Carpenter Connections

Raymond Carpenter WW1 Draft Registration

2011-07-07T21:40:00.008-06:00

WW1 Draft Registration Card - Side 1

WW1 Draft Registration Card - Side 2

(Click on the Images above to see a larger size)

I was at the family history library last week. When at the library, they have free access to Ancestry.com.

So I decided to do a search on Grandpa Carpenter - Raymond Linzy Carpenter (1890-1976).

I found something unusual, which I found pleasing. I hope it will pique your interest as well.

It is Grandpa's World War 1 Draft Registration. It is dated June 4, 1917. It has samples of his own handwriting, including his signature.

In case you have trouble reading it, here is what it says:

Side 1

Name in Full: Raymond L. Carpenter
Age in Years: 26
Home Address: Evanston Wyoming
Date of Birth: Oct 10, 1890
Natural Born Citizen
Where Born: Evanston, Wyo USA
Present Trade or Occupation: Locomotive Fireman
By Whom Employed: Union Pacific RR Co
Where Employed: Evanston, Wyo
Any Dependents? Wife, Child 1 yr
Marital Status: Married
Race: Caucasian
Military Experience: None

Side 2
Height: Tall
Build: Med
Color of Eyes: Blue
Color of Hair: Sandy
Bald? No
Any Missing Appendages or Disabilities? No
Registrar Signature: J.B. Martin
City, State: Evanston, Wyo
Dated: June 4, 1917

We could note that June 4, 1917 was near the end of WW1. I believe the actual ending date of WW1 was on November 11, 1917. Grandpa Carpenter was never called upon to serve in the military. Who knows what may have happened had the war gone on for much longer.

It was fun to me to see something that Grandpa Carpenter actual wrote, in his own hand. It was also fun to see a snapshot of his family life and occupation at that time -- Especially the part about being a locomotive fireman.

Carpenter Family Reunion - Saturday Aug. 6th 2011

2011-06-06T16:41:00.002-06:00

Everyone get ready for good company, good food and fun at our family reunion. It will be on Saturday August 6th at Murray Park in Pavilion #1. Enter at 495 East 5400 South. Here is a link to a park map:

http://www.murray.utah.gov/DocumentView.aspx?DID=201

We'll start gathering at 11:00 am and Lunch will start at noon. Then to play games, including ice block sliding. Hope every one can join us.

Lila Joy Carpenter Eubanks - Passed Away

2011-03-14T17:28:00.006-06:00

Lila Joy Carpenter Eubanks passed away on January 31, 2011. We will all miss her very much. Below are a couple pictures from the burial at the Provo Cemetery. Both it and the memorial service were very nice. When the family has time to transcribe Harvey's (Lila's husband) remarks we'll post them as well.

Memorial Day 2009

2009-05-28T22:49:00.012-06:00

Joel, Myra, Jeannette and Mark visited the Evanston Cemetery over Memorial Day Weekend. Here are some photos from their trip.

Click on the images below to see them in a larger size.

Joel and Myra at Evanston Cemetery

Raymond and Verbena's Graves

Raymond Jr. and Frances' Graves

Arthur Leroy's Grave

Joseph and Mary Anderton Carpenter's Graves

Charles, Hannah and Elizabeth's Graves

Anderton Graves

Peter Anderton Grave - Civil War Veteran

Bill and Dorothy Rose George's Graves

Wirig Roundup 2008

2008-08-31T22:18:00.013-06:00

(Note: You can click on any of these photos for a larger view)

As it turned out, the same day we had our Carpenter Cousins reunion at Murray Park on August 2nd, the Wirig Family were having their Wirig Roundup 2008 ™. From all accounts it looks like they had a great time together.

The Wirig's will be having their gathering on the first Weekend of August, every other year. So in order to not conflict with the Wirig Roundup, the Carpenter Cousins reunion will meet on the last Saturday of July of each year. For 2009, our reunion will be held on July 25th, in Evanston, Wyoming.

The Wirig Roundup coincided with Aunt Bessie's birthday. So a birthday celebration was a part of their activities.

Quite a creative birthday cake! It looks like it might have come from the pages of a Dr. Seuss book.

It looks like it worked out really well. I love the look of anticipation on the children's faces as they wait for grandma to blow out the candles.

There were many great activities at the Wirig Roundup, including horseback rides. Even grandma and grandpa got a chance to ride!

Sunday Morning, of that weekend included a devotional and testimony meeting at the American Fork Amphitheater.

It looked like it was a choice time to gather as a family.

I think Aunt Bessie summed it up best when she said:

"This past week-end has been glorious. Our souls have been lifted to rejoicing and thanksgiving to God for the blessings he has poured out upon us. Surely the blessings of Abraham are real. It is gratifying to see our Father's Plan in operation; the realization of the promised joy in posterity, the confidence that we are all in the covenant, and through the Atonement have firm faith and hope in the resurrection. We expect exaltation and association as a family together in the Celestial Kingdom just as the Lord has promised. . . .

