Date Died: July 22, 1900

Place Buried: Edgecombe County, NC

Occupation: Farmer

Elias Carr (25 February 1839 -- 22 July 1900) was the Democratic governor of the U.S. state of North Carolina from 1893 to 1897.

The son of Jonas and Elizabeth Hilliard Carr, he was born at Bracebridge Hall, the 2,000 acre family plantation in Edgecombe County, NC. Orphaned at the age of four, Carr grew up in the home of his aunt and uncle in Warren County. There he attended a local school before going to the Bingham School in Orange County. He completed his education at UNC (1855-1857) and the University of Virginia. He married Eleanor Kearny in 1859 and they had six children.

Carr bought his brother's interest in Bracebridge Hall and prepared for the life of a planter, but the Civil War intervened. He enlisted in the 41st Regiment (3rd Cavalry) in 1861. Nine months later he received a planter's exemption and returned home. There, he implemented progressive farming techniques and sound business practices - suffering fewer losses than most of his contemporaries during the war.

Carr served as the first president of the Farmer's Institute of Edgecombe County, and in 1888 he was elected as the first president of the NC Farmer's Association. He also served on the first board of trustees of the NC College of Agriculture and Mechanical Arts - present-day NC State University.

Considering the lack of political experience and the polarized factions within the State, Carr had a fairly successful administration. He recommended legislation to improve the state's bad road system, supported a geological survey, and campaigned for better schools - urging the passage of a compulsory school attendance law and advocated a tax increase during a slow economic era.

Carr retired to his plantation home, where he died on July 22, 1900. He was buried in the family cemetery there.

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