Rehoboth Carpenter Family - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Rehoboth Carpenter family is an American family that helped settle the town of Rehoboth, Massachusetts

Rehoboth, Massachusetts

Rehoboth is a town in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 10,172 at the 2000 census.-History:It was incorporated in 1643 making it one of the earliest Massachusetts towns to be incorporated. The Rehoboth Carpenter Family is among the founding families...

in 1644.

The first immigrant and founder of this line was William Carpenter (generation 1) (b. c1575 in England), his namesake son, William Carpenter (Generation 2) (c1605 in England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

-1658/9 Rehoboth, Bristol, MA), and the son's wife and children (then numbering four) arrived on the Bevis from Southampton, England, in 1638. Nothing more is known of the father, William, in Massachusetts and he is presumed to have perished either in passage, shortly after arriving in the new world or, less likely he returned to England. William Carpenter (Gen. 2) is buried in the Newman Congregational Church Cemetery with a simple field stone marked with a "W. C.".

William Carpenter, (Gen. 2) first appears in New England records in 1640, as a resident of Weymouth, Massachusetts

Weymouth, Massachusetts

The Town of Weymouth is a city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2010 census, Weymouth had a total population of 53,743. Despite its city status, it is formally known as the Town of Weymouth...

. He was among the founders (at Weymouth in late 1643) of the Plymouth Colony town of Rehoboth

Rehoboth

-Places:In the Christian Bible*Rehoboth , the name of three Biblical placesin Australia*Rehoboth Christian College, Perth, Western AustraliaIn Israel*Rehoboth, the conventional English name for Rehovot, IsraelIn Namibia*Rehoboth, Namibia...

(settled 1644). His son, William (Gen. 3) Carpenter (b. 1631 in England - 1702/3 Rehoboth, Bristol, MA), was for many years Rehoboth town clerk, by virtue of which his name—not that of his father—appears with some frequency in Plymouth Colony

Plymouth Colony

Plymouth Colony was an English colonial venture in North America from 1620 to 1691. The first settlement of the Plymouth Colony was at New Plymouth, a location previously surveyed and named by Captain John Smith. The settlement, which served as the capital of the colony, is today the modern town...

records, in association with a number of local vital-records lists that he certified and forwarded to colony authorities. The name William Carpenter appears in copious Plymouth Colony

Plymouth Colony

records and in the writings of John Winthrop

John Winthrop

John Winthrop was a wealthy English Puritan lawyer, and one of the leading figures in the founding of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the first major settlement in New England after Plymouth Colony. Winthrop led the first large wave of migrants from England in 1630, and served as governor for 12 of...

and in other public records over the generations.

Three Carpenter family houses in Rehoboth are listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

: Christopher Carpenter House

Christopher Carpenter House

Christopher Carpenter House is a historic house at 60 Carpenter Street in Rehoboth, Massachusetts.The house was built in 1800 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.-See also:...

, Col. Thomas Carpenter III House

Col. Thomas Carpenter III House

Col. Thomas Carpenter III House is a historic house at 77 Bay State Road in Rehoboth, Massachusetts.The Georgian architecture style house was built in 1755 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.-Family:...

, and Carpenter House

Carpenter House (Rehoboth, Massachusetts)

Carpenter House is a historic house at 89 Carpenter Street in Rehoboth, Massachusetts.The house was built in 1789 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.-See also:...

English ancestry

These Carpenters previously lived in Shalbourne

Shalbourne

Shalbourne is a civil parish in the English county of Wiltshire. Besides a village of the same name, the parish includes a number of widely spaced small settlements, including Bagshot and Stype, to the north, and Rivar and Oxenwood to the south...

, an English parish near Hungerford that straddled the boundary between Wiltshire and Berkshire. The Rehoboth Carpenters' English origins were obscure until the discovery of Bishops' Transcripts of Shalbourne parish records containing marriage, baptismal, and burial records pertaining to them. Among these records is that of William (Senior) Carpenter's marriage in 1625 to Abigail Briant of Shalbourne. A search of Westcourt Manor tenants' records reveals William Carpenter (Gen. 1) as a copyholder at Westcourt Manor in Shalbourne

Shalbourne

from 1608 to late 1637.

