3.
William Carpenter
William CarpenterINTRO: (This is a recap of the info below)
William Carpenter, son of Richard Carpenter of Amesbury, Wiltshire, England, was born about 1610 probably in Amesbury. He died on 7 Sep 1685 in Providence (Pawtuxet section, now in Cranston), Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.
William married Elizabeth Arnold, daughter of William1 and Christian (Peak) Arnold, about 1637 probably in Providence. Elizabeth was born on 23 Nov 1611 in Ilchester, Somerset, England. She died after 10 Feb 1679/80 probably in Pawtuxet (Providence).
Gene Zubrinsky’s original notes (ca. 2000), different venue from the later Carpenter Sketches, received August 2018:
WILLIAM1 CARPENTER_ born _say 1610_ place _prob Amesbury, Wiltshire, England
died 7 Sep 1685 place Pawtuxet (Providence), RI & Prov Plantations and (only) spouse
ELIZABETH ARNOLD__ born _23 Nov 1611__ place _Ilchester, Somerset, England__
died _after 10 Feb 1679/80 (named in husband’s will)_ place _prob Pawtuxet______
married _ca 1637__________ place _Providence ____________________________
List proof: Carpenter Family at Providence, 20-28, citing Early Records of … Providence, 21 vols.
(1892-1915), 6:138-50, transcr. of W1C will (with codicil, inventory), dtd 10 Feb 1679/80, names
“eldest son” J2C, “deare & loveing wife” Elizabeth, sons Silas, Benjamin to care for “theire mother”
(estate inventory has W1C death date); Early Records of Providence, 5:323-25, transcr. from Third
Book of Town of Providence, 463 [sic, 477; FHL film 915,084], deed, dtd 4 Dec 1671, whereby W1C
conveys to sister Fridgsweete/Fridgswett (not Fridgswith) Vincent of Amesbury his dwelling house
and adjoining land there, formerly his father RAC’s (no. 13, line 2); Edwin Hubbard, “Early Records of
the Arnold Family,” NEHGR 33(1879):428 (EA b r); Edson Salisbury Jones, “The Parentage of
William Arnold and Thomas Arnold of Providence, R.I.,” NEHGR 69(1915): 66-68 (Arnold family
origin, ancestry); Zubrinsky, NEHGR 159:67-68, 164:36-40 (W1C immigration, marriage data). See
also http://carpentercousins.com/Wm1_Providence.pdf.
13. The said (no. 12, line 2) __WILLIAM1 CARPENTER_______________ was the child of
RICHARDA CARPENTER_ born unknown_ place _perhaps Newton Toney, Wiltshire__
Notes below by Eugene Cole Zubrinsky
Ojai, California, 2009
[Derived from one of twelve fully formatted sketches of early Carpenters, these notes contain the most-authoritative information available as of January 2009. The sketches may be viewed in the "Gene Zubrinsky" folder of the CE 2009 and also online at . (The online version will be updated when appropriate; check the revision date.) **Where other information herein conflicts with Zubrinsky's notes, his notes take precedence.**]
WILLIAM1 CARPENTER (Richard of Amesbury) was born in England, probably Amesbury, Wiltshire (not Nettlecombe, Somerset), say 1610 and died at Providence (Pawtuxet section, now in Cranston), Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, on 7 September 1685. He married about 1637, probably at Providence (not by 1635, in England), ELIZABETH ARNOLD, born at Ilchester, Somerset (not Cheselbourne, Dorset), England, on 23 November 1611 and died after 10 February 1679/80 (date of husband's will) (ca. 1683?), daughter of William1 and Christian (Peak) Arnold. William and Elizabeth were almost certainly buried on their homestead, in present-day Cranston (PrTR 5:323-25, 6:141, 150, 17:62-63; NEHGR 33:428, 69:66-68, 159:67-68; Austin 36; Arnold Mem 35, 52; see also BIRTH, MARRIAGE, IMMIGRATION, RESIDENCES, and COMMENTS sections, below). [While the foregoing genealogical data is presented in _Register_ style, the embedding, grouping, and severe abbreviating of source citations are conveniences that depart from it. Sources are cited in full in KEY TO SOURCES, at the end of these notes. The format below is patterned loosely after that used by Robert Charles Anderson in his _Great Migration_ series.]
BIRTH: In 1671, William Carpenter of Pawtuxet, in the township of Providence, gave to his sister [and only known sibling], "Fridgsweete" (Carpenter) Vincent of the English town and parish of Amesbury, "my dwelling house" and adjoining land there, both inherited from his father, Richard Carpenter (PrTR 5:323-25). In 1598[/9], Robert Carpenter of the adjacent parish of Newton Toney named Richard Carpenter of "Aymsbury" among his legatees; a Richard Carpenter, presumably the same man and William's father, was buried at the latter place in 1625 (PCC 93 Kidd fol. 47; AmParReg.1:n.p.). It is therefore probable that William was born at Amesbury.
William's birth year is roughly estimated above as "say 1610." _Say_ is based on less-precise data than _about/circa_, and in this case we have nothing better from which to infer William's birth date than that of his wife, in late 1611. NO RECORD OF THE BIRTH OR BAPTISM OF WILLIAM1 CARPENTER OF PROVIDENCE HAS BEEN FOUND. ANY SPECIFIC DATE FOR EITHER EVENT APPEARING IN THE SECONDARY LITERATURE (E.G., 23 MAY 1611) IS EITHER AN INVENTION OR THE RESULT OF CONFUSION AND SHOULD BE IGNORED.
MARRIAGE: For evidence that William Carpenter arrived in New England a single man and married about 1637, probably at Providence--not by 1635, in England--see IMMIGRATION, below.
William's will instructs sons Silas and Benjamin to "take ye whole & sole Care of Elizabeth my loveing wife their mother" (PrTR 6:144). That Elizabeth was an Arnold by birth is evident from another passage in the will referring to "my brother Stephen Arnold" (PrTR 6:141). Other records--a deed from William's son Joseph to "my uncle Stephen Arnold," for example--further confirm Elizabeth's identity (RILE 50).
IMMIGRATION: Elizabeth Arnold's brother Benedict, continuing the family record begun by their father, relates that "My father and his family . . . arrived in New England June 24 Anno 1635" (NEHGR 33:428). Daniel Hoogland Carpenter disputes the year, contending that it was actually 1636 (see Carpenter [1901] 9n). It will become apparent below, however, that 1635 is correct. Author Carpenter acknowledges that "[t]here is only 'tradition' to support the theory that along with [the Arnolds] came William Carpenter and his wife" (Carpenter [1901] 9). He nevertheless claims that William married Elizabeth Arnold in England, arguing that "the Arnolds and Carpenters were at Providence at the same early date" (Carpenter [1901] 8, 9). He later concludes that William and Elizabeth's eldest son, Joseph2, must have been an adult when he witnessed a deed on 3 May 1656 and thus had been born about 1635, in England (Carpenter [1901] 30, 31; see also Arnold Mem 9, 52; RI Roots 13:75). This, of course, is consistent with the assertion that Joseph and his parents immigrated to New England with the Arnolds.
There are, however, several reasons to doubt that William1 Carpenter of Providence had any contact with the Arnolds in England. First, William's probable English home of Amesbury, Wiltshire, and that of the Arnolds, at Ilchester, Somerset, are more than forty miles apart. "[H]oping to assist further research," Elisha Arnold (1935) introduces the 1606 marriage of Richard Carpenter and Susanna Trevelian, recorded at Nettlecombe, Somerset (seventy plus miles from Amesbury), as "seem[ing] to connect in some way with a John and Richard at Salisbury, 7 miles from Amesbury." So as to put William Carpenter and Elizabeth Arnold in close proximity in England, overzealous researchers have converted this item into the assertions, now frequently seen online, that Richard and Susanna (Trevelian) Carpenter were Providence William's parents and that Richard died at Ilchester in 1625. Trevelian's husband, however, died at Loxhore, Devon, in 1627 and left neither a son William nor a daughter Frideswide (or variants Fridgsweete, Frittisweed, etc.). The Richard Carpenter buried at Amesbury on 21 September 1625 is far more likely to have been William's father than one said to have died at Ilchester that year.
A second reason for skepticism as to Carpenter-Arnold contact in England is that while William1 Arnold--like William1 Carpenter, an original Providence proprietor--was granted a house-lot at Hingham, Massachusetts, on 18 September 1635, Carpenter was not. Had the latter man already married Elizabeth Arnold and immigrated with her family, he, too, almost certainly would have become a Hingham proprietor; the town's records fail altogether to mention him, however. William1 Carpenter first appears in New England records at Providence, no earlier than mid-1637, under "Agrements & orders the second year of ye Plantation" (begun in the spring of 1636 at Seekonk, on the east bank of the Seekonk River in present-day East Providence, and relocated that summer to the river's west bank).
Third, that Providence William's son Joseph witnessed a deed at Providence on 3 May 1656 is mistaken as evidence that he was then an adult and must therefore have been born about 1635, presumably at Amesbury. Witnesses as young as fourteen are found in early New England records, however. (This was the _age of discretion_, at which one could witness documents, choose a guardian, testify in court, and indenture oneself without parental consent.) Fourth, a deposition given by Benjamin Smith and Joseph Carpenter on 16 October 1664 describes the latter man as "Aged 26 yeeres," implying a birth year of about 1638. [This paragraph and the two preceding ones are taken almost verbatim from Zubrinsky, "Abiah3 Carpenter of Warwick, Rhode Island and His Family, With Additional Material Concerning William1 Carpenter of Providence . . . ," NEHGR 159(2005):55-68, at 67-68 (which see for specific source citations). In the course of preparing this sketch, the author has identified additional evidence, presented below, that William Carpenter's path and that of the Arnold family did not cross until William's arrival at Providence.]
Finally, certain Providence records, including the first two of William Carpenter in New England, strongly imply that he came to Providence not "at the same early date" as the Arnolds (as per Carpenter [1901]) but as much as a year or so later. The first of these, under the heading "Agrements & orders the second year of ye Plantation" [about June 1637 to June 1638], is an otherwise undated order that William Carpenter, Benedict Arnold, Francis Weekes, William Reynolds, Thomas Angell, Mrs. Daniel, and Mary Sweet "shold pay in consideration of Ground at present Granted vnto them" two shillings [and sixpence?] apiece; Edward Cope is assessed five shillings [and sixpence?] (PrTR 1:3; RICR 1:15 ["and sixpence"]). Immediately after this is another undated entry, ordering that Mr. Cole [Robert Coles], Francis Weston, and Richard Waterman are each to pay two shillings [one shilling and sixpence?] if "they do not Improue their Ground at present graunted to them . . . by preparing to fense to plaunt to build etc" (PrTR 1:3; RICR 1:15 ["one shilling and sixpence"]). Of those named above, only four--Carpenter, Coles, Weston, and Waterman--would subsequently be identified as original proprietors (see, for example, PrTR 3:90-91, 4:73, 14:274). The latter three, slow to take up their respective grants, presumably had received and paid for them at least several months previously. Carpenter and those named with him, on the other hand, were yet to pay for their lots and almost certainly had obtained them more recently. That none of the others listed with Carpenter was an original proprietor, moreover, suggests that he was one of the last of the thirteen men to earn that designation in later records. (Roger Williams recounts that "poor young fellow" Francis Weekes and "a lad of Thomas Waterman's," generally thought to have been Thomas Angell [both are named with Carpenter, above], were among the first to join Williams in the spring of 1636 [RWCorr 750; RI Hist 1:97]. It is generally supposed that land grants to them were delayed until they came of age.)
The Arnolds, by contrast, had joined Roger Williams more than a year earlier. Benedict Arnold recounts that "We came to Providence to Dwell the 20th of April, 1636" (NEHGR 33:428). First situated on the eastern bank of the Seekonk River, Williams and his friends removed about two months later to the other side of the river (beyond the jurisdiction of Plymouth Colony), where they built their permanent settlement. William Arnold stated in 1659 that "I was one that the very first day entred with some others vpon the land of Prouidence and so laid out my money to buy and helpe pay for it" (PrTR 15:77-78). (Despite having accompanied his father at that time, Benedict Arnold [named with Carpenter above], did not reach adulthood until 21 December 1636 and consequently, as with Weekes and Angell, was not an original proprietor [see NEHGR 33:428].)
