Carl Sandburg delivered the Republican-Register newspaper to a house at 560 North Prairie Street in Galesburg during the 1890s. The owner, Clark E. Carr, often met him at the door to take possession of the day’s paper. Young Sandburg knew Colonel Carr was an important person through his reading of the Galesburg newspapers.

In his autobiography Sandburg described Clark E. Carr as roly-poly–round from front to back and top to bottom. Carr seemed to accept his corpulence and was willing to laugh about it with his friends.

Carr was born in Boston Corners, New York, on May 20, 1836, the son of Clark M. and Delia Torrey Carr. His mother died when he was three years old. The elder Carr then married Fanny LaYau. The family settled in Galesburg in the fall of 1851. The 14-year-old Clark attended Knox Academy and then Knox College for two years. By the age of twenty-one he had graduated from law school and established a practice with Thomas Harrison.

Abraham Lincoln appointed Carr postmaster of Galesburg in March, 1861. For the next twenty-four years every succeeding Republican president continued to appoint him. It was a respected position in the community and reflected his status as a leader in local politics.

During the Civil War Governor Richard Yates appointed Carr to his staff and gave him the rank of colonel. Carr encouraged people to call him “colonel” ever after. His Civil War duties consisted of organizing new regiments, visiting soldiers in the field and accompanying sick and wounded soldiers back to Illinois. Carr never led soldiers into battle.

Carr waited until he was thirty-seven years old to marry Grace Mills on New Year’s Eve, 1873. They had two children, Julia C. born in 1876 and Clark Mills born in 1878.

Colonel Carr was active in the economic development of Galesburg from the end of the Civil War until the late 1880s. He invested in the first gas plant which provided street lights in the city. He purchased the Register and edited it for several years. When he sold the newspaper it was combined with the Republican.

Carr played an important role in convincing the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad to build its line to Chicago through Galesburg in 1887. Local citizens raised $60,000 as an incentive and Carr used his influence with the Board of Directors to seal the deal.

In 1889 President Benjamin Harrison appointed Carr to be Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Denmark. As ambassador he encouraged the lowering of tariffs on American food products such as corn and pork. He was well liked by the king and government ministers of the country.

Before the Carrs returned to Galesburg they began planning for a new residence on Prairie Street. Architect William Wolf created a mansion with Danish architectural elements. The house contained twelve rooms, including six bedrooms and two bathrooms (the first abode in the city to contain such a feature). There was a ballroom on the third floor. The Carrs were well known for their entertaining. The house became a source of pride to the residents of the city. It was pictured on postcards sent to all manner of places. It was an excellent example of Galesburg’s economic success.