Carson=:
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CHRISTOPHER HOUSTON "KIT" CARSON
I have always heard that we were in some way related,to _
Kit Carson but no one knows exactly how. I have found no di-
rect proof to substantiate this but the following excerpts would
place the father of Kit, Lindsey Carson, in North Carolina at
about the same time our ancestors were discovered to be in Orange
County. Alexander Carson died in 1791 in Orange County. At the
time of his death he had four grown children so this would place
his birth within the time frame that Lindsay Carson was in North
Carolina. They may have been related but this cannot be proved
at this time. Further research will have to be done before a de-
finitive statement concerning any relationship to Kit Carson can
be made.
(The following is an excerpt from the book "Kit Carson's
Autobiography" by Milo Milton Cuaife, printed in March, 1966.)
Lindsay Carson, born about 1755, and possibly a
native of Scotland, grew up in North Carolina.
He served as a soldier in the Revolution, and sub-
sequent to the death of his first wife in 1793,
migrated to Kentucky, where in 1797 he married
Rebecca Robinson, a native of that state. Accord-
ing to the history of Howard County, Mo., they
had eight children (ten according to the Dictionary
of American Biographies), four boys and four gir s;
Christopher, hero of our present narrative, was the
third son of the family.
Lindsay Carson removed to the Boone's Lick country,
settling in Franklin Township, Howard County, Mo.,
probably early in 1811. In 1818 he was killed by a
falling limb, while engaged 'in burning timber. 'Four
years later the widow married Joseph Martin,
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The Boone's Lick country was much harassed by the >
Indians during the War of 1812. The settlers "forted" C1
for mutual protection, the forts being commonly log
houses, loop -holed and barricaded. The Carson family
lived near Fort Hempstead, and Lindsay and Moses, father
and brother respectively of Kit, were enrolled among
its defenders.
(The following is an excerpt from the book "-Great Westerner -
The Story of Kit Carson" by Bernice Blackwelder, printed in 1962)
Kit Carson looked toward the west as all Carson men
had since the first one left Dumfriesshire, Scotland,
to find greater freedom in North Ireland. His Grand-
father, William - first to cross to America - settled
in North Carolina with a grant from Lord Granville and
died one hot day before the Revolution from "an over -
draught of water from the church pump." The eldest son,
Lindsey, with Wade Hampton's Brigade, turned away from
�1jan inheritance of many acres on the Yadkin to follow
` Daniel Boone down the -Wilderness Road to Kentucky when
the lands west of the Alleghenies were first open to
settlement.
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Choosing a heavily wooded tract in Madison County,
Lindsey Carson and his older sons began a logging
business, binding the logs into rafts to be floated
by creek and river to New Orleans. A double -roomed
house of ash and poplar logs with a solid rock chim-
ney was built at the edge of the clearing by Tate's
Creek. Here, on Christmas Eve of 1809, Lindsey's
second wife, Rebecca, presented him with his ninth
child. The son was named Christopher Houston, for
a patriot friend in North Carolina, but affectionately
called Kit throughout his lifetime.
Research through the Land Grant Office in Raleigh, N. C. has
turned up the land grant and the surveyor's map to the above men-
tioned land grant to William Carson. The tract was located in
Rowan which adjoined Orange -County in 1761. A land grant for a
John Carson was also discovered and both of these were copied
and can be found under the section of this book titled "Land
Transactions". It appears the land was near the fork of the
Yadkin River and Third Creek. Whether John Carson and William
Carson were related is unknown at this time. He may have been
either a brother or son of William. At any rate, Lindsey Carson
went to Kentucky and we do not know where John Carson went. It
is interesting to note that the 1800 Census for Orange County, N.C.
lists a John Carson who was over forty-five years old.
It is also of interest that a marker shaped like an arrow-
head stands at the corner of King Street and Churchton Street
by the old Hillsborough Court House that reads as follows:
(First Historic Marker)
Colonial trading route, -dating from 17th
century., from Petersburg, Va., to Catawba
and Waxhaw Indians in Carolina, passed nearby.
(Second Historic Marker one block away reads)
From this spot where stood the Old State House
Was started an expedition of frontiersmen
under Col. Richard Henderson, for Kentucky,
led by Daniel Boone - March 17, 1778
"And they marched away solemnly as if going
to the ends of the world"
(The other side of the Arrowhead Marker above
reads as follows:
Here passed the TRADING PATH
1700
Daniel Boone Trail Highway
(It has a picture of an Indian and a picture
of Daniel Boone on it.)
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