Immigrant family

William Carpenter (Gen. 1) born about 1575 in England. He died after 2 May 1638 (Bevis passenger list) and certainly before 1644 when his son, William settled in Rehoboth. He was of Newtown, Shalbourne Parish, Wiltshire, England, by 1608, when he became a copyholder (semipermanent leaseholder) at Westcourt Manor (Westcourt Recs 7). Shalbourne, completely in Wiltshire since 1895, previously it straddled the line separating Wiltshire and Berkshire, with Westcourt comprising the Wiltshire part of the parish (Shalbourne Map); the Hampshire border was/is about four miles away. It is likely that William was born in one of these three counties. William's renewal of his Westcourt tenancy on 22 June 1614 gives his age as 40 (Westcourt Recs 7). The passenger list of the Bevis, the ship on which he left England, is dated 2 May 1638 and states William's age as 62 leading to an estimate of about 1575 for his birth.

His son William Carpenter (Gen. 2) was born about 1605 in or of Wiltshire, England. He died 7 February 1658/1659 in Rehoboth, Bristol, MA. He married Abigail Briant, daughter of John & Alice, on 28 April 1625 in Shalbourne Parish, Berkshire, now in, Wiltshire, England.

Their children:

John Carpenter - Christened 8 Oct.1626 in Shalborne Parish - Bevis passenger
Abigail Carpenter - Chr. 31 May 1629 in Shalborne Parish - Bevis passenger
William Carpenter (Gen. 3) - Chr. 22 Nov. 1631 in Shalborne Parish - Bevis Passenger
Joseph Carpenter - Chr. 6 Apr. 1634 in Shalborne Parish - Bevis Passenger
Samuel Carpenter - Chr. 1 Mar 1636/1637 d. 20 Apr 1637 both in Shalbourne Parish.
Samuel Carpenter - b. abt. 1638 of, Weymouth, Norfolk, MA - his mother was probably pregnant on the Bevis
Hannah Carpenter - b. 3 Apr. 1640 Weymouth, Norfolk, MA
Abiah Carpenter - b. 9 Apr. 1643 of, Weymouth, Norfolk, MA

Church

There is no record to confirm it, but it is said that certain Rehoboth Carpenters were among the founders of the Rehoboth (now Newman) Congregational Church (See: Newman Congregational Church

Newman Congregational Church

Newman Congregational Church is an historic church at 100 Newman Avenue in East Providence, Rhode Island.The church was built in 1810 and added to the National Historic Register in 1980.-External links:*...

and the Newman Cemetery

Newman Cemetery

The Newman Cemetery is an historic cemetery in East Providence, Rhode Island.One of the oldest in the state, the cemetery was constructed in 1643 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980....

)

This much we know: William (Gen. 2) Carpenter's admission as a Massachusetts Bay Colony freeman from Weymouth in 1640 required church membership. The minister at Weymouth was Rev. Samuel Newman, most of whose congregation accompanied him to Rehoboth, where he was also the minister. William (Gen. 2) Carpenter was one of Rehoboth's fifty-eight original proprietors and is buried in Old Rehoboth (Newman Church) Cemetery. (While records of the time provide no direct evidence as to the religious affiliation of William (Gen. 2) Carpenter of Rehoboth, he was certainly not a Baptist, even though other Carpenters in New England were. In this regard, he is sometimes confused with William Carpenter (Rhode Island)

William Carpenter (Rhode Island)

William Carpenter William Carpenter William Carpenter (born about 1610 probably in Amesbury, Wiltshire, England - died September 7, 1685 at Providence (Pawtuxet section now in Cranston, Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations) was a co-founder of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations...

of Providence and others.

Notable Carpenters of the Rehoboth Carpenter family

Through his five sons, Capt. William Carpenter became known as the father of "The Family of Heroes." Over 300 of his male lineal descendants served America in the Revolutionary War. No other American family can make such a claim.

Among the Rehoboth Carpenter descendants who fought in the American Revolution
American Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...

was Captain Benajah Carpenter
Benajah Carpenter
Benajah Carpenter, founding member of the United States Army Field Artillery Corps under Henry Knox and veteran of the Siege of Boston and Battle of Long Island. Carpenter was born April 27, 1748 and was killed in action on Long Island on August 27, 1776. He was a descendant of the Rehoboth...

