Birth, Marriage |
Mary Long was born in Virginia 11 September 1800 and died 24 September 1874, in Caldwell County, Texas. Mary, or "Polly" as she was known to some, was the eldest daughter of Joseph Long, Senior, and Catherine Foster. William Shook Carpenter was born 11 August, 1805, in Ohio and died 19 December, 1875 in Caldwell County, Texas. They married 9 August 1825 in Tennessee, probably Bedford County. William was a son of Benjamin Carpenter and Amelia Shook.
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1830 Census |
Mary and William Carpenter are found in the 1830 census of Bedford County, Tennessee. The household included three boys under 5 and one girl 5-10. The boys would have been his sons Isaac (born 1826), Andrew (born 1828) and Joseph (born 1829). The girl between 5 and 10 is unidentified. William and Mary's oldest known daughter was not born until 1831. Since Mary was 25 years old when she married William Carpenter, it is possible she was a widow with a young daughter, between 5 and 10 years of age in 1830. Lack of any mention of an earlier marriage in the Bible record makes it less likely that there was one. That young girl could have been one of the daughters of Mary's brother, William F. Long.
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Methodists in Tennessee |
The Bedford County Historical Quarterly, from Shelbyville, Tennessee, vol. 6 number 1, contains an article about the Mt. Pisgah Methodist Church. It states that "the old Mt. Pisgah Methodist Church was active as early as 1821, ... in 1832 … Samuel Pollock and Jesse Rogers, for $250.00, deeded to an eight man Commission, Joseph Smith, John Gore, Henry Long, William S. Carpenter, James Long, Enoch Floyd, Michael Holt and Willie B. Snell, a certain tract or parcel of land. The deed was executed December 12, 1832...."
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Children |
Of the nine children born to Mary Long and William Shook Carpenter, only four lived to raise families of their own. Joseph died in the Civil War. A detailed family outline compiled some years ago by James Hendley Simpson names nine children of William S. and Mary Long Carpenter:
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Alabama Years |
The Carpenters must have moved from Tennessee to Alabama between 1833 and 1835. On 5 March 1836, William S. Carpenter bought land in Talladega County, Alabama. The family appears in the census there in 1840 and 1850. Alabama historical notes by Pauline Gandrud Jones says, "that "according to official Rolls [of the Methodist Episcopal Church], the leading men in the Talladega Circuit during the period from the beginning of 1833 to close of 1845 were:...James Long,...Thomas H.P. Scales,...W.L. Rideout, ...Nicholas P. Scales, William Gore, William S. Carpenter." A document now found in the United States General Land Office dated 1 August 1837 records that William Shook Carpenter, as assignee of Samuel Clark, was owner of “the NorthEast quarter of the South East quarter of Section Six in Township Eighteen of Range Five East in the District of Lands subject to Sale at Mardisville Alabama containing thirty nine acres and ninety seven hundredths of an acre,…which said tract has been purchased by the said Samuel Clark”. An article by Rev. Joseph Camp about early Talladega County history records that "at an early day after the whites settled this country we established a camp?ground in Chinnibee town, near Joseph Coker's.... Hundreds were converted there. Among the tenters were ... William Carpenter..." William S. Carpenter appears as head of a household in the 1840 census in Talladega County, Alabama, age 30?40. With him are other males: 3 aged 10?15, 1 age 5?10 and 1 age under 5. Females are 1 age 30?40, 1 age 10?15, 1 age 5?10 and 1 under 5. The boys 10-15 are Isaac, Andrew and Joseph; James was 7 and Wiley almost 5. Of the women, Mary was 40, Emilia or Amelia 5-10 and Elizabeth under 5. The oldest girl, age 10-15 is still with the family, but unidentified. In Talladega County, Carpenter was a witness to a deed on 18 January 1842 in which Norvell Gannaway bought a fourth of a quartersection from James Long and Margaret his wife. James Long, Margaret Gannaway and Mary Long Carpenter were siblings. |
Gone To Texas |
