- A. B. CARPENTER, retired; was born in Stafford, Orange Co.,
Vt., July 17, 1812, and came
- to Wisconsin about June 5, 1846; on May 1, 1825, he went
to Troy, N.Y., where he made his first start in business life,
with a basket for a store and a stock of lemons, which he sold
from house to house; his next venture was the buying of a load
of clothes-pins, which his brothers paid for in goods from their
general store; Mr. CARPENTER still used the basket, and again
went from house to house until all the clothes-pins were sold,
they netting him the handsome profit of $200; he then returned
to Vermont, when his father sold him a horse and wagon for $100,
taking his note for the same, when Mr. CARPENTER returned to
Troy, and immediately bought a load of tinware and Yankee notions,
from a store in Lansingburg, two miles from Troy, for which he
paid half cash and half on time; he followed the business of
peddling for six years, gradually adding to his stock; this business
he sold out, paid up his indebtedness, and still had as a profit
from the peddling business the snug sum of $10,500; in the fall
of 1835, he invested his money in goods and went to Evansville,
Ind., where he opened a dry-goods and boot store, which he carried
on for about six months when a partnership was formed with his
brothers, under the firm name of A. B. CARPENTER & Co., they
furnishing about $40,000 and A. B. about $10,000; in 1838 and
1839, the firm invested largely in real estate in Evansville
and Southern Indiana; about this time the well-known panic came
on, which however, they weathered through, paying 100 cents on
the dollar, and paying as high as twenty per cent for exchange;
they shortly after sold out their business, and took as part
pay a steam flouring mill; his brother conducted the mill, and
in 1841, Mr. A. B. CARPENTER went to New Orleans, and opened
a commission house there, for the sale of the flour and the general
produce which the townsmen shipped to that place; he continued
there for ten months, when, on account of sickness of his son,
James M., he sold out the business in New Orleans and returned
to Evansville, after shipping on board the ship Noble, for Boston,
2,600 barrels of flour and about 2,000 bushels of corn; he went
to Boston, disposed of his shipment and returned to Evansville,
where, in connection with Oliver LADD, he started a dry-goods
jobbing house, which they carried on for two years, during which
time they made about $21,000. About the year 1845, he went to
Galena, Ill., and engaged in the dry-goods and boot and shoe
business, and in about six months, on account of sickness in
his family, boxed up his goods and shipped them to Beloit, Wis.,
where he opened a dry-goods, boot and shoe and grocery store;
this business he carried on for about three years, and in 1849,
he went to Cambridge, Dane Co., and bought a town site and mill
property, built a grist and saw mill, and ran them for two years
and a half, when he sold them out; in 1851, he bought another
town site in Avon, Rock Co., Wis., built up a water-power and
started a general store and also purchased 3,000 acres of land
there; in 1852, he sold out the water-power and store and returned
to Beloit; he then traded his residence for the first frame building
that was built in Beloit, then known as the DEARBORN residence
and bakery, on the present site of the Eclipse Wind-Mill, and,
about the year 1854, started an exchange and banking business,
which he continued for three years when he closed up the banking
business to assist his brother in Evansville, who was in trouble;
in 1859, he bought a stock of general merchandise of Warren HODGDON,
known as the great Western Store, and, in connection with is
son James and his son-in-law A. A. GREEN, formed a partnership
under the firm name of A. B. CARPENTER & Son; two years after,
the son, James M., bought out the business; then, in connection
with his son and Mr. WHITE, he started a wholesale dry-goods
house in Evansville, Ind., 1865, under the firm name of CARPENTER,
WHITE & BAKER, in which he continued for about one and a
half years, when he exchanged his interest for a stock of clothing,
with a Mr. CLEMENTS, of Tennessee; in 1866, he brought the clothing
to Beloit and opened a store for its sale; he also opened a dry-goods,
boot and shoe and grocery store, each occupying a separate store,
side by side, in Union Hall Block; this business was conducted
under the firm name of CARPENTER & GREENE, and continued
until about February, 1869, when a fire occurred with a loss
to them of about $15,000; he then closed out the business, Mr.
GREENE taking the boot and shoe stock and continuing in another
location. In July, 1870, Mr. C. engaged in the manufacture of
boots and shoes, in connection with Cyrus LIBBY, E. H. CHAPMAN
and John FOSTER, under the firm name of LIBBY, FOSTER & co.,
being the first manufactory of the kind in Beloit; continued
the business for three years, and then sold out his interest
to CHAPMAN; since that time has been engaged in real estate and
building, having built several of the best blocks in the city,
in many of which permanent manufactures of different kinds are
now permanently located; in fact, Mr. C. has always encouraged
manufacturing in Beloit, and aided and given largely to its support.
In 1877, he built the large, two-story double store and house
on West Bridge street, and in connection with Mr. TOWLE and Mr.
WHITE, put in a stock of dry goods, under the firm name of CARPENTER,
TOWLE & WHITE, and shortly after sold out his interest.
Mr. CARPENTER was one of the first Councilmen of the city of
Beloit. He married, July 5, 1839, Almira L. DUTCHER, of Shodack,
N.Y.; he has six children living - James M., Mary A., Hattie
A., Annie B., Addie D. and Cornelia. Mr. and Mrs. CARPENTER
are members of the First Congregational Church at Beloit.
-
- Taken from "The History of Rock County, Wis."
(c)1879, pp. 738-739.
-
- Courtesy of Carol
|