The second Providence record naming William Carpenter, dated 10 4th month [June] (year not recorded), implies the order of arrival of two cohorts of settlers: "ye Severall portions of grasse & medow wch our neighbour[s] Greene . . . Cole . . . Arnold & . . . Weston Layd out in ye Townes name vnto [our] neighbour[s] James . . . Olney . . . Waterman . . . Cole . . . Weston . . . Carpenter . . . Holyman were Confirmed as their proper Right & Inheritance to them & theirs as fully as the _former_ portions appropriated to [our] neighbour Throckmorton neighbour Greene neighbour Harris Joshua Verin, neighbour Arnold and neighbour Williams were or are confirmed to them & theirs" (emphasis added) (PrTR 1:4-5, RICR 1:17). (Bartlett gives the year of this record as 1637 [see RICR 1:17]; other records suggest, and other writers conclude, that it was 1638 [see PrTR 1:4, "It was agreede . . ."; WP 30-31; DHRI 1:75; BQ 10:196-97].) The six men listed as having previously confirmed their allotments (including William Arnold) are evidently the earliest of the Providence settlers. In a letter written to the town of Providence in 1650, Joshua Verin speaks of "we six which Cam first" (PrTR 15:37; RICR 1:17n). (Verin, the only one named above who is not called "neighbour," had recently been disfranchised and would soon leave Providence, forfeiting his lands there [PrTR 1:4; NEHGR 131:103-4]. He thus is not among the original purchasers named in subsequent records. The above-quoted record names all the original proprietors except Stukely Westcott [compare, for example, with PrTR 3:90-91, 14:274].) The seven men receiving confirmation of title (William Carpenter among them) had clearly arrived later than the six whose titles had already been validated. Based on the foregoing, we may reasonably estimate that Carpenter came to Providence at least a year after the Arnolds joined the group at Seekonk, in April 1636. It follows that he did not reach New England with and as an in-law of the Arnolds but came as a single man.
But if William Carpenter did not arrive with the Arnolds, on 24 June 1635, then when and with whom did he come to New England? Two records, one colonial and the other English, provide the probable answer. The following entry, dated 3 June 1635, appears in Massachusetts Bay Colony Governor John Winthrop's journal: "heere [at Boston] arived . . . the Iames a shippe of 300: t. with Cattle & passingers which came all safe from S: hampton within [about five weeks and three days]" (WJ 147). Two months earlier, at Southampton "in & aboute the vjt [6th] of April 1635," fifty-three "men, youthes, & boyes . . . besids [sic] the wives & Children of Dyvers of these" had registered for passage to New England on the _James_ of London (PRO/TNA CO1/8/183-85, at 185; Coldham 133-34; NEHGR 14:332 erroneously has _vt_ [5th] of April). (The passengers' dockside arrival probably occurred over a period of days. But the ship's departure--calculated as about 26 April--was likely delayed while a replacement for the original master was found. The passenger list names William Cooper, but Winthrop identifies the ship's master as a man named Graves, with whom he is familiar.)
Among the names on the _James_'s passenger list are "Thomas" Carpenter of Amesbury, carpenter; "Josuah Verren" (Joshua Verin), roper; and John Greene, surgeon. The latter two are listed (beginning with the third name below Carpenter's) in a cluster of nine men "late of New Saru[m]" (NEHGR 14:333 erroneously says "late of New England"). If the Amesbury carpenter was not already acquainted with Verin and Greene--New Sarum (Salisbury) is only seven miles south of Amesbury--he certainly got to know them during the voyage. While Verin settled first at Salem and Greene at Boston, there is no record of a Thomas Carpenter in New England until 1692 (NEHGR 131:101, 103; GM 3:141-42; RVR [pub] 572). Joshua Verin and John Greene ("neighbor Greene," above) were among the six men "which Cam first" to Providence, in 1636; William Carpenter settled there a year or so later (see above; also NEHGR 131:103; GM 3:141-43, 145-46).
It is thus a fact that an Amesbury carpenter surnamed Carpenter emigrated on the same ship as two men from nearby Salisbury who became early associates of Roger Williams at Providence, as did an Amesbury carpenter surnamed Carpenter not long thereafter (see OCCUPATION and WILL/ESTATE, below). If passenger Carpenter were listed as William rather than Thomas, we would not hesitate to conclude that he and William of Providence were one. While the forename conflict gives pause, it is the only ill-fitting puzzle piece. It is likely that the _James_ passenger was actually William Carpenter--inadvertently recorded with the same forename as Thomas Davyes (Davis), who is listed immediately above the Amesbury man. That William Carpenter's first appearance in New England records does not occur until 1637 or 1638 is not significant; many early immigrants went unrecorded for some years after their arrival (see PrTR 1:3, 4). The aforementioned Thomas Davis, for example, does not surface in New England until 1641 (GM 2:310, 316). It is therefore probable--albeit unproved--that the eventual William1 Carpenter of Providence arrived at Boston on 3 June 1635 aboard the _James_ from Southampton.
RESIDENCES: Amesbury (probably from birth, say 1610); Providence (ca. 1637; perhaps Salem or Boston (probably 1635); Pawtuxet section by 1642) (PrTR 1:3; DHRI 1:42-43; BIRTH and IMMIGRATION, above).
D. H. Carpenter's assertion that William Carpenter and four others "at once made settlement" at Pawtuxet after receiving their respective shares of land there in 1638 is open to debate (see Carpenter [1901] 17). In the distribution agreement, dated 8 8th month [October] 1638, Roger Williams states that "all the Meddow ground at Patuxett, bounding vpon the fresh River on both sides is to be impropriated vnto those 13 persons now Jncorporated together in our Towne of providence . . . and to be equally divided among them" (PrTR 15:31; RICR 1:20-21). The boundary between the Pawtuxet lands and the "Gennerall Comon" of the town of Providence was established on 27 5th month [July] 1640 (followed by many years of controversy) (PrTR 15:2). On 30 11th month [January] 1641[/2], "Socononoco Sachem of Patuxset, . . . granted vnto Wm Arnold, Robert Cole & William Carpenter all the lands Marshes medowes, Islands Rivers ponds lyeing betweene the great fresh or salt River called Patuxset River both aboue & below the fall, the River called Pachasett, & the river called Wanasquatuckett, and the great salt River that is between Providence & Patuxit" (SLR 1:63 [witnessed at Boston in 1645]). (Obtaining this deed--to land already purchased by Roger Williams, who [as above] had agreed to divide the Pawtuxet portion among the thirteen first comers--was part of Arnold's bid to remove the Gortonists, who had settled on the west side of Pawtuxet, and invalidate the claims of other original proprietors [Irrepressible Democrat 134].) Shortly before 28 October 1642, "Wm Arnold of Patuxet & Robert Cole & others [having] lately put themselves & theire families lands & estates vnder the protection & Government of [Massachusetts Bay Colony] . . . complained to [them] that [the town of Providence has] since (vppon pretence of a late purchase from the Indians) gone about to deprive them of theire lawfull interest confirmed by _4 yeares posession_ . . ." (emphasis added) (SLR 1:33). If _possession_ is taken to mean _occupancy_, then settlement of Pawtuxet probably occurred sometime between late 1638 and spring 1639.
There is, however, no record indicating precisely when the Pawtuxet lots were laid out. On 14 2nd month [April] 1641, "the Towne of P[ro]vidence . . . Confirmed . . . vnto William Arnold one of the ffree Jnhabetantes of the Towne of Providence" his various land holdings in the town proper but not in Pawtuxet (PrTR 1:109-11). Not until 2 2nd month [April] 1642, when Thomas Olney of Providence leased most of his Pawtuxet land to Arnold, was the latter man recorded as "of providence, or of pautuxett" (PrTR 1:103-4). On 8 September 1642, the Pawtuxet inhabitants, "upon their petition, were taken under [the] government & p[ro]tection" of Massachusetts Bay Colony (MBCR 2:26-27). (The Pawtuxet men, apparently then six in number--William Arnold, Robert Coles, William Carpenter, Benedict Arnold, Zachariah Rhodes, and William Harris--sought thus to avert encroachment by Samuel Gorton and his followers.) Given the ambiguity surrounding the settlement date, it seems prudent to say that William Carpenter and his Pawtuxet neighbors established themselves there sometime between 1638 and 1642.
Pawtuxet--not to be confused with the town of Pawtucket, originally in northeast Providence--is a village lying on both sides of the Pawtuxet River at its mouth. On the north side of the river, Pawtuxet was the southern section of the township of Providence and is now in the town of Cranston. South of the river, Pawtuxet was/is in northern Warwick (PawWeb).
OCCUPATION: Housewright and yeoman. His estate inventory contains many house-carpenter's tools, and a daughter of William Harris's recounts in a letter dated in 1708 that William Carpenter had built her father's house (PrTR 6:149-50; PubRIHS 4:195, 196; WILL/ESTATE, below). Weeden's history of Rhode Island calls him "an English-bred carpenter . . . from Amesbury" (Early RI 87).
D. H. Carpenter recalls the family tradition "that William Carpenter was 'a preacher' in England, and the fact that he performed the marriage ceremony at the wedding of his daughter [Priscilla, in 1670] is, I think, ample proof that he was recognized by his church as one of its 'lay ministers'" (Carpenter [1901] 17, 321). There is no evidence to support this statement, however (see COMMENTS, par. 1, below). Marriage in early New England, moreover, was a civil union, a contract, not a sacrament. Weddings were performed by magistrates rather than clergymen and took place in private homes, not in churches. William's authority to perform marriages derived not from a position in the church but from his office as general assistant for Providence to the Rhode Island General Assembly (see EDUCATION and OFFICES, below).
FREEMAN: William is in the Providence section of the 1655 list of Rhode Island freemen and is also on a 1665 list of Providence freemen (RICR 1:299; PrTR 15:73).
EDUCATION: William Carpenter, Assistant, submitted for entry in the town book written records of marriages he performed in 1669, 1670, and 1671/2 (PrTR 3:106 ["I have joined"], 5:294 ["married . . . by me"]). In 1671/2, marriage banns were "published . . . by a wrighting fixed upon a publick place of the Towne of providence under the hand of Mr William Carpenter Assistant" (PrTR 5:329-30). In 1674[/5], he wrote a letter to the town of Providence declaring land-title transfers (PrTR 4:21-22).
OFFICES: One of four appointed by Boston authorities "to keepe the peace in [Pawtuxet]," 1642[-1658?]; commissioner/deputy for Providence to Rhode Island General Court/Assembly, 1657/8, 1659, 1660, 1661, 1662, 1663, 1664, 1665, 1675, 1676, 1679; juror, General Court of Trials, 1657/8 (did not serve), 1661[/2], 1663, 1664; juror, Grand Inquest, 1658/9, 1663, 1665; warden (magistrate), General Court of Trials, 1660/1; Providence town-meeting moderator, June 1662, June 1665, September 1665, April 1666, September 1666, October 1670, December 1670, February 1670/1, April-September 1671; general assistant for Providence to Rhode Island General Assembly, 1665, 1666, 1667, 1668, 1669, 1670, 1671, 1672; Providence justice of the peace, 1665/6, 1667, 1668; Providence town councilman, January 1670/1, June 1673 (MBCR 2:26-27, 4:1:332, 333; PrTR 1:28, 2:110, 114, 118-19, 128, 131, 3:2-247 passim, 4:52, 6:103-4, 7:227, 8:11, 47, 15:84-149 passim; RICR 1:366, 419, 428, 468, 480, 492, 501, 504, 508, 2:38-449 passim, 3:28-29; RICT1 1:39, 50-51, 70, 2:42-75 passim; RICT2 1, 6, 7, 8; WarTR 159). For other assignments, activities, etc., see PrTR 2:123-24, 3:19, 28, 31, 42-43, 58; RICR 1:430, 444, 482, 507, 2:151-537 passim; RICT2 46).
WILL/ESTATE: The will of William1 Carpenter "of Pautuxett in ye towneshipp of Providence," dated 10 February 1679/80 and proved (with codicil) 1 October 1685, names the following legatees (in order of first appearance): eldest son Joseph; daughters Lydia Smith and Priscilla Vincent; sons Silas (co-executor), Benjamin (co-executor), Timothy, and Ephraim; grandsons Ephraim Carpenter (eldest son of aforesaid son Ephraim, by first wife), William Carpenter [son of eldest son Joseph], and Joseph Smith (son of daughter Lydia); wife Elizabeth; granddaughter Susanna (sister of grandson Ephraim); and grandson Simon Smith (brother of grandson Joseph Smith) (PrTR 6:135, 138-46, 148 [also 4:21-22, 14:218, which identify grandson William as Joseph2's son]). Others mentioned include brother-in-law Stephen Arnold and deceased son William. A codicil to the will, dated 15 March 1683/4, includes a section indicating that son Joseph is deceased and leaving his bequest to grandson Joseph [son of the deceased Joseph] (PrTR 6:147-48).
Almost all bequests are of land, rights to subsequent land divisions, and rights of commoning (entitlements to pasturage on and/or divisions of common land). In only one instance--twenty acres of upland to grandson Ephraim--is parcel size specified (PrTR 6:141-42). Another bequest hints at the amount of acreage: "out of [sons Timothy, Silas, and Benjamin's share of rights to certain lands and meadows] one hundred acres of land to be [set out to grandson Ephraim Carpenter] . . . ; ye sayd hundred acres of land to be part thereof Meadow proportionably to Each hundred acres Contained in ye aforesd [share]" (PrTR 6:143-44). This and the large number of bequests imply that the testator's lands and rights thereto amounted to many hundreds of acres. (For details of Carpenter's land allotments, purchases, and sales, see PrTR 1:3, 4-5, 44-45, 71-72, 74-78, 79-80, 82-86, 91-92, 96-99, 101-3, 107-8, 2:21, 3:71-72, 90-91, 169-74, 249, 250, 4:18-19, 21-22, 24-26, 45-46, 47-48, 64-66, 73-76, 112-13, 115-20, 314-15, 5:306-9, 11:144, 14:64-66, 185-86, 273-76, 15:31, 75, 86, 94-95, 96-97, 21:53; WarTR 45, 81; RILE 52; also PrLR.)
