Descendants of William Carpenter of Rehoboth, Plymouth Colony, now part of Bristol County, MA
Notes
290.
Nathan Carpenter
Number 242 in the Carpenter Memorial on page 78.
His family is on page 134 (#109).
His son Nathan was baptized in Woodstock, CT on 20 Dec 1730. Nathan of Dudley
bought land in Harwick, MA 29 June 1733 and probably removed there about that
time, he being one of the early inhabitants. His family residence was near the
"Old Furnance" and he owned a part of the saw mill then standing of "Moose
Brook". He only mentions his two eldest children in his will. Two of his
children were born there. He went to Dudley, was in Dudley in 1733, and was
one of the early settlers of that place. Died age 69.
There is some handwritten notes in my copy of the CM for this family.
"(1) Palin?e Town?" next to Gideon.
"bef 2nd w. Abigail Ra?d?" next to Nathan.
"m. 15-3-73 A?na Cox" inserted for 1st marriage for Nathan.
"by 32 w Sarah Powe??" next to Benjamin.
"m. pubr. 2-1-73 Daniel M?????g a farme? d. Har?ic? Mas" for Dinah.
The "?" means unknown letter. It is difficult reading.
MARRIAGE: Marriage number 3 does not seem to be supported by facts. It seems a corruption of the Sarah Powers who married Benjamin incorrectly set as a spouse to Nathan.
1028.
Freelove Carpenter
Number 741 in the Carpenter Memorial on page 134.
She was the first wife of Josiah Chandler, a farmer.
Josiah Chandler
A farmer who reided at Barre and Rochester, VT.
1029.
Nathan Carpenter
Number 742 in the Carpenter Memorial on page 134.
BIRTH: Nathan was probably born in Woodstock, CT since he was baptised there.
However the CM has him born in Hardwick.
Nathan Carpenter of Hardwick, MA enlisted as private in the Lexington scare in
Capt. Simon Houghton's company and served 12 days. He enlisted a second time
as private in Capt. Billings Company, Col. Leonard's Regiment, dated May 14,
1775 and served 3 months and 14 days.
There is some hand written notes in my copy of the CM for this family.
"bef 2nd w. Abigail Ba?d?" next to Nathan.
"m. 15-3-73 A?na Cox" inserted for 1st marriage for Nathan.
1030.
Abigail Carpenter
Number 743 in the Carpenter Memorial on page 134.
She married Searl or Nathan Daggett or as the CM states "perhaps both as 1st
and 2d husband."
Searl or Benjamin Daggett
Father may be Hepsibah Daggett who was born in 1701 and died in 1736 in the
town of Rehoboth, Bristol, MA.
1033.
Susannah Carpenter
Number 746 in the Carpenter Memorial on page 134.
1034.
Patience Carpenter
Number 747 in the Carpenter Memorial on page 134.
1035.
Sarah Carpenter
Number 748 in the Carpenter Memorial on page 134.
Infant death.
1038.
Lydia Carpenter
Number 751 in the Carpenter Memorial on page 134.
Her marriage was published 6 June 1773 at Hardwick, MA.
1039.
Dinah Carpenter
Number 752 in the Carpenter Memorial on page 134.
Per handwritten notes in my copy of the CM:
Her marriage was published 2 Jan. 1773 at Hardwick, MA.
She married a Daniel M????g, a farmer, died at Harwick, MA.
1040.
Hepzibah Carpenter
Number 753 in the Carpenter Memorial on page 134.
Susannah Powers
Was Susannah born 1740 her daughter? If yes, the marriage date is circa 1739. However, I have serious doubts of this person's marriage to Nathan. See NOTES for the son of Nathan called Benjamin.
291.
Charles Carpenter
Number 243 in the Carpenter Memorial on page 78.
His family is on page 134 and 135 (#110).
Marriage published 19 June 1731, but Bosworth Genealogy on page 421 indicates marriage date as 28 Oct. 1731 in Rehoboth by Rev. David Turner.
WILL: Dated 24 Dec. 1743, probated 20 Mar. 1743/44 gives to three sons -
Jedediah, Charles and Samuel and to a daughter Susannah - and to wife Hannah whom he makes executor. (Taunton Probate 10-409).
