Moses B Carson
One article in my series "Sonoma County, California"
Moses B Carson was born 1797/99 in Kentucky probably in Madison County, the son of Lindsey Carson (1754-1818) and his second wife Rebecca Robinson who had married 11 Feb 1796 in Madison County, Kentucky. On 24 Dec 1809, his younger brother Christopher Houston "Kit" Carson was born there in Madison County, Kentucky, he would later become famously known as a hunter, trapper and guide. Moses then moved in 1811 with his parents to Franklin, Missouri where his father Lindsey was killed by a falling tree limb in 1818.
It is not yet clear to me where Moses was from this time until he appears in about 1846 in Sonoma County, California. At San Gabriel on 30 Jun 1840, Henry D Fitch had signed a contract that "Joseph Carson" was to work on his ranch and be able to take a portion of the cattle as his pay. It is witnessed by "M B Carson". Either "Joseph" and "Moses" are the same person, or this contract was between Henry D Fitch and Moses Carson's brother.
At any rate, by June 1846, he was working the Fitch ranch aka Sotoyome (where Healdsburg is now located), for a share of the profits. William B Ide had dispatched Cowie and Fowler to this ranch to seek out "one-eyed" Moses Carson in order to get some gunpowder for the just-started Bear Flag Rebellion. Cowie and Fowler were murdered on the way to the ranch. One of the murderers was Jose Ramon Carillo, the brother-in-law of Henry D Fitch.
The reason Henry Fitch was not working this rancho himself, was because his trading interests were so tied up in San Diego, that he felt he couldn't leave there, even though he mentioned doing so a few times. The reason why he had gotten this grant of Sotoyome, was because his wife was from the powerful Carrillo family, her sister, had married General Mariano Vallejo, who were their Sonoma county neighbors as well.
In Jan 1849, Henry D Fitch died, and his widow Josefa (Carillo) Fitch took over managing the estate, moving there at least temporarily, while her three sons, Henry, Frederick and William worked on the ranch as well, but were all teenagers at this time. In May 1849, Moses' brother Lindsey Carson joined him on the ranch and the following year, Lindsey married as her second husband, Maria Louisa Gordon, the widow of John S Williams, and daughter of Joseph Gordon of Russian River and his wife Matilda L Henderson.
As "M B Carson" he was in Jun 1847, one of the referees to decide the financial settlement between Yount and Chiles
He was elected as Sonoma County Assessor in 1849/50 but apparently quit early.
In the 1850 census of Sonoma County, Moses Carson and the three Fitch boys are all enumerated living on the Ranch, along with a Louis Lezondra and a William Mooney.
Moses decided he was going to leave and sold his stake there to his brother Lindsey. Shortly afterward, Israel Brockman, Sheriff of Sonoma County, came with an attachment on the effects of Moses but was rebuffed. He came back again and took some of the cattle and sold it to pay a debt of Moses'.
Josefa sued, claiming that none of the cattle taken were owned by Moses. The case went on appeal to the California State Supreme Court in 1853.