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HARRY F. CARLON is manager of the Carlon
Construction Company, a business that was established by his father, the
late George H. Carlon, at Oskaloosa nearly half a century ago. This is one
of the largest firms of its kind in the Middle West, and was a pioneer in
the use of cement in the building industry.
The Carlon family came to America from the North of Ireland. There were
four brothers of the name who crossed the Atlantic to America in Colonial
times. One of these brothers was a soldier in the Revolutionary war. The
ancestor of the Oskaloosa family was Robert Carlon. Little is known of his
brothers and their descendants. Robert Carlon settled in Pennsylvania. His
son, B. F. Carlon, was born in that state and married Zenebia White, a
native of Pennsylvania and of Scotch ancestry. She died when her son,
George H. Carlon, was four years of age, and B. F. Carlon subsequently
moved with his family to Monmouth in Western Illinois, where he married
Elizabeth Stubbs. B. F. Carlon was a mechanic and builder, and that has
been a traditional occupation of members of the family for three
generations or more. B. F. Carlon died in 1902, at the age of seventy
years.
George H. Carlon was born in Mercer County, Pennsylvania, July 20, 1850,
and was reared in Monmouth, Illinois, where he attended public schools. He
learned the trades of machinist and engineer, and did some building work
at Monmouth and later at Bloomington, Nebraska. It was in 1881 that he
established his home at Oskaloosa and entered upon the business of a
building contractor. In 1884 he began the manufacture of paving and
building cement, at a time when comparatively little use was made of the
material, which his now so universally a factor on all kinds of building
construction. It was the enterprise of George H. Carlon, started in
Oskaloosa in 1881, that proved the foundation of the present Carlon
Construction Company, which for many years has been more than a local
organization, its activities extending well over the West.
The first work in his line of business which George H. Carlon did at
Oskaloosa was assisting in the construction of the present county
courthouse. He remained a figure in the commercial and civic life of
Oskaloosa for nearly half a century, always willing to exert himself in
behalf of some movement for the general welfare of his home city. For a
period of fifteen years he was a member of the Oskaloosa school board and
he gave freely of his time and money to social, civic, educational and
church matters. He was from 1887 an active member of the Oskaloosa
Methodist Episcopal Church and served on the building committee when the
new Central Church was erected. He was a member of the Masonic bodies,
including the Lodge, Knights Templar Commandery, Shrine and Eastern Star,
and the Knights of Pythias.
George H. Carlon died April 8, 1927, at the age of seventy-seven years. He
married, March 17, 1874, Miss Arrah Margaret Sweger, daughter of Samuel
Sweger. Her father was a contractor and builder at Kirkwood, Illinois, and
sided January 30, 1906, at the age of eighty-two years. George H. Carlon
and wife had a family of six children; Charles H., who is married and
lives at Saint Louis, where he is a manager of the branch office of the
Carlon Construction Company; Harry F.; Minnie, who died at the age of
thirteen; Trixie, who died when four years old; Bessie F., the wife of
Arthur E. Smith, of a pioneer family of Oskaloosa, and they reside in
Canada; and Nina R.; wife of Blair Haun, a druggist of Des Moines.
Harry F. Carlon was born at Oskaloosa January 2, 1880, and since early
manhood has been regarded as one of the most progressive business men of
his native city, exemplifying his father's worthy characteristics in his
generous support of civic, educational and religious movements. He
attended public schools at Oskaloosa, graduate from high school in 1897,
and has given thirty years to the business founded by his father. When he
entered the firm the name was changed from George H. Carlon & Son to the
Carlon Construction Company. He is now manager of the home office at
Oskaloosa, and gives a general supervision to the work of the firm in many
cities and other localities throughout the Middle West.
Mr. Carlon is a veteran of the Spanish-American war. He enlisted in
Company F of the Fifty-first Regiment of Iowa Infantry, which was mustered
into the Federal service as the Fifty-first Iowa Volunteers. In October,
1898, he accompanied his regiment to the Philippines, and returned home in
November, 1899. He spent ten months in the Philippines, and altogether was
with the colors for twenty-two months.
Mr. Carlon at the present time is president of the Oskaloosa school board.
He is a member of the Chamber of Commerce, the Rotary Club, is affiliated
with Tri-Luminar Lodge No. 18, A.F. and A.M., and other Masonic bodies,
including the Shrine, and is a member of the Knights of Pythias. He is a
member of the Iowa State Historical Society and is a trustee of the First
Congregational Church, of which his family are members. He is also serving
on the Board of Trustees of the Y.M.C.A. Mrs. Carlon shares with him his
interest in church and educational affairs.
Mr. Carlon married Lulu May Evans, daughter of Benjamin and Delilah (Cox)
Evans. Her people were early settlers of Oskaloosa, where her father was a
coal operator. Mr. and Mrs. Carlon have two sons, George Benjamin, born in
1910, a graduate of the Oskaloosa High School, now attending Grinnell
College; and Robert Franklin, born in 1912, attending high school.
A Narrative History of the People of Iowa, with Special
Treatment of the Chief Enterprises in Education, Religion, Valor,
Industry, Business, Etc., Vol III, Chicago: American Historical Society,
1931, page 70.
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