John Carling was born in the area of Kingston, Ulster County, New York, USA, according to family records, on 11 September 1800. He was christened on 4 December 1800, in the traditional church of his parents, the Kingston Dutch Reformed Church. By 1820, John was living in the small town of Esopus, Ulster, New York. He worked as a carpenter, and was also trained as a rock and brick mason, gunsmith, toolmaker, and cabinetmaker. On 1 September 1830, John married Emeline Keator, the daughter of Jacob and Catherine Paine Keator, at the Kingston Dutch Reformed Church. John and Emeline Keator Carling had five children, including: Isaac Van Wagoner Carling, b. 1831; Sarah Frances Wildey Carling, b. 1833; Catherine Keaton Carling, b. 1835; Abraham Freer Carling, b. 1837; and John Warner Carling, b. 1843. The first three children were born in Esopus; the fourth, Abraham Freer Carling, was born in Poughkeepsie, Dutchess County, New York, where the family lived for a few years. On 5 January 1840, John Carling was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). John and Emeline then moved their family to Nauvoo, Hancock County, Illinois. In Nauvoo, John began to assist in the construction of the Nauvoo Temple. John helped to haul and carve stone for the temple. John was ordained a seventy and received his patriarchal blessing from Hyrum Smith in 1842. He was a member of the Nauvoo 2nd Ward. After the death of Emeline, soon after she gave birth to her fifth child, John Warner Carling, John married a second time to an English LDS convert, Ann Green. They were married by Hyrum Smith. John and Ann Green Carling went on to have two children together: Francis Caleb Carling, b. 1845, and Joseph Mathew Carling, b. 1847. After the LDS people were driven out of Nauvoo, John and Ann eventually traveled west, to the Salt Lake Valley, in 1852. John and Ann Carling soon settled in Fillmore, Millard County, Utah. John began farming, and served also as the town Sheriff, town Judge, and as a Counselor to the LDS Bishop of Fillmore. John Carling helped to construct the State House in Fillmore, Millard County, Utah, which was originally planned as the location for the Utah State Capitol. While John Carling served as the Millard County Representative of the Utah Territorial Legislature, he contracted pneumonia, and passed away at the age of 54.