JAMES S CARSON
BIO- Sawyers
SURNAMES: PELTON, MOKLER, RAMELLI, CROPLEY, MARTIN
An efficient and therefore a very popular official is James S Carson ,
the superintendendent of the Santa Clara County Poor Farm, near
Milpitas, who was born in South Mountain, Canada, on August 31, 1856,
the son of James and Elixabeth (Pelton) Carson. His father was a
farmer having a ranch of 100 acres devoted to general framing ; and he
reared a family of nine children, among whom our subject was the next
to the youngest born. He attended the public schools at South
Mountain; but his father having died when he was only ten years of age,
he began to make his way in the world from this thirteenth year.
He first worked five years on a dairy farm, milking; and in 1871 he
came to Marin County, Cal., and engaged in hay-bailing at
Tomales. He then went to Santa Clara County, removed to San Luis
Obispo County, and after returning to Santa Clara County spent about
seven years farming.
In 1905 he became superintendent of the County Farm near Milpitas, and
he has since continued in that responsible office requiring for its
successful administration experience, common sense, and humane
sympathy. Besides performing his official duties there, Mr.
Carson manages a farm of 100 acres of his own known as the old Sinnot
ranch. The County Farm has about 230 acres, 100 of which are
devoted to vegetables and hay, and the balance to pasture and
grazing. There is a dairy of thirty-five head of milch cows, with
about 100 head of stock on the farm, and the place has three irrigation
wells. The Farm cares for from 150 to 300 unfortunate persons,
varying according to season, many leaving in the summer months, others
coming in the winter, about two-thirds of this number being
incapacitated in some way; but enough are able to work, to help keep
the farm in running order. Perhaps particularly as a result of
his experience with those who come to him as the county's
representative for relief, Mr. Carson believes in the selection
of men for office regardless of partisan claims. Mr. Carson's
mother, who came to California aobut 1896, and died here five years
later, was of Scotch descent, and his father of Irish descent, so that
he has been fortunate in his blood-inheritance.
At Oakland, Cal., on Christmas Day, 1888, Mr. Carson was married to
Miss Margaret Mokler, a native of Tomales, Cal., the daughter of
Charles and Mary Mokler. Her father was an early settler and a
dairyman at Tomales, and highly respected. Four children have
been born to this union: Nellie is Mrs. Joseph Ramelli of Milpitas; May
has become Mrs. James Cropley of San Jose; Stella has become Mrs. John
Martin of San Jose; and Ralph is a student at Santa Clara College.