NOTE: in Taunton Probate 16-22 Charles' brother Jedediah was adm. of his estate and in the equal division of his estate to his three sons, land et cetera.
20 Mar. 1743/44 - Hannah Carpenter, as admx. on her husband estate, gave bonds.
5 May 1747 - The son Jedediah being above the age of fourteen chose his mother Hannah Carpenter to be his guardian and on the same date Hannah gave bonds with Daniel Carpenter and John Bowen Jun. for 200 pounds.
17 Mar. 1748/47 - Hannah Carpenter being deceased, the only brother to her
"Aprehends the only Right of Administration to her Estate" - Joseph Bozworth.
17 Mar. 1748/47 - Joseph Bosworth as guardian to Samuel and Charles Carpenter, both under age 14 gave bonds for 300 pounds each. One same date Joseph Bosworth appointed guardian of Susanah Bosworth daughter of Charles Carpenter deceased under age 14 gave bonds.
12 Nov. 1753 - Charles Carpenter having arrived to the age of 14 petitioned that his "unkell Joseph Bozworth my Garden" might still continue. Signed by Charles and Jedediah.
27 Nov. 1753 - Daniel Carpenter, Ezekiel Read, Daniel Barney and John Lindley were apt. a committee by the Judge of Probate to devide the Real Est. This was done 9 April 1754. Each of the three sons of Charles receive 80 pounds.
"Charles Carpenter son of Charles Carpenter late of Rehoboth deceased - being a minor above the age of fourteen years and my former Guardian Joseph Bosworth being deceased Do Make Choice of Thomas Read of Rehoboth to be my Guardian" etc.
2 April 1754 - Thomas Read gave bonds for guardian for Charles and also for
Samuel "under the age of fourteen" - for 2000 pounds with Noah Sabin and Jedidiah Carpenter.
28 Feb. 1757 - Jedidiah Carpenter having been apt. Adm. on the Est. of his
brother Charles, deceased gave bonds for 2,000 pounds, with Thomas Read and Nathaniel Cobb.
SOURCE DATA:
!Number 243 in the Carpenter Memorial on page 78.
Bosworth Genealogy, page 421 indicates marriage date as 28 Oct. 1731 in Rehoboth by Rev. David Turner.
WILL: Dated 24 Dec. 1743, probated 20 Mar. 1743/44 (Taunton Probate 10-409)
Burial data from Newman Cemetery
BURIAL: NOTE: no headstone picture.
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=carpenter&GSfn=charles&GSby=1702&GSbyrel=in&GSdy=1744&GSdyrel=in&GScntry=4&GSob=n&GRid=21484613&df=all&
Birth: Apr. 15, 1702
Death: Jan. 17, 1744
~Son of:
Lieut. Samuel Carpenter Jr. [1661-1737] &
Patience Ide [1664-1732]
~Husband of:
Hannah Bosworth
~Father of:
Jedediah Carpenter [b. 08 OCT 1732]
Susanna Carpenter [1735-1813]
+ sp.: Aaron Barney: m. 13 Dec 1753
+ sp. Nathaniel Chaffee Jr. [1735-1822]
Charles Carpenter [b. 12 Sep 1738]
Samuel Carpenter [b. 27 MAR 1741]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Family links:
Parents:
Samuel Carpenter (1661 - 1737)
Patience Ide Carpenter (1664 - 1732)
Note: researching
Burial:
Newman Cemetery
East Providence
Providence County
Rhode Island, USA
Hannah Bosworth
Died age 41. Eldest daughter.
SEE: Bosworth Genealogy, page 421-422.
SOURCE DATA:
Bosworth Genealogy, page 421 indicates birth and marriage.
Husband's WILL: Dated 24 Dec. 1743, probated 20 Mar. 1743/44 (Taunton Probate 10-409)
1042.
Susannah Carpenter
Number 755 in the Carpenter Memorial on page 135.
Probably married Aaron Barney.
BIRTH: Same birth date as another Susannah Carpenter! Different parents. Spouses confused? Which is which?