William's estate (moveable goods only) was inventoried on 30 September 1685 and appraised at £22. Included are many carpenter's implements: various types and sizes of saws and augers; chisels, plane irons, gouges, drawing knives, and adzes; a wainscot plough; a burr (drill or chisel); and a spokeshave (PrTR 6:149-50, 17:62-63). Despite the modest value of William's personal estate, his tax assessments--on land and livestock (and by 1679, a saw mill he apparently owned with sons Silas and Benjamin)--were by 1650 among the highest in Providence (PrTR 15:33, 135-36, 185-91, 206-14, 223-25, 17:44-47, 48-52).
CHILDREN: All born in the township of Providence, at least iv-viii (perhaps as many as ii-viii) born at Pawtuxet; birth order slightly tentative.
i. JOSEPH2 CARPENTER, b. ca. 1638 (aged 26 in 1664), d. Musketa Cove, Oyster Bay, Long Island, Province of New York, between 15 or 17 February 1682[/3] and 15 March 1683/4; m. (1) probably Rehoboth, Plymouth Colony, ca. 1658 (not 21 April 1659), HANNAH3 CARPENTER, b. Weymouth, Mass. Bay Colony, 3 2nd month [April] 1640, d. probably Musketa Cove, by 8 June 1673, dau. of William2 and Abigail (Briant) Carpenter; m. (2) probably Oyster Bay, by 2 Sept. 1674, ANN WEEKES, bp. New Amsterdam, Colony of New Netherland, 9 July 1651, d. Musketa Cove after 24 4th month [June] 1713, dau. of Francis and Elizabeth (______) Weekes (NEHGR 159:64n47, 67-68; PrTR 6:138, 141, 144, 147-48; PubRIHS 4:197; TAG 70:201, 204; RILE 1:47, 50-51; NYChR 29; WMM-MM A:24; FMM-VR 78; OBTR 1:99, 411-12, 640-41, 642-44, 2:702). For additional information about Joseph and his family, see his notes and those of first wife Hannah, below (links to online sketches at ).
ii. LYDIA CARPENTER, b. say 1640, d. Warwick 1 Oct. 1711; m. probably Pawtuxet (Providence), ca. 1660 (eldest son, Benjamin, in 69th yr. in 1729 [will]), BENJAMIN SMITH, b. ca. 1631-1632 (aged about 43 on 17 March 1674/5 [deposition]), d. Warwick 23 Dec. 1713, probable son of Christopher and Alice (______) Smith (WarVR 1:2:18; WarPR 1:95-100, 309-10 [misnumbered 209-10]; Angell Anc 469; Austin 376; PrTR 6:139, 143, 145, 15:146).
When on 9 Feb. 1657[/8?] she signed by mark in witnessing (with brothers Joseph and Ephraim) a deed of Pawtuxet (Warwick) land from an Indian sachem to her father, Lydia was in her teens (the _age of discretion_ was 14) (see WarTR 80-81; IMMIGRATION, par. 4, above).
iii. EPHRAIM CARPENTER, b. say 1642, d. probably West Neck (in south Oyster Bay), between 20 Feb. 1697/8 and 8 Jan. 1702/3; m. (1) probably Pawtuxet (Providence), by 1666 (perhaps by 1663), SUSANNAH HARRIS, d. before 3 Dec. 1677, dau. of William1 and Susannah (Hyde) Harris; (2) Oyster Bay, 3 Dec. 1677, SUSANNAH (WOOD) ENGLAND (widow of Josiah), d. probably Musketa Cove, before 1 July 1693 (in 1684?), dau. of John1 and Elizabeth (______) Wood of Portsmouth, R.I.; (3) by 1 July 1693, LYDIA _______, said (not proved) to be Lydia Dickinson, b. 5 Oct. 1662, dau. of John and Elizabeth (Howland) Dickinson (OBTR 1:235, 2:41-43, 71-73, 76-77, 613-14, 624-25; PrTR 5:42-44, 7:190-96, 10:43-44, 14:61, 202; TG 20:168-69; John Wood 10-16; MD 54:27-28; Austin 36).
D. H. Carpenter mistakenly asserts that Ephraim's first recorded appearance is as a witness to a Providence deed on 5 Feb. 1661 (see Carpenter [1901] 314; PrTR 1:82-83). Implicit in author Carpenter's estimate of Ephraim's birth year as about 1640 is the false assumption that to have witnessed this deed he must have been at least 21 years old. On 9 Feb. 1657[/8?], he witnessed (with siblings Joseph and Lydia) a deed of Pawtuxet (Warwick) land to his father; Ephraim was unquestionably a teenager at the time (as above, children as young as 14 could witness documents) (see WarTR 80-81). He was most likely still a minor when he witnessed a deed in each of May and August 1660 and March 1660[/1?] (WarTR 81; PrTR 4:112-13, 14:254). Ephraim had certainly come of age, however, by the time he was admitted a Providence freeman, on 2 May 1666 (PrTR 15:73). Ephraim and his father were the only Carpenters among Providence householders who swore allegiance to King Charles II on 31 May 1666 (PrTR 3:101, 15:104-5).
In his will, dated 20 Feb. 1697/8, Ephraim2's namesake son, of Pawtuxet (Providence), bequeaths all his real estate to "my Honrd: ffather Ephraim Carpenter, now inhabetant at long Jsland" (PrTR 7:190-91). Except for his clothing, horse, saddle, bridle, and 4 bushels of oats (all willed to his uncle Silas's widow, Sarah), he also leaves his personal estate to his father. On 8 Jan. 1702/3, however, "Susannah Arnold sister of . . . [testator] Ephraim Carpenter, & wife of Elisha Arnold of Providence . . . the Reall, true, & lawfull heires of the Estate of ye deceased Testator" acknowledged receipt of "all ye Remnant of the Estate . . . which was left after all charges was Defraied" (PrTR 5:42-44). Although Ephraim2 is not mentioned, it seems clear that his son's bequests to him had been invalidated by the father's death and intestacy, prompting the distribution of Ephraim3's estate to his sister and only surviving heir at law. Supporting this interpretation is that on 4 Sept. 1703, Josias Carpenter (presumably Ephraim3's half-brother, named for the latter's mother's first husband, Josiah England) sold several parcels of land at West Neck whose descriptions match those of lots previously acquired by Ephraim2 Carpenter (OBTR 1:387-89, 2:41-43, 71-73, 76-78, 624-25). And on 2 Nov. 1703, George Hewlett of Hempstead, L.I., deeded to Capt. Thomas Jones of Fort Neck (in south Oyster Bay) 1 3/4 meadow lots at the latter place that were "formerly Daniel Harcuts and after In possession of Ephraim Carpenter Deceased" (OBTR 2:613-14).
D. H. Carpenter states that Ephraim3 Carpenter was admitted a Musketa Cove [sic] inhabitant "in 1683 (at 21 years of age)" (see Carpenter [1901] 316). This is apparently the author's basis for estimating the younger Ephraim's birth date as about 1662 and his father's marriage date as about 1661 (see Carpenter [1901] 314, 316). Despite Ephraim2's having settled permanently in Oyster Bay about 1676, however, Ephraim3 was in Providence by 1684 and lived there (probably on land his father gave him in 1685) until 1693, when he took up residence at Musketa Cove; he was admitted an inhabitant of Oyster Bay on 5 Sept. 1694 ("to settle here at his own cost and Charge in order to Trading or [ ]") (PrTR 5:278-79, 14:202-3, 217-18, 259-63, 15:147, 17:44, 47, 48, 52, 102, 103, 21:33-35; OBTR 1:235, 575-76, 2:362). He bought a dwelling house and parcels of land in Oyster Bay on 30 March 1695 and sold them on 29 June 1696 (OBTR 2:192-93, 279-80). He then returned to Pawtuxet, where he died about a year and a half later (PrTR 7:190-96).
The earliest records of Ephraim3 at Providence are in 1684 tax lists and a 1685 deed of Providence lands from his father (of Musketa Cove), which "I . . . deliver into the actual possession of my [eldest] son Ephraim Carpenter" (PrTR 14:202-3, 17:44, 47, 48, 52 [compare relative amounts with 17:102, 103]). Ephraim3's taxation and receipt of land in these years, however, do not rule out the possibility that he was then a minor. Not until 27 May 1687, when Ephraim Carpenter of Providence sold to Clement King land left to Ephraim by his grandfather, William Carpenter, was he unquestionably 21, the legal age for disposing of property (PrTR 21:33-35; Blackstone 1:451). Based on these considerations, we infer that Ephraim3 had been born by 1666, perhaps by 1663. Logic dictates that we estimate the first marriage of our subject, Ephraim2, as having occurred by the same time.
In a testamentary deed dated 10 Nov. 1670, William Harris calls his daughter Susannah the wife of Ephraim Carpenter (PrTR 14:61). On 1 July 1693, Ephraim--with his then wife Lydia consenting--sold his Musketa Cove lands, including his home-lot (OBTR 2:72-73).
Ephraim is said to have been constable at Oyster Bay from 1681 or 1682 to 1687, but the township's records indicate otherwise (see Austin 36; Carpenter [1901] 315; OBTR 1:240, 253, 264, 265; 2:323, 330, 334). The only occasion on which he was named to a related office was on 2 April 1681, when Caleb Wright was named constable, and Ephraim became deputy constable for the plantation at Musketa Cove (OBTR 1:240-41).
iv. PRISCILLA CARPENTER, b. say 1644, d. probably Providence about 15 Nov. 1690; m. Providence (probably Pawtuxet), 31 May 1670, [her cousin] WILLIAM VINCENT, bp. Amesbury, Wiltshire, 17 June 1638, d. Providence between 21 Dec. 1695 (will) and 1 Feb. 1695/6 (estate inv.), son of Nicholas (not Thomas) and Frideswide (Carpenter) Vincent. William m. (2) before 21 Dec. 1695, JEMIMA ______ (PrTR 5:294, 7:176-79, 20:231-33; RIVR 2:1[Providence]:37; AmParReg 1:n.p; Austin 213-14, 459).
The deed by which William Vincent sold to Timothy Carpenter a quarter share of a meadow lot inherited by William's wife Priscilla from her father, William1 Carpenter, ends with the following: "In Wittness . . . I the said William Vinsent & Priscilla My Wife doe hereunto set our handes & seales this fifteene day of November . . . 1690" (PrTR 6:144, 20:231-33; PrLR 2:95-96). Only William's name is subscribed, however, suggesting that Priscilla had died before she could formally consent to the sale of her legacy.
William Vincent's will, dated 21 Dec. 1695 and proved 3 March 1695/6, names "my wife Jemima" and "my three sonns, Thomas Nicholas & the youngest [William]" (PrTR 7:176-77). D. H. Carpenter claims that Vincent made another will, also dated in 1695 but previous to the official one, naming a son Jonas before the three children listed above (see Carpenter [1901] 321). No such document is found, however. (Perhaps Carpenter viewed both the "original," clerk's copy and the published transcription, misread _Thomas_ as _Jonas_ in the former, and in reviewing his notes, concluded that the two copies were of separate origin.)
In a deed of 64 acres to William Vincent, dated 5 Feb. 1661[/2?], William Carpenter calls Vincent his "Cousen" (i.e., nephew) (PrTR 1:82-83, 21:86).
v. TIMOTHY CARPENTER, b. say 1646, d. Pawtuxet (Providence) 19 August 1726; m. probably Providence 1670-1671, HANNAH BURTON, d. probably Pawtuxet (Providence) before 1 Dec. 1724 (not mentioned in husband's will), dau. of William and Hannah (Wickes) Burton (RIVR 2:1[Providence]:263; PrTR 7:170-73; WarTR 19, 140; PrPR 3:3-6; Austin 36, 266, 268, 420-21).
Timothy's three eldest siblings were minors when they witnessed a deed to their father on 9 Feb. 1657[/8?] (PrTR 80-81). Had Timothy then been at least 14 (the legal minimum age for witnessing documents), he, as a male, almost certainly would have replaced his sister Lydia in attesting to the document's legitimacy (see IMMIGRATION, par. 4, above). Timothy fails to appear on Providence freemen's lists (the last dated in 1669) and was not among that township's householders who swore allegiance to the king between 31 May 1666 and 29 April 1670 (PrTR 3:101-2; 15:104-5). He evidently became a householder sometime between the latter date and the last Monday in May 1671, when he (along with his brothers Silas and Benjamin and 20 other young men) affirmed his loyalty to the crown (see PrTR 3:199-200). That Timothy appears first in all documents in which he and his brothers Silas and Benjamin are named in succession (including their father's will and codicil) implies that he was older than they (PrTR 4:21-22, 5:115-16, 201-2, 6:141, 142, 143, 147, 21:33).