A biographical sketch in a history of Williamson County, Texas, describes people who "came to Texas in 1852 with a large wagon train of related families from Talladega County, Alabama. There were thirteen wagons in all, chained together, single file. The wagon train consisted of the Hastys, Whittenburgs, Gannaways and perhaps other families." The Carpenters were kin to all those families, and may have been with that wagon train. The two eldest sons of William and Mary Carpenter died in 1848 and 1852. Perhaps the deaths of their two sons influenced their decision to go to Texas. William S. Carpenter bought land in Caldwell County, Texas in 1853. He paid Abraham Roberts $400 for 380 acres on 30 July 1853. (Book C p. 440) William and Mary Carpenter are shown in the census for Caldwell County, Texas in 1860 and 1870. William S. Carpenter was elected a county commissioner 2 August 1858 and again in August of 1860. In the August election of 1862 he was chosen Chief Justice of the Probate Court for Caldwell County and was commissioned on 9 September 1862. He served the 1864 term also. In 1871, the estate of John Allen was probated. His widow Martha Ann Allen declared John Allen died in 1861. William S. Carpenter was chosen as guardian by J. H. Allen, Francis J. C. Allen and Julia A. Allen, and appointed by the court as guardian for Jasper W. Allen, Harris S. Allen, John V. Allen and Winnie Allen, all minor heirs of John Allen, deceased. The person chosen as guardian was often a relative. If or how the Allen children were related to the Carpenters is a mystery. William S. Carpenter resigned as guardian in May 1874. The Carpenter family was solidly Methodist, from Tennessee to Alabama to Texas. When the First Methodist Church of Lockhart bought a lot and prepared to build a church on September 23, 1855, two of the trustees were William Ridout and William Carpenter. In 1893 and 1913, trustees involved in expansion of the church's facilities included William Wiley Carpenter. Wiley Carpenter had been an early member of Clarks Chapel Methodist Church. His name appears on a list of members assumed to have been present before September, 1877. Mary Long Carpenter died 24 September 1874. William S. Carpenter died 19 December 1875. Both are buried in the Lockhart City Cemetery. Their tombstones are in good condition. William's sister Betsy, (Elizabeth Caroline Carpenter Elkins) wrote a number of letters to family members which have been preserved. One is dated March 26, 1876 and says in part, "You said that you was going after Leaton [Bates-Millie C. Elkins Bates' son] and from there to se [s.i.c.] your Uncle Billy and Aunt Polly they are both dead she has been dead something over a year--and he died last December the 19th." William S. Carpenter's brother, Jesse W. Carpenter, moved from Illinois to Caldwell County. Before he left Illinois, Jessee wrote to his niece and her husband, Ben and Caroline Bates. Benjamin F. Bates was married to Caroline Elkins, the daughter of Elizabeth Caroline Carpenter and Goodman Elkins. Elizabeth Caroline Carpenter was William and Jesse Carpenter's sister. Jesse wrote: August th 26 Mr. B F Bates Dear Sir by request I drop you a few lines to let you know how your mother in law is She is very near to Death I do not think she can liv more than three or 4 days she told me to say to you that she has great peace of mind and was only waiting the the summons She also said that you told her in your last that your children was all religeous except Leton and to tell him to meet her in heaven She also has a quilt that she wants Caroline to have and wanted me to take it to Lockhart when I go this fall as I will start the first of November Yours Jesse W Carpenter write soon Jesse and his wife Dorcas joined the Clark's Chapel Methodist Church by certificate on April 4. An article in the Plum Creek Almanac indicates that took place in 1879. They are in the 1880 census of Caldwell County as father- and mother-in-law of T. J. Shelton. Jesse Carpenter's birthplace is given as Kentucky, with both parents born in Virginia. Their daughter, J. A. [Julia Ann?], her husband T. J. Shelton, and their three children all are shown as born in Illinois. Dorcas and Jesse W. Carpenter are buried in Caldwell County in the Clark's Chapel Cemetery. His tombstone gives the dates 25 Dec. 1813 - 30 Dec. 1896. Hers is unreadable. |