SEE:
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=26033300
Birth: Jul. 5, 1735
Death: Nov. 14, 1813
~Wife of:
[1] Aaron Barney: m. 13 Dec 1753
[2] Nathaniel Chaffee: m. 17 Jul 1760
Family links:
Parents:
Daniel Charles Carpenter (1695 - 1763)
Susanna Lyon Carpenter (1699 - 1790)
Spouse:
Nathaniel Chaffee (1735 - 1822)
Note: researching
Burial:
Newman Cemetery
East Providence
Providence County
Rhode Island, USA
1043.
Charles Carpenter Jr.
Number 756 in the Carpenter Memorial on page 135.
See father's notes under "WILL."
292.
Edmund Carpenter
Number 244 in the Carpenter Memorial on page 78.
His family is on page 135 (#111).
Mehitabel Cooper
NAME: In one recrod her name is spelled "Carper."
1046.
Althea Carpenter
Number 759 in the Carpenter Memorial on page 135.
1051.
Ide
Unnamed infant.
295.
Rachel Carpenter
Number 252 on page 79 of the Carpenter Memorial.
296.
Abiah Carpenter
Number 247 on page 78 & 79 in the Carpenter Memorial.
A Farmer.
Experience Abell
According to the Carpenter Memorial, Experienc's mother was Martha Readaway
ABELL. AF has father's other wife as mother.
1065.
Experience Carpenter
Number 762 on page 135 in the Carpenter Memorial.
She married a farmer.
1070.
Lydia Carpenter
Number 767 on page 136 in the Carpenter Memorial.
1072.
Sarah Carpenter
Number 769 on page 136 in the Carpenter Memorial.
297.
Thomas Carpenter
Number 248 on page 79. A Deacon and Farmer.
Family on page 136 (#113).
Thomas and 10 others wrote a petition to Rehoboth for school masters to teach
the young. See page 79 for letter dated 3 Mar 1737 or 1738.
Mary Barstow
Died at age 87.
1075.
Mary Carpenter
Number 772 on page 136 in the Carpenter Memorial.
303.
Mary Carpenter
Number 254 in the Carpenter Memorial on page 79.
Edward Carpenter
Number 164 in The CARPENTER MEMORIAL. page 72.
!Family on page 111 (#82).
He was an Ensign in the Militia and a farmer.
On the Bristol County Records, we find a division of the estate of Edward
Carpenter dated 1771: names widow Dorothy, and Joseph Nash the only surviving
heir of Sarah Nash, daughter of Edward Carpenter.
304.
Cornelius Carpenter
Number 255 in the Carpenter Memorial on page 79.
Family on page 138 (#114)
He acted as a Colonel in the Militia.
1083.
Mehitable Carpenter
Number 777 in the Carpenter Memorial on page 138
305.
James Carpenter Jr.
Number 257 in the Carpenter Memorial. Page 80
Family on page 138 (#115).
1084.
Susannah Carpenter
Number 778 in the Carpenter Memorial. Page 138.
Jonathan Barstow
A farmer. Jonathan Barstow was probably the one alluded to in a letter of
Ebenzer Barstow of Scotland, CT, whom he said was killed in the famous battle
at the Heights of Abraham, in Quebec, Canada in 1759, leaving three children,
one of whom was William Barstow of Providence, RI, who married Bethiah Bourne
on June 10, 1773. Arnold has it as John Barstow not Jonathan. Per the
Carpenter Memorial on page 138, number 778.
1085.
Jemima Carpenter
Number 779 in the Carpenter Memorial. Page 138.
She married Peter, her cousin.
1086.
3 Carpenter
There were three daughters in this family according to E. Barney.
See page 138 of the Carpenter Memorial, number 779.
306.
Jacob Carpenter
Number 258 in the Carpenter Memorial. Page 80
Family on page 138 (#116).
Desire Carpenter
Number 639 in the Carpenter Memorial on page 124.
Married Hezekiah Hix, April 15, 1738.
Married Jacob Carpenter about Sept 1753.
!The Desire Carpenter who married Jacob Carpenter was probably a widow who had
been married to Hezekiah Hix in 1738. The children of Jacob and Desire were
born in July 1754 and 1756. The marriage date assigned on page 80 was probably
for Jacob's first marriage.
