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| Jean's paternal grandparents
were Abraham and Diana Carpenter. They obviously loved their youngest
grandchild, the only daughter of their youngest son, Mont Clair Carpenter.
However, they did not see her often, and may never have seen her after
the divorce of her parents. |
Click on the image to see
a larger version |
Photo courtesy of Anthony
Speroni |
Shown above are Abraham and Diana Carpenter
at home in Pratt, Kansas in 1916. The picture in the oval frame on
the table is of their 5-year-old granddaughter Harlean - the same one shown
above right. The family Bible and photograph album visible at the
bottom center of the picture are still in the possession of the family.
Abraham Carpenter served in the Civil
War as a member of the 138th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. He
fought at the battle of Cedar Creek, and was wounded in the thigh; while
sitting beside the road waiting for an ambulance, he witnessed General
Philip Sheridan's famous ride from Winchester, VA, which turned the tide
of the battle. (Sheridan's horse was later stuffed, and can now be
seen at the Smithsonian Museum of American History in Washington, D.C.)
After the war, Abe returned home to southwest Pennsylvania and married
Diana Beale in 1868.
Note the Carpenter chin in this picture!
Abe wore a beard most of his adult life, so we are lucky to have this picture
to see where Harlean got the cleft in her chin.
He and Diana had five sons, three of whom
survived childhood: Earle Bert (b. 1869), Arden Howard (b. 1870) and Mont
Clair (b. 1877). |
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During this time, they moved west, first
to Iowa, then settling in Kansas. The picture below was taken some
time in the late 1880s in Pratt, Kansas, the closest large town to their
home near Haviland. |
Seated: Diana and Abraham Carpenter
Standing, L to R: Earle, Arden, Mont
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| By virtue of hard work, and no doubt a
certain amount of luck, they managed to prosper modestly at farming and
ranching in the sometimes hostile climate of Kiowa County, Kansas. |
Wheat harvest, ca. 1895
Click on the image for an
enhanced closeup of Mont.
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| Education was important to the Carpenters;
Earle went on to become a school teacher, optometrist, store owner,
and railroad telegrapher, always keeping a hand in running the family farm
and ranch. He married a lovely young Quaker, Elma Bevan, and had three
children; Chester Mont (grandfather of the author), Carl Bevan and Elsie
Elma Carpenter.
Arden married Carrie Miller, and
had three daughters; Inez, who died young, and two others who married,
but have been difficult to trace.
| Mont evidently preferred
city life, and moved to Kansas City, Kansas. He worked for a time
for George Fowler, Son & Co., Ltd, pork and beef packers, and kept
in close contact with the family, as he continued to do the rest of his
life. Several of his letters have survived the years, including one
written hastily on April 22, 1898 describing the public reaction to the
declaration of the Spanish-American war on the previous day.
The picture at right was taken at a Kansas
City studio around 1900, when Mont would have been about 23. Jean's
resemblance to her father is particularly evident in this picture.
He attended Kansas City Dental College,
graduted in 1902, then opened his practice in Kansas City, Missouri. |
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| More
about Mont and the Carpenter family... |
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