Rebecca Dawson was born around 1845 in Pennsylvania to William Dawson and Sarah Hawthorne. Her father was a coal miner who owned $300 of real estate and $200 of personal property by 1860. She grew up and attended school in Jefferson, Pennsylvania. She married George W. Carter around 1866, and they had at least three children: Agnes, born around 1867; Helen, born around 1869; and Harry, born around 1872.

 

They lived in Millsboro, Pennsylvania, and her husband worked as a laborer. By 1870, they owned $100 of personal property. They moved to East Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in the 1870s. She and her husband may possibly have separated in the late 1800s. By 1900, he was living with his elderly father in East Bethlehem, while she was living with their son Harry in West Bethlehem. They got divorced by 1910, and she eventually settled in Luzerne, Pennsylvania. She died there on November 2, 1915. According to her death certificate, she was “found dead” and given “no medical attention,” but she probably died of apoplexy.

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