1087.
Mary Carpenter
Number 780 in the Carpenter Memorial on page 138.
Possibly born or raised in Rehoboth, MA.
1088.
Hannah Carpenter
Number 781 in the Carpenter Memorial on page 139.
Possibly born or raised in Rehoboth, MA.
308.
Stephen Carpenter
Number 260 in CARPENTER MEMORIAL on page 80. A farmer.
Family on page 139 (#117).
BURIAL: One record indicates he was buried on the 16th and another on the 22nd.
Tradition says he married a native American Indian woman and that some of his
descendants are marked with indian blood, which can be noticed in their color
and features. It is stated that some of them show it very plainly. Mrs. E.
Barney, daughter of Asa Carpenter, grandson of this Stephen, writes that her
Rachel shows it very plainly, and also some of her cousins. This would be his
first wife, Martha Hunt.
Martha Hunt
Tradition says she was a native American. Many of her features, darker skin
and such can be seen in her descendants.
1091.
Rachel Carpenter
Number 784 in CARPENTER MEMORIAL on page 139.
1092.
Martha Carpenter
Number 785 in the Carpenter Memorial on page 139.
1094.
John Carpenter
Number 787 in CARPENTER MEMORIAL on page 139.
1095.
Lydia Carpenter
Number 788 in CARPENTER MEMORIAL on page 139.
1096.
Elizabeth Carpenter
Number 789 in CARPENTER MEMORIAL on page 139.
She married a farmer named Daniel Bucklin.
Daniel Bucklin
A farmer. Probably a brother to Betsey BUCKLIN.
1098.
Mary Carpenter
Number 791 in CARPENTER MEMORIAL on page 139.
1100.
Chloe Carpenter
NUmber 795 in the Carpenter Memorial on page 139.
1101.
Benajah Carpenter Capt.
NUmber 793 in the Carpenter Memorial on page 139.
No family listed.
He was Captian and had the command of a two gun battery in the Revolution, he was killed at the battle of Long Island 27 Aug 1776. He served under the command of Col. Henry Knox in a regiment of artillery. Letters of
administration were granted on the estate of Capt Benajah Carpenter, Gent. on May 9 1777.
SEE: 30 Sept 2001 E-mail below.
E-MAIL: Thu, 15 Mar 2001 From: Bruce E. Carpenter "carpenter"
I typed in my distant uncle Benajah Carpenter's name on the excellent googles serach engine site.
Uncle Benajah was an artillery officer in the Revolution. His name came up with the great news his cap
is still extant in a museum in New York City. He was killed in the Battle of Brooklyn. Makes my day.
Bruce Carpenter
"One of the leather caps worn by the Rhode Island Company, that which belonged to Lieutenant Benajah Carpenter, may be seen in the museum of the Sons of the Revolution, in Fraunces Tavern, in New York City. It is a small black leather helmet, or cap, formed of six pieces of jacked leather sewn together, forming a cone shape, with a small brown and red tassel at the top. The odd-shaped front of heavy black jacked leather is decorated with a
gold painted anchor shaded with dark red, with the motto "For Our Country" painted above the anchor, in gilt letters on a red ground. Under the anchor, also in gilt letters on a red ground, is the Latin motto "In te, Domine,
speramus." At the base of the cap on both sides are two small brass buttons with bone backs, having on the face of each a convex anchor. Buttons stamped the same were worn on the jackets of brown faced with red. "
_____________________________
MORE:
When looking further uncle Benajahs name came up in the George Washington Papers now being published by the University of Virginia. There were two other Carpenters mentioned in the index. One a Richard.
BCE-Mail: Mon, 16 Apr 2001 From: Phoebe Cortez - MzCortez@aol.com
VOLUME 1
Page 35: "RUN away from the Subscriber, an Apprentice Lad, named James Hopkins, 19 Years of Age, round favoured, of a fair Complexion, about 5 Feet 7 Inches high, and has black strait Hair: Had on a green outside Jacket,
green Breeches, a blue Surtout, white Worsted Hose, and took with him a Pair of blue Yarn Hose. He is by Trade a Chairmaker. Whoever takes up said Apprentice, and returns him to his Master, shall have Two Dollars Reward, and all necessary Charges, paid by BENAJAH CARPENTER N.B. All Masters of Vessels are cautioned against carrying away said Apprentice, as they would avoid the Penalty of the Law.
