friend, enjoyed the area, and eventually moved his family there. Tragically, his wife Eliza died on July 16, 1866, leaving him with seven young children. The family returned to Potter Valley in late November of 1866, and the children lived with other relatives until Hiram could provide a home for them.
In 1868, Hiram purchased a press and vat for making sorghum cane syrup. Many farmers in the upper valley grew their own cane and brought it to Hiram’s press, producing enough syrup to last a family several years. He later sold the press to Charles Rader.
By the winter of 1869, Hiram was able to establish a household and reunite his children. He married Elizabeth Phillips on February 21, 1871. Elizabeth’s sister, Martha Ann, was married to Hiram’s brother Jason. Hiram and Elizabeth had three children: Elmer Hiram (1872), Melvin Edwin (1874), and Thelma (1876). Shortly after Elmer’s birth, the family moved to Santa Maria, where Melvin and Thelma were born. In the late 1870s, Hiram moved the family back to Potter Valley. He had a tendency to try living in different places.
In 1879, Hiram contracted galloping tuberculosis and died on April 17, just shy of his 50th birthday. After his death, Elizabeth moved in with her parents and later married John Gibson. They lived near Yuba City for over 20 years. Elizabeth passed away sometime between 1904 and 1910 and is buried in an unmarked grave. Hiram is buried in Potter Valley Cemetery.
Charles Ambrose Carner was the fifth child of Hiram and Eliza Carner and spent most of his life in Mendocino County, primarily in Potter Valley. He was a farmer who grew watermelons for seeds, developed his own variety of melon, and even designed a watermelon threshing machine. Charles was married twice. His first marriage was to Minnie I. Brown, with whom he had one son, Chester T. (born 1889), before they divorced. On May 25, 1896, he married Mary (May) Adas, and together they adopted a daughter, Dorothy.
Charles was the family historian and a member of the Covered Wagon Babies. He also organized and led the Potter Valley Pioneers Association and was responsible for all the pioneer reunions in Potter Valley during the 1920s and early 1930s. Charles passed away from cancer on February 27, 1936. Mary died on May 30, 1953. Both are buried in Potter Valley Cemetery alongside his first wife, Minnie Brown Carner.
James Madison Carner was the third child of Ambrose and Rosalinda Carner. He married Mary Rogers on December 1, 1853. The couple had three daughters who died in infancy before their move to California and were expecting again before their departure. Their daughter Agnes was born while the family was at Camp Floyd, Utah.
James eventually settled in Potter Valley with his father Ambrose and other family members. He had four more children: Eugenia (1862), Josephine (1866), James (1868), and Rosalinda (1870). In 1888, he moved to Covelo. After Mary died in 1890, James married a widow, Addie Moore, and lived in Covelo until his death in 1894.
Family Burials in Potter Valley Cemetery
From the family of Ambrose and Rosalinda, Rosalinda, two children, one daughter-in-law, four grandchildren, two grandchildren’s spouses, one great-granddaughter, Ambrose’s brother Lewis, a niece by marriage (who was married to Ambrose’s nephew Stanford), and a great-nephew are all buried at Potter Valley Cemetery.