Janet Banks was born on March 5, 1904 in Easley, South Carolina, the daughter of Martin Luther Banks, Jr., a Methodist minister who was the son of a Methodist minister and his wife Maud Dickson Banks, who was the daughter of a Methodist minister. She grew up as a member of a church family with two brothers and four sisters. The family moved frequently, as was the custom with Methodist ministers of that time, and she enjoyed an active childhood, excelling in school, music and sports. She graduated from Hartsville High School as its valedictorian and later attended Coker College for two years and Columbia Women's College for one year, going on to teach school in Sumter and Lee Counties.

She married James McElhaney Carson, Jr. on February 5, 1931 at her parents' home in Columbia, South Carolina. Her father performed the ceremony. She then became a member of the Kershaw First Presbyterian Church, singing in the church choir. Later she would become the church organist and choir director, retiring in 1981.

From The Church Bulletin of July 26, 1981:


To be recorded in the minutes of the Session of the Kershaw First Presbyterian Church:
"Whereas Mrs. Janet Carson has faithfully served as organist and choir director of the Kershaw First Presbyterian Church for 29 years, and
•Whereas Mrs. Janet Carson has provided our church with beautiful music, both instrumental and vocal during this time, and
"Whereas Mrs. Carson has been very conscientious and careful in the care of our instruments and in the securing of music materials,
"Therefore, we the members of the Session of the Kershaw First Presbyterian Church, on behalf of our entire church, do hereby humbly and gratefully express our sincere and heartfelt thanks to Almighty God for giving us this gracious servant of the Lord, and to Mrs. Janet Carson for her unselfish and willing service to our church during these years. God bless you, Mrs. Carson. Your life and your dedication have enriched and greatly blessed our church. We pray that this will continue, though in a different capacity, as long as you are a part of our church family. To you we dedicate the words of the Psalmist
"'The righteous person shall bloom like a palm tree, like the cedar of Lebanon will he be increased. The ones who are planted in the house of the Lord, in the courts of our God, they will flourish. Then they shall be increased with richness in old age, and shall live comfortably that they may proclaim that the Lord, my God is upright, and there is not any wickedness in Him.*"
(Psalm 92:12-15 LXX)

She came to live with her husband and her sisters-in-law Iva Lee (Sammy) and Welsh in the Carson family home in Kershaw. Ann had married in January of 1931, Sammy married in April of 1931 and Welsh married in 1941, and after James unexpectedly passed away the next year, she acquired the home and raised three sons as a single parent. Along the way she overcame many hardships in addition to losing her husband after only eleven years of marriage. Shortly after his death she contracted rheumatoid arthritis that damaged the joints in her hands and feet. Despite this, she attended Coker College to complete her degree requirements and obtain her teaching certificate. Ten years later she was diagnosed with cancer, but she overcame both illnesses, teaching school, giving piano lessons, playing the church organ, directing the church choir, and working holidays and Saturdays at Belk's department store. When she was diagnosed with congestive heart failure in 1980, she disclosed that she had a damaged heart valve, probably caused by the strep infection that led to her arthritis. She retired after teaching school for many years and lived out her remaining years in her home in Kershaw.

She passed away in the Kershaw County Hospital on November 27, 1993 due to congestive heart failure.