Erasmus T. Carr Explained

Erasmus T. Carr
Nationality:United States
Birth Date:25 October 1825
Birth Place:Greenfield, New York
Death Place:Glendale, California
Practice:Erasmus T. Carr;
Carr & Schultz;
Carr & Grodavent;
Carr & Feth
Awards:Fellow, American Institute of Architects (1888)

Erasmus T. Carr (October 25, 1825 – May 12, 1915) was an American architect in practice in Leavenworth, Kansas, Denver, Colorado and Miles City, Montana from 1857 until his retirement in 1898. Carr, along with John G. Haskell, was one of the first two professional architects to practice in Kansas.

Life and career

Erasmus Theodore Carr was born October 25, 1825, in Greenfield, New York to Almon Carr and Arathusa Carr, née Morse. As a young man he was trained as a mason and carpenter. In 1852 he moved to Syracuse, New York, where he worked as a builder. In 1855 he moved to St. Paul, Minnesota and almost immediately was hired to superintend construction at Fort Leavenworth, outside Leavenworth. At the close of this work in 1856 he returned east. This was planned as a permanent move, but in the spring of 1857 he returned to Leavenworth, where he opened an architect's office. While maintaining his independent practice, he was again hired by the government in 1859 to take charge of construction at Fort Leavenworth. During the Civil War Carr intended to enlist, but did not at the request of General Jesse L. Reno, who thought he was most useful at Leavenworth. His work at the fort was not complete until 1871.[1]

After completing his work for the federal government Carr briefly formed the partnership of Carr & Schultz, which was responsible for the new Leavenworth County Courthouse, completed in 1874.[2] Carr formed a second partnership, Carr & Grodavent, in 1884 with Frank J. Grodavent. This was dissolved in 1887. In 1891 he moved to Denver, then a boomtown, and formed a third and final partnership, Carr & Feth, with William Pratt Feth. This was dissolved in 1893 and Carr moved on to Miles City, Montana, where his daughter and son-in-law, Jepp Ryan, lived. In 1898 Carr retired from practice and Ryan closed out his business interests in Miles City. The family then returned to Leavenworth.[3]

Carr was made a Fellow of the Western Association of Architects in 1885, and was also elected a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects in 1888. The two organizations merged in 1889. Carr's membership in the organization lapsed in 1895, while he was resident in Montana.[4] In all of the places he lived Carr was prominent in Masonic circles. He originally joined the Masons in 1856 in Leavenworth. At the time of his death he was a 33rd degree Mason.

At least four buildings designed by Carr have been listed on the United States National Register of Historic Places, and others contribute to listed historic districts.

Personal life

Carr was married in 1859 to Margaret Redfern Cubbins. They had one daughter, Addie Bell, who married Jepp Ryan.[3] After the death of Mrs. Carr in 1903 the family moved to California. Carr died May 12, 1915, at his daughter's home in Glendale at the age of 89.[5]

Architectural works

Notes and References

  1. "Erasmus Theodore Carr" in The United States Biographical Dictionary: Kansas Volume (Chicago and Kansas City: S. Lewis & Company, 1879): 73-74.
  2. Leavenworth Times, September 3, 1873, 4.
  3. "E. T. Carr" in Portrait and Biographical Record of Leavenworth, Douglas and Franklin Counties, Kansas (Chicago: Chapman Publishing Company, 1899): 788-789.
  4. https://aiahistoricaldirectory.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/AHDAA/pages/36865525/ahd1006843 E. T. Carr
  5. George F. Moore, "Erasmus Theodore Carr, 33°," in New Age 23, no. 4 (October, 1915): 177-180.
  6. https://npgallery.nps.gov/AssetDetail/NRIS/73000752 White Cloud School NRHP Registration Form
  7. A History of the State Normal School of Kansas: For the First Twenty-Five Years (Emporia: 1887)
  8. Fifth Annual Report of the State Board of Agriculture, to the Legislature of the State of Kansas, for the Year Ending November 30, 1876 (Topeka: George W. Martin, 1877): 211.
  9. David H. Sachs and George Ehrlich, Guide to Kansas Architecture (Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1996): 195.
  10. https://npgallery.nps.gov/AssetDetail/NRIS/06000623 Junction City Downtown Historic District NRHP Registration Form
  11. https://npgallery.nps.gov/AssetDetail/NRIS/06001240 Downtown Manhattan Historic District NRHP Registration Form
  12. American Architect and Building News (June 3, 1882): 292.
  13. David H. Sachs and George Ehrlich, Guide to Kansas Architecture (Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1996): 194.
  14. Inland Architect and Builder (June, 1885): 81.
  15. Library Journal (May–June 1889): 167.
  16. https://npgallery.nps.gov/AssetDetail/NRIS/04000780 Sheedy Mansion NRHP Registration Form

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