Carver

Carver, George Washington, 1864?-1943, American agricultural chemist, b. Diamond, Mo., grad. Iowa State College (now Iowa State Univ.; B.S., 1894; M.A. 1896). Born a slave, he later, as a free man, earned his college degree. In 1896 he joined the staff of Tuskegee Institute as director of the department of agricultural research, retaining that post the rest of his life. His work won him international repute. Carver's efforts to improve the economy of the South (he dedicated himself especially to bettering the position of African Americans) included the teaching of soil improvement and of diversification of crops. He discovered hundreds of uses for the peanut, the sweet potato, and the soybean and thus stimulated the culture of these crops. He devised many products from cotton waste and extracted blue, purple, and red pigments from local clay. From 1935 he was a collaborator of the Bureau of Plant Industry. Carver contributed his life savings to a foundation for research at Tuskegee. In 1953 his birthplace was made a national monument.

Carver, John, c.1576-1621, first governor of Plymouth Colony. A wealthy London merchant, in 1609 he emigrated to Holland, where he soon joined the Pilgrims at Leiden. His excellent character and his fortune, of which he gave liberally to the congregation, served to make him a leader. Carver, the chief figure in arranging for the Pilgrim migration to America, secured the backing of merchant friends in London, enlisted a number of capable settlers who came directly from England, and hired and provisioned the Mayflower for the journey. After the signing of the Mayflower Compact he was elected (1620) governor for one year and was probably responsible for the choice of the site at Plymouth. On his death, William Bradford succeeded him.

Carver, Jonathan, 1710-80, American explorer, b. Weymouth, Mass. He served in the French and Indian War and in 1766 was hired by Robert Rogers to undertake a journey to some of the Western tribes. He journeyed to the Mississippi and up that river to a point several days' journey above the present site of Minneapolis. In the spring of 1767 he returned to Prairie du Chien, in what is now Wisconsin, where by Rogers's orders he joined the expedition to search out the "Western Ocean." When their journey northwestward was prevented by war between the Sioux and Chippewa, they ascended the Chippewa River and crossed to Lake Superior, the coast of which they followed to Grand Portage. Carver went to London in 1769 with the intention of publishing a narrative of his travels and of pressing claims for compensation for his services, for Rogers, having exceeded his authority in employing Carver, could not pay him. After nine years of struggle and poverty, Carver published the first edition of his Travels through the Interior Parts of North America in the Years 1766, 1767, and 1768 (1778). The popularity of this book, the first English account of the upper Great Lakes and Mississippi region, is attested by the 32 editions, or more, through which it passed.

Carver, Raymond, 1938-88, American short-story writer, b. Clatskanie, Oreg. He was raised in the Pacific Northwest, where he often set his sparely written tales of everyday blue-collar life. His personal struggles with poverty and alcoholism (he stopped drinking in 1977) also colored his work. Carver's stark, minimal narrative style, pared-down language, and episodic plot lines are particularly effective in capturing the gritty reality of his characters. Captured, too, is the ordinary yet often revelatory nature of his characters' experiences and the range of their emotions, which often include guilt, grief, hopelessness, and the effects of fading love. Nonetheless, his stories are frequently tinged with a biting humor. His story collections include Will You Please Be Quiet, Please? (1976), What We Talk about When We Talk about Love (1981), Cathedral (1983), Where I'm Calling From (1988), and the posthumously published Call If You Need Me (2001). Some of Carver's stories were heavily edited by his editor and the changes that were made have been controversial, with some preferring the tighter prose and sometimes changed story lines of the edited versions and some favoring the denser and more expansive original texts. The varying versions can be found in Raymond Carver: Collected Stories (2009). Carver also wrote poetry, which was collected in such volumes as Where Water Comes Together with Other Water (1985) and In a Marine Light (1988).

(born April 13, 1710, Weymouth, Mass.—died Jan. 31, 1780, London, Eng.) American explorer. He served in the French and Indian War. In 1766 he was sent by Maj. Robert Rogers to explore an area west of northern Michigan. He traveled through the Great Lakes and up the Mississippi River, wintering in a Sioux village. Though his travel journal (published 1778) was a huge success, he died penniless.