Providence, Dec. 15, 1774 Providence Gazette December 31, 1774"
Number 1864 on page 254 in the Carpenter Memorial.
Family on page 426 (#605). Residence Lyndon, VT. He moved there in 1796 and
went into a school house to live until he could build a house of his own.
He was a soldier in the Revolutionary War - was engaged in the battle of
Monmouth, and Redbanks, and also in a skirmish at Harlem Heights, where he was
wounded by a musket ball which he received in his side and carried it with him
to his grave.
It was probably this Abel Carpenter who was Ensign in the 2nd RI
regiment, Israel Angel, colonel, and was promoted in the same company to 2nd
Lieutenant, services rendered in 1777 and 1778.
He reside in Lyndon at the time of his death. he was one of the select men of
the town for 20 years, and filled various other offices in town with honor to
himself and credit to the town. He never was confined to his bed a day in his
life by illness until his last sickness, 10 days before he died.
The family monument to Abel Carpenter Esq., one of the Revolutionary soldiers,
was the first monument errected in the cemetery at Lyndon, VT.
An Abel Carpenter served in the Revolutionary war as private in Captain Hicks
company, Col. Thomas Carpenter's regiment, Aug. 2, 1780; served 6 days; marched
to Tiverton on the RI alarm. The compiler of the Carpenter Memorial
is not sure if this last Abel Carpenter is the same as this Abel Carpenter.
E-MAIL: Date: Sun, 30 Sept 2001 From: Phoebe Cortez - MzCortez@aol.com
Alphabetical List of Officers of the Continental Army - C - Fifteenth Virginia - page 145
Carpenter, Benajah (R. I.). Captain Lieutenant of Knox's Regiment Continental Artillery, 10th December, 1775;
killed at Long Island, 27th August, 1776.
E-MAIL: From:
To:
Sent: Sunday, June 04, 2006 8:45 PM
Subject: Re: Benajah Carpenter
> In answer to Fred Murphy:
>
> << Am interested in Benajah Carpenter, born to Stephen Carpenter, Jr. and
> Jane Thurston Carpenter on 30 October 1748 at Rumford, Rhode Island. >>
>
> This Benajah Carpenter was born at Rehoboth, Mass., on 27 August 1748
> (Arnold, _Vital Record of Rehoboth_); 30 October 1748 is his date of baptism
> (Arnold, _Vital Record of Rhode Island_), which also occurred at Rehoboth (the
> original Rehoboth settlement, site of its First Congregational [or Newman]
> Church, became Rumford, East Providence, Rhode Island). That Benajah's baptismal
> record shows him as the son of Stephen Carpenter _Jr._ should not be construed
> as indicating that his paternal grandfather was necessarily also named
> Stephen but only that Benajah's father was the second-oldest Stephen Carpenter
> living in Rehoboth at the time. Online sources, probably repeating Amos B.
> Carpenter (1898)--whose work is not reliable--show Stephen Carpenter's parents as
> James and Grace (Palmer) Carpenter. Some of these say that Stephen is
> mentioned in the will of his grandfather Jonah Palmer (whose second wife,
> incidentally, was Abigail [Carpenter] Titus, dau. of William2 and Abigail [Briant]
> Carpenter of Rehoboth [formerly of Shalbourne, England].)
>
> << . . . on August 17. 1771 he married Sarah Taylor in Providence.
> Familytreemaker lists him as a captain and mariner who died at the battle of Long
> Island 27 August 1776, but Providence deeds records from 1773 to 1775 describe
> him as a chairmaker whose lathe and sundry tools were sold by administrators
> 8 July 1776 and whose real estate was sold 17 June 1778 at public auction.
> In 1779 Sarah Carpenter married Thomas Smart at Providence. Can someone
> reconcile these seemingly disparate sets of records? >>
>
> There's nothing inherently contradictory here: The description of Benajah as
> a captain is consistent with his having been a captain of artillery when he
> was killed (coincidentally, on his birthday) (Arnold, _VR of RI_). His
> description as a mariner could reflect a misinterpretation of his captain's title.
