Nathaniel L. Carpenter

Nathaniel L. Carpenter
Born	18 November 1805(1805-11-18)
Died	23 December 1892(1892-12-23) (aged 87)
Residence	Natchez, Mississippi, United States
Nationality	American
Known for	Entrepreneur and Cotton Factor

Nathaniel L. Carpenter, born November 18, 1805 at Randolph, Vermont^[1], died December 23, 1892 at Natchez, Mississippi^[2], was a prominent entrepreneur, builder, owner of a steamboat line, and successful cotton trader of antebellum and postbellum Natchez, Mississippi.^[3]

Personal

Nathaniel L. Carpenter was a son of Joseph and Sarah (Buell) Carpenter, natives of Connecticut, of the Rehoboth Carpenter family of English descent. He married in 1837 at Buffalo, New York to Julia Ann Luce. They were the parents of four children. Descendants still lived in Natchez in the early 1900s. Two of his brothers also settled in the South: Samuel Carpenter in New Orleans, Louisiana, and John B. Carpenter in Jefferson County, Mississippi.

Career

In 1809, Nathaniel L. Carpenter's parents moved to Lancaster, New York, where they owned extensive property in what is now the city of Buffalo. He was raised and educated in Lancaster and first went into the stage line and hotel business there. In 1833 he went to Natchez, Mississippi and began working as a builder. He left Natchez in 1834 and went first to St. Louis, Missouri, then to New Orleans, Louisiana in 1835. He returned to Natchez about 1838 and settled permanently, becoming owner of a line of steamboats, a successful cotton trader, and active many other private and public concerns. He owned Myrtle Terrace town home in Natchez city, and nearby Dunleith plantation, both of which are on the annual Natchez historical pilgrimage tours.^[4] He was well traveled, journeying throughout the United States, Europe, and the South Pacific islands. During the American Civil War, he counseled neutrality, but both of his sons served in the Confederate army—Allen D. Carpenter in the Natchez Rifles and Joseph N. Carpenter in the Breckinridge Guards.^[5]

References

1. ^ Amos Bugbee Carpenter: The Carpenter Memorial, Genealogical History of the Rehoboth Branch of the Carpenter Family in America, Carpenter & Morehouse, Amherst, Mass., 1898.
2. ^ Natchez Historical Society: Monuments in the Natchez City Cemetery, Natchez, Miss., 1982.
3. ^ Goodspeed Publishing Co.: Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Mississippi, Vol. I, Chicago, Ill., 1891.
4. ^ Reid Smith and John Owens: The Majesty of Natchez, Paddle Wheel Publications, 1969, reprinted by Pelican Publishing Co., Gretna, La., 1981.
5. ^ U.S. National Archives, Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers Who Served in Organizations From the State of Mississippi, U.S. National Archives, Washington, D.C.

Persondata
Name	Carpenter, Nathaniel L.
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	November 18, 1805
Place of birth
Date of death	December 23, 1892
Place of death