Alonzo W. Carr
Spending his youth on a farm about Jonesboro, Mr. Carr entered manhood and the grocery business about the same time, held the subordinate position of clerk until he had thoroughly mastered the trade, and then for upwards of twenty years conducted the largest and most popular establishment of its kind in the city of Marion. His place in business affairs at the present time is well known as head of A. W. Carr & Company, engaged in the wholesale fruit and commission business.
Alonzo W. Car was born December 27, 1859, at Jonesboro in Grant County. His family, while not pioneers were among the early settlers in the south half of the county. His parents were Abraham and Margaret J. (Fankboner) Carr, both having been born in Tuscarawas County, Ohio. About 1854 Abraham Carr came to Grant county, locating at Jonesboro, where he spent ten years engaged in his trade as wagon maker. Selling out his shop and business, he then began farming two miles form Jonesboro, but after a few years moved to a farm east of town, subsequently to another place east of Marion, which continued to be his home until the age of sixty-five when he came to Marion, and live din that city until his death in April, 1894. The mother is now living in Marion. Their five children were: Emma J., deceased; Hattie A., deceased; and an infant son, deceased; E. J. Carr of Oklahoma City; and A. W. Carr.
Mr. Carr, who is the only one of the children now living in Grant County, was educated in the Jonesboro High School, and spent his youth on the farm, and followed its work until he was twenty-one. He then found a place as a clerk in the establishment of H. D. Thomas at Marion, and remained with that employer for five years, after which he went with R. W. Weaver, a short time. In 1887 he set up in business for himself, and until he retired from the retail grocery trade in 1904 conducted what was probably the largest grocery trade in the city. In 1904 he established a wholesale commission, fruit and vegetable business at the corner of Ninth and Washington Streets, under the present firm name of A. W. Carr & Company. At one time Mr. Carr was president of the Marion Grocery Company, a wholesale concern located in this city.
On June 20, 1883, Mr. Carr married Miss Myra B. Clunk, daughter of Henry F. and Catherine (Mitchell) Clunk, both of whom were natives of Pennsylvania. Her father is deceased, and her mother is living in the Carr home at the age of ninety-two. The two children of Mr. and Mrs. Carr are Hattie A., wife of Willis A. Fahrney, who is associated with the firm of Carr & Company; and Katherine, who is the wife of Henry C. Moore, of the Marion State Bank. Mr. Carr is affiliated with Marion Lodge No. 105, F. & A. M. and with the different branches of the York rite up to the commandery. He is a Republican in politics but has consistently refused to be mentioned or nominated in connection with any public office.
Centennial History of Grant County Indiana 1812-1912. The Lewis Publishing Co., 1914.