In his will, dated 30 (not 20) March 1703, William Burton mentions daughters Hannah Carpenter and Ethlannah Clarke (PrTR 7:170-72). In Timothy Carpenter's will, dated 1 Dec. 1724 and proved 19 Sept. 1726, he names daughters Ethalannah Sweet and Hannah Arnold among his legatees (PrPR 3:3-5; Austin 36).
vi. SILAS CARPENTER (twin?), b. ca. 1650-1651 (aged 24 in 1675), d. Pawtuxet (Providence) 25 Dec. 1695 (leaving 4 children, all minors); m. probably Pawtuxet (Providence) say 1685-1688, his cousin SARAH ARNOLD, b. 26 June 1665, d. Pawtuxet (Providence), widow, 22 April 1742 (not 26 Nov. 1727), dau. of Stephen and Sarah (Smith) Arnold (PrTR 6:156-59, 194-209, 7:157-59, 10:61-62, 15:146; RIVR 2:1[Providence]:7, 209, 263). For evidence suggesting that Silas and his brother Benjamin were twins, see the latter's listing (no. vii), below.
Silas was a householder--though not necessarily 21 and evidently not married--when he made oath of his fidelity to the king on the last Monday in May 1671 (PrTR 3:199-200, 15:104-5 ["all hovse hovlderes inhabiting this Colloney take the : oath of allegiance . . . March : 4th : 1664"]). In a deposition taken on 28 April 1675 (not in 1674, as per Carpenter [1901]), Silas describes himself as aged 24 (PrTR 15:146; see also Carpenter [1901] 30n). He was admitted a Rhode Island freeman on 3 May 1681 (RICR 3:98). Despite D. H. Carpenter's claim that both the aforementioned deposition and Silas's gravestone give his birth year as 1650, the former simply has his age in 1675, and the latter's location, let alone inscription, is unknown (see Carpenter [1901] 30n; no mention of gravestone at 322-23 [Silas's detail pages]).
In his will, dated 22 Dec. 1695 (three days before his death) and belatedly presented for probate by widow Sarah on 8 April 1701, Silas calls Stephen Arnold his father-in-law (PrTR 6:157, 7:157-58, 10:61-62). Stephen Arnold's will, dated 2 June 1698, mentions daughter Sarah Carpenter (PrTR 6:205, 206, 210). D. H. Carpenter gives Sarah's date of death as 26 Nov. 1727 (see Carpenter [1901] 323). This, however, was another Sarah (Arnold) Carpenter: the daughter of Israel and Mary (Barker) (Smith) Arnold, she had married Silas's namesake son on 21 Dec. 1708 (RIVR 2:1[Providence]:7; PrBMD, citing PrVR 1:86, 434).
vii. BENJAMIN CARPENTER (twin?), b. say 1650-1652, d. Pawtuxet (Providence) 3 March 1710/1; m. probably Providence say 1680 or later, MARY TILLINGHAST, b. probably Newport, R.I., perhaps in Oct. 1661 (Aug. 1659?), d. probably Providence, after 15 Dec. 1715 (named in father's will), dau. of Rev. Pardon and ______ [not Sarah, dau. of John; perhaps Mary] (Butterworth) Tillinghast (RIVR 2:1[Providence]:263; PrTR 5:120, 7:39-42, 65-66, 16:37-42; Tillinghasts 1, 1n3, 10, 13; NEHGR 41:191-94).
While D. H. Carpenter estimates that brothers Silas and Benjamin might have been born up to three years apart (1650 and 1650-1653, respectively), he leaves open the possibility that, as family tradition has it, the two were twins (see Carpenter [1901] 31, 322, 326). A survey of town and colony records reveals a pattern highly consistent with this proposition. In records dated before Silas's death, he and Benjamin almost always appear together (with Benjamin second in most instances). For example: Both men (with brother Timothy and 20 other new, though not necessarily married, householders) swore allegiance on the last Monday of May 1671, and both were admitted Rhode Island freemen on 3 May 1681 (PrTR 3:199-200, 15:104-5; RICR 3:98). Their father's will makes 12 bequests to Silas and Benjamin, of which 8 are joint (3 of these include their brother Timothy) and 2 each are individual (PrTR 6:138-145). One of the bequests to Silas and Benjamin (item 14) is of "lands & meadows . . . whereon _theire dwelling house_ now standeth" (emphasis added) (PrTR 6:141). The will instructs the two to care for their mother and names them "whole & sole Exsecutors" (PrTR 6:144-45). On 29 May 1693, Silas and Benjamin Carpenter jointly purchased from Nathaniel Waterman and Joseph Williams "a percell of Boggy Meaddow" and a 6-acre "Neck of upland," the latter bounded on the south "with the land of ye said Carpenters" (14:220-21). Among the parcels Waterman conveys to his son Richard in a testamentary deed, dated 28 Feb. 1710/1, is "that part of my Meaddow at Mashapague . . . which I bought of Mr Silas Carpenter and Mr Benjamin Carpenter" (PrTR 21:25-26). In an account of "our [taxable] Estate," dated 12 March 168[6/]7, Silas and Benjamin list all lands and livestock as jointly owned (PrTR 17:80-81). A similar account of "our estates Ratable," dated 6 Aug. 1688, lists all but a few livestock and one tract of land as jointly owned (PrTR 17:120).
Tax lists appear in Providence town records only for the years 1650, 1671, 1679-1681, 1684, 1687, and 1688 (PrTR 15:33-223 passim, 17:44-127 passim). The two brothers appear (with their father) as joint owners of a saw mill on the lists of 1679-1681 and 1684; in those years and also in 1687 and 1688, they are listed together and taxed as one (PrTR 15:187-223 passim, 17:44-122 passim).
A deed dated 1 July 1701, by which Benjamin sold 93 acres inherited from his father, mentions his "now wife Mary" (5:120). Probate records of April and May 1711 describe Mary Carpenter as widow of the deceased Benjamin Carpenter of Pawtuxet in Providence (PrTR 7:39, 65-66). The will of Pardon Tillinghast, dated 15 Dec. 1715, names daughter Mary Carpenter (PrTR 16:38). Neither of the birth dates given for Mary Tillinghast in the secondary literature is documented (Tillinghasts 13). It is believed, though not documented, that Pardon Tillinghast's first wife (Mary's mother) was the sister or niece of Samuel Butterworth of Rehoboth, Mass. (Tillinghasts 1n3; NEHGR 41:191-92). Sarah, daughter of Butterworth's nephew John, is sometimes said to have been Mary's mother but has been shown to have married William Hayward (NEHGR 41:192, 193). While neither of the two married children of Pardon's first marriage named a daughter Sarah, each named one Mary (Tillinghasts 1n3).
viii. WILLIAM CARPENTER, b. probably by 2 Sept. 1653 (father 1st calls himself Wm. Sr. on 2 Sept. 1674), d. probably Pawtuxet (Providence) between 27 April 1676 (last rec. of father as Wm. Sr.) and 10 February 1679/80 (father's will calls him deceased); unmarried (PrTR 4:21-22, 6:143, 145, 8:11; RILE 51).
Considerable circumstantial evidence implies that William was the youngest of William1 and Elizabeth (Arnold) Carpenter's children. On 4 Dec. 1671, four of William1's sons witnessed the deed by which he gave his Amesbury messuage to his sister, Frideswide (PrTR 5:323-25). If true to custom, the sequence in which they signed the instrument--Timothy, Silas, Benjamin, and William "Junr:"--reflects their birth order. (William Jr. was then presumably a minor but old enough to witness a document, for which the legal minimum age was 14.) When on 2 Sept. 1674 Joseph Carpenter of Musketa Cove sold several Pawtuxet (Providence and Warwick) holdings to his uncle Stephen Arnold, the deed was witnessed by Joseph's brothers Silas (first) and William "junr" (RILE 50-51). Signing in "assent" were William Carpenter "Senr." and Joseph's second wife. This earliest self-identification by the elder Carpenter using a generational identifier suggests that his namesake son (the subject William) had reached adulthood. On 8 12 mo. 1674 [Feb. 1674/5], William Carpenter "Senr" gave to certain family members his rights to several shares of soon-to-be-divided common lands (PrTR 4:21-22). This declaration of title transfer names the recipients, in order, as sons Timothy, Silas, and Benjamin; grandsons Joseph Smith and "my sone Joseph sone William"; and (again last) "my sone William."
The will of Zachariah Rhodes Sr., dated in 1662, names William Carpenter "senior" as an overseer (PrTR 4:80, 82). This use of a generational identifier when William2 was unquestionably still a child is a departure from custom and a chronological outlier. All other instances in which _Sr._ or _Jr._ is used to distinguish these two Williams from one another are clustered between 1671 (when, as above, the latter was probably still a minor) and 27 April 1676 (see PrTR 4:21-22, 23 [6 April 1675], 5:323-25, 8:11; RILE 51).
Quoting from Hubbard's _Narrative of the Troubles with the Indians in New England_ (1677) and Austin's _Genealogical Dictionary of Rhode Island_ (1887), D. H. Carpenter claims that on 27 January 1675/6, during an Indian attack upon William1 Carpenter's house, his namesake son was killed (see Carpenter [1901] 18-19, 320). Hubbard's narrative says that "[t]wo that belonged to the said [Mr.] Carpenter were wounded, and one of the Enemies slain" (Hubbard 1:164). Austin, drawing from Hubbard and also from an unattributed account published in 1676--whose only mention of casualties is the death of "a Negro Servant" of "young Mr. [Toleration] Harris"--distorts both by relating that "two of [William Carpenter's] household were killed" (see Chronicle 58; Hubbard 58n259; HP 162n; Austin 37; see also Carpenter [1901] 18). The eminent antiquarian Samuel Gardner Drake regarded the anonymous version, which he felt was written from personal knowledge, as more reliable than Hubbard's (see Hubbard 58n260). The most personally knowledgeable source, however, is William Harris, who wrote the following to Sir Joseph Williamson on 12 Aug. 1676: "I haue lost a deer son : a dillegent engenious Just man : temperate in all things, whom ye Indeans lay in waite for by ye way syd & killd him, and a negro man, and burnt our houses . . . " (HP 162-63). A record of William Carpenter's election as Providence deputy to the Rhode Island General Assembly, dated 27 April 1676, refers to him as "Senr" (PrTR 8:11). This implies that, three months after the aforementioned Indian attack, William Jr. was still living. He had died by 10 Feb. 1679/80, the date of his father's will, which refers to "my son William deceased" (PrTR 6:143, 145).
William is not named on any of the Providence tax lists (the only ones recorded between 1650 and 1680 are dated in 1671 and 1679) or lists of the township's householders who swore allegiance (the last is dated in late May 1671). This, together with the lack of a probate record for him or of any evidence that he married, suggests that he lived his entire life in his father's household.
COMMENTS: Repeating (imperfectly) Benedict's history of the Baptists, D. H. Carpenter names eleven men, including William Carpenter, as founders, at Providence between 3 August 1638 and 16 March 1638/9, of the first Baptist church in America (see Baptist Hist 1:473, 475; Carpenter [1901] 16). Benedict's account of the baptisms that occurred on the latter date, however, does not accurately represent the description in Massachusetts Governor John Winthrop's journal (the only known contemporaneous record). The latter identifies the participants only as Roger Williams, "one [Ezekiel] Holyman, . . . and some ten more" (see WJ 286). An 1876 article about Roger Williams (John C. C. Clarke, "The Pioneer Baptist Statesman") challenges Benedict: "Who those ten were, is entirely unknown. . . . No records of their society or church remain. Mr. Benedict gave twelve names, and his error has been widely copied without questioning. Mr. Benedict gives the names of twelve of the first thirteen proprietors, as named in Williams's deed, omitting, however, Mr. Throckmorton, who was an undoubted Baptist. Mr. [Isaac] Backus [_A History of New England with Particular Reference to the . . . Baptists_, 2nd ed. (1871)] is against Benedict as to Waterman and Weston; and Roger Williams sets aside Arnold and Carpenter. Probably the first twelve were of the following names, viz., Messrs. Brown, Olney, Scott, Throckmorton, Westcott, Holiman, Williams, and their wives and the widow Reeves" (BQ 10:199, 204). Williams, in a letter to the General Court at Boston, depicts Arnold and Carpenter as "very far allso in religion from you, if you knew all" (RWCorr 444). The assertion that William Carpenter was a founder of the church at Providence is therefore groundless.
In letters to Massachusetts Governor Endicott in 1656, Roger Williams indicates that William Carpenter and [his brother-in-law] Stephen Arnold were illegally selling gunpowder to the Indians (RWCorr 2:471-74). These letters also relate that William Arnold [Carpenter's father-in-law] was having an adulterous relationship with his maid, Katherine (Mrs. Thomas) Doxey (RWCorr 2:471-75).
