Katharine Carpenter Conklin (updated)

I found this scrapbook at the historical society on Tuesday. It was started by a 12-year-old girl, Katharine Carpenter, in 1903, and completed in 1908 when she was 17. It is priceless, probably one of the most uniquely fascinating artifacts I have ever had the opportunity to see in person. It is a very personal record of Katharine's experiences, thoughts, and dreams. The ephemera it contains - including letters, photographs, dance cards, playbills, advertisements, drawings, and even trinkets like pressed flowers, decorative napkins, and ribbons - are all captioned in Katharine's lively and playful voice. One of my favorite pieces is a pledge that Katharine made her friend sign: "Maude Fish will not tell anyone that Katharine Carpenter is going to try to go to the party at the Opera House on February 3, 1903. Signed, Maude Fish."

I hope to digitize the entire thing (somehow), but right now it's almost too delicate to handle. As you can see, the binding has broken and many of the pages are flaking away. I am currently exploring options for its restoration. In the meantime, I decided to look into the Carpenter family and see what I could find out about them.

There have been several Carpenter families in the village, but the question of which one Katharine belonged to is answered in the scrapbook itself. A pass allowing her to leave school early was signed by both her parents, T. Ellwood and Ella (Sutton) Carpenter. T. Ellwood Carpenter was the president of the Mount Kisco National Bank, which he founded in 1895. Ella Sutton Carpenter was a Quaker. They were married in 1885 and had three daughters, Helen (born 1887), Katharine (born 1891), and Mildred (born 1897). Their son, Herbert Ellwood, was born in 1885 and died as an infant.

Frank sent me this photo of the Mount Kisco National Bank, which was located on Main Street.

This was one of the family's houses, possibly the one where Katharine wrote and compiled her scrapbook. Aptly, it was on Carpenter Avenue.

Katharine first appears in the 1900 census, living with her parents, her uncle George Sutton, and their servant Ella Ryan. The same group was living together in the census of 1910.

1900 US Federal Census

1910 US Federal Census

Katharine attended high school at Blair Academy in Blairstown, New Jersey (then known as Blair Presbyterial Academy). Her father, T. Ellwood Carpenter, died in 1917 at the age of 62. In 1925, she married DeWitt Conklin,an electric fixture salesman. In 1920, the couple was living with Katharine's widowed mother and her two sisters. Helen and Mildred both worked in a lawyer's office, Helen as an assistant and Mildred as a stenographer.

1920 US Federal Census

By 1930, Katharine and her husband had moved to East Orange, New Jersey, where DeWitt now worked as the president of an investment bank. Katharine's mother and sisters had also moved to East Orange. Mildred worked as a bank clerk, presumably in the same bank that her brother-in-law was president of.

Ella Carpenter died in 1935 at the age of 74, and Mildred died in April 1987 at the age of 90. Katharine died in December 1977 at the age of 86. I haven't yet been able to determine when Helen Carpenter died.

I also haven't been able to determine who gave the scrapbook to the historical society. Katharine doesn't seem to have had children, and neither of her sisters married or had children, so she had no nieces or nephews either. Who inherited her property? Was the scrapbook given to the society after her death or did she herself give it to the society when she was still living?

The Gorham Brothers

George W. Gorham's store, courtesy F. Wesley

I have already written about Martha J. Gorham and her infant son Henry, and the two children of Charles and Caroline Gorham. I now have new information on the Gorhams, which I found in Methodist Memoirs and Village Vignettes, which was written by Shirley B. Porter, the church historian, in 1987. The book identifies Lyman B. Gorham (the husband of Martha J. Gorham), David Fletcher Gorham, and George W. Gorham (whose grocery store is pictured in this post) as brothers. Three children of George W. Gorham and his wife Mary Smith are buried in the cemetery - all in the 1860s, which was really one of the worst decades to be a child, according to my charts.

The Gorham brothers were the sons of farmer David Gorham of Westport, Connecticut. His wife Sally, shown here in the 1850 census, was probably not the mother of George W. Gorham, who would have been born when she was 12. David and Lyman, who were born in 1841 and 1850 respectively, could have been Sally's sons. David and Sally also had two daughters, Julia and Sarah.

1850 US Federal Census

George W. Gorham 

George W. Gorham was born in Connecticut in 1829 and married Mary A. Smith in 1851. He was a tinsmith and owned a hardware store in the village for 50 years; it was later taken over by his son John. Unlike his brothers, George Gorham was a Presbyterian.

1860 US Federal Census

As you can see in the 1900 census below, George and Mary Gorham had eight children, only five of whom were then living.

1900 US Federal Census

David Fletcher Gorham

David Fletcher Gorham was born in Westport in 1841, and married his wife Emily Elizabeth in 1864. In 1880, Gorham partnered with Joseph Henry Crane to found a furniture store. Though Crane married Gorham's daughter Julia in 1882, the business partnership ended in 1883. Subsequently, Crane and Gorham each operated his own furniture store; Crane's is still in business today. My great-grandparents, grandparents, and parents have all bought furniture at Crane's furniture store.

1880 US Federal Census

None of David Gorham's immediate family is buried in the cemetery. His and Emily's infant son, who died in 1866, is buried in the nearby Union Cemetery.

Grave of Infant Gorham (Source)

Shirley B. Porter calls David Gorham an "enthusiastic prohibitionist." His 1907 gift to the village, a water trough topped by a statue of an Indian, is inscribed with the prohibitionist message "God's only beverage for man and beast." According to Porter, the area around the David Gorham residence was known as "Prohibition Park."

Gorham was a trustee of the village from 1880 to 1881 and a trustee of the Methodist Church from 1905 to 1934. He and his wife donated one of the stained glass windows of the church - with the message "To the Glory of God" - in 1919.

Gorham was also a Free Mason, and was elected Master Mason of the local Lodge in 1891, 1892, and 1893 - a position later held by my great-grandfather.

The Gorhams' only other surviving child, Edith Gorham, married Harry V. Fish.

Lyman Beers Gorham

Lyman Beers Gorham was born in Westport in 1850, joined the Methodist Church in 1873, and married Martha J. Reynolds, the daughter of Newman Reynolds, in 1878. In 1884, Martha gave birth to a son, Henry. He died on May 9, and Martha died on 1884. You can read my previous post about Martha and Henry Gorham here.

Lyman later married Sarah Hendrick and lived in Stamford and South Norwalk, Connecticut. He was a photographer and an engraver.

1. David Gorham (1804-) m. (1) Unknown; (2) Sally A. (1817-)
1. George W. Gorham (1829-) m. Mary A. Smith (1829-) in 1851
1. Aaron D. Gorham (1852-1922) m. Charlotte L. Avery (1852-1913)
2. Mary S. Gorham (1854-)
3. George Starr Gorham (1857-1860)
4. Lillian Harriet Gorham (1858-1860)
5. John E. Gorham (1860-)
6. Ralph Gorham  (1871-)
7. Fred Gorham
8. Louise Gorham
9. Josie Gorham (1867-1868)
2. David Fletcher Gorham (1841-1934) m. Emily Elizabeth (1844-1928) in 1864
1. Julia Gorham (1865-) m. Joseph Henry Crane in 1882
2. Edith Gorham (1870-) m. Harry V. Fish
3. Infant Son (1866-1866)
3. Lyman Beers Gorham (1850-1927) m. Martha J. Reynolds (1851-1884); (2) Sarah Hendrick (1862-1919)
1. Henry Gorham (1884-1884)
4. Sarah Gorham (1853-)
5. Julia Gorham (1856-)