, a founding member of the United States Army Field Artillery Corps
United States Army Field Artillery Corps
The Field Artillery branch was founded on 17 November 1775 by the Continental Congress, which unanimously elected Henry Knox "Colonel of the Regiment of Artillery". The regiment formally entered service on 1 January 1776...

under Henry Knox
Henry Knox
Henry Knox was a military officer of the Continental Army and later the United States Army, and also served as the first United States Secretary of War....

.
Another member of this family was George Rice Carpenter
George Rice Carpenter
George Rice Carpenter was a noted educator, scholar and author. He was a descendant of the Rehoboth Carpenter Family and Edmund Rice of Massachusetts.- Early life and education :...

(1863–1909), born in Labrador
Labrador
Labrador is the distinct, northerly region of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It comprises the mainland portion of the province, separated from the island of Newfoundland by the Strait of Belle Isle...

and a graduate of Harvard
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

in 1886. He taught at Harvard from 1888 to 1890 and at Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...

from 1890 to 1893. In 1893 he became a professor of English rhetoric at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...

and authored a long list of textbooks on literature and rhetoric and biographies of Whittier
John Greenleaf Whittier
John Greenleaf Whittier was an influential American Quaker poet and ardent advocate of the abolition of slavery in the United States. He is usually listed as one of the Fireside Poets...

, Whitman
Walt Whitman
Walter "Walt" Whitman was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among the most influential poets in the American canon, often called the father of free verse...

, and Longfellow
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was an American poet and educator whose works include "Paul Revere's Ride", The Song of Hiawatha, and Evangeline...

. A classics library at Columbia is named in his honor.
Painter Francis Bicknell Carpenter
Francis Bicknell Carpenter
Francis Bicknell Carpenter was an American painter born in Homer, New York. Carpenter is best known for his painting First Reading of the Emancipation Proclamation of President Lincoln, which is hanging in the United States Capitol...

's (1830–1900) work hangs in the United States Capitol
United States Capitol
The United States Capitol is the meeting place of the United States Congress, the legislature of the federal government of the United States. Located in Washington, D.C., it sits atop Capitol Hill at the eastern end of the National Mall...

. Carpenter also resided with President Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...

in the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...

and published a memoir of his stay.
Project Mercury
Project Mercury
In January 1960 NASA awarded Western Electric Company a contract for the Mercury tracking network. The value of the contract was over $33 million. Also in January, McDonnell delivered the first production-type Mercury spacecraft, less than a year after award of the formal contract. On February 12,...

astronaut and argonaut M. Scott Carpenter (b. May 1, 1925) descends from Joseph Carpenter, the fourth son of William Carpenter (Gen. 2).
Early U.S. Naval Aviator Donald Marshall Carpenter of whom the USS Carpenter DD 825 was named for. He descends from William Carpenter, a son of William Carpenter (Gen. 2).
Cyrus C Carpenter
Cyrus C. Carpenter
Cyrus Clay Carpenter was a Civil War officer, the eighth Governor of Iowa and U.S. Representative from Iowa's 9th congressional district.-Early life:...

, eighth Governor of Iowa, is a descendant of William Carpenter, a son of William Carpenter (Gen. 2).
Dr. Edmund Snow Carpenter
Edmund Snow Carpenter
Edmund "Ted" Snow Carpenter was an anthropologist best known for his work on tribal art and visual media.-Early life:...

(1922-2011), anthropologist and educator, a descendant of William Carpenter

Relationship with other New England Carpenter families

William Carpenter (Rhode Island)

, son of Richard Carpenter of Amesbury was a reportedly a first cousin of William Carpenter of Rehoboth, son of William Carpenter of Shalbourne, England. In addition he supposedly was closely related to Alexander Carpenter of Wrington, Somersetshire, and Leiden, Netherlands, of whom his four married daughters were in the Plymouth Colony in the early 1620s. This derives from Amos B. Carpenter’s unsupported claim that Richard of William of Shalbourne, and Alexander Carpenter were brothers. No genealogical evidence has been found even hinting at a link between the Wrington

Wrington

Wrington is a village and civil parish in North Somerset, England. It lies in the valley of the Congresbury Yeo river about east of Weston-super-Mare and south-east of Yatton. It is both a civil parish, with a population of 2,896, and an ecclesiastical parish...

Carpenters, on the one hand, and either of the other two afore-mentioned families, on the other; a connection is highly improbable. Traditional genealogical research methods provide good reasons to doubt also that Providence William and Rehoboth William were closely related.

External links