| Notes |
- John Carson and Elizabeth Carson were married at Elkhorn in 1849. Both of them had migrated from Ireland, seeking the greater opportunities of the New World. John Carson was born in the town land of Crievagh, County Monaghan, in 1830, the son of John and Elizabeth Moffett Carson. He died at Oakdale in 1800. Elizabeth Carson was born in Lac Livery, also in County Monaghan, the daughter of John and Elizabeth Wilson Carson. She died at Oakdale June 23, 1889 of lockjaw.
John came to America in 1846 and settled on the land in Pilot Knob Township where Preston Carson now lives. Elizabeth came to New York in 1848, and after working there for some months, made the journey by the Erie Canal, the Great Lakes, the Ohio Canal to Cincinnati, and the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, to St. Louis; and from there by a three-day wagon trip to Oakdale.
John Carson had two brothers, Thomas (who did not marry) and Richard (who died an infant). He had four sisters, Eliza, who married John McClay; Nancy, who married David McClay; Jane, who married Samuel McCloy; and Isabella, who married John McCloy.
Elizabeth Carson had five brothers who lived to adulthood: Henry, William, John, Thomas, and Isaac; and four sisters, Ann Carson Carson, Jane Carson Montgomery, Mary Carson Smith, and Eleanor Carson McCloy. All of her family except Thomas migrated to Illinois, settling near Oakdale or in the vicinity of Staunton. At last her parents came, too, and spent their last years in America. Ella Carson died July 30, 1890 shortly after she came to U.S. In the next generation two of Thomas's daughters came, Jennie Carson McClay and Margaret Carson McFate.
John and Elizabeth Carson and their family were all active members in the Oakdale Reformed Presbyterian Church; two of their grandchildren became Reformed Presbyterian ministers, Rev. Charles T. Carson, son of William Henry -- (Elizabeth Ramsey Carson) and Rev. Melville K. Carson, son of David P. (Eleanor Kennedy Carson).
They had six children, two of whom died in infancy (Mary Carson, b. April 15, 1850, d. August 8, 1852; John Carson, b. March 15, 1851, d. December 17, 1853). The four surviving sons were:
William Henry Carson, who married Elizabeth Ramsey; he was a farmer near Oakdale. They had six sons; Edwin, Waldo, Charles, Willard, Roy, and Floyd.
John Moffett Carson, who married Lillie Hood; he was a merchant in Nashville. Their daughter, Ruth, married Myrl Lumbattis.
Robert Sloan Carson, who married first Ella Donnelly (they had a son, Warren) and second Lena Speer (their daughter Ella married Frank Harrison).
David Preston Carson, who married Eleanor Kennedy. They had five children: Melville, Katie, Elwyn, Elizabeth and Fern.
By David Carson
From 1979 WASHINGTON COUNTY ILLINOIS HISTORY
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1830 - 1900 (70 years)