Moses Carver (28 August 1812 – 19 December 1910) was a German-American settler and adoptive father of

George Washington Carver George Washington Carver ( 1864 – January 5, 1943) was an American agricultural scientist and inventor who promoted alternative crops to cotton and methods to prevent soil depletion. He was one of the most prominent black scientists of the ea ...

Biography

Moses Carver was born in Ohio. On August 11, 1834, he married Susan Blue in

Sangamon County, Illinois Sangamon County is located in the center of the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, it had a population of 197,465. Its county seat and largest city is Springfield, Illinois, Springfield, the List ...

. He and his brother Richard migrated to southwest Missouri around 1838 from Ohio and Illinois. The

Preemption Act of 1841 The Preemption Act of 1841, also known as the Distributive Preemption Act ( 27 Cong., Ch. 16; ), was a US federal law approved on September 4, 1841. It was designed to "appropriate the proceeds of the sales of public lands... and to grant 'pre-empt ...

allowed farmers who lived on and improved of land for six months to buy the land from the government at a low price. Moses Carver purchased a total of in Marion Township,

Newton County, Missouri Newton County is a county located in the southwest portion of the U.S. state of Missouri. As of the 2010 census, the population was 58,114. Its county seat is Neosho. The county was organized in 1838 and is named in honor of John Newton, a her ...

. As an early settler in the area, Carver selected a good site with an abundant water supply. He built a one-room log cabin with a window, a fireplace, and no floor. This is where he and Susan initially lived, along with three nieces and nephews, whom they raised after Richard's death in 1839. Moses needed help as the farm prospered and in 1855, he purchased Mary, an enslaved thirteen-year-old girl, from a neighbor. Mary later gave birth to several children who became the property of Moses, among whom were James and George. Towards the end of the Civil War, George and his mother were abducted, probably by bushwhackers. George was brought back, costing Moses a prize horse, but his mother was never seen again. After

slavery Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

was abolished in Missouri (

1865 Events January–March * January 4 – The New York Stock Exchange opens its first permanent headquarters at Broad Street (Manhattan), 10-12 Broad near Wall Street, in New York City. * January 13 – American Civil War : Sec ...

), Moses and Susan continued to raise James and George on the farm. In a state strongly divided by the tensions leading to the Civil War, the independent-minded and eccentric Moses Carver was in a difficult position, since he offended

Confederate Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...

s by being a Unionist, and Unionists by owning slaves. George left the farm when he was eleven to go to the black school in Neosho, Missouri. He returned to the Moses Carver farm on weekends, but never lived permanently with the Carvers again. Susan Blue Carver died on January 23, 1892, at

Diamond, Missouri Diamond is a city in north central Newton County, Missouri, United States, located southeast of Joplin. The population was 902 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Joplin, Missouri, Metropolitan Statistical Area. Diamond is primarily renowned a ...

. On January 29, 1897, Moses remarried to Elizabeth Love, aged 61, who later died in 1904. At age 96, he decided that he was no longer able to farm so he went to

Galena, Kansas Galena is a city in Cherokee County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 2,761. History Although the railroad was built through the territory of Galena in 1871, the community did not start until the di ...

to live with his nephew, John Carver, on Shoal Creek. Moses died in Galena two years later. He is buried next to Susan Carver in the little family cemetery at

The Moses Carver farm became the

George Washington Carver National Monument George Washington Carver National Monument is a unit of the National Park Service in Newton County, Missouri. The national monument was founded on July 14, 1943, by Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who dedicated $30,000 to the monument. It was the fir ...

by an act of Congress in July 1943. The

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...

maintains of the original farm. In 2004 the remaining 30 acres of the original Moses Carver Farm were donated to the George Washington Carver Birthplace District Association by Mrs. Evelyn Taylor and her late husband W.J. "Bud" Taylor. The Association later donated the land to the National Park Service, making the 240-acre Moses Carver Farm property complete.

References

George Washington Carver National Monument: "National Park Service: George Washington Carver National Monument, Missouri"

''George Washington Carver, Scientist and Symbol'', by Linda O. McMurry; Oxford University Press, 1982. 367 pgs.
*American Chemical Society National Historic Chemical Landmark

retrieved March 25, 2013. {{DEFAULTSORT:Carver, Moses 1812 births 1910 deaths People from Newton County, Missouri American slave owners German emigrants to the United States