The Rehoboth Carpenter family is an American family that helped settle the town of Rehoboth, Massachusetts in 1644. Note: This book has been reprinted and duplicated by many organizations in print, CD, DVD, & digital formats. This 900-plus page tome was remarkable for its day, but many corrections has been made in the genealogies it contains over the last century. The best compiled corrections to this work and related lines is in th
"Carpenters' Encyclopedia of Carpenters 2009"
data DVD format.

William Carpenter

The first immigrant and founder of this line was William Carpenter (generation 1) (b. c1575 in England), his namesake son, William Carpenter (Generation 2) (c. 1605 in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

-1658/9 Rehoboth, Bristol, MA), and the son's wife and children (then numbering four) arrived on the '' Bevis'' from

Southampton, England Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

, in 1638. Nothing more is known of the father, William (Gen. 1), in Massachusetts and he is presumed to have perished either in passage, shortly after arriving in the new world or, less likely he returned to England. William Carpenter (Gen. 2) is buried in the Newman Congregational Church Cemetery with a simple field stone marked with a "W. C.". William Carpenter, (Gen. 2) first appears in New England records in 1640, as a resident of

Weymouth, Massachusetts Weymouth is a city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. It is one of 13 municipalities in the state to have city forms of government while retaining "town of" in their official names. It is named after Weymouth, Dorset, a coastal town ...

. He was among the founders (at Weymouth in late 1643) of the Plymouth Colony town of Rehoboth (settled 1644). His son, William (Gen. 3) Carpenter (b. 1631 in England - 1702/3 Rehoboth, Bristol, Massachusetts), was for many years Rehoboth town clerk, by virtue of which his name—not that of his father—appears with some frequency in

Plymouth Colony Plymouth Colony (sometimes spelled Plimouth) was the first permanent English colony in New England from 1620 and the third permanent English colony in America, after Newfoundland and the Jamestown Colony. It was settled by the passengers on t ...

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

records and in the writings of

John Winthrop John Winthrop (January 12, 1588 – March 26, 1649) was an English Puritan lawyer and a leading figure in the founding of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the second major settlement in New England following Plymouth Colony. Winthrop led the fir ...

and in other public records over the generations. Three Carpenter family houses in Rehoboth are listed on the U.S.

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

: Christopher Carpenter House, Col. Thomas Carpenter III House, and Carpenter House.

English ancestry

These Carpenters previously lived in

Shalbourne Shalbourne is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the England, English county of Wiltshire, about southwest of Hungerford, Berkshire. The parish has a number of widely spaced small settlements including Bagshot and Stype, t ...

, an English parish near Hungerford that straddled the boundary between Wiltshire and Berkshire. The Rehoboth Carpenters' English origins were obscure until the discovery of Bishops' Transcripts of Shalbourne parish records containing marriage, baptismal, and burial records pertaining to them. Among these records is that of William (Gen. 2, a.k.a. Senior) Carpenter's marriage in 1625 to Abigail Briant of Shalbourne. A search of Westcourt Manor tenants' records reveals William Carpenter (Gen. 1) as a copyholder at Westcourt Manor in

from 1608 to late 1637.

