John M. Carson, Sr. and Abraham Lincoln

Yes, I couldn't believe it either, but there was the proof waiting to be found on the Library of Congresses website - John Miller Carson, Sr. had cooresponded with the Honorable Abe Lincoln the year prior to Lincoln becoming President.  Of course, that may not be a big feat, but why did Lincoln ever hold on to the letter so that we may read it today?  That answer may come after a bit more research.

A little information..................It's 1860 and Lincoln is running for President of the United States.  John Carson,a newspaper reporter living in Philadelphia, wants to see Lincoln elected to office.  This sets a plan into motion.  Carson believes that he can aid Lincoln in winning the election by persuading his readers to send votes Lincoln's way (approxiametly 150 to 200.)  Of course, this doesn't come without a price.  Carson propositions Lincoln, if elected, that he shall assign Carson a position in "the Custom House, Post Office, or some other department of executive control."   Pretty gutsy for a 24 year old! 

Follow this link to read the entire 4 page letter.
http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=mal&fileName=mal1/033/0334000/malpage.db&recNum=0

In The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln, Volume 4 by Abraham Lincoln (link below) Lincoln

http://books.google.com/books?id=N2Pcq66OtW4C&lpg=PA39&ots=iLxo0s3lzQ&dq=John%20M.%20Carson%20post%20office&pg=PA39#v=onepage&q=&f=false

The following link will take you to a page from The Washington Times (May 27, 1905) that has an article and photo featuring John M. Carson, Sr. (about age 67)

http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84026749/1905-05-27/ed-1/seq-4/

John Miller Carson Sr.  did go on to work for the goverment and presidents such as McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt.  He twice served as President of the Gridiron Club, nicknamed the "Father of the Gridiron Club" and credited with naming the club. 
From "Society in Washington: ITS NOTED MEN, ACCOMPLISHED WOMEN, ESTABLISHED CUSTOMS, and NOTABLE EVENTS," BY RANDOLPH KEIM, AUG 3 1887, Washington, D. C.
p. 212 SOCIETY IN WASHINGTON.

"John M. Carson, of the Philadelphia Ledger, began his career as a local reporter on Forney's Pennsylvanian, entered the Twenty-seventh Pennsylvania volunteers in 1861 as lieutenant, and rose to captain. After the war he resumed journalism, in 1873, coming to Washington as editor of the National Republican, A year later he became assistant, and soon after chief of the New York Times bureau, which he resigned in 1884, retaining his connection with the Ledger."  He was also a news coorespondent for the Philadelphia Public Ledger.  He became the chief of the Washington Post bureau and then delved into politics being elected as the Chief of the Bureau of Manufacturings of the American Department of Commerce and Labor in 1905 under President T. Roosevelt.  He earned $4,000 for this job.
JM Carson, Sr. passed in 1912, his wife in 1932.  John Miller Carson Sr. and his wife Anna Lavinia Miller Carson are buried in Arlington National Cemetery."

Dungannon it is!

I've finally come across a lead as to where in Ireland Thomas Carson, the first in our Carson line, emigrated from. While checking what was new online with the John Miller Carson line (see descendary chart below) I came across a snippet view for a book called Burke's American Families With British Ancestry: The Lineages of 1600 Families of British Origin Now Residing in the United States. A typically long title from a British author. The view didn't give me all the information I was looking for, but enough to go seek out the book for more information.

John Miller Carson, Jr. was a West Point graduate and a Brigadier General so it's easy enough to find information on him. His wife, Margaret Forster Sumner, was the granddaughter of Edwin Vose Sumner, Sr. an Army General (you can google his name for his long career and achievements with photos.)


Father of John Miller Carson, Jr. was John Miller Carson, Sr. He was twice President and one of the originators of the Gridiron club (a members only newspaper journalist's club,) a Washington coorespondent for the Philadelphia Public Ledger and the New York Times, a civil war veteran, Bureau of Manufactures of the Department of Commerce and Labor, Clerk of the Ways and Means Committee, Commissioner of Manufactures, asked by President Harrison to be his Secretary of War and by President McKinley to be his private secretary, but turned both positions down. So he's easy to find information on as well, but where do you find information on an ordinary Irish immigrant who works as a weaver and does not to seem to have been a naturalized citizen?

Well, you keep searching.......Thomas Carson, the Irish immigrant and father of John Miller Carson, Sr. made it into Burke's book (by way of an article about his grandson the Brigadier General.) Burke lists Thomas' emigration from Dungannon, Tyrone Co., Ireland (Northern Ireland.) He claims Thomas married his wife Jane Miller about 1829 and emigrated the following year about 1830, settling in Philadelphia. He was born about 1802, so that would have made him about 28 years old at the time of arrival in the US.

Now, to figure out which Dungannon he came from Upper, Middle, or Lower??????
Answers only lead to more questions!

(1st marriage)Thomas and Jane (Miller) Carson>John Miller Carson,Sr.>John Miller Carson, Jr.
(2nd marriage) Thomas and Elizabeth Carson>James Carson>Robert Miller Carson
James and John Miller Carson, Sr. were half brothers