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1907 Past and Present Biographies
Edgar H. Carter |
 Edgar H. Carter |
A native of Vermont, Mr. Carter was born in Hyde Park in 1851 and is a son of Abel and Lucy D. (Clemans) Carter, both of whom were of English ancestry. The father was born in New Hampshire in 1829 and from that state removed to Vermont. On coming west in 1867 he located in McHenry county, Illinois, but a year later became a resident of Greene county, Iowa, buying a farm in Jackson township, whereon he made his home for a quarter of a century. He then removed to Jefferson and spent the remainder of his life in case and retirement, dying in this city on the 21st of May, 1898, honored and respected by all who knew him. He met with success in his undertakings and became quite well-to-do. Politically he was an ardent republican and held several minor township offices. He was of a retiring disposition, was liberal in his views, was warm hearted and never had an ill word for any one. His estimable wife was a very enthusiastic member of the Methodist Episcopal church. She was born in Hyde Park, Vermont, in 1829, and died May 7, 1896. Her father, Lewis Clemans, belonged to the same branch of the family as the famous humorist, Samuel Clemens, better known as Mark Twain. Mr. and Mrs. Carter had three children: Edgar H., of this review; Ella J.. who married Edmond S. Wood, of Minneapolis, Minnesota; and Etha, deceased wife of Judd F. Young, of Jefferson, Iowa.
Edgar H. Carter passed his boyhood and youth upon a farm and pursued his education in the country schools, after which he engaged in teaching for two terms. Leaving the farm at the age of twenty years, he began clerking in a general store at Ringwood, Illinois, where he was employed for one year and gained his first knowledge of commercial methods. During the following two years he clerked in a store at Clifton, Illinois, and in 1875.came to Jefferson, Iowa, where he bought a half interest in a restaurant with John D. Hall, but after engaging in that business for less than two years, he sold out to his partner and opened a grocery. After conducting the same for about three years he added a line of dry goods and successfully carried on the business until 1904, when he sold out to L. J. Gresier Company, it having in the meantime risen to the dignity of a department store. Having retired from mercantile pursuits, Mr. Carter spent the following year in California and then returned to Jefferson, where he now makes his home. In 1893 he assisted in organizing the Jefferson Savings Bank, of which he was made president in 1904 and has since filled that position to the entire satisfaction of the stockholders and all concerned, being a man of recognized business ability and sound judgment. Under his capable management the bank is now in a flourishing condition and is numbered among the most reliable financial institutions in this part of the state. In addition to his city property he owns four hundred acres of land in Kansas and Oklahoma.
In 1875 was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Carter and Miss Amelia L. Ladd, who was born in Ringwood, Illinois, in 1855, a daughter of Wesley and Phoebe (Haley) Ladd. Her father was a farmer and stockdealer. Mr. and Mrs. Carter have one child, Marie L., now a teacher in the Jefferson schools. They are active memhers of the Methodist Episcopal church, of which Mr. Carter is now a steward, and he is a staunch supporter of the republican party and its principles. He is public spirited, giving his co-operation to every movement which tends to promote the moral, intellectual and material welfare of the community.
Transcribed from "Past and Present of Greene County, Iowa Together With Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Prominent and Leading Citizens and Illustrious Dead," by E. B. Stillman assisted by an Advisory Board consisting of Paul E. Stillman, Gillum S. Toliver, Benjamin F. Osborn, Mahlon Head, P. A. Smith and Lee B. Kinsey, Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1907.  Site Terms, Conditions & Disclaimer |