Carson, George (1841-1919)

CARSON

Posted By: Transcriber
Date: 2/2/2003 at 17:06:11

George Carson
Feb 5, 1841 - Feb 18, 1919

George Carson was born in Jennings County, Indiana, February 5, 1841, and died at Council Bluffs, Iowa, February 18, 1919. In his youth he attended public school and an academy. He enlisted as a private in the Union Army in
1861 and was discharged in 1865 as a first lieutenant. After the war he attended Hartsville University for a time and the law department of the Michigan State University, graduating from the latter in 1868. In 1869 he removed to Council Bluffs and the following year formed a law partnership with S. Smith, the firm being Smith & Carson. In 1879 it became Smith, Carson & Harl. In 1877 he was elected representative, and re-elected two years later, serving in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth General Assemblies.
In 1883 he was elected senator and served in the Twentieth and Twenty-first General Assemblies. In 1886 he was elected one of the judges of the
Fifteenth Judicial District and served four years. In 1896 he was elected mayor of Council Bluffs. His services in all these public stations were marked by a high sense of duty.

(From the 1891 Biographical History of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, p.475)
JUDGE GEORGE CARSON has been identified with the interests of Pottawattamie County since February 1869. His paternal ancestors were from Ireland, and his maternal from England. The great-great-grandfather, Robert CARSON, came from that country when about sixteen years of age, about 1740. He settled in a dense wilderness in Chester County, Pennsylvania, and cleared a farm and made a home, which was retained by his descendants for several generations. His son, David CARSON, was a farmer in Chester County, Pennsylvania, and during the Revolutionary War took an active part in establishing liberty in America, cultivating his farm in summers and with his team served with the army during falls and winters, and saw General Washington often at Valley Forge. His son, Hiram, the grandfather of our subject, and David the father, who were born and reared on the old CARSON homestead in Chester County, Pennsylvania, remained there until about the year 1838, when they came west and settled in Indiana. The paternal grandmother was of Welsh and German parentage. The mother of our subject was Hannah BENNETT; her parents were natives of Derbyshire, England, and emigrated to America after their marriage in 1817 and settled on the new purchase in what is now Jennings County, Indiana, where they cleared and improved a farm, and where Mrs. CARSON was born and reared. As above stated, the CARSON family settled on the adjoining farm in 1838, and on August 8, 1839, David CARSON and Hannah BENNETT were married, and settled on a farm in Jennings County, Indiana, and were the parents of nine children; seven lived to be grown and six still survive, of whom our subject was the eldest. Mrs. CARSON died March 17, 1871, at the age of forty-nine years, and Mr. CARSON is now a resident of Bartholomew County, Indiana.

Our subject was born in Jennings County, Indiana, February 5, 1841, and was reared on the farm, attended the public schools and an academy. In April 1861, he enlisted in the state militia and October 8, following, he enlisted in Company K, 12th Indiana Volunteer Infantry and served in General Banks' command on the upper Potomac near Sharpsburg, Maryland, until February 1862; was in two engagements during that period and was at the attack on Jackson at Winchester, March 1862. Shortly after the occupation of Winchester, his brigade was ordered to Warrenton Junction, Virginia, and remained there until the following May, when his term of service expired and he was mustered out of the service at Washington, May 20, 1862, as a Corporal. He returned home and remained until August 10, 1862, when he again enlisted in Company I, 68th Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and was made First Sergeant at the organization of the company, and was mustered into the service at Indianapolis August 19 and started south the same day; and in Kentucky was attached to General Dumont's command. In April 1863, the regiment was assigned to the Second Brigade of the Fourth Division of the Fourteenth Army Corps, or the Army of the Cumberland. He participated in the battle of Hoover's Gap, Chickamauga on September 19 and 20, 1863, after which the regiment was transferred to the First Brigade, Third Division of the Fourth Army Corps. Was at the battle of Chattanooga, November 23, 24, and 26, 1863, and was severly wounded at the storming of Mission Ridge on November 25. He continued on duty and was in a forced march to Knoxville, to raise the siege on Burnside, and was engaged in the campaign in East Tennessee, until April 1864. April 3, 1863, he was promoted as Second Lieutenant, and July 1, 1864, First Lieutenant, in which capacity he remained until the close of the war, and was honorably discharged at Indianapolis July 6, 1865.

After the war, he attended the Hartsville University for a time, and January 1, 1866, he began reading law under the preceptorship of Colonel J. S. Scoby of Greensburg, Indiana. He attended the Law Department of the University of Michigan, where he graduated in 1868, and the following year came to Council Bluffs and began the practice of his profession, which he followed successfully until he was elected, on the Republican ticket, as a Representative from Pottawattamie County in 1877 and re-elected in 1879. He was elected to the State Senate in 1883, for a term of four years. In 1886 he was elected Judge of the Fifteenth District for a term of four years and has served the full term.

Judge CARSON was married October 5, 1871, to Miss Rachel L. BOYCE of Ypsilanti, Michigan, a daughter of John and Priscilla (VINNING) BOYCE; her father is of Irish and her mother of English descent. By this union, there were seven children, six of whom still survive: Hannah L., Rachel B., George D., Grace S., Janette R., and Hiram J. Mary P. died when six months old. Judge CARSON is a member of the F.&A.M. Excelsior Lodge No. 259, and Union Veteran Legion Encampment No. 8. Mrs. CARSON is a member of the Presbyterian Church. Politically, he affiliates with the Republican Party.