Biography - J. S. Carr
COL. J. S. CARR was born in St. Charles county, Missouri, October 6th, 1832.
He is the eldest of four children of John H. and Elizabeth M. A. Carr, whose
lineal descent is traced back to England. John H. Carr, was a captain in the
war of 1812, and was a grandson of General Carr, of Virginia. Mrs. Carr's
maiden name was Sumner, and her father, Joseph Sumner, was a
lieutenant-colonel of a Tennessee regiment during the war of 1812. John H.
Carr was largely engaged in the overland trade with New Mexico, being one of
the first pioneers in that trade. He was murdered and robbed, supposed to
have been committed by a Mexican, at the City Hall, St. Louis. At one time
previous, in company with several other traders, he was robbed of forty
thousand dollars in specie by the Comanche Indians, on the confines of the
Desert. The robbed party suffered extreme hardships, being forced to subsist
for twenty-one days on about two ounces of crackers.
The subject of this sketch received his collegiate education at the old
college in St. Charles, Missouri, and, after completing his studies, he made
a trip to California, where, trouble arising with the Indians, he enlisted,
and was made first lieutenant of company F of the first battalion of
California volunteers. A few months after the war was over, he engaged in
mercantile business, which he continued about two years. He then returned
home, and on the 10th of May, 1859, was married to Miss Georgie Anna Logan,
daughter of James and Elizabeth P. Logan. They have had a family of seven
children, of whom five are yet living. In 1860 Mr. Carr was admitted to the
bar of Anderson county, Missouri, and in 1869 was admitted by the Supreme
Court of Illinois.
Colonel Carr being a member of the Missouri state guards on the breaking out
of the war, he received orders, on the 12th of May, 1861, to report to
General Price. He reported at the General's headquarters, near Lexington,
about five days before the battle at that place, in which he took part, and
was one of the officers appointed to receive the surrender of arms. He
participated in many of the battles fought in the west, and at Vicksburg he
personally tendered his resignation to Jeff. Davis, which was accepted.
Mr. Carr came to Greene county, Illinois, in 1864, and is now residing at
Kane, where he is engaged in the practice of his profession.
Extracted 07 Sep 2018 by Norma Hass from Atlas Map of Greene County Illinois, 1873, pages 51, 54.
