Edwin Everett "Ed" Carson 1872-1972

CARSON, ROVN, IBACH, BRIGHTEN, MURPHY, QUASTAD, JOHANSEN

Posted By: Merllene Andre Bendixen (email)
Date: 9/14/2014 at 14:41:25

Ed Carson Celebrates 97th Birthday
Ed Carson has been associated with farming all his life. He was born on a farm in Howard County and raised on a farm in Hardin County. He farmed for 40 years at Armstrong.

Ed Carson was 97 years old June 29. He is an active, ambitious resident at the Balmer Nursing Home.

When asked what he contributed to his longevity he said didn’t know what tobacco or liquor tastes like, and he follows God’s commandments.

There were two boys and five girls in his family. One daughter lives at Armstrong and one son lives at Fairmont. The other members of his family live in Phoenix, Ariz., and Seattle, Wash.

Carson has numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He has great-grandchildren fighting in the Vietnam war just 100 years after his father fought in the Civil War.

Carson is from a family of 13 children but only 8 lived to adulthood. He said he has seen quite a change in his time. He said that people today have no idea of how little his generation had to get along with.

When asked what he remembers best about his farm he said, “The farm is like a dream.”

Carson is a Quaker and can quote flawlessly from the scriptures of Paul. His Bible is so worn it has to be held together with a shoestring.

Carson’s father was a first cousin to Kit Carson, the Indian scout of the pioneer days. He said he had the privilege of talking to one of Kit Carson’s scouts. Herbert Hoover’s grandfather was a neighbor and friend of the Carson family.

Although Ed Carson had no formal schooling, his children had a high school education.

Carson said he has never in his life seen so many storms in such a short time as this spring.

He has lived at Balmer’s for only three years. Previous to that time he had lived by himself on a farm.

He said that his mind grows brighter in spirit every day. (Estherville Daily News, Estherville, IA, July 7, 1969)

E.E. Carson Rites Tueday
Edwin Everett Carson, 99, Armstrong, died Wednesday, Jan. 12, 1972, at Holy Family Hospital.

He was born June 29, 1872, at Cresco to Eli and Melissa Carson. He was educated in the Hubbard rural schools. He was married to Addie Mae Rovn Sept. 9, 1899, at Union.

They farmed in the Union area and he later operated a livery business at Union. In 1920 they moved to the Armstrong area where he farmed and operated a dairy for many years.

He had been a resident at the Balmer Nursing Home for the past five years.

He is survived by two sons, Wilford Carson of Fairmont and Wilmar Carson of Albuquerque, N.M.; five sisters [daughters], Mrs. Aleta Ibach, Chandler, Ariz.; Mrs. Elola Brighten and Mrs. Ivadell Murphy, Mesa, Ariz.; Mrs. Adolph (Regina) Quastad, Armstrong, and Mrs. Maxine Johansen, Anchorage, Alaska; 18 grandchildren and one brother, Clate Carson, Whittier, Calif.

Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Tuesday at the Reese-Henry Funeral Chapel in Armstrong. The Rev. Robert Osborn of the Free Methodist Church of Armstrong will officiate. Burial will be in Armstrong Grove cemetery.

Friends may call at the Reese-Henry Funeral Home in Armstrong after 6 p.m. Sunday until time of service Tuesday. (Estherville Daily News, Estherville, IA, January 14, 1972)