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(born 1861?, near Diamond Grove, Mo., U.S.—died Jan. 5, 1943, Tuskegee, Ala.) U.S. agricultural chemist and agronomist. Born a slave, Carver lived until age 10 or 12 on his former owner's plantation, then left and worked at a variety of menial jobs. He did not obtain a high school education until his late twenties; he then obtained bachelor's and master's degrees from Iowa State Agricultural College. In 1896 he joined Booker T. Washington at the Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University) in Alabama, where he became director of agricultural research. He was soon promoting the planting of peanuts and soybeans, legumes that he knew would help restore the fertility of soil depleted by cotton cropping. To make them profitable, he worked intensively with the sweet potato and the peanut (then not even recognized as a crop), ultimately developing 118 derivative products from sweet potatoes and 300 from peanuts. His efforts helped liberate the South from its untenable cotton dependency; by 1940 the peanut was the South's second largest cash crop. During World War II he devised 500 dyes to replace those no longer available from Europe. Despite international acclaim and extraordinary job offers, he remained at Tuskegee throughout his life, donating his life's savings in 1940 to establish the Carver Research Foundation at Tuskegee.

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(born April 13, 1710, Weymouth, Mass.—died Jan. 31, 1780, London, Eng.) American explorer. He served in the French and Indian War. In 1766 he was sent by Maj. Robert Rogers to explore an area west of northern Michigan. He traveled through the Great Lakes and up the Mississippi River, wintering in a Sioux village. Though his travel journal (published 1778) was a huge success, he died penniless.

Learn more about Carver, Jonathan with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born 1861?, near Diamond Grove, Mo., U.S.—died Jan. 5, 1943, Tuskegee, Ala.) U.S. agricultural chemist and agronomist. Born a slave, Carver lived until age 10 or 12 on his former owner's plantation, then left and worked at a variety of menial jobs. He did not obtain a high school education until his late twenties; he then obtained bachelor's and master's degrees from Iowa State Agricultural College. In 1896 he joined Booker T. Washington at the Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University) in Alabama, where he became director of agricultural research. He was soon promoting the planting of peanuts and soybeans, legumes that he knew would help restore the fertility of soil depleted by cotton cropping. To make them profitable, he worked intensively with the sweet potato and the peanut (then not even recognized as a crop), ultimately developing 118 derivative products from sweet potatoes and 300 from peanuts. His efforts helped liberate the South from its untenable cotton dependency; by 1940 the peanut was the South's second largest cash crop. During World War II he devised 500 dyes to replace those no longer available from Europe. Despite international acclaim and extraordinary job offers, he remained at Tuskegee throughout his life, donating his life's savings in 1940 to establish the Carver Research Foundation at Tuskegee.

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Carver is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 11,163 at the 2000 census.

History

Carver was incorporated as a town in 1790. Early industry revolved around sawmills (due to the many water sources and abundant woodlands), and grew to include iron foundries and cranberry agriculture. Money from the iron helped the community to grow, as evidenced by several mansions still in existence in the town. Also located in Carver is Savery's Avenue, the first divided highway in America, which was opened to the public in 1861 by William Savery. The trees between the roads and on the outside of them were to be left for "shade and ornament for man and beast". Both road beds were Macadamized in 1907. A portion of the expense was advanced by the daughters of the builder, Mrs. Mary P.S. Jowitt and Ms. H.D. Savery. By the 1940s the cranberry harvest was the largest in the world, and today it is still a major business in town. Because of the land taken for the bogs, however, growth is limited, giving the town a rural flavor it takes pride in.

Carver also has two notable tourist attractions. Edaville Railroad is a narrow-gauge railroad attraction which opened in 1949. It has long been a family tourist attraction in Southeastern Massachusetts, especially for its festival of lights around Christmastime. It has experienced a revival in recent years, after being sold in 1991 and nearly closing. The town is also the site of King Richard's Renaissance Faire, a re-creation of a 16th century English fair which is open on weekends throughout September and October. It is one of Massachusetts' largest Renaissance fairs.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 39.8 square miles (103.1 km²), of which, 37.5 square miles (97.3 km²) of it is land and 2.3 square miles (5.9 km²) of it (5.68%) is water. It is locally famous for the large number of cranberry bogs throughout the town. Carver is bordered by Plympton to the north, Kingston to the northeast, Plymouth to the east, Wareham to the south, and Middleborough to the west. Carver is located approximately 45 miles south-southeast of Boston, and 38 miles east of Providence, Rhode Island.

