Lewis Smith Carpenter

Biography

Lewis Smith Carpenter spent his life on the same family property. Amos B. Carpenter's 1898 genealogy reports that he was born in the house in which he later died and had always lived there. Born in 1817, he was a son of John Carpenter and Nancy Bishop, whose household and burial ground were established in the area now called North Attleborough, Massachusetts.

Lewis married Cynthia Cargill on November 30, 1843. Their children included Nancy, Clarissa Abby, Emily Anna, Jesse Albert and Edwin Francis. The household combined a growing family with agricultural work, but the published account singles out one product of the farm: cider.

The genealogy describes Lewis as a farmer who manufactured a large quantity of cider and was well known in the surrounding country. It also records a local judgment that his cider was the best in the vicinity. People knew him for something he made.

Lewis died at Adamsdale, a neighborhood of North Attleborough, on April 28, 1896. The genealogy says he was found dead in bed in the house where his life had begun. The family account identifies his son Edwin Francis as the next occupant of the homestead. Lewis's story is consequently one of unusual residential continuity: the same property linked childhood, family life, work and death, then remained connected with the following generation.

The burial listing associates Lewis Smith Carpenter with Carpenter Burial Ground, North Attleborough, Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States.