Frances Jane Rainwater Tarter

Frances Jane Rainwater was born on 8 February 1857, during a brief period of the nineteenth century in which Pulaski County recorded the births of its citizens. She was the daughter of Miles Rainwater and Frances Chaney, granddaughter of William Rainwater and Martha "Patsy" Hodges. She was a middle child, one of seven sons and four daughters born Miles and Frances.

On 24 January 1878, Frances married James Willis Tarter. The couple made their home in Pulaski Co., KY and the 1880 census records the presence of one child in their home, a son named Erasmus M. Tarter. Two sons were born after 1880, Christopher Columbus Tarter and John Virgil Tarter.

In 1884, Miles Rainwater died, leaving to his daughter Frances a tract of land described as the "Thornton Bernard farm". A year later, Frances Rainwater Tarter died and was buried in one of the private family cemeteries. Her grave is apparently unmarked.

After his wife's death, James W. Tarter, his parents and his three children, departed Kentucky for Texas and later, Oklahoma and California.

This photograph was taken ca 1883, and was probably enhanced with pencil or charcoal, in the style of the day.

Photo owned by Roy Tarter. Scan contributed by Delene Dee Robinson. Additional information provided by Kimberly Bastian