Los
Angeles County
Biographies
JAMES STANLEY CARTER
Long identified with journalistic
work, James Stanley Carter figures prominently in newspaper circles of southern
California as the editor of the Indio News.
He was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, December 28, 1873, a son of James
Maurice Carter, who was born in Maryland, as were his forbears for
generations. A lawyer of high standing,
the father practiced in Salt Lake City for a number of years in partnership
with John Marshall and was local attorney for the Southern Pacific System. Before his removal to Utah he lived in
California and was county clerk of Napa County.
During the Civil War he served in the Union Army. He was a vestryman of the Episcopal Church
and a conscientious follower of its teachings.
He died before the birth of his son, James Stanley, whose mother,
Florence (Barnes) Carter, was a native of Pennsylvania. James Maurice Carter was twice married and
had three sons.
James S. Carter attended the grammar
and high schools of Cincinnati and completed his education in the University of
Cincinnati, which conferred upon him the degree of LL. B. in 1893. While a student there he became a member of
the Phi Delta Phi fraternity. He was
admitted to the bar in Ohio and also in the state of New York but practiced law
for only a short time. Entering the
field of journalism in Atlanta, Georgia, as a reporter, Mr. Carter soon
qualified for editorial work, and was with the Cincinnati Enquirer for two
years. He made his initial venture as a
publisher at Barstow, Texas, where he purchased a small paper, and conducted it
successfully for five years. Going to
New Mexico, he was editor of the Roswell Register-Tribune for a time and
following his return to the east he was with the Boston Post and the Christian
Science Monitor for seven years. On the
expiration of that period he went to St. Louis, Missouri, where he was
associated with the Post-Dispatch and the Star.
He then came to California and for nearly ten years was a member of the
editorial staff of the Los Angeles Times.
Believing that a change of climate would benefit his health, Mr. Carter
removed to Indio in 1928 as editor of the Indio News, which had been founded in
1926. Under his control the paper has
prospered, growing steadily in power and usefulness. A weekly publication, it appears each Friday
and has a large circulation in the Coachella Valley, “the home of dates and
grapefruit.” The paper contains the
local news of Mecca, Palm Springs, Coachella, Edom, Indio, Thermal, West Side-Oasis and is an effective exponent of the
interests of these localities. Mr.
Carter was the editor and publisher of the Indio News and Thelma H. Goodspeed is now editor, while Ralph F. Goodspeed
occupies the position of business manager.
In 1902 Mr. Carter was married in
Westport, New York, to Elizabeth Dora Clark, a daughter of Zemus
W. Clark, and two sons and two daughters were born to them. The oldest, Dr. James M. Carter, chemist and
physicist of Buffalo, New York, married Marcella Oglesby, by whom he has two
children, James Stanley (II) and Mary Elizabeth, twins. Mary Josephine, who completed a course at the
University of California in 1930 and is also a graduate of the Library School
at Los Angeles, resides in that city.
Elizabeth, now Mrs. Edward H. Green, is living in Reno, Nevada. Stanley Hatch, identified with the Dollar
Line of steamships, has made several trips around the world.
Mr. Carter adheres to the religious
belief of the family, regularly attending services at the Episcopal Church, and
was president of the Exchange Club of Indio and secretary of the Coachella
Valley Chamber of Commerce. He is of the
progressive type, both as a journalist and as a citizen, and through the columns
of his paper encourages every movement looking toward the prosperity of this
part of the state.
Transcribed by
V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: California of the South
Vol. IV, by John Steven McGroarty, Pages 53-55, Clarke Publ.,
Chicago, Los Angeles, Indianapolis. 1933.
© 2012 V. Gerald Iaquinta.
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