San
Joaquin County
Biographies
CHARLES M. CARLSON
In the history of San Joaquin
County, with its many prominent citizens and business men, the name of Charles
M. Carlson is deserving of mention, not alone for what he has accomplished
along agricultural lines, but more particularly for his connection with the
organization of the Swedish Colonization Society at Escalon, serving as
president since its organization in 1907.
His activities in the real estate and insurance business have been
productive of fine results and he has been instrumental in locating many home
seekers in the vicinity of Escalon. He
was born in Skane, Sweden, December 25, 1865, a son
of Magnus and Cecelia (Nelson) Carlson, also natives of the same place. They were farmer folk in Sweden and when they
came to America in 1889 they first located in western Kansas and later removed
to Mt. Vernon, Washington, where the father passed away in 1916; the mother is
still living and has reached the age of eighty-seven years. Charles M. Carlson preceded his family to
Lincoln, Nebraska, where he found work on farms in the immediate vicinity of
that city; later on he went into Saunders County, where he also engaged in
farming pursuits until his removal in 1890 to Seattle, Washington, where he
remained for the next three years, then moved to Mt. Vernon, where he farmed
forty acres of rich bottom land. He
developed his forty-acre ranch and was amply rewarded for his eleven years
work.
At Mount Vernon, Washington, in
1899, Mr. Carlson was united in marriage with Miss Esther Carlson, born at Salemsburg, Kansas, who came to Washington with her parents
in 1897. Three children have blessed
this union, Vernie, Elmer and Viola. In 1904, Mr. Carlson concluded to change his
location but not his occupation, so he removed with his family to Escalon where
he bought sixty acres, a portion of the Marcey
tract. Meantime he became interested in
his own countrymen and conceived the idea of forming a Swedish colonization
society, which has been the means of bringing many of this sturdy, industrious nation to the Golden State.
In 1919, Mr. Carlson rented his ranch and removed to Oakland, but
resided there only one year when he returned to Escalon and purchased six and a
half acres, with a fine residence and has definitely decided to make Escalon
his permanent home. He has recently
disposed of his ranch property. In 1895,
while residing at Mt. Vernon, Washington, Mr. Carlson received his final papers
that made him a U. S. citizen and a loyal and progressive one he has proved to
be. His business partner is Otto
Peterson, whose sketch is also in this work, and the association has been a
most happy and profitable one to both partners.
Mr. Carlson is serving as trustee of the Escalon grammar school and for
six years served as trustee of the Van Allen District. He is a member of the Escalon Commercial Club
and was one of the active factors in the South San Joaquin County Fair
Association movement; he was one of the organizers of the First State Bank at
Escalon in 1910; a charter member and agent of the Farmer’s Mutual Fire Insurance
Company of San Joaquin County; an organizer and director of the Escalon
Telephone & Telegraph Company which was organized in 1908 with eight
subscribers, which has since grown to large proportions. In politics Mr. Carlson is a Republican. He is an authority on soils and land
valuations in the Escalon district and his judgment and advice is often sought
by home seekers.
Transcribed by Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Page
791. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2011 Gerald Iaquinta.
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