> On the other hand, there are many examples during this period of men who
> were occasionally identified in the records as mariners but whose primary
> occupation was something else. He could therefore easily have been both a
> chairmaker _and_ a mariner (perhaps a ship's carpenter). If, after consulting all
> the primary and secondary sources pertaining to Benajah, you find that the
> mariner label appears only in the secondary ones, you may properly conclude that
> if he was a mariner at all, it was not his main occupation.
>
> From what I've been able to gather from online postings, the administrators
> of Benajah's estate were John Carpenter (Stephen and Jane [Thurston]
> Carpenter's son John, 10 years older than their son Benajah, was the latter's
> youngest half-brother) and Mrs. Sarah Carpenter (Benajah's widow). (Presumably 8
> July 1776, the date on which you say his lathe and tools were sold by his
> estate administrators, is a typo.) If administrator John Carpenter is named in
> the deed of sale of the late Benajah's lathe and tools, it encourages the
> conclusion that Stephen and Jane (Thurston) Carpenter's son Benajah was a
> chairmaker. (The Providence record giving Capt. Benajah Carpenter's date and place
> of death and the conditions surrounding it also indicates that he had a
> daughter Jane [b. ca. 1773], presumably named after his mother, Jane [Thurston]
> Carpenter [see Arnold, _VR of RI_].)
>
> If any of the Providence deeds you mention, in which Benajah is described as
> a chairmaker, involve him as a grantor (seller), check for wife Sarah's
> signature or mention of her in the acknowledgement section (just below the
> signature[s]). You may find either--as an indication of her having relinquished
> her dower rights--even if she's not named in the body of the deed as a grantor
> with her husband. This would provide additional circumstantial evidence (as
> does Sarah's remarriage, to Thomas Smart in 1779) that she was the wife of
> the Benajah Carpenter who died in 1776 AND was a chairmaker.
>
> It seems fairly certain that Capt. Benajah and chairmaker Benajah were the
> same man. And leading to the same conclusion is that only one Benajah
> Carpenter is found in the respective birth, marriage, and death records of Rehoboth
> and Providence until 1778, when a Benajah Carpenter, born at Rehoboth, was
> presumably named after the recently deceased man.
>
> Your other questions shouldn't be difficult to answer if you're willing to
> do a little primary research.
>
> Gene Z.
> Correction to my reply to Fred Murphy (6/4/06):
>
> << From what I've been able to gather from online postings, the
> administrators of Benajah's estate were John Carpenter (Stephen and Jane [Thurston]
> Carpenter's son John, 10 years older than their son Benajah, was the latter's
> youngest half-brother) . . . >>
>
> John Carpenter was the son of Stephen Carpenter and his first wife, Martha
> Hunt (Arnold, _Vital Record of Rehoboth_).
>
> Gene Z.
MORE:
From:
To:
Sent: Tuesday, June 06, 2006 12:32 PM
Subject: Re: Benajah???
>
> In answer to Bruce Carpenter:
>
> << If the "8 July" is a "typo" as Gene suggests then it is a gross one. >>
>
> Concerning 8 July 1776--given in Fred Murphy's posting as the date on which
> the administrators of Benajah Carpenter's estate sold his lathe and
> tools--it's not "8 July" but "1776" that I assume is a typo. This is not because the
> day, month, and year, taken together, predate the death on Long Island of
> Revolutionary officer Benajah Carpenter, but because "letters of administration
> were granted to John Carpenter and Mrs. Sarah Carpenter, both of Providence,
> on the estate of Capt. Benajah Carpenter, Gent., May 9, 1777" (Amos B.
> Carpenter [1898]). It stands to reason that the administrators' sale of estate
> assets occurred after that date (probably on 8 July 1777 or 1778).
>
> << If Benajah was married to Sarah at death, then why was his property on
> public auction in 1778, a year before she remarried? >>
>
> Estate assets, particularly real estate, were commonly sold at public
> auction (vendue) when debts accruing to the estate were too great to be paid by
> other means.