In May 1660, "William Carpenter and Zachariah Roades gave notice that they had Landed one Ancor of Liquors" (PrTR 2:26). (An _anker/anchor_ was a cask or keg containing 8 1/3 imperial gallons.)
The honorific _Mr_ (no period), for _Master_ (designating a gentleman), was first prefixed to William Carpenter's name in 1657/8, in the record of his initial appearance as a commissioner for Providence at the Rhode Island General Court (RICR 1:366). Though he appears in General Court of Trials records in 1657/8 and 1658/9, they do not refer to him as _Mr_ until 1660/1, when he served on the court as a magistrate (RICT1 1:70). Last to grant him that appellation were the townsmen of Providence, whose records do not begin doing so until 1667 (PrTR 1:28-29, 3:121). (Ordinary townsmen were apparently slower to refer honorifically to men of higher status with whom they had longstanding, informal relationships than were colony-level functionaries in mentioning each other.)
Over the years, William Carpenter joined with William Arnold, "most ruthless of the Pawtuxet proprietors," and with the contentious, "inordinately ambitious" William Harris, another Pawtuxet proprietor, in various land-grabbing schemes and political maneuvers (Irrepressible Democrat 134, 258-60, 269, 278).
It is often said (though not by reliable sources) that William1 Carpenter of Providence (Richard of Amesbury) was a first cousin of William2 Carpenter of Rehoboth (William1 of Shalbourne [_Bevis_, 1638]) and also of the daughters of Alexander Carpenter of Wrington, Somersetshire, and Leiden, Netherlands, four of whom came to Plymouth. This derives from Amos B. Carpenter's unsupported claim that Richard, William1 of Shalbourne, and Alexander Carpenter were brothers (see Carpenter [1898] 34; William1 of Shalbourne sketch, COMMENTS). No evidence has been found even hinting at a link between the Wrington Carpenters, on the one hand, and either of the other two aforementioned 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 (see NEHGR 159:64-66, 67n63). Results of recent genetic testing coordinated by the Carpenter Cousins Y-DNA Project support this conclusion: Based on a number of 67-marker tests, "we can state with 95% confidence that the most recent common ancestor of the two groups [descendants of the Providence and Rehoboth Carpenters, respectively] was more than 2 generations before the immigrants and less than about 20. Therefore, the DNA testing has very nearly ruled out the often-repeated claim that the Williams were first cousins. The most likely estimate is about 7 generations, but that is a very rough estimate, and the 95% confidence interval is a more reasonable description of what the DNA is telling us" (Carpenter Cousins).
An inscription in Mineral Springs Cemetery, *Pawtucket*, gives Elizabeth (Arnold) Carpenter's date of death as 7 September 1685 (see RI Cems 68). It presumably appears on the same monument--almost certainly a cenotaph, erected many generations later--as that bearing inscriptions memorializing her brothers, Benedict (buried in Newport) and Stephen (buried in Pawtuxet, later removed to Swan Point Cemetery, Providence) (see RI Cems 13, 15, and unpaged descriptions of cemeteries CR084, NT011, PV003, PW001). The date of death in Elizabeth's inscription (repeated in a comparatively recent Arnold genealogy) almost certainly reflects confusion with that of husband William, whose death is twice recorded as having occurred on that date (see Arnold Rec 6; PrTR 6:150, 17:62-63). Since these Arnolds and Carpenters have no known connection to Pawtucket, the monument's very location is likely the result of further confusion--between that place and the village of Pawtuxet (see RESIDENCES, last par., above).
Benedict Arnold records that "my father and his family Sett Sayle ffrom Dartmouth in Old England, the first of May . . . 1635 (NEHGR 33:428). The oft-repeated (online) assertion that the ship on which they did so was the _Plain Joan_ is mistaken. Among that ship's passengers, enrolled on 15 May 1635 at London (more than 200 sea miles from Dartmouth, in the opposite direction from New England) and "to _Virginia_: embarqued," was Thomas Arnold, 30 (emphasis added) (Hotten 78-79) This was almost certainly neither William's half-brother (then 36 and with a family, he apparently never left England) nor a same-named man of Watertown, Mass., by mid-1636 (NEHGR 33:428, 69:68-69). There is no known record of the ship on which the Arnolds sailed to New England.
An 1879 journal article presenting material compiled by the notorious fraud Horatio G. Somerby claims an ancient, royal ancestry for William1 Arnold going back sixteen generations into Wales (NEHGR 33:432-38; see also Carpenter [1901] 28). Despite Edson Salisbury Jones's 1915 refutation of Somerby's work--Jones identifies the immigrant's father as Nicholas Arnold of Ilchester, Somerset (not Thomas Arnold of Cheselbourne, Dorset, as per Somerby)--the discredited pedigree lives on, particularly in online databases and on personal webpages (NEHGR 69:64-69; for an expanded account of Jones's research, see RIHSC 14:33-49, 68-86).
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND: See, for example, Virginia DeJohn Anderson, _New England's Generation: The Great Migration and the Formation of Society and Culture in the Seventeenth Century_ (New York, 1991; repr. 1992 [paperback]); Francis J. Bremer, _The Puritan Experiment: New England Society from Bradford to Edwards_, rev. ed. (Lebanon, N.H., 1995 [paperback]); Carl Bridenbaugh, _Fat Mutton and Liberty of Conscience: Society in Rhode Island, 1636-1690_ (Providence, 1974) (caveat [see below]); Samuel Hugh Brockunier, _The Irrepressible Democrat Roger Williams_ (New York, 1940); Bruce C. Daniels, _Dissent and Conformity on Narragansett Bay: The Colonial Rhode Island Town_ (Middletown, Conn., 1983); Stephen Foster, _The Long Argument: English Puritanism and the Shaping of New England Culture, 1570-1700_ (Chapel Hill, N.C., 1991); _Harris Papers_, Collections of the Rhode Island Historical Society, vol. 10 (Providence, 1902); Anne Keary, "Retelling the History of the Settlement of Providence: Speech, Writing, and Cultural Interaction on Narragansett Bay," _The New England Quarterly_ 69(1996):250-86; Glenn W. LaFantasie, ed., _The Correspondence of Roger Williams_, 2 vols. (Providence, 1988); Patricia E. Rubertone, _Grave Undertakings, An Archeology of Roger Williams and the Narragansett Indians_ (Washington, D.C., 2001); William R. Staples, _Annals of the Town of Providence_ (Providence, 1843; digital images online at ); Hugh Trevor-Roper, _Archbishop Laud: 1573-1645_ (London, 1940; repr. 2000 [paperback]). The Bridenbaugh volume is a good general introduction to Rhode Island history but nevertheless misinterprets Weeden (Early RI 87) in saying that, to build William Harris's Pawtuxet house, William Carpenter was brought from Amesbury in Massachusetts Bay Colony (see Bridenbaugh 38, 141).
KEY TO SOURCES:
AmParReg: Amesbury, Wiltshire, Parish Register [Family History Library (FHL), Salt Lake City, film #1,279,337, item 25]
Angell Anc: Dean Crawford Smith, _The Ancestry of Emily Jane Angell, 1844-1910_ (Boston, 1992)
Arnold Mem: Elisha Stephen Arnold, _The Arnold Memorial: William Arnold of Providence and Pawtuxet, 1587-1675 . . ._ (Rutland, Vt., 1935)
Arnold Rec: Ethan L. Arnold, _An Arnold Family Record: 323 Years in America_ (Elkhart, Ind., 1958); digital images online at
Austin: John Osborne Austin, _The Genealogical Dictionary of Rhode Island_, rev. ed. (Baltimore, 1969)
Baptist Hist: David Benedict, _A General History of the Baptist Denomination in America and Other Parts of the World_, 2 vols. (Boston, 1813)
Blackstone: William Blackstone, _Commentaries on the Laws of England_, 1st ed., 4 vols. (Oxford, 1765-1769); transcr. of Book 1, Ch. 17 (pp. 448-54), online at
BQ: _The Baptist Quarterly_, 11 vols. (Philadelphia, 1867-1877); digital images of vol. 10 (1876) online at
Carpenter [1898]: Amos B. Carpenter, _A Genealogical History of the Rehoboth Branch of the Carpenter Family in America_ [informal title: _Carpenter Memorial_] (Amherst, Mass., 1898)
Carpenter [1901]: Daniel Hoogland Carpenter, _History and Genealogy of the Carpenter Family in America, from the Settlement at Providence, R.I., 1637-1901_ (Jamaica, N.Y., 1901)
Carpenter Cousins: Carpenter Cousins Y-DNA Project website, maintained by John F. Chandler; discussion of Groups 2 and 3 is at (13 March 2008 update)
Chronicle: Samuel Gardner Drake, _The Old Indian Chronicle; Being a Collection of Exceeding Rare Tracts Written and Published in the Time of King Philip's War, by Persons Residing in the Country; to Which Are Now Added Marginal Notes and Chronicles of the Indians from the Discovery of America to the Present Time. By S. G. Drake_ (Boston, 1836); digital images online at
Coldham: Peter Wilson Coldham, _The Complete Book of Emigrants, 1607-1660_ (Baltimore, 1987)
DHRI: Howard M. Chapin, _Documentary History of Rhode Island_, 2 vols. (Providence, 1916-1919)
Early RI: William B. Weeden, _Early Rhode Island: A Social History of the People_ (N.Y., 1910); digital images online at
FMM-VR: Flushing, Long Island, Monthly Meeting [of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)], Vital Records 1640-1796 [FHL film #17,376, item 1]; all Flushing Monthly Meeting records are catalogued at Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College and in Hazard Index (www.swarthmore.edu/Library/friends/hazard/index.html) as New York Monthly Meeting (Pre [i.e., pre-Separation])
GM: Robert Charles Anderson, George Freeman Sanborn Jr., and Melinde Lutz Sanborn, _The Great Migration: Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635_, Volume II C-F (Boston, 2001), Volume III G-H (Boston, 2003)
Hotten: John C. Hotten, ed., _The Original Lists of Persons of Quality . . ._ (London, 1874)
HP: _Harris Papers_, Collections of the Rhode Island Historical Society, vol. 10 (Providence, 1902)
Hubbard: William Hubbard, _A Narrative of the Troubles with the Indians in New England_ (1677), reprinted in Samuel Gardner Drake, ed., _The History of the Indian Wars in New England_, with extensive notes by Samuel G. Drake, 2 vols. in 1 (1865; reissued in facsimile, Bowie, Md., 1990)
Irrepressible Democrat: Samuel Hugh Brockunier, _The Irrepressible Democrat Roger Williams_ (New York, 1940)
John Wood: Bertha W. Clark, _John Wood of Rhode Island and His Early Descendants on the Mainland_, prepared and edited by Dorothy Wood Ewers (Crete, Ill., 1966); digital images online at
MBCR: _Records of the Governor and Company of the Massachusetts Bay in New England_, 1628-1886, ed. Nathaniel B. Shurtleff, 5 vols. in 6 (Boston, 1853-1854); digital images of vol. 2 online at
MD: _The Mayflower Descendant_, vol. 1 through present (1899-1937, 1985-)
NEHGR: _The New England Historical and Genealogical Register_, vol. 1 (1847) through present
NYChR: _Baptisms from 1639 to 1730 in the Reformed Dutch Church, New York_, Collections of the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society, vol. 2 (New York, 1901); improved version online at
OBTR: _Oyster Bay Town Records_, 8 vols., ed. John Cox (New York, 1916-1940); vol. 1 (digital images online at ) includes Musketa Cove Proprietors' Book
PawWeb: Pawtuxet-related websites: "Pawtuxet Village History" (with map), online at ; "Pawcatuck, Pawtucket, Pawtuxet: Three Places in Rhode Island?" at ; "Pawtuxet-Pawtucket," at
PCC 93 Kidd: Prerogative Court of Canterbury, England, Registered Wills, vol. 93 Kidd [FHL film #92,005]
PrBMD: _Alphabetical Index of the Births, Marriages and Deaths Recorded in Providence, Rhode Island_ (database, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2003; online at ); originally published as City of Providence, _Alphabetical Index of the Births, Marriages and Deaths Recorded in Providence, Rhode Island_, 25 vols. (1879-1945)
PrLR: Providence, Rhode Island, Deeds, vols. 1-2 [FHL film #901,254]
PRO/TNA: Public Record Office, The National Archives, London, England; images of _James_ passenger list (ref. CO 1/8, pp. 183-85) available for purchase online at --> Shop online --> Order copies of documents
PrPR: Providence, Rhode Island, Wills, vols. 3-4 [FHL film #915,007, item 1]
PrTR: _The Early Records of the Town of Providence_, 21 vols. (Providence, 1892-1915); digital images online at and
PrVR: Providence, Rhode Island, Vital Records
PubRIHS: _Publications of the Rhode Island Historical Society: New Series_, 8 vols. (1893-1901); digital images of vol. 4 (1896) online at
RI Cems: The Rhode Island Historical Cemeteries Transcription Project Master Index, online at
RICR: _Records of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations in New England_, 10 vols., ed. John Russell Bartlett (Providence, 1856-1865); digital images of vols. 1 and 3 online at
RICT1: _Rhode Island Court Records: Records of the Court of Trials of the Colony of Providence Plantations, 1647-1670_, 2 vols. (Providence, 1920-1922); digital images online at
RICT2: _Rhode Island General Court of Trials, 1671-1704_, transcr. Jane Fletcher Fisk (Boxford, Mass., 1998)
RI Hist: Samuel Greene Arnold, _History of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations_, 2 vols. (New York, 1859-1860); digital images online at
RIHSC: _Rhode Island Historical Society Collections_, vols. 11-34 (1918-1941)
RILE: _Rhode Island Land Evidences, Volume I, 1648-1696_ (Providence, 1921); digital images online at
RI Roots: _Rhode Island Roots_, vol. 1 (1975) through present
RIVR: James N. Arnold, _Vital Record of Rhode Island, 1636-1850_, 21 vols. (Providence, 1891-1912); digital images online at
RVR [pub]: James N. Arnold, _Vital Record of Rehoboth, 1642-1896_ (Providence, 1897)
RWCorr: _The Correspondence of Roger Williams, Volume II, 1654-1682_, ed. Glenn W. LaFantasie (Providence, R.I., 1988)
SLR: _Suffolk Deeds_, 14 vols. (Boston, 1880-1906); digital images of vol. 1 online at
TAG: _The American Genealogist_, vol. 9 (1932) through present
TG: _The Genealogist_, vol. 1 (1980) through present
Tillinghasts: Wayne G. Tillinghast, _The Tillinghasts in America: The First Four Generations_ (Greenville, R.I., 2006)
WarPR: Warwick, Rhode Island, Wills, 1703-1745 [FHL film #925,455]
WarTR: _More Early Records of the Town of Warwick, Rhode Island_, ed. Cherry Fletcher Bamburg and Jane Fletcher Fiske (Boston, 2001)
WarVR: Warwick, Rhode Island, Vital Records, 1649-1750 [FHL film #925,490, item 2]
WJ: _The Journal of John Winthrop, 1630-1649_, ed. Richard S. Dunne, James Savage, and Laetitia Yeandle (Cambridge, Mass., 1996); digital images online at (limited preview includes cited pages)
WMM-MM: Westbury, Long Island, Monthly Meeting [of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)], Men's Minutes [FHL film #18,033]
[Gene Zubrinsky's notes end here.]