Immigrant family

William Carpenter (Gen. 1) born about 1575 in England. He died after 2 May 1638 (Bevis passenger list) and certainly before 1644 when his son, William settled in Rehoboth. He was of Newtown, Shalbourne Parish, Wiltshire, England, by 1608, when he became a copyholder (semipermanent leaseholder) at Westcourt Manor (Westcourt Recs 7). Shalbourne, completely in Wiltshire since 1895, previously it straddled the line separating Wiltshire and Berkshire, with Westcourt comprising the Wiltshire part of the parish (Shalbourne Map); the Hampshire border was/is about four miles away. It is likely that William was born in one of these three counties. William's renewal of his Westcourt tenancy on 22 June 1614 gives his age as 40 (Westcourt Recs 7). The passenger list of the Bevis, the ship on which he left England, is dated 2 May 1638 and states William's age as 62 leading to an estimate of about 1575 for his birth. His son William Carpenter (Gen. 2) was born about 1605 in or of Wiltshire, England. He died 7 February 1658/1659 in Rehoboth, Bristol, Plymouth Colony. He married Abigail Briant, daughter of John & Alice, on 28 April 1625 in Shalbourne Parish, Berkshire, now in, Wiltshire, England. Their children: * John Carpenter - Christened 8 October 1626 in Shalborne Parish - Bevis passenger * Abigail Carpenter - Chr. 31 May 1629 in Shalborne Parish - Bevis passenger * William Carpenter (Gen. 3) - Chr. 22 November 1631 in Shalborne Parish - Bevis Passenger * Joseph Carpenter - Chr. 6 April 1634 in Shalborne Parish - Bevis Passenger * Samuel Carpenter - Chr. 1 March 1636/1637 d. 20 April 1637 both in Shalbourne Parish. * Samuel Carpenter - b. abt. 1638 of, Weymouth, Norfolk, Massachusetts - his mother was probably pregnant on the Bevis * Hannah Carpenter - b. 3 April 1640 Weymouth, Norfolk, Massachusetts * Abiah Carpenter - b. 9 April 1643 of, Weymouth, Norfolk, Massachusetts

Church

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

Notable Carpenters of the Rehoboth Carpenter family

Through his five sons, Capt. William Carpenter became known as the father of "The Family of Heroes." Over 300 of his male lineal descendants served America in the Revolutionary War, more than any other American family. * Among the Rehoboth Carpenter descendants who fought in the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

was Captain Benajah Carpenter, a founding member of the United States Army Field Artillery Corps under

Henry Knox Henry Knox (July 25, 1750 – October 25, 1806) was an American military officer, politician, bookseller, and a Founding Father of the United States. Knox, born in Boston, became a senior general of the Continental Army during the Revolutionar ...

. * Thomas Carpenter III (October 24, 1733 – April 26, 1807), great-great-grandson of William Carpenter, was a Colonel in the

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

militia during the American Revolutionary War, and also served in the

Massachusetts Provincial Congress The Massachusetts Provincial Congress (1774–1780) was a provisional government created in the Province of Massachusetts Bay early in the American Revolution. Based on the terms of the colonial charter, it exercised ''de facto'' control over th ...

and the

General Court of Massachusetts The Massachusetts General Court, formally the General Court of Massachusetts, is the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts located in the state capital of Boston. The name "General Court" is a holdover from the earliest days ...

, and built the Col. Thomas Carpenter III house.Carpenter, Amos B. ''A Genealogical History of the Rehoboth Branch of the Carpenter Family in America'', a.k.a. "The Carpenter Memorial", Press of Carpenter & Morehouse, Amherst, Mass., 1898, reprinted and duplicated by many organizations in print, CD, and DVD formats. Note: This 900-plus page tome was remarkable for its day, but many corrections has been made in the genealogies it contains over the last century. The best compiled corrections to this work and related lines is in the "Carpenters' Encyclopedia of Carpenters 2009", data DVD format. Subject is number 775 on page 136 and 137 in the Carpenter Memorial with his family on page 255 and 256 (# 279).Carpenters' Encyclopedia of Carpenters 2009 (DVD format). Thomas Carpenter is listed as RIN 20748.Rehoboth, Massachusetts, Vital Records, 1642–1896, NEHGS research library, call number REF F74/R3/A6. * Nathaniel L. Carpenter (November 18, 1805 at Randolph, Vermont – December 23, 1892 at

Natchez, Mississippi Natchez ( ) is the only city in and the county seat of Adams County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 14,520 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located on the Mississippi River across from Vidalia, Louisiana, Natchez was ...

