Ezra Ayres Carman was born 27 February 1834 in New Brunswick, Middlesex County, New Jersey, eldest son of Melancthon Carman and Ann Maria Ayres

He graduated from Western Military Institute in Kentucky in 1857. Upon graduation he took up a position of teaching mathematics at the University of Nashville, Tennessee. 

Commissioned Lt. Colonel of the 7th Regiment of New Jersey Volunteers during the Civil War,  volunteering at Newark, NJ on 3 Sept 1861, and was wounded in the line of duty at Williamsburg, Virginia on 5 May 1862 by a gunshot wound to his right arm in action.  Lt. Colonel Carman was honorably discharged at Newark on 8 Jul 1862. This discharge was to accommodate his taking command of another Regiment as it's Full Colonel and Commanding Officer.  He served as Colonel of the 13th Regiment of New Jersey Volunteers from 5 August 1862 to 5 June 1865. He was later promoted to the rank of Brigadier General for gallantry and meritorious service.

From 1871 to 1875 he was Comptroller of Jersey City, New Jersey.  From 1877 to 1885 he was Chief Clerk of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.  From 1905 until his death in 1909 he served as Chairman of the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park Commission.

General Ezra Ayres Carman died Christmas day 1909,  and is interred in Arlington National Cemetery.

"Carman, Ezra Ayres. NJ. NJ. Lt. Col. 7 NJ Inf. 19 Sept 1861; Col. 13 NJ inf. 8 July 1862; bvt brig gen vols. 13 Mar 1865 for gal and mer ser dur the war; hon must out 8 June 1865"  - Historical Register and Dictionary of the United States

"A Historical address on the Carman Family by General Ezra Ayers Carman of the Agricultural Department, Washington, DC, was the principle oration. The gentleman is a pleasant easy speaker", says the newspaper account, "and also knows how to tell a joke. He was heartily applauded throughout his remarks...." - The Carman Family Reunion of 1881, published in the Long Island Forum, August 1981, Charles Pearsall Carman.

As noted above, he was an active member of the 'Carman Association' and key-note speaker for the reunion held in Hempstead.  He was actively writing a genealogical book of his own on the Carman Family, which was never completed.  He sent many letters out across the County (and to Canada) requesting information and Family Group Sheets to be filled out.  Many responded, and his vast bank of information was borrowed on more than one occasion by William Stillwell Carman in preparing his manuscripts.  Ezra's genealogical work documentation is unparalleled by any one else in the Carman family.

Ezra Ayes Carman was Chief Clerk of the United States Department of Agriculture from 1877 to 1885 (during which time he mailed out most of his genealogical letters on Government stationary - probably one reason most people responded to him.)  He served on the Antietam Battlefield Board from 1894 to 1898 and he is acknowledged as a leading authority of that battle .  In 1905 he was appointed chairman of the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park Commission.

Ezra's brother's George, William and Theodore worked in Thomas Alva Edison's laboratory in Menlo Park New Jersey, Theodore being the Shop Foreman.  Ezra's niece Maria can also be found in the biographies section of this website, having been a favorite child of Mr. Edison when she visited the lab.

Ezra's brother, James L. Carman, served under him as a Lieutenant in Company E and D of the Thirteenth Regiment, New Jersey Volunteers.

General Carman was living with his son, L.D. Carman, at 1351 Q Street NW, Washington DC, at the time of his death. His son was a medical examiner in the U.S. Pension Bureau and signed his death certificate. Ezra Ayres Carman died of Pneumonia. His wife, Ada, was living in Los Angeles at the time taking care of her blind brother.