My mother’s maiden surname was “Carpenter.” She is a direct descendant of the
founder of the Rehoboth Carpenters, William Carpenter, who came to Rehoboth,
Massachusetts in 1638.
Several years ago I was gifted what is now one of my most
cherished genealogical artifacts. My
mother’s brother inherited an original copy of A Genealogical History of the Rehoboth Branch of the Carpenter Family
in America Brought Down From Their English Ancestor, John Carpenter, 1303, With
Many Biographical Notes of Descendants and Allied Families. It was given to me by my aunt after
my uncle’s death. The monumental genealogy
was copyrighted in 1896 by the author/compiler Amos B. Carpenter of West
Waterford, Vermont.
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| Amos Bugbee Carpenter, No. 3010 in The ABC |
The voluminous genealogy, known as “The Carpenter Memorial”
or “The ABC” because of the inscription on the outer front cover [Carpenter Memorial OUR FAMILY 1303-1638-1898
Amos B. Carpenter], was published by the Press of Carpenter & Morehouse
in Amherst, Massachusetts in 1898.
My great grandfather, Samuel Eber Carpenter (1853 – 1929), was one of
the 345 named individual subscribers to the original publication.
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| Samuel Eber Carpenter |
The subscription roster in the back of the ABC lists all the
individual subscribers and the number of copies they ordered if more than
one. The list also indicates that
there were only seven libraries that originally subscribed to The ABC:
New
Hampshire State Library
Philadelphia Historical Library
Minnesota
Historical Society
Vermont State Library
New
England Historic Genealogical Society Library
Library
at Washington [perhaps the Library of Congress?]
Yale
University Library
Each of the named libraries bought a single copy of the
Carpenter Genealogy, except for the “Library at Washington,” which bought
two. In total, there were 399
copies produced for the original subscription list – 391 copies by 345
individuals and the eight copies purchased by the named libraries. The published book was leather bound
and consisted of some 908 pages not including the title pages, Introduction,
Preface, Contents and List of Illustrations.
Unfortunately, when I received this very generous gift from
my aunt, the book was 108 years old and in damaged condition.
About a year after receiving The ABC, when I realized fully
what a rare, classic work it was, I decided to have it restored. I also decided to have a clam-shell box
constructed to properly house and protect it. [The wonderful bindery
resource I used will be the subject of a future posting.] The result of the restoration is
pictured below.
There is probably no such thing as a perfectly accurate
genealogy -- and the larger the scope and ambition of a family history, the
greater the room and likelihood for errors. The sweeping scope of The ABC certainly made it vulnerable
to inaccuracies and, over the years, many have been discovered. Nevertheless, the monumental effort
represented by The ABC makes it an extremely useful resource for any member of
the greater Rehoboth Carpenter family.
The ABC also has an “Index of Persons Connected with the Family by
Marriage” so it provides a convenient and valuable tool for researching other
surnames.
And the good news is . .
. a scanned version of the entire
ABC is available on line at http://archive.org/details/genealogicalhist00carp courtesy of the Boston Public Library -- which was not one of the original
subscribing libraries, but contributed the book to the scanning project. The ABC has apparently been available
at Archive.org since on or around the published scan date of March 19, 2008,
but I only became aware of it a maybe two years ago. I can report that the on-line scanned version is completely
faithful to the original right down to the aged tinge to the pages. Many of you have obviously known of
this on-line resource for some time because as of today it has been downloaded
1,004 times! Nevertheless, it is always good to remind folks that a resource
like The ABC is there and to let others hear about it for the first time. If you have any possible connection to
Carpenters in New England try using the on-line ABC (carefully). Even if you do not know of any
Carpenter connections, if you have New England roots between 1638 and 1898
remember the index of surnames in The ABC of folks who married into the
Carpenter family. You might just
find a missing link in there. The ABC can be read
on line or, if you have 69.4 MB of space, you can download a .pdf version. It is not in copyright.
Generation 1: William Carpenter m. Abigail Briant
Generation 2: Samuel Carpenter m. Sarah Readaway
Generation 3: Abiah Carpenter m. Mehitable Read
Generation 4: Thomas Carpenter m. Mary Barstow
Generation 5: Thomas Carpenter m. Elizabeth Moulton
Generation 6: James Carpenter m. Lucy Bliss
Generation 7: Joseph Carpenter m. Nancy Mason Bullock
Generation 8: Samuel Carpenter m. Ruth Ann Miller
Generation 9: Samuel Eber Carpenter m. Sarah Etta Freeman
Generation 10: Everett Shearman Carpenter m. Ruth Eaton Cooke (my grandparents)
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Copyright 2013, John D. Tew
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