Carpenters' Encyclopedia of Carpenters
2008 Update
Page last revised 18 Mar 2023

LINKS TO SKETCHES AND ARTICLES REPRESENTING
THE MOST CURRENT AND RELIABLE SCHOLARSHIP
CONCERNING EARLY GENERATIONS OF THE CARPENTER FAMILIES OF
REHOBOTH, MASSACHUSETTS, AND PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND,
AND THEIR ANCESTORS

Copyright © 2008-2023 Eugene Cole Zubrinsky, FASG

To represent the fruits of another's intellectual labor as one's own--even implicitly, by failing to give credit--is plagiarism. Out of respect for the author's work and as a matter of intellectual honesty, please cite his work in all oral or written presentations that draw from it.

Sample citation:
Eugene Cole Zubrinsky, "William1 Carpenter of Newtown, Shalbourne, Wiltshire (Bevis, 1638)" (2008; rev. 16 Oct. 2010), 3, online at http://carpentercousins.com/Wm1_Shalbourne.pdf.

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Carpenter Sketches

Rehoboth Carpenters

1. William1 Carpenter was born in England about 1575 and lived for many years in the Wiltshire part of Shalbourne Parish. With son William2 and the latter's family, he sailed to Massachusetts on the Bevis in 1638. He was living in Weymouth, Massachusetts Bay Colony, in late 1640, perhaps early 1640/1.

Only known child of William1 Carpenter:

2 i. William2 Carpenter, b. ca. 1605; m. Abigail Briant.

2. William2 Carpenter (William1) was born in England about 1605 and died at Rehoboth, Plymouth Colony, on 7 February 1658[/9]. He married in the Berkshire part of Shalbourne Parish on 28 April 1625, Abigail Briant, baptized there on 27 May 1604 and buried at Rehoboth on 22 February 1686/7, daughter of John and Alice (______) Briant of Shalbourne. Both are buried in Old Rehoboth (Newman) Cemetery, in present-day Rumford, East Providence, Rhode Island.

Children of William2 and Abigail (Briant) Carpenter, i-v baptized at Shalbourne, vii-viii born at Weymouth:

i. John3 Carpenter, bp. 8 Oct. 1626; m. Hannah Smith.
ii. Abigail Carpenter, bp. 31 May 1629; m. (1) John Titus, (2) Jonah Palmer Sr.
iii. William Carpenter, bp. 25 Dec. 1631; m. (1) Priscilla Bennett, (2) Miriam Sale.
iv. Joseph Carpenter, bp. 6 April 1634; m. Margaret Sutton.
v. Samuel Carpenter, bp. 5 March 1636[/7], bur. Shalbourne 20 April 1637.
vi. Samuel Carpenter (again), b. ca. 1638; m. Sarah Redway.
vii. Hannah Carpenter, b. 3 2nd mo. [April] 1640; m. Joseph2 Carpenter (see below).
viii. Abiah Carpenter, b. 9 2nd mo. [April] 1643; m. Mary Redway.

Providence Carpenters

1. RichardA Carpenter was born in England, probably in or near the Wiltshire town and parish of Amesbury or the adjacent parish of Newton Ton(e)y, and is probably the man of that name who was buried in Amesbury on 21 September 1625. He is perhaps the Richard Carpenter who married at Newton Tony on 7 August 1603, Alice Knight.

Known children of RichardA Carpenter, both born probably at Amesbury. For additional information about child ii, see the RichardA Carpenter sketch, CHILDREN section. The birth order is uncertain:

2 i. William1 Carpenter, b. say 1610; m. Elizabeth Arnold.
ii. Frideswide Carpenter, bur. Amesbury 22 Nov. 1680; m. Nicholas Vincent.

2. William1 Carpenter (RichardA) was born in England, probably at Amesbury, Wiltshire, say 1610, and died at Providence (Pawtuxet section), Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, on 7 September 1685. He was probably the man registered as "Thomas" Carpenter of Amesbury, carpenter, on the passenger list of the James, which arