Andrew Carson

Andrew Carson was the father of William Carson and the grandfather of Andrew Jackson Carson and the great grandfather of Mary E. Carson Wyant and the great great grandfather of Bessie Ethel Wyant, my grandmother.

He was born in 1788 in Lincoln County, North Carolina. He died in 1869 in Barry County, Missouri.

His parents were John Carson (1765-1839) and Jane Wilson (1767-1840).

He fought in the War of 1812 in the 6th Kentucky Volunteers, mainly following the Wabash River in Indiana Territory northward starting at Vincennes and fought the Shawnee, Winnebago and Kickapoo Tribes. See the book “Kentucky in the War of 1812”. He later used the Military Bounty Land Warrants he earned by this service to purchase land in Missouri. He enlisted September 1, 1812 and was discharged December 23, 1812 in Henderson, Kentucky.

He married Elizabeth “Betsy” Gaston on August 17, 1815 in Christian County, Kentucky. They had 4 sons, with birth dates of 1817, 1818, 1824 and 1826. William was the second child.

They were enumerated in the 1820 census in Wayne County, Illinois. They moved to Bond County, Illinois and were enumerated there in the 1830 census.

Betsy died shortly after the 1830 census.

He married Temperance “Tempy” Etheridge on December 28, 1831 in Bond County, Illinois. Tempy died in 1834.

He married for a third time, to Elizabeth Hart on October 23, 1834 in Bond County, Illinois. They had three more surviving children as of the 1850 census, although it appears that Elizabeth died prior to the census. Elizabeth Hart lived from 1810 to 1850.

Andrew moves his family to Missouri prior to the 1850 census, purchasing federal land (160 acres) in 1854, using his bounty warrants.

In the 1850 census in District 5 of Barry County, Missouri we see:

Andrew 60, a farmer
Sarah 38 (not sure who this is, but it is not likely to be a fourth wife as the marriage would have been documented)
Andrew 20, a farmer
John 16
Jane 14
Ellen 10
Charles 8

Andrew and two of his sons appear in the book, “History of Bond and Montgomery County, Illinois”, published in 1882.

Andrew died in 1869 in Barry County, Missouri.

There are several legal documents, including documentation of some land sales, for Andrew Carson and his first wife.