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CYRIL CARPENTER, a pioneer farmer of Louisa County, of which he became a resident Oct. 17, 1840, was born in Chenango County, N. Y., on the 25th of March, 1824, and is a son of Cyril and Amanda (Mason) Carpenter. He is descended from an old New England family. When thirteen years of age he left his native state, and went to Crown Point, Ind., where he remained three years, but at the expiration of that time, being desirous of seeking his fortune in the then distant West, he engaged to drive an ox-team to Iowa, reaching Louisa County on the 17th of October, 1840. He located in Oakland Township, where he subsequently entered a large amount of Government land, and as he accumulated capital speculated in real estate on a large scale until at one time he had over 3,000 acres of land in Iowa. He is now the owner of 1,800 acres.
On the 24th of March, 1848, in Oakland Township, Louisa County, Mr. Carpenter was united in marriage with Miss Mary A. Blake, a daughter of Joseph Blake, for whom he drove the ox-team from Indiana to Iowa, working for him ten years after reaching this State. Mrs. Carpenter died March 13, 1859, leaving one child, a daughter, Myra, now the wife of Horace S. Stickney, of Steele, Dak. On the 15th of January, 1860, Mr. Carpenter was again married, Miss Calista E. Stickney becoming his wife. She was born Jan. 14, 1840, at Harrison, Port Louisa Township, and is a daughter of Albert and Cornelia R. (Trask) Stickney.
Mr. and Mrs. Carpenter have nine children, five sons and four daughters: Cornelia, born Oct. 9, 1860, is the wife of Arthur Springer, an attorney of Columbus Junction, Iowa; Julia, born April 9, 1862, was the wife of J. W. Lewis, and died Feb. 14, 1887; Charles Albert, born in Oakland Township, Jan. 12, 1864, wedded Miss Grace A. Wolverton, a daughter of Joseph Wolverton, Esq., and is now an attorney of Columbus Junction; Cyril C., born Feb. 8, 1866, died in the month of September following; Mary, born Feb. 23, 1868; Henry M., Aug. 16, 1870; Arthur E., Jan. 5, 1876; Cyril, Dec. 25, 1877, and Calista, on the 23d of August, 1882, are all at home. The name Cyril has always been a family name with the Carpenters, so that after the death of the first child of that name it was given to another child.
In early life Mr. Carpenter was a Democrat, but on the breaking out of the late war, in the spring of 1861, he joined the Republicans, and has since worked with that party. He was elected a member of the Board of Supervisors of Louisa County in 1871, was re-elected, and served six years. His place of residence is in Oakland Township, on section 36, township 76, range 5, and his post-office is Columbus Junction.
A portrait of this old pioneer, who for almost half a century has been an honored citizen of this county, will be found on the opposite page.