Carver's geography is shaped by its many small brooks, rivers and ponds. The majority of them eventually drain in Buzzards Bay, although some (especially in the north of town) lead to Cape Cod Bay. The town also has an abundance of pine and cedar trees, and a portion of Myles Standish State Forest takes up much of the southeast corner of town. The town is also the site of a campground, a sportsmen's club, and a small town park at the center of town.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 11,163 people, 3,984 households, and 3,011 families residing in the town. The population density was 297.3 people per square mile (114.8/km²). There were 4,127 housing units at an average density of 109.9/sq mi (42.4/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 95.78% White, 1.22% African American, 0.10% Native American, 0.30% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.96% from other races, and 1.63% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.82% of the population.

There were 3,984 households out of which 36.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 63.3% were married couples living together, 8.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.4% were non-families. 19.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.80 and the average family size was 3.23.

In the town the population was spread out with 27.3% under the age of 18, 6.9% from 18 to 24, 28.3% from 25 to 44, 22.8% from 45 to 64, and 14.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 95.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.9 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $53,506, and the median income for a family was $61,738. Males had a median income of $46,414 versus $28,336 for females. The per capita income for the town was $20,398. About 4.6% of families and 5.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.1% of those under age 18 and 10.8% of those age 65 or over.

Government

Carver is represented in the Massachusetts House of Representatives as a part of the Second Plymouth district, which also includes Wareham and a portion of Bourne. The town is represented in the Massachusetts Senate as a part of the First Plymouth and Bristol district, which includes Berkley, Bridgewater, Dighton, Marion, Middleborough, Raynham, Taunton and Wareham. The town is patrolled by the Fourth (Middleborough) Barracks of Troop D of the Massachusetts State Police.

On the national level, Carver is a part of Massachusetts's 10th congressional district, and is currently represented by Bill Delahunt. The state's senior (Class I) member of the United States Senate, re-elected in 2006, is Ted Kennedy. The junior (Class II) Senator, up for re-election in 2008, is John Kerry.

Carver is governed by the open town meeting form of government, led by a town administrator and a board of selectmen. Carver has its own police, ALS ambulance and fire departments, with a central police station,central ambulance station and three on-call firehouses, located in the north, south and center of town. There are also three post offices, each with its own ZIP code. The town's public library is located in the center of town, and is a part of the SAILS Library Network.

Education

Carver operates its own school department, led by a school committee and a superintendent of schools. There are four schools, each of which serves specific grade levels. The Erwin K. Washburn Primary School serves pre-kindergarten through second grades; the Governor John Carver Elementary School serves third through fifth grades; the Carver Middle School serves sixth through eighth grades; and Carver High School covers ninth through twelfth grades. Carver's sports teams are nicknamed the Crusaders, and their colors are maroon (or, more accurately, cranberry) and grey. Their mascot wears a plastic suit of armor, donated by the organizers of King Richard's Faire. Carver's chief rival is Middleborough High, whom they play in the annual Thanksgiving Day football game.

In addition to public school, students may also choose to attend Old Colony Regional Vocational Technical High School in Rochester. There are no private schools in the town; the nearest are in Lakeville and Taunton.

Transportation

The town is crossed in the north of town by U.S. Route 44, a two-lane divided highway. The highway was recently expanded, so that rather than the highway portion ending at Route 58 (the other main route through town) and heading east after being concurrent for a half-mile, the highway portion now extends to Route 3 in neighboring Plymouth. Route 58 terminates just one mile south of town on the Wareham-Rochester line, just after it accesses Route 495. There is no rail service in town; the MBTA's commuter rail service has two termini nearby, in Middleborough and in Plymouth. Regional air service can be reached at Plymouth Municipal Airport, whose right-of-way extends into Carver south of South Meadow Road. The nearest national and international airport is Logan International Airport in Boston.

Notable residents

Gabriel St.James, Beerpong Champion, born in Carver

References

External links

Local newspapers: The Patriot Ledger and The Enterprise

• Town of Carver Website
• Carver Public Schools
• Carver Fire Department
• Edaville Railroad
• King Richard's Faire
• Pier 18 Seafood Express