Love always,

Mom and Dad, Grandma and Grandpa, Grandma Great and Grandpa Great (as the fourth generation children call us)"

"I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth." (3 John 4)"

It looks like the Wirig Roundup 2008 ™ was a complete success!

There were literally hundreds of photos taken of the Wirig Roundup. They have been posted by Vaughn, and you can see them here.

Happy Birthday Lila and Harvey!

2008-08-17T21:52:00.004-06:00

Last month there was a birthday celebration for Lila and Harvey. Sam and his family, joined with Lorraine and their family in the Seattle area little family reunion of their own.

The Occasion was Lila's 75th Birthday an Harvey's 80th Birthday.

It was good for Eubanks cousins to get together. It looks like they had a great time together.

You can see more photos from the birthday celebration here.

Carpenter Cousins Reuinion

2008-08-03T22:03:00.007-06:00

On Saturday August 2nd, we held our first Carpenter Cousins reunion (AKA the "Wet Bum" Reunion) at Murray Park, in the Salt Lake City area.

There were nearly 50 people in attendance. We met to visit and to play together. It was wonderful to see everyone.

The highlight of the reunion was ice blocking down the grassy hills in the park. The kids loved it, and after some coaxing, many of the adults slid down the hill too.

Mark demonstrating his ice blocking technique
(Note: You can click on these photos to see a larger view)

Everyone wanted to know if there would be ice blocking again for next year's reunion.

We had a great time ice blocking. Everyone was being a good sport.

Even Nancy!

It was great to have Mike and Barbara join with us. They came all the way from Oregon to be here. They introduced the game of Padunk, which was enjoyed by several of us.

For some, all the ice blocking action was just too intense.

Who could blame him? This was a call for a little R&R. Not a bad idea really: a nice park, a babbling brook nearby, a little Harry Potter, some lemonade, and a chance to catch 40 winks!

Finally, after the ice blocking was over, the question came -- What to do with the left over ice blocks? Answer: Why have an ice block sitting contest, of course! So we Did!

This six brave souls are all sitting on ice blocks. They remained there for about 15 minutes, or so. It was decided to call a truce, and an end to the contest after all of the participants experienced the uncomfortable side effect know as "Numb Bum".

We are in the process of gathering photos from our adventure. Many of us were taking pictures, and we would love to have them. We will publish them on a web site, and will provide a link here at this blog, as well as in an upcoming email where you may view the photos.

Please email the photos you would like to share to our email address (below). We would love to see your photos too.

carpenterconnections@gmail.com

You Can View all of the photos that we have uploaded to the internet so far here. You can click on the thumbnails of each photo to see a larger view.

We have already planned that next Year's Carpenter Cousins Reunion will be held in Evanston, Wyoming on Saturday, July 25, 2009. It will likely be at Hamblin Park, near the rodeo grounds.

And Yes -- We will try to find a hill for ice blocking again!

Ray & Verbena Carpenter Reunion - Sat. Aug. 2, 2008

2008-02-19T19:23:00.000-07:00

Hi Family,

I hope everyone is off to a good start for the year 2008.

After enjoying visiting with many of you this past fall at Dorthy Rose and Al's funerals. It seemed like a good thing to restart our family reunion for descendants of Ray and Verbena Carpenter.

We've reserved Pavilion #1 at Murray City park in the Salt Lake City area for Saturday Aug. 2nd. We have the pavilion from 10:00am on.

We'd like to keep it simple, visiting starting at 11:00am, Pot luck Lunch at Noon and then games etc for the young and young at heart. In addition to space for games, the pool etc. there is a hill for ice block sliding.

While I've tried to collect as many family email addresses as possible, I know I don't have everyone's and probably have some that don't directly apply to this reunion. (everyone is welcome none the less.) Please pass this on to everyone in the family that I've missed. I'd like to collect email addresses in this account. If possible send an email and I'll add your address(s) to the contacts list for this account. So that we have them for the future.

We will follow-up with more information, map of the park and other details as we get closer to the date.

Hope to see as many of you as possible this summer.

Chester Carpenter

2006-09-15T23:44:00.003-06:00

This is the story of my Uncle, Chester Carpenter as told by his sister, Bessie Wirig.

Chester Joseph Carpenter was born November 17, 1919, in Robertson, Uinta County, Wyoming. Robertson was an out-of-the-way, rugged, frontier homestead in Western Wyoming, not far from Old Fort Bridger.

Chester was the third Child of Raymond Linzy and Verbena Mary Carpenter. He was the youngest child for only a few minutes, because very soon after his birth, his twin brother, Charles William Carpenter was born. There was no attending physician to assist. Both of these babies weighed under three pounds at birth.

