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L. M. Carpenter
Born March 13, 1856 |
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Having for more than thirty years been one of the prominent business men of the village of Olin, L. M. Carpenter has retired from active life but he still retains his residence in the town. His is one of the hand-some homes here, its spacious grounds and attractive exterior being indicative in a slight degree of the success which its owner has won through the exercise of his pronounced ability in the world of barter and exchange.
A native son of Rome township, L. M. Carpenter was born March 13, 1856, his parents being D. R. and Christiana Carpenter. Both were natives of the state of Ohio, but came to Jones county, Iowa, in 1854, where Mr. Carpenter entered land. A few years later, however, he embarked in mercantile business in Olin, where he conducted a profitable general store until 1882, when he retired. He also identified himself with the interests of his fellow citizens, taking a prominent part in public affairs, and was a stanch advocate of the principles of the republican party. A long life of usefulness was granted to him and before he died he enjoyed the satisfaction of seeing his son following in his footsteps along the road of progress in the world's affairs, for he lived until 1901, being seventy-six years of age when his course was run. His wife, on the other hand, had died in 1862. Both were laid to rest in the cemetery at Olin. Four children had been born to them, namely: A. E., who is now in Ottawa, Kansas; Sarah, deceased; L. M., the subject of this sketch; and Lillie, who is also deceased.
L. M. Carpenter literally grew up in the mercantile business, for he always assisted his father from his childhood's days. He attended the public schools of his locality, whence, he derived a fair training in the rudimentary branches of education. At the age of sixteen he was entrusted by his father to go to Chicago to buy all the stock, and at one time, during that early period, purchased ten thousand dollars' worth of goods, a large amount for so young a boy. At the age of twenty, his father took him into partnership in his operations.
The success which had marked the senior man's undertakings but increased during the years when father and son shared the toils and returns of the business, yet in 1887 Mr. Carpenter deemed it the best thing to sell his interests to Lamb Brothers of the firm of Lamb, Carpenter & Lamb, of which he was a member. Thereupon he engaged in the hardware and grain business, in which he continued until 1895, when he sold out to G. W. Huber. He has since been living retired. Like his father Mr. Carpenter has been very successful in all of his undertakings and has secured a handsome income, from which he is now deriving the benefit. In addition to the residence he occupies in Olin, which is one of the finest of the town, he owns several business buildings and has three hundred and sixty-six acres of land in Fairview township, and the fact that he is the vice president of the First National Bank at Olin is another indication of his financial stability.
At the age of twenty Mr. Carpenter wedded Miss Nevada Lamb, also a native of Rome township, where her birth occurred in May, 1858. She is a daughter of Jacob and Mary J. (Easterly) Lamb, who were born in Ohio, where they were reared and married, but came to Iowa in the early '50s. Jacob Lamb did not long survive the change of home, for he died in 1863, but his wife lived until 1904, when she passed away, at the age of seventy-one years. Eight children were born to the couple. Mr. and Mrs. Carpenter have had two daughters: one who died in infancy; and Lillie May, who was born in 1878 and died in 1895. She had profited by many educational advantages and was a young woman of high culture, while an attractive and gracious personality endeared her to a host of friends and acquaintances in Olin. When death called her she was laid to rest in the cemetery at Olin.
Mr. and Mrs. Carpenter are consistent members of the Methodist Episcopal church, in which Mr. Carpenter is trustee, and both are otherwise identified with its work. Politically Mr. Carpenter is a stanch republican and is deeply interested in public matters playing no insignificant part in the local councils of his party and in local affairs. Fraternally he affiliates with the Masons, as a member of lodge No. 200, and with the Modern Woodmen.
Source: History of Jones County, Iowa, Past and Present, R. M. Corbitt, S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., Chicago, 1910, p. 588. |
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© Copyright 1997-2013, The Art Department, © Copyright 2014-2020, Richard Harrison.
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