Biographical Sketches
William H. Carson
One of the most active citizens of Valley county, Nebraska, in educational, business and political circles, is William H. Carson, a real estate dealer living at Ord. Mr. Carson was born at Marion, Linn county, Iowa, January 4, 1863, the youngest of four children born to Joseph and Phoebe (Vaughn) Carson, who were parents of three sons and one daughter. The father died in Bedford, Iowa, in April, 1894, at the age of eighty-six years, and the mother now lives at Bedford with her daughter, Mrs. A. J. Sowers, being in her ninetieth year. One son, Lee I. Carson, lives at Tama, Iowa, and another, Orville S. Carson, died at Bedford in March, 1904.
Mr. Carson lived in his native county until his nineteenth year, and graduated from the high school at Marion in his seventeenth year, after which he attended Coe College at Cedar Rapids, completing a three-year course in two years. Upon leaving college, he went to Tama, Iowa, and engaged in the lumber business in company with his father and brother. In 1885, the lumber business was disposed of, and William H. Carson removed to Valley county, and October 15, 1885, to North Loup, being accompanied by his mother and father. They purchased a farm ten south of Ord, and carried on agricultural operations there until 1893, in the spring of which year the parents returned to Iowa, and William H. Carson, with his family, came to Ord.
Mr. Carson was married, January 29, 1890, at the home of her parents in Mira Valley, to Miss Elizabeth Bell, a native of Illinois. The Bell family came to Valley county in the spring of 1885. Three children have blessed this union: Glenn, Ralph and Leigh, all born in Valley county, and all at home. Mr. Carson and the others of the family are popular in social circles.
Upon coming to Ord, Mr. Carson engaged in the fire insurance business, although at first he also worked at his trade of carpenter and builder, and in 1894 became connected with T. L. Hall in the general real estate and insurance business, in which he held an interest until 1898. Since that time Mr. Carson has carried on business on his own account, and is now one of the oldest real estate dealers in Ord in the number of years he has been engaged in the business. He has been largely instrumental in the development and settlement of Ord and Valley county, having handled extensive property interests, for non-residents as well as local customers. He is an active republican, and has served in various public offices. He has been constable of Ord township and Ord for seven years, served four years as city clerk, has been a member of the city council and of the school board. He is now secretary of the school board and secretary of the republican county committee, and during 1909, was secretary of the agricultural society. He is also township clerk of Ord township, and has given valuable service to his township and county in many ways, and is a progressive and enterprising citizen, promoting every good measure, and mindful of the best interests of the public. He has often been solicited to make the race for higher offices; but, on account of his extensive business interests demanding attention, has refused to do so. He is a member of the Odd Fellows and the Woodmen of the World, and has served both orders as secretary.
Source: Transcription from the book, Compendium of History Reminiscence and Biography of Nebraska, published in 1912; located on the website, Internet Archive (http://archive.org), accessed 17 December 2025.
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