David Carson: Missouri Land
David Carson originally immigrated to North Carolina, but then moved to Platte City in Platte County, Missouri as it was being formed. He lived there right as it was becoming an incorporated area. He was an integral part of the community as a member of the Patrol.
David had both a lot in Platte City just west of 1st Street and a farm southwest of town on a gentle hillside just northeast of the junction of Farley and Grass Pad Roads. According to historian Bob Zybach, David likely purchased or leased Letitia in Missouri, maybe as late as 1844. He had a hog farm and a house in town, beginning in 1838 or so, and these were sold or transferred to his family after his death. He lived in Missouri from 1838 to 1845 when he began the journey to Oregon Country.
Thanks to author and historian Janet Meranda, we have contemporary photos of David’s Platte County, Missouri lands that enhance our understanding of his time there, as well as where he and Letitia may have lived before embarking on their journey to the Soap Creek Valley. In the summer of 2015, she and her husband traveled to Platte County, Missouri, and photographed the land where he once lived.
Dec 16, 1841, David Carson Land Deed Platte County Missouri
Platte County Maps
1853 Property Taxes for David Carson property after death Platte County Missouri Probate
This document records the property taxes for David Carson in the wake of his death. The document is a fragment of the entire record and reads as follows "60 for 1850, for 1851, for 1852 Rec’d of John Robison [sic] adm of the estate of David S. Carson deceased the sum of twenty-six dollars and 40/100 cts in full for the State and County tax on said deceased Realty to wit: the N.W. quarter of section 22, Town 52 of Range 35 West containing 160 acres for the years 1850, 1851 and 1852. L. Shepard Collector of Platte County Mo. Robison has paid me $19.20 which amount says Z. Gabbert holds his due bill for Lycurgus Shepard." The document is dated 1853 and indicates that at the time of his death in Oregon Territory, David Carson still owned some land in Platte County, Missouri which would then fall under the ownership and administration of John Robinson, the husband of his niece, Margaret Robinson.
Contemporary Photographs of David's Land
Summer 2015 Platte County
A photograph from the summer of 2015 when Jan Meranda traveled to the land where David Carson once lived. David Carson originally immigrated to North Carolina but spent time in Platte City in Platte County Missouri as it was being formed. He lived there right as it was becoming an incorporated area. David had both a lot in Platte City just west of 1st Street (which her husband John surveyed) and a farm southwest of town on a gentle hillside just northeast of the junction of Farley and Grass Pad Roads.
According to historian Bob Zybach, David likely purchased or leased Letitia in Missouri, maybe as late as 1844. He had a hog farm and a house in town, beginning in 1838 or so, and these were sold or transferred to family after his death. He lived in Missouri from 1838 to 1845 when he began the journey to Oregon Country.