&&&&&&&&&&
OLD NOTES: The following notes consist of previously compiled data, some of which is incorrect. They are retained so that the reader may identify specific items contained in them that he or she might have thought worthy of inclusion in Gene Zubrinsky's notes (above) and will know that they were deliberately omitted for being erroneous or extraneous. For PAF and GEDCOM data files containing only his notes, see the "Gene Zubrinsky" folder of the CE 2009.
MARRIAGE: 1 Nov 1635 in England given in the AF and other records does not match Gene Zubrinsky date of abt 1637. The difference is that William apparently was not married when he came to America and was married sometime after he arrived.
SEE: "History and Genealogy of the CARPENTER FAMILY IN AMERICA" from the settlement at Providence, RI 1637-1901. By Daniel Hoogland Carpenter of Mapelwood, Essex, NJ. Published by the Marion Press of Jamacia, Queensborough, NY in 1901. 370 Pages. Will on pages 20 to 28. AKA: William of Amesbury.
William Carpenter, Founder of the Providence Carpenters, is Number 1.
He was the son and heir of Richard Carpenter of Amesbury, Wiltshire, England.
Did William go to Barbadoes in 1634? Or was it a cousin?
See page 5 in the above record. See Brother Richard's notes.
See page 354, Describing the "Visitation" or census of the College of Arms in 1623 and 1634 where it is shown that there was a number of Carpenter families in Gloucester, Hereford, Somerset, and Surrey, who made proof of their pedigrees by presenting arms which were emblazoned in the windows of the Church at Westbury upon Trin (often called the Worcester Arms).
BIRTH: 23 May 1611 not proved in Nettlecomb, Somerset, England. 1608 to 1611 is current thought.
FOUNDER: This William Carpenter is considered to be the founder of the Providence (Pawtuxet), Rhode Island Branch of the Carpenter family.
SEE: "160 ALLIED FAMILIES" BY JOHN OSBORNE AUSTIN, 1893, REPRINTED 1977, P56-58 THIS RECORD GIVES AN EXTENSIVE HISTORY OF WILLIAM FROM 1637 TO HIS DEATH IN 1685 WHILE IN AMERICA. SISTER FRIDGSWITH VINCENT IS MENTIONED IN 1671, 12, 14. GIVING HER PROPERTY IN ENGLAND WILLED TO HIM BY HIS DECEASED FATHER (RICHARD).
SEE: "NEW ENGLAND MARRIAGES PRIOR TO 1700" BY CLARENCE ALMON TORREY, 1985, P 136 CARPENTER, WILLIAM ( -1685) & ELIZABETH ARNOLD (1611-1683+); IN ENGLAND, B 1635; PROVIDENCE/PAWTUXET, RI.
SEE: "GENEALOGICAL & FAMILY HISTORY OF WESTERN NEW YORK", LEWIS 1912, PAGE 274:
(1) The first person bearing the (MALE) name Carpenter to make permanent settlement in America was William Carpenter, son of Richard Carpenter, of Amesbury, Wiltshire, England. He married Elizabeth Arnold, born at Cheselbourne, Dorsetshire, England, November 23, 1611. Number 2 in that record. MUCH DETAILED DESCENDANT HISTORY GIVEN.
SEE: "A Genealogical Dictionary of The First Settlers of New England, Before 1692" Volume #1, Pgs 334 - 344
Capin - Carwithen - By James Savage - Online version at:
http://www.usgennet.org/usa/topic/newengland/savage/bk1/334-344.htm
WILLIAM, Providence 1636, s. of Richard of Amesbury, in Co. Wilts, where the est. to him descend. from his f. was by him, in a deed 4 Dec. 1671, giv.to his sis. Vincent of that borough, describ. as "a ho. in Frog lane in Amesbury, wh. did
[[vol. 1, p. 338]]
belong to her f. R. C." the grantor call. hims. s. and heir of R. C. Perhaps he was br. of that Thomas bef. ment. He m. Elizabeth Arnold, prob. d. but perhaps sis. of the first Benedict Arnold the Gov. had Joseph, Silas, Benjamin, William, Timothy, and Lydia; was an Assist. 1665, sw. alleg. 1666, and d. 7 Sept. 1685. In his will of 1674 all the ch. are ment. as liv. and William, s. of Joseph. Lydia m. Benjamin Smith. WILLIAM, Rehoboth, s. of the first William of the same, b. in Eng. came in the Bevis 1638, with f. and gr.f. m. 5 Oct. 1651 Priscilla Bonett, as tradit. spells the name, had John, b. 19 Oct. 1652; William, 20 June 1659; Priscilla, 24 July 1661, wh. m. Richard Sweet; and Benjamin, 20 Oct. 1663, when the w. d. He m. 10 Dec. foll. Miriam Searle, had Josiah, b. 18 Dec. 1661; Nathaniel, 12 May 1667; Daniel, 8 Oct. 1669; Noah, 28 Mar. 1672; Miriam, 26, but Col. Rec. says, 16 Oct. 1674 wh. m. 23 June 1691, Jonathan Bliss; Obadiah, 12 Mar. 1678; Ephraim, 25 Apr. 1681, d. young; Hannah, 10 Apr. 1684, m. 23 Nov. 1703, Jonathan Chase; and Abigail, 15 Apr. 1687, m. 12 Nov. 1706, Daniel Perrin; was town clk. from 1668 to his d. 26 Jan. 1704, aged 72. His wid. d. 1 or 7 May 1722, aged 76. This stock has been very prolific. WILLIAM, Providence, s. of the first William of the same, had Ephraim; Priscilla, wh. m. 31 May 1670, William Vincent; and Susanna, wh. m. 1682, Elisha Arnold; and he was drown. 29 Oct. 1708. Farmer count. the gr. in 1834 at fourteen, more at Brown than either of the other N. E. coll. two ea. at Harv. Yale, and Dart.
SEE: "Genealogical History of the Carpenter Family" aka "The Carpenter Memorial", by A.B. Carpenter 1898, page 34 (No. 9-4).
EMIGRATION:
William came to America with his father-in-law and his wife. Their ship left Dartmouth, Devonshire, England on Friday May 1, 1635 (should be 1636) and arrived in New England on June 24, 1636 at Hingham, MA.
The ship was called the "Plain Joan" and arrived in Boston after a 54 day trip.
William is listed in the first deed executed in the Colony by Roger Williams.
Robert Coles lived on the property adjoining. William Carpenter, Robert Coles and William Arnold were three of 14 charter members of the Baptist Church of America established by Roger Williams at Providence on August 3, 1638.
For defense against indian attacks, William Carpenter built a block house on his property soon after settling there. In an Indian attack during King Phillip's War, all the settlers gathered for protection inside the block house, where their brave stand compelled the Indians to retreat. This William's son William Jr. was killed in the attack though, and this William, while busily engaged in repairing the damage to his estate died on Sept. 7, 1685.
BOOK: See page 9 of the Mowrey 1997 book. See book information below:
UPDATE OF THE GENEALOGY OF THE NEW ENGLAND CARPENTER FAMILY OF ENGLISH ORIGIN - THE VIRGINIA / WEST VIRGINIA BRANCH - SOME DESCENDANTS OF JOSEPH CARPENTER - PIONEER OF THE JACKSON RIVER - MOWREY"S VERSION.
BY TERRY LEE CARPENTER AND PAUL THOMAS MOWREY.
PRO BONO PUBLICO - PRIVATELY PUBLISHED, DOVER, OHIO, 1997.
BY PAUL THOMAS MOWREY.
SEE: Cuyler Reynolds (Ed.) Hudson-Mohawk genealogical & Family memoirs, Vol. II (NY, 1911), pp. 524-526.
SEE: Also The American Historical Society, Carpenter and Allied Families (Washington, D.C. 1931); and an unpublished supplement to Daniel Hoogland Carpenter's book, by Ruth Carpenter Adair of North Quincy, MA; and records of Katherine Stone Moore and records of Louise Carpenter Licklider.
SEE: "Carpenter Lineage" compiled by Winifred Lovering Holman, 1958-1960, for Mrs. Folwell W. Coen.
AFN 3027-SG IS THE SAME AS 8TG4-NF WITH THE FOLLOWING DIFFERENCES:
B.31 JUL 1947, E.18 DEC 1947, SP.25 JUN 1948 SG, DOB OF ABT 1611 MOST PROBABLE.
AFN LSD9-5L is the same person with a death place in Rehoboth, MA & 2nd spouse
WILLIAM HAS (2) TWO FATHERS IN THE ANCESTORY FILE. WILLIAM CARPENTER AFN
8MH9-NS B. ABT 1576 IN HOWELL, LINCOLN, England IS INCORRECT. RICHARD CARPENTER
IS CORRECT. SEE NOTES ABOVE. Also AFN GJ4M-QD Abigail Searles as a spouse is incorrect. She married another William Carpenter.
FRIENDS: Rodger Williams, Eziekiel Holyman, William Arnold (His Father In Law), William Harris, Stukley Westcott, John Green, Richard Waterman, Thomas James, Francis Weston, and Thomas Olney. Submitted by Thomas C. Carpenter 10/99.
DEATH:William died 7 Feb 1658 in Rehbobth, Mass and is buried in The Newman Cemetery in Rumford, RI which used to be a part of Rehoboth, MA. His marker is an ordinary Field stone with the initials W.C. and below that 1658 chisled into it. (This info from J. Hall who has a photo of and has seen the grave, (Thank You!) and forwarded by John L. Carpenter of NH.
Will of William Carpenter "of Pautuxett" was dated 10 Feb 1679/80. "As per Vol. vi, pages 138-150 of Providence Records?" or more precisely, The Early Records of the Town of Providence, 21 vols. (Providence, 1892–1915), 6:138–50. (per Gene Zubrinsky).
MISC: Additional data from John L. Carpenter in NH: William and Elizabeth were married for a short time before they came to America. A memorandum from the Arnold family states: "We left Dartmouth on *Friday, May 1, 1635,(should be 1636) and arrived in New England *June 24, 1635, going first to Hingham and than to Providence, where we arrived April 20, 1636."
* A obvious miscalculation as May 1st 1635 fell on a Thursday (not Friday) , and there was no settlement at Providence as early as April 1636, Roger William's landed there in in June 1636.
Wm. came to America with his wife & father in law Their ship was called the "Plain Joan " arrived in Boston after a 54 days Trip.
The first mention that we can find relating to William Carpenter occurs in what is called the "Initial Deed," a document hastily drawn up by Roger Williams, at the time of settlement, in which he designates "his living friends and neighbors" who are to have equal rights with himself.