They were tiny and had difficulty nursing, so milk was warmed over a coal oil lamp, and fed to them with an eye dropper. Eventually there would be 12 children in the family, and Chester would have many responsibilities.

Chester's early years were spent in Robertson. Later they moved to Evanston, Wyoming where he attended public schools and graduated from high school in May 1937. Life in his youth was hard (during the Great Depression) and being one of the oldest boys, he had many chores to handle as the family struggled for necessities.

He learned at a very young age to milk the two cows. This meant arising early each morning to milk the cows before school, and then again after supper in the evening. Along with keeping a garden, tending to chickens, rabbits, geese, and hogs, there was little time for anything else.

Chester was a talented writer, and wrote lyrics to music used for the High School and Junior High school songs. These were sung at every major school event for many, many years after Chester graduated. He wrote many poems that dealt with historic events and his love for life and his surroundings.

During the Great Depression, employment was almost unheard of, so Chester joined the CCC (or the Civilian Conservation Corps) one of the government projects put in place to help solve unemployment. He later worked as a sales clerk for the JC Penny store in Evanston.

War was brewing in Europe and it was evident that it would only be a short time before the United States would be involved. Drafting young men into military service was on the horizon, so Chester decided to enlist, rather than be drafted. In June 1941, he entered the military as a buck private, 21 dollars a month was his wage. He was in Cheyenne, Wyoming on December 7, 1941, and was immediately sent to the West Coast where his unit was being shipped out to the Pacific Theatre of war. The night before the scheduled departure he had an appendicitis attack, and was rushed to the hospital. The ship left without him. He learned later that most of those who were in his unit did not return from the war.

He was a good soldier, and won the respect of many. He was nominated to go to Officer's Candidate School, where after many hours of instruction, he was commissioned a Second Liutenant. He was assigned to the Army Medical Corp as a Registrar.

He was sent to England and witnessed the awful blitz bombing by the Germans where he sustained some eye damage. Right after D-day on June 6, 1944, he witnessed the first of many casualties coming back to England. Shortly thereafter he was sent to Calais, France, overseeing medical field units which were set up to take care of the wounded from the many bloody battles fought thereafter -- including the Battled of the Bulge. He witnessed a lot of pain and sorrow as he worked with the wounded and the dying. He advanced through the ranks of First lieutenant, then Captain, and became a Major.

He was a good soldier and a devoted son to his parents. He wrote a letter every week and expressed his love and appreciation for them. He was always interested in their well-being. For mother's day, 1943 he wrote this poem that expresses his love and concern:

Dear Father, bless my mother
On this war-time Mother's Day.
Give her comfort, free from worry
While her sons are far away.
Bless each one, that none will ever,
'Til the Victory Bells are tolled,
Change to white, the red carnation,
Or the stars of blue to gold
(Chester J. Carpenter, Army Medical Corp, May 9, 1943)

The war ended and Chester was discharged. He took employment with the W.T. Grant Company as one of their field managers in El Paso, Texas for a short period of time before he took advantage of the GI Bill and enrolled in college.

He received a Master's Degree from the University of Southern California (USC). He then attended Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa and earned another Master's Degree. Afterwards he attended Florida State University in Tallahassee, where he earned his PhD in Psychology. He taught at FSU as professor and then accepted a position at Indiana State University in Terre Haute, Indiana, where he taught until his retirement. He still had difficulty seeing, and had to wear very thick eyeglasses. However, he struggled through his eye impairment and succeeded in his profession.

Chester was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was sealed to his parents and family in the Salt Lake Temple as young boy. Eventually he was ordained a Seventy, and served as a Stake Missionary for the Woodruff Stake.

On November 22, 1962, he married Earlene Rose Schlotthower in Tallahassee, Florida. She died in May, 2005.

To this union was born Alexander Joseph Carpenter in 1963, and Ellen Rose Carpenter in 1965. Alexander was born with multiple birth defects, due to oxygen deprivation at birth. Alexander required constant care, and has been attended to by his family over the years. His sister Ellen has cared for him the last few years, until very recently, when circumstances required that he be placed in a care center. Ellen has taken care of her mother, and her father until they passed away. She took care of her brother for quite some time as well. She has truly been a blessing to her family.

My father (Joel) remembers his older brother Chester, taking a tablet of paper, and finding a shady spot under a willow tree to write. There he would sit, along the banks of the Bear River which ran next to their property, thinking, and pondering and writing. Chester was a gifted writer.

Chester will be remembered as a loving father, dedicated husband, caring son, and a wonderful brother and uncle. Our love goes with him.

He was buried at the Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery, in St. Louis, Missouri. I understand that this is the largest national cemetery, outside of Arlington National Cemetery, in Virginia. He was buried with full military honors, due to being a veteran of World War II.