Arthur J. Carpenter Arthur Jones Carpenter, cashier of the First National Bank of Elkader, Iowa, is a native of the Hawkeye state, having been born in Buchanan county, June 16, 1871, and is the son of L. D. and Mary (Andrews) Carpenter, the former a native of Trenton Falls, New York, and the latter of Boston, Massachusetts. They moved to Iowa where his father was an inventor and builder of tread-power mills, in Arlington, Iowa. He died February 19, 1887, but the mother still survives, and is a resident of Fayette, Iowa. To their marriage four children were born, the first two of whom were twins: Charles R., cashier of the Fayette State Bank, and Carrie, who is the wife of A. E. Whitney also of Fayette; Arthur was the third child; and David died in childhood. Arthur Carpenter received his higher education in the University of Fayette, where he spent three years in pursuit of his studies. On leaving college, he learned the moulders' trade, abandoning that work at the end of one year, to take up the profession of school teaching. After one winter in the school room, he filled positions in the Arlington and Fayette Banks for two years, but in 1893 resigned to go to Elkader as bookkeeper in the newspaper offices of the Register and Argus. At the close of a year's study in stenography, he returned to Elkader, Iowa, where he entered the law offices of R. E. and V. T. Price and James E. Corlett. Having proven abilities of a high order in the various vocations, he was elected cashier of the National Bank of Elkader, in 1898, the duties of which position of trust he is still discharging with such efficiency and integrity that he has been chosen chairman of the Northeastern Bankers' Association - Group No.4. He is an earnest and energetic political worker in the Republican party, having served as chairman of the Central Republican Committee, and now acting as its treasurer. He has also filled minor county offices, and in his life of varied and engrossing interests has found time to give consideration to the educational affairs of his community, serving as school treasurer for many years. In Masonic circles he is a prominent figure, being a member and one time master of the Blue Lodge, and a member of the Scottish Rite, and in religion he is a member of the Congregational church. April 25, 1901, he was married
to Alice Paterson, of whom he was bereft by death, June
9, 1903, being left with one child, a daughter, Gladys,
born October 1, 1902. He was married a second time,
October 19, 1905, to Alice Howard, and three daughters
have been born to them: Ruth H., who has attained the age
of seven years; Gertrude, four years of age; and Loraine,
two years old. source: History of Clayton
County, Iowa; From The Earliest Historical Times Down to
the Present; by Realto E. Price, Vol. II; page 64-65 |