These friends and neighbors were twelve in number, and until December 23, 1661, this "Initial Deed was all they had to show in the way of title to their holdings. The "First Baptist Church in America" was constituted at
Providence between August 3, 1638 and March 16, 1639. William Carpenter was one of the original founders. As a lay minister, he performed the marriage ceremony at the wedding of his daughter.
Up to this date, 1638, the "Proprietors," as they now began to be called, were living on their "Home Lotts", situated conveniently near together for neighborly intercourse and mutual protection. These lots contained
about 6 acres each and all fronted on "Town Street" with a dividing line between the lots running each and west. William Carpenter's lot was separated from the lot of Robert Coles by a "highway". Town street is now
Main Street and the "highway" is Meeting Street, so called because of the Friends Meeting House which now occupies William Carpenter's lot.
William Carpenter was allotted a large tract of land at "Pautuxet" - a beautiful meadowland, about four miles southerly from Providence, bounded on the east by the Narrangansett Bay and on the south by the Pawtuxet River.
In later years this was known as Cranston. It was here that William spent the remaining years of his life.
In the affairs of the colony, no man enjoyed the confidence of Roger Williams more than he. He was on numerous commissions to settle boundary lines, to lay out roads, and to locate and build bridges. He was elected to
the general court on March 10, 1658 and was re-elected the five following years. For many years he was assistant to the General Assembly and was Deputy in 1679.
When King Philip's War was threatening to annihilate the colony, the General Assembly, on April 4, 1676, passed the following resolution: "Voted, that in these troublesome times and straits in the Colony this Assembly desiring to have the advice and concurrence of the most judicious inhabitants, so desire at their next sitting the company and counsel of William Carpenter."
Life was obviously dangerous in those days for on June 28, 1675, the Indians burned 18 houses at Providence and by March, 1676, there was only one house left standing between Providence and Warwick. Two historians report:
"On January 27, 1676, the Indians dispoiled Mr. Carpenter of two hundred sheep, fifty head of cattle and fifteen horses, all of which they drove with them.
Two that belonged to the said Carpenter were wounded and one of the enemy slain." "William Carpenter's house was attacked by about 300 Indians and was set afire by them, but the flames were extinguished by the defenders.
Two of his household were killed."
An interesting note from this period is the General Court of Massachusetts report which enumerated the "sins" which had brought this disastrous war upon this Colony : "Pride in men's wearing long and curled hair, excess in apparel, naked breasts and arms and superfluous ribbons, toleration of Quakers, extortion in shopkeepers and mechanics, and the riding from town to town of unmarried men and women under pretense of attending lectures."
MISC: On Dec 14, 1671, William Carpenter made a deed of free gift to his sister Fridgswith Vincent of "my dwelling hose and all what land belongith to me adjoining to the said house the which said house is standing in the town of Amesbury in Wiltshire and in a street commonly called Frogg lane, my sister being an inhabitant of the said town, the which said house did in the original belong to my father Richard Carpenter now deceased, but fell to my right as I was the son and heir of my said father." See Page 9 in the Carpenter Family 1912 book and also The Arnold Memorial Family Book by Elisha Stephen Arnold.
See also, page 10 9-10 of the DHC book refers to a deed written by WC on 14 Dec 1571 that was recorded at Providence in the Book of Deeds, page 449. Gene Zubrinsky corrected this with;
Actually, 4 Dec. 1671, in The Early Records of the Town of Providence, 21 vols. (Providence, 1892–1915), 5:323–25, transcr. from Third Book of the Town of Providence, 477 (not 463, as stated in pub. vol.) [see FHL film #915,084]. DHC doesn't say that the deed was written by William Carpenter. He says that "he caused the following document to be placed upon the town records." While he may or may not have written the original (which, so far as I know is not extant), it was copied into the aforementioned Providence record volume on 9 March 1671[/2] by John Whipple Jr., Providence town clerk.
BOOK: "The Arnold Memorial, William Arnold of Providence and Pawtuxet, 1587-1675, and a Genealogy of His Descendants", compiled by Elisha Stephen Arnold, 1935. The Tuttle Publishing Company, Rutland, VT.
MISC: Carpenter Chronicles Miscellaneous- by Bette Butcher-Topp. The Carpenter Family in America - 20 July 1998, On March 16, 1639. Its founders were Roger Williams, Ezekiel Holyman, William Arnold, William Harris, Stukely Westcott, John Green, Richard Waterman, Thomas James, William Carpenter, Francis Weston, and
Thomas Olney (these being the same persons named in the **Intial Deed, lacking names of Robert Coles and John Throckmorton). Benedict, in his "History of the Baptists,' gives an exceedingly interesting account of this
event. He says, " the candidates for communion chose Ezekiel Hoyman,* a man of gifts and piety, to baptise Mr. Williams, and he in return baptised Mr. Holyman and the other ten." As we read the history of Providence we can but note that nearly every one of these ten candidates at sometime or other showed that they were men of "gifts and piety." From my earliest recollection I recall being told that William Carpenter was " a preacher " in England, and the fact that he performed the marriage ceremony at the wedding of his daughter is, I think, ample proof that he was recognized by his church as one of its " lay ministers."
Up to this date, 1638, the Proprietors," as they now began to be called, were living on their " Home Lotts,situated conveniently near together for neighborly intercourse and mutual protection. These lots contained about six acres each and all fronted on the Town Streets with a dividing line between the lots running east and west. William Carpenter's lot was separated from the lot of Robert Coles by a highway. "Town Street " is now Main Street, and the highway is Meeting Street, so called because of the Friends' Meeting House which now occupies William Carpenter's lot. Immediately after the signing of the Initial Deed the Proprietors made division of their division. William Carpenter and his father-in-law, William Arnold, with Zachariah Rhodes,*, William Harris, and Robert Coles, for their shares were allotted a large tract at "Pautuxet," where they at once made settlement. It was a beautiful meadow-land, about four miles southerly from Providence, bounded on the east by Narragansett Bay and on the south by the Pawtuxet River.
In later years it was known as " Cranston ", and is now undergoing the changes consequent upon the rapid growth of Providence, which is yearly adding its acres to blocks of buildings. It was here that William Carpenter spent the
remaining years of his life. *[Zachariah Rhodes married Joanna Arnold, a sister of the wife of William Carpenter; he died in 1665, and in 1667 she married Samuel Reape.] ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
** A facsimile of the Initial Deed appeared in the " Providence Journal" on June 24, 1886, during the 250th Anniversary proceeding. This deed was hastily drawn up by Roger Williams, at the time of settlement, in which by initials he designates "his loving friends and neighbors" who are to have equal rights with himself. These friends/neighbors were twelve in number, and until Dec.23, 1661, this "Initial Deed" was all they had to show in the way of title to their holdings. On this date, a formal "Confirmatory Deed"* was given them by Roger Williams and his wife, intending thereby to make their titles secure, but in some unaccountable manner a part of the original settlers names were omitted, so, to remedy this, another deed was given in 1666 at which time Mr. Williams stated that the original "Initial Deed" was delivered on the 8th day of the 8th month, 1638.
"Memorandum, That I.R.W. having formerly purchased on Canonicus and Miantonomi, this our situation or plantation of New Providence, viz. the two fresh rivers Wonas, and Moosh. and the grounds and meadows thereupon, in consideration of L.30 received from the inhabitants of said place, do freely and fully, pass, grant and make over equal right and power of enjoying and disposing the same grounds and land unto my loving friends and neighbors SW. WA. TJ. RC. JG. JT. WH. WC. TO. FW. RW. and EH. and such others as the major part of us
shall admit into the same fellowship of vote with us. As also, I do freely, make and pass over equal right and power of enjoying and disposing the said land and ground reaching from the aforesaid rivers unto the great river Pawtuxet, with the grass and meadow thereupon, which was Thomas Olney, Francis Weston, Richard Waterman, Ezekiel Holyman and such others as the major part of us shall admit unto the same fellowship of vote with us. As also I do freely make and pass over equal right and power of enjoying and disposing the lands and grounds reaching from the aforesaid rivers unto the great river Pawtuxet and the grass and meadows thereupon, which was so lately granted by the aforesaid Sachems to me. Witness my hand, Providence 22, 10 mo. 1666, so called. ROGER WILLIAMS In presence of us, John BROWNE, John SAYLES, Thomas HARRIS, Assistant .
There has been much skepticism toward this material below. As in every case, I believe you need to look at all printed material, either prove or disprove it. But I have been taught in over twenty years of classes that there is always some truth in every "tradition" - and you use all material as a clue in order for you to find the absolute truth - beyond any doubts....Some of the compilers from years gone by, may have embellished their works and it is up to us to figure out what is truthful about the individual material published. Please look at ALL the evidence and search for the truth. I am pleased to hear all the evidence and look forward to the sources and references used.
NOTE: Descendants of Capt. William Carpenter are eligible for membership in the "ORDER of FIRST FAMILIES of RHODE ISLAND & PROVIDENCE PLANTATIONS."
For more info contact order above at: 45 East 200 North St., Salt Lake City, UT 84103. [Adc_9309.FTW].
This William is the progenitor of the R.I. branch. He came to America in 1636 with Roger Williams.
Ref: 1. New York Genealogical And Biographical Records, Vols. 97, 103.
2. "The Rhode Island Branch of the Carpenter Family, by Daniel H. Carpenter.
WEB PAGE:
http://www.this-is-amesbury.co.uk/
Amesbury, known variously in history as Ambrosbury, Ambresbury and Amblesberie is at the centre of a population of approximately 28,000, located 14 miles west of Andover and 9 miles north of Salisbury in the county of Wiltshire. Amesbury is one of Wiltshire's most attractive little towns, the refuge of Guinevere, the centre for Shrewton, Durrington, Bulford, Figheldean, Boscombe Down and much of Salisbury Plain including Stonehenge and Old Sarum.
More on web page.
http://www.wiltshire-web.co.uk/
Amesbury:
Amesbury is a small Wiltshire town. It lies on a meander of the River Avon, eight miles north of Salisbury, at a point where the main road from London to Exeter bridges the river. The chalk downlands of Salisbury Plain surround the town, pocked with the remains of earlier civilizations.
Until the present century Amesbury depended largely on agriculture, but now its population of some 6000 inhabitants looks mostly to the neighbouring defence establishments or to Salisbury for employment. The nucleus of the town and its medieval abbey church remain, although the ' great thoroughfare' which once formed the High street has been channelled into a modern by-pass. The abbey mansion, the abbey was founded in 979, is now a nursing home, the 18th century houses of the town centre are interspersed with modern shops, and housing estates have encroached onto the common fields.
Amesbury may not impress the casual visitor, or even the resident, with a sense of history in the way that Salisbury (an altogether younger place) does, but there is plenty in Amesbury's past that deserves to be remembered.
E-MAIL: From: GeneZub@aol.com 08/13/2001
Subject: [CARPENTER] William1 Carpenter of Providence
The following exchange of e-mail messages between Robert Charles Anderson and
myself occurred on 8/12/01 and 8/13/01. Anderson authored the widely
acclaimed THE GREAT MIGRATION BEGINS, IMMIGRANTS TO NEW ENGLAND 1620-1633 (3
vols., 1995) and is principal author of the equally monumental sequel, THE
GREAT MIGRATION, IMMIGRANTS TO NEW ENGLAND 1634-1635 (2 vols. so far: A-B
[1999], C-F [2001]). With respect to early New England genealogy, he is
without question the most skilled and knowledgeable person alive.
Gene Zubrinsky
Ojai, Calif.
<< Bob,
Concerning WILLIAM ARNOLD's daughter ELIZABETH, you say she "m. by about 1635
William Carpenter (son Joseph, apparently the eldest child of this couple,
was not yet married in late 1658 ... , but probably soon after ... )" (TGM
1:88).
Presumably you derived your "by about 1635" estimate from approximations of
Joseph's marriage and birth years (by 1660, minus 25 years). I don't
believe, however, that your sources (TAG 70:196 [sic, 195n], 204, citing PCPR
2:1:80-82; MD 14:231-33; Austin 36) offer a basis for reliably approximating
Joseph's year of marriage. (Daniel Hoogland Carpenter, who also estimates
Joseph's birth year as about 1635, baselessly assumes he had come of age by 3
May 1656, when he witnessed a deed to his father from the latter's
brother-in-law Stephen Arnold [HISTORY AND GENEALOGY OF THE CARPENTER FAMILY
IN AMERICA (Jamaica, N.Y., 1901), 31]. As you know, witnesses as young as 14
have been identified in colonial New England documents.) In any case, I
think I've found something more substantive and direct for calculating
Joseph's approximate birth year.
