We know little of the Carson family. We only know of three generations and do not have much detail about any of them. That which is presented here has been complied from information provided by Gladys (Carson) Powers.

The first generation of the Carson family of which we have any record is that of George T. and Lena (Bishop) Carson . George was born in Franklin County, Pa. and Lena was also from Pa. They moved to Maryland and had a family of six children. One of their children was John W. Carson.

John W. Carson was born May 19, 1862 and spent his boyhood and youth in his native state, pursued his education in the public schools and on his removal westward established his home in Benton County, Iowa, where he lived for seven years. In 1883 he came to Colorado, where he took up mining, and followed that pursuit for number of years, after which he turned his attention to farming in Adams County, Colorado. He opperated one hundred and forty five acres of land.

In 1896 Mr. Carson was united in marriage to Miss. Edith Mitchell, a native of Colorado and daughter of William and Fannie (Rosencrans) Mitchell, who were natives of New York state and came to Colorado at an early period in its development. William Mitchell was a native of St. Johns Parish, Cornwall, England, and came to America when a youth of twenty-one years. Shortly afterwards he became a student in Oberlin College, at Oberlin, Ohio, and there he met Fannie Rosencrans, whom he later married, and was also a student there. She was directly descended from illustrious families closely connected with our nation's military history. Among her ancestral relations were General Herkimer of Revolutionary War fame and General Rosencrans of the Civil War.

John W. Carson and Edith Mitchell had six children:

  1. George Edgar Carson
  2. Florence Catherine, born 1899, married Charles Petsch, had one child, Nancy, married Stan Mollerstuen, Denver. CO. Florence died in Denver, CO December 5, 1974.
  3. John Earl Carson, born November 11, 1903, died in Denver, CO April 10, 1993.
  4. Gladys Muriel Carson, born January 21, 1905, married Jessie Powers, had two sons, Edward and Robert. Gladys died in Colorado Springs, CO December 8, 2002.
  5. Iris Nadine Carson, born April 23, 1908. Married brefely to Raymond Leininger of Denver, Colorado and had one daughter, Madlon Lousie Leininger, born March 8, 1926 at 2450 Vine Street, Denver, Colorado, married Irvin Francis Davis. Madlon passed away Easter Sunday morning April 19, 1992 in Santa Clara, CA. She was buried in the Golden Gate National Cemetery, San Bruno, CA. Iris' second marriage was to Everett Welty and they had one daughter, Phyllis, married David Forstrom, Oxford, CT. Iris died May 2, 1988 in Rockford, Illinois.
  6. Theodore Lederer Carson.

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