Born in Virginia 128 Years Ago Today, the Woman Who Led a Trailblazing Country Music Trio Despite Never Learning To Read Music

Rightfully considered the “First Family of Country Music”, the Carter Family essentially wrote the roadmap for the genre. Consisting of husband-and-wife duo Sara and A.P. Carter—along with Sara’s cousin Maybelle—they brought the traditional music they’d grown up with out of the Appalachian Mountains and into the mainstream. With Sara Carter on lead vocals and autoharp, the trio would remain at the forefront of country music for decades. Today we’re honoring the Carter Family’s fearless leader, born in Copper Creek, Virginia, on this day (July 21) in 1898.

Sara Carter, Country Music’s Unsung Hero

Born Sara Elizabeth Dougherty, she purchased her first autoharp from a Sears catalog with money she made selling greeting cards.

Sara also learned to accompany herself on guitar and banjo, but it was reportedly her deep, resonant singing style that captured the heart of Alvin Pleasant Delaney Carter.

The story goes that A.P.—then a fruit salesman from the other side of Clinch Mountain—heard Sara singing the folk ballad “Engine One-Forty-Three” on her front porch.

From there, he began pursuing her romantically. Although she initially claimed not to reciprocate his feelings, the couple married a month before Sara’s 17th birthday, on June 15, 1915. They had three children—Gladys, Janette and Joe—and promptly began performing as a duo at local parties and social gatherings.

Together, they joined forces with Maybelle Addington Carter—Sara’s cousin, who also happened to marry A.P.’s brother, Ezra—and formed the Carter Family.

Their life and career trajectory changed forever on July 31, 1927. On that day, the trio made the 26-mile drive from Maces Springs, Virginia to Bristol, Tennessee, where they had an audition the following day with Ralph Peer, the traveling talent scout for Victor Records.

Over the next two days, the Carter Family recorded a total of six songs, including “Single Girl, Married Girl,” “The Wandering Boy,” and “Bury Me Under the Weeping Willow.”

Notably, Peer himself would say it was Sara Carter who truly sold him on the group’s potential.

“As soon as I heard Sara’s voice, that was it,” he said. “I knew it was going to be wonderful.”

Country Music’s Founding Family

Over the next eight years, the Carter Family recorded more than 300 songs for RCA Victor, the American Record Corporation, and Decca.

Maybelle and Sara Carter assumed most of the singing and playing responsibilities, while A.P. focused mainly on finding and arranging songs and booking performances. Sara also wrote or co-wrote multiple songs, such as “My Foothills Home”, “The Dying Soldier”, “Lonesome Pine Special”, “Farther On”, and “Railroading on the Great Divide”.

Although Sara and A.P. would eventually divorce in 1939, they continued recording and performing together until the Carter Family disbanded in 1943.

Sara remarried A.P.’s first cousin, Coy Bayes, and moved to California. In 1952, she briefly reunited professionally with her former husband. Then, in 1966, Sara and Maybelle once again teamed up for the album An Historic Reunion.

[RELATED: Happy Birthday, Sara Carter: From Flatwoods to Fame, Her 126-Year Legacy]

On January 8, 1979, Sara Carter died in Lodi, California, at age 80.

Featured image by Robert Alexander/Archive Photos/Getty Images