Dear Kerry,
Other than possibly being the only son of Lewis Carpenter and Sally Weed who were married
14 Feb 1829 in Amiity, Orange, NY. I do not have much more.
Lewis Carpenter may have been born 10 Aug 1806 Scipio Mm, Cayuga, NY. He was the son of
Townsend Carpenter and Elizabeth Truesdell.
Sally Weed may have been born 24 Mar 1807 in Cayuga county, NY. She was the daughter of
James Weed and Sally Drake.
I checked a few sources but no one seems to have any solid information.
If you come across any more information, please let me know.
John R. Carpenter
La Mesa, CA
----- Original Message -----
From: Kerry Altenbernd
To: jrcrin001(a)cox.net
Sent: Thursday, December 12, 2002 9:02 AM
Subject: Louis Carpenter, b. Dec. 14,1829
Dear Mr. Carpenter:
Dawn Carpenter suggested that I contact you. I am researching Louis (some sources spell
it Lewis) Carpenter, born December 14, 1829, possibly in New York State.
I am the Law Librarian at the Douglas County Law Library, now being formed in Lawrence,
Kansas. I am researching Louis Carpenter because there is a proposal to have a memorial
to him in the Law Library. We need to have as much information as possible about him to
determine if such a memorial would be appropriate. Also, if we do establish a memorial, we
would like to let any relatives he might have know about it.
I have found no information about him prior to 1860 except for his birth date, recorded
on his headstone (an image of which is located on the Find a Grave web site at:
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=10534), and that he was from New
York. He is recorded in the Kansas Territorial Census of 1860 as living in Lawrence but
when he actually came to Kansas is unknown. He was married in Lawrence to Mary E. Barber
of Emporia, Kansas, on October 10, 1862 but had no children. He was murdered at the hands
of Confederate guerrillas led by William Clarke Quantrill in a raid on Lawrence on August
21, 1863. He was an attorney, had been probate judge, had run unsuccessfully for Attorney
General of Kansas and, at the time of his death, was Recorder for the Kansas Supreme
Court.
While Carpenter was probate judge in Douglas County, he wrote a Mrs. F. Stowe of
Livingston County, N.Y. on April 11, 1861, concerning the estate of her husband. Other
material in the letter suggests that Judge Carpenter may have had more than a professional
relationship with her, being either a friend or relative of hers. Other than this, I have
no clue as to where in New York he may have come from, whether he was actually born in New
York, or any family connections he may have had.
Any assistance you can provide me in my research would be most appreciated. Thank you
for your time.
Sincerely,
(Mr.) Kerry Altenbernd
Law Librarian
Douglas County Law Library
111 East 11th Street
Lawrence, KS 66044