) who along with 2 brothers settled in the South where he had success in

steamboats A steamboat is a boat that is marine propulsion, propelled primarily by marine steam engine, steam power, typically driving propellers or Paddle steamer, paddlewheels. The term ''steamboat'' is used to refer to small steam-powered vessels worki ...

and cotton trading. In 1909 his immediate descendants built and donated to the city of Natchez the Carpenter Schools. * Another member of this family was George Rice Carpenter (1863–1909), born in

Labrador Labrador () is a geographic and cultural region within the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It is the primarily continental portion of the province and constitutes 71% of the province's area but is home to only 6% of its populatio ...

and a graduate of

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...

in 1886. He taught at Harvard from 1888 to 1890 and at

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

from 1890 to 1893. In 1893 he became a professor of English rhetoric at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

and authored a long list of textbooks on literature and rhetoric and biographies of Whittier, Whitman, and Longfellow. A classics library at Columbia is named in his honor. * Painter

Francis Bicknell Carpenter Francis Bicknell Carpenter (August 6, 1830 – May 23, 1900) was an American painter born in Homer (town), New York, Homer, New York. Carpenter is best known for his painting ''First Reading of the Emancipation Proclamation of President Lincoln ...

's (1830–1900) work hangs in the

United States Capitol The United States Capitol, often called the Capitol or the Capitol Building, is the Seat of government, seat of the United States Congress, the United States Congress, legislative branch of the Federal government of the United States, federal g ...

. Carpenter also resided with President Lincoln in the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

and published a memoir of his stay.U.S. Senate Art & History site
retrieved 2008. See also

* Industrialist and engineer James Henry Carpenter (1846 – 1898) is a descendant through his father Charles. He founded the Carpenter Steel Company, which was renamed in 1968 as the Carpenter Technology Corporation. * Lillian Carpenter Streeter (1854-1935), social reformer, clubwoman, author, descends from William Carpenter. *

Project Mercury Project Mercury was the first human spaceflight program of the United States, running from 1958 through 1963. An early highlight of the Space Race, its goal was to put a man into Earth orbit and return him safely, ideally before the Soviet Un ...

astronaut and

SEALAB SEALAB I, II, and III were experimental underwater habitats developed and deployed by the United States Navy during the 1960s to prove the viability of saturation diving and humans living in isolation for extended periods of time. The knowledge ...

aquanaut M. Scott Carpenter (1925-2013) descends from Joseph Carpenter, the fourth son of William Carpenter (Gen. 2). * Early U.S. Naval Aviator Donald Marshall Carpenter of whom the USS Carpenter DD 825 was named for. He descends from William Carpenter, a son of William Carpenter (Gen. 2). * Cyrus C Carpenter, eighth Governor of Iowa, is a descendant of William Carpenter, a son of William Carpenter (Gen. 2). * Dr.

Edmund Snow Carpenter Edmund Snow Carpenter (September 2, 1922 – July 1, 2011) was an American anthropologist best known for his work on tribal art and visual media. Early life Edmund Snow Carpenter was born on September 2, 1922, in Rochester, New York to the ar ...

(1922-2011), anthropologist and educator, a descendant of William Carpenter * William H. Carpenter (1821-1885), U.S. Consul to

Fuzhou Fuzhou is the capital of Fujian, China. The city lies between the Min River (Fujian), Min River estuary to the south and the city of Ningde to the north. Together, Fuzhou and Ningde make up the Eastern Min, Mindong linguistic and cultural regi ...

, China, 1861-1865 * Sabrina Carpenter (1999-), actress and singer

Relationship with other New England Carpenter families

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

Wrington Wrington is a village and a civil parish, civil and ecclesiastical parish on the north slopes of the Mendip Hills in North Somerset, England. Both include nearby Redhill, Somerset, Redhill. Wrington lies in the valley of the Congresbury Yeo riv ...

Carpenters, on the one hand, and either of the other two afore-mentioned families, on the other; a connection is highly improbable. Traditional genealogical research methods provide good reasons to doubt also that Providence William and Rehoboth William were closely related. ''Carpenters' Encyclopedia of Carpenters 2009'' (DVD format)
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References and notes

External links

Official website - Town of Rehoboth, MassachusettsCommunity website for Rehoboth, Massachusetts, started 10/2008
*For the surname Carpenter, see: Carpenter (surname) *Genetic research involvin
the Rehoboth Carpenter Family on ISOGG wiki.Carpenter Cousins research