Carpenter family papers

The Carpenter family papers consists of six folders first arranged chronologically, and then followed by undated folders. Folder 1 contains two letters from William H. Carpenter to Mary Matthews Cornthwaite before their marriage, and one letter from William to Mary while he was imprisoned in Fort Delaware during the Civil War. The two letters to Mary during the couple's courtship are rife with expressions of William's love and devotion. Although the collection does not contain Mary's replies, it is clear from William's words that she is troubled, likely at the prospect of being read out of meeting. In a letter of May 17, 1838, William writes, "Do I wish that we had never met? No! Never have I once wished so."

In a third letter to Mary written in August 1863, William describes his living conditions while imprisoned in Fort Delaware for disloyalty to the Union. William urges his wife "to bestir yourself in person. See [Cukran] and Bryson and Leakin yourself. Tell them I am wholly innocent of having done any act whatever which for a single moment would justify my arrest."

The final letter in folder 1 is from John Carpenter, William's brother, to William in 1847. John, who was still in London, expresses his pleasure at hearing from his brother, describes the current economic climate overseas. "Tis true things have been in a desparate state here what with the failure of the Potato crop and the almost simultaneous rise in provisions of all kinds. I think the corn monopolist gentry have had their day, corn is now going down in price nearly every week..." These mentions of the crop failure and price fluctuations were important factors that marked the Great Famine in Ireland and the eventual repeal of the Corn Laws in the British Parliament.

Folder 2 contains an 1876 copy of Appleton's Journal, Volume XV, No. 363, containing a front page article titled "Old Maryland: its homes and its people, with some of Dr. Oldboy's views theron." The article was written by John C. Carpenter, Mary and William Carpenter's son.

Folder 3 contains an 1899 editorial from the Baltimore Sun on the life of William H. Carpenter, who died in December of that year. Also included in the folder is genealogical information on the Wilsons, the family of John C. Carpenter's wife.

Folder 4 contains the typed memoirs of Lilian Cornthwaite Carpenter Richards, granddaughter of William H. Carpenter and Mary Matthews Cornthwaite. Written sometime after her husband's death in 1951 and before her death in 1964, Lilian recounts her life growing up around Baltimore and later as a naval wife. In particular, she fondly remembers her grandfather and his estate where she lived, called Overlea.

Folders 5 and 6 contain undated poetry written in William H. Carpenter's hand. The titles of his poems include "The Worker", "The Wooing of Sir Seoline", "Widowhood", and "The Patriot Soldier", among others.