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from Past and Present of Mahaska County, Iowa by Manoah Hedge The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co. 1906
George H. Carlon, one of the leading representatives of business interests in Oskaloosa, where he is engaged in contracting and building. also in the manufacture of paving and building cement and in the execution of contracts for the building of cement sidewalks and curbing, was born in Mercer county, Pennsylvania, July 20, 1850. The Carlon ancestors came to America from the north of Ireland, Robert Carlon, the grandfather of our subject, and three of his brothers crossing the Atlantic to the new world in colonial days. One of the number served in the Revolutionary war but later they became separated and nearly all trace of the family is lost. The White family is of Scotch descent and representatives of the name are now in Mercer county, Pennsylvania. George H. Canon is a son of B. F. and Zenebia (White) Canon, both of whom were natives of Pennsylvania. The mother died when her son George was four years of age and the father with his family afterward removed to Monmouth, Illinois, where two years later he was married to Elizabeth Stubbs. He was a mechanic and builder and worked in various parts of the United States. His death occurred in 1902, when he was seventy years of age. Alter attending the public schools in Monmouth, Illinois, George H. Carlon continued his studies in the Monmouth high school, and in early life he learned the trade of a machinest and engineer. He began as a builder in Monmouth and afterward followed that pursuit in Bloomington, Nebraska. In 1881 he came to Oskaloosa, where he continued his work as a builder and contractor. Here in 1884 he also began the manufacture of paving and building cement and has done a large business in paving the streets of Oskaloosa and other cities. He has also erected many buildings from cement blocks and up to the year 1906 he has contracts for building fifty miles of sidewalk in Osaloosa alone and over twenty miles of curbing. He operates a cement block plant in Oskaloosa and as a manufacturer and contractor is doing an extensive and profitable business, his being one of the leading productive industries of the city. On the 17th of March, 1874, occurred the marriage of Mr. Carlon and Miss Sarah Margaret Sweger, a daughter of Samuel Sweger, of Kirkwood, Illinois, who was a contractor and builder and died January 30, 1906, at the age of eighty-two years. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Carlon have been born six children: Charles H., of Oskaloosa; Harry F., also of this city; Minnie who died at the age of thirteen years; Trixie, who died at the age of four years; and Bessie F. and Nina R., both at home. Mr. Carlon is a member of the Central Methodist Episcopal church. He belongs to Tri Lumbar lodge No. 18, A. F. & A. M.. having been made a Mason in November, 1873. He also holds membership with Hiram chapter, No. 6, R. A. M., and is a member of the Mystic Shrine. He belongs to ihe lodge and uniformed rank of the Knights of Pythias, has filled all of the chairs in the former and is a member of Commercial lodge, No. 128, I. 0. 0. F. A republican where national questions and issues are involved, he votes independent locally. He has prospered in his business affairs and now has a pleasant home and a profitable, productive industry and as the years have gone by his life record has demonstrated the force and value of untiring effort, keen business discernment and of true worth of character.
Past and Present of Mahaska County, Iowa
Mahaska County, Iowa Genealogy