While reading in HARRIS PAPERS the other evening, I came across a record of
testimony taken on 16 October 1664, in which the age of deponent Joseph
Carpenter is given as "26 yeeres" (Collections of the Rhode Island Historical
Society, Volume 10 [Providence, 1902], 72-73). This puts Joseph's birth at
about 1638 and strengthens my long-held suspicion that Elizabeth Arnold,
formerly of Ilchester, Somerset, and William Carpenter, apparently from
40-miles-distant Amesbury, Wiltshire, married, not in England (as generally
assumed), but in Massachusetts or Rhode Island. That you presumably found no
record of William Carpenter in New England in 1635 (he's not included in TGM,
Vol. 2) seems further to suggest that he didn't emigrate with the Arnolds.
(I can't recall a record putting him in New England before 1638.)
Of course the possibility exists that "eldest son" Joseph's sister Lydia was
older than he (the order in which their father's will names his children
might not reflect their birth order) and that their parents married in
England, after all (the aforementioned geographic and documentary evidence
militates against it). It nevertheless seems appropriate to express
Elizabeth Arnold and William Carpenter's marriage as having occurred "by
about 1638." What do you think?
Best regards,
Gene Z. >>
<< Gene,
Your estimate of how I arrived at the estimated marriage date for Elizabeth
Arnold is quite correct, and you are also correct that nothing in the
sources I quote points directly to 1635. I expect I was also influenced by
the age of Elizabeth, who in 1635 would already have been older than the
norm for marriage.
But your discovery of the deposition provides the type of evidence that
trumps estimates based on estimates.
Arnold [presumably James N. Arnold (GZ)] says that William Carpenter of
Providence was granted land there in 1637, but I have not verified that
record. At any rate, if the Joseph Carpenter deposition is precisely
correct, then he could have been conceived no later than January of 1637/8
(and probably some months earlier). So, if the marriage took place in New
England (and I agree with you on this point), then he must have been here by
1637. When I have a chance, I'll check the Providence records.
Good to hear from you. Do you have any articles in the works?
RCA >>
E-MAIL: Update:
From: GeneZub@aol.com
To: jrcrin001@cox.net
Sent: Saturday, November 02, 2002 12:31 PM
Subject: Re: Richard V Archbishop Laud
partial quote ...
On the first point (from my Carpenter mailing-list message of 3 Feb. 2002, with minor revisions):
Despite the oft-repeated assertion that Amesbury William Carpenter married William Arnold's daughter Elizabeth in England and emigrated with her and the rest of the Arnold family, there are several reasons to doubt that he had any contact with the Arnolds in England. First, the widely accepted (though incorrect) estimate of William and Elizabeth (Arnold) Carpenter's son Joseph's birth year as 1635 (the year the Arnolds emigrated) is based on the erroneous assumption that he was of age when on 3 May 1656 he witnessed a Providence deed from his uncle Stephen Arnold to his father. Based on the same legal standing then granted 14-year-old orphans to choose their guardians, witnesses as young as that are found in early New England records. Second, a deposition given by Joseph Carpenter on 16 October 1664 describes him as "Aged 26 yeeres," implying a birth year of 1638 (HARRIS PAPERS, Collections of the Rhode Island Historical Society, Vol. 10 [Providence, 1902], pp. 72-73). Third, while William Arnold is recorded as having been granted a home-lot at Hingham on 18 September 1635, the earliest evidence of Amesbury William Carpenter in New England appears in Providence records under the heading "Agreements & orders the second year of ye Plantation" (Robert Charles Anderson, George F. Sanborn Jr., and Melinde Lutz Sanborn, THE GREAT MIGRATION: IMMIGRANTS TO NEW ENGLAND 1634-1635, Vol. 1 (A-B) [Boston, 2000], p. 84, citing Hingham Book of Possessions, p. 30; THE EARLY RECORDS OF THE TOWN OF PROVIDENCE, Vol. 1 [Providence, 1892], p. 3). Providence Plantation's second year began in the summer of 1637, a year after the arrival there of the Arnolds. Fourth, there is the obvious matter of distance: William's home, at Amesbury, Wiltshire, and that of the Arnolds, at Ilchester, Somerset, were about 40 air miles apart. (There is no evidence that the Richard Carpenter who died at Ilchester in 1625 was William's father. [A Richard Carpenter was buried the same year in Amesbury. The only reason for going so far afield is to force a connection between William Carpenter and the Arnold family by 1635.] And the Richard Carpenter who married Susanna Trevilian at Nettlecomb, about 70 air miles from Amesbury, has been positively identified as someone else altogether.) Finally, Amesbury/Providence William's exclusion by Anderson and the Sanborns from Volume 2 (C-F [2001]) of the above-cited THE GREAT MIGRATION indicates that they, too, reject the notion that William came to New England in 1635--even though their evidence didn't then include Joseph Carpenter's aforementioned deposition. Bob Anderson has since told me explicitly that he concurs with my conclusion that William Carpenter met and married Elizabeth Arnold in New England, probably at Providence.
Confirmatory deed 12/23/1661
On 20 March 1639/40 "Thomas James of Providence sold to William Field ofProvidence his lands, rights and privileges in Providence" [Chapin 1:109,citing Field Papers 3 at Rhode Island Historical Society]. On 9 February1645 William Field of Providence sold to William Carpenter land "lyingbetween the top of the hill and the fresh river called Pautuxett River atPootatugock ... which I bought of Thomas James, John Throgmorton andThomas Olney" [PrTR 14:64].
Providence Early Town Records
Early Town Records of the Town of Providence: Volume 3
[p.34] A Copie Whereof is as ffolloweth.
page 170171
Bee it knowne unto all people by these, that I William Carpenter ofpautuxett within the Towneshipp of providence in the Colloney of RoadeJsland & providence plantations in New England: upon good Consideration,have freely given granted, made over and confirmed; And by these presentsdoe ffreely give, grant, make ouer & confirme unto my sonne EphraimCarpenter that house hee now dwelleth in standing upon my farme at Rockeyhill as also two thirds of the field which is now inclosed lieing neerethe sayd howse; As also two thirds both for quantety and quallety of allthe land which | doeth | belong unto [p.170] mee within the fence whichnow is an inclosure at & about the place Comonly called by the name ofRockey hill: saveing only the swampe which lieth at the south End of thesayd Rockey hill, of which swampe: the one halfe shall belong unto mysayd sonne: As also I doe freely give unto my aforsd sonn all that swampelieing betwene the howse he now dwelleth in and pauchasett Riuer; I doealso give unto my sayd sonn Ephraim Carpenter all my Right of meadow andlow land lieing upon both sides of pauchasett Riuer; As also I doe giveunto my sayd sonn Ephraim halfe that neck of Land or meadow which liethon the north side of pautuxett Riuer; & westward of pauchasett River;where the sayd pauchasett River falleth into pautuxett River. Also I doegive unto my sayd sonn one Right of Comoning within the libertye of theTowne of providence both on the East & west side of the seaven mile line,The which Right of Comoning formerly belonged unto mr John Greene Senr:formerly Jnhabetant of the Towne of providence, and was by me purchasedof mr John Greene his sonn, The which howse, with all the aformentionedLands, meadows, & Comoning in manner as is afore Exprest; I say I have, &by this Jnstrument doe ffreely give grant make ouer and passe away, bothfrom myselfe; & all others unto my aforsayd sonn Ephraim Carpenter; withall the apurtanances; Both for him selfe, his heirs, Exsecutors,Administrators & Assignes to Have & to Hold as his or Either of theiretrue, proper & lawfull Right & Jnheretance for ever: at all times quietpeacebly to Enjoy use & possess the same & euery: part & percell therof,without the hindrance Lett or Trouble of or by me the sayd WilliamCarpenter, or of any other person Either for By Through or under me, And| that | my sayd sonn Ephraim Carpenter; [p.171] doth at this present dayof the signeing and sealling hereof stand truly & lawfully seized &possessed with the aforsd howse & Lands of a good, sure, Lawfull,Absolute & undefezable Estate of Jnheretance in fee simple with out anyConditions, Limmetations, use, or any other thing to pass alter or changethe same, as his owne proper to possess, vse, Bargaine, sell, Giue,Mortgagge Rent out or any wayes to desposse of the same, according as heehimselfe shall see cause; Jn Wittnese wherof I doe hereunto sett my handand seale; This Eight day of December in this present yeare, one ThousandSixe hundred and Seaventy
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Early Town Records of the Town of Providence: Volume 3
[p.34] A Copie Whereof is as ffolloweth.
page 173174
Bee it knowne vnto all peole by these presents, that I William Carpenterof: pautuxett within the Towneshipp of providence; in the Colloney ofRoade Jsland and providence plantations, in new England, vpon goodConsideration Have ffreely Granted given made over & Confirmed, & bythese presents doe ffreely Give, Grant make over and Confirme unto myDaughter prescilla vinsent one Third part of the ffield which isinclossed within my farme, which is at & about the place Comonly calledRockey hill the sayd ffield also lieing about the howse which my sonnEphraim Carpenter now dwelleth in my sayd Daughters husband, WilliamVinsent also haueing Built a howse upon the sayd ffield; I doe also giveunto my sayd Daughter one third part both for quantety, & quallety of allthe Land which is within the fence which at this time is an inclossureabout certaine of my Lands about the place Comonly called Rockey Hill(aforenamed) A third part of the sayd Lands, I say; saueing only theswampe which lieth betwene the dwelling howse of my sonn EphraimCarpenter & pauchassett River, The which swampe shall no part of itbelong unto my sayd Daughter. I doe also Give unto my sayd Daughter theone halfe of the | swampe | lieing at the south End of Rockey Hill thatis to say tenn acres of the best of the sayd swampe; I doe also give untomy sayd Daughter prescilla halfe of that neck of Land; or Meadow thatlieth on the north side of pautuxett River, and West a little frompauchassett River. I doe also give unto my sayd Daughter one purchaseRight on the west side of the seaven mile line sett by the Towne of[p.173] providence; the which purChase Right I bought of Amos Westcott;the which purchasse Right formerly belonged to his ffather StukleyWestcott, formerly inhabetant of the Towne of providence; A third part ofthe sayd land I say within the feence aforsayd I Give unto my | sayd |Daughter saveing only the swampe afornamed lieing betwene the dwellingHowse of my sonn Ephraim, & pauchassett River, and also twenty acres ofLand which before I named not the Exception of the which I Reserve to myselfe; Jt lieing on the west side.
GRAVE: not really - memorial only
William Carpenter
Birth: 1610 Amesbury, Wiltshire Unitary Authority, Wiltshire, England
Death: 7 Sep 1685 (aged 74–75) Providence, Providence County, Rhode Island, USA
Burial: Unknown
Plot: he was likely buried at his homestead in Cranston, but no one knows with any certainty.
Memorial #: 41892759
Bio:
No record of his birth or baptism has been found, but it is likely he was born at Amesbury, Co.Wiltshire, England around 1610.
His father was more likely to be the Richard Carpenter (HERE) buried at Amesbury on Sep 21,1625 than another Richard Carpenter of Nettlecombe, Co.Somerset, who died at Loxhore, Co.Devonshire in August 1627 and who married Susanna Trevellian.
His mother may have been Alice (Knight) Carpenter (HERE), who had married a Richard Carpenter at Newton Toney, Co.Wiltshire on Aug 7,1603, though this has not been proven.
William Carpenter arrived in New England c.1635, and was at Providence,RI by 1637. This William Carpenter should not be confused with contemporary William Carpenter of Rehoboth,MA, nor are they related in any known way. Please refer to NEHGR 164:36ff for the most recent information on this family.
He married Elizabeth Arnold in Providence,RI about 1637. There is no evidence that he married her in England, as suggested in early genealogies, nor is there evidence that the Carpenters and Arnold families were in contact there. (NOTE: An inscription in Mineral Spring Cemetery in Pawtucket,RI gives Elizabeth Arnold Carpenter's date of death as 7 September 1685. It appears on the Benedict and Stephen Arnold monument — a cenotaph, erected many generations later.)
He and his wife were almost certainly buried on their homestead, in present day Cranston,RI.
Children: Joseph Carpenter, Lydia Carpenter Smith, Ephraim Carpenter, Priscilla Carpenter Vincent, William Carpenter, Timothy Carpenter, Silas Carpenter, and Benjamin Carpenter.
Family Members
Spouse
Elizabeth Arnold Carpenter 1611-1685
Children
Joseph Carpenter 1638-1683
Lydia Carpenter Smith 1638-1711
Ephraim Carpenter 1640-1703
Timothy Arnold Carpenter 1643-1726
Priscilla Carpenter Vincent 1648-1691
Silas Carpenter 1650-1695
Benjamin Carpenter 1652-1710
Maintained by: Kevin Avery (47024642)
Originally Created by: Lori Bright (47051326)
Added: 13 Sep 2009
URL: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/41892759/william-carpenter
Citation: Find A Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 20 February 2019), memorial page for William Carpenter (1610–7 Sep 1685), Find A Grave Memorial no. 41892759, ; Maintained by Kevin Avery (contributor 47024642) Unknown.
15.
William Carpenter
4.
Frideswide Carpenter
17.
Thomas Vincent
5.
Stephen H. Carpenter
6.
Ira Carpenter
7.
Aaron Carpenter
27.
Anna Carpenter