>
> On 21 February 1794 "[a] petition of Sarah Smart, of Providence, in the
> State of Rhode Island, late widow of Benajah Carpenter, deceased, was presented
> to the House and read, praying relief in consideration of the loss of her said
> husband, who was killed while an officer in the Continental Army, in an
> engagement with the enemy on Long Island, the twenty-sixth [_sic_] of August, one
> thousand seven hundred and seventy-six" (_Journal of the House of
> Representatives of the United States_, 2:68). The petition was referred to the
> Secretary of War and was ultimately denied.
>
> << Actually Carpenter was a Captain-lieutenant, a rank equivalent to a first
> lieutenant today, one rank below captain. Amo Carpenter's reference to him
> as a "captain" may have refereed to him as a ships captain. >>
>
> For the present discussion, his actual rank is less important than his
> perceived rank. Apparently almost all contemporary records in which Benajah's
> rank is mentioned refer to him as "Capt.," which raises the possibility that the
> "mariner" label comes from a misinterpretation of his military title. (It's
> likely that Amos B. Carpenter's description of Benajah as "captain and
> mariner" came from one of the many Carpenter-descendant informants with whom he
> corresponded and who furnished much of the data he presents.) As I indicated
> previously, however, if a contemporary record were to be found that describes
> him as a mariner, it would not preclude his having been primarily a
> chairmaker.
>
>
> There is but _one_ birth record for a Benajah Carpenter in New England prior
> to 1778; _one_ marriage record at Providence (or elsewhere) of a Benajah
> Carpenter during this period; _one_ Providence death record of a Benajah
> Carpenter (he is called "Capt."); and _one_ record of letters of administration
> granted at Providence on the estate of a Benajah Carpenter (he is again called
> "Capt."). And I gather from Fred Murphy's posting that only _one_ Benajah
> Carpenter, described in one or more deeds as a chairmaker, purchased real estate
> in Providence, and that the estate of only _one_ Benajah Carpenter was
> administered after letters of administration were granted to John Carpenter and
> Mrs. Sarah Carpenter in May 1776 (none before that). Considering also the
> rarity of the forename Benajah, it is highly unlikely that there were two Benajah
> Carpenters of Providence (is there any local record in which the name is
> accompanied by "Sr." or "Jr."?), much less two of similar age who also died at
> about the same time.
>
> If the deed of sale involving the lathe and tools names the same
> administrators as the letters of administration, or if the deed pertaining to the real
> estate sold at public auction describes the same property as a deed of
> purchase in which Benajah is described as a chairmaker, it would be positive
> evidence that the Revolutionary officer and the chairmaker were the same person.
> I'm reasonably certain that one or both of these "ifs" will be confirmed.
> [Fred Murphy: Do you have copies of the relevant documents?]
>
> << The senior-junior problem could be easily solved by someone with access
> to Rehoboth records. >>
>
> Stephen Carpenter was born at Rehoboth on 7 June 1696, son of James
> Carpenter and his second wife, Grace Palmer; they had married there on 15 April 1695
> (Arnold, _VR of Rehoboth_). He appears to have been the oldest Stephen
> Carpenter at Rehoboth. Despite having married twice and fathered 13 children, the
> only vital record in which his name appears with the generational identifier
> "Jr." is for son Benajah's baptism. Stephen may not have been the oldest
> member of the church in which the baptism occurred, however: he and wife Martha
> joined the First Congregational Church of Rehoboth (the so-called Newman
> Church, now in Rumford, R.I.) on 4 July 1731. Another Stephen Carpenter and a
> Mary Carpenter (his wife?) had joined the church on 10 July 1726. This _may_
> explain Stephen's being identified as "Jr." in Benajah's baptismal record.
> A look at the original church record, on the other hand, may indicate that
> Arnold's transcription (in which "Jr." appears) is not accurate.
>
> << I wouldn't like Captain-lieutenant Carpenter made into a chairmaker, if
> he really wasn't. >>
>
> Nor would I.
>
> Gene Z.
1102.
Jacob Carpenter
NUmber 794 in the Carpenter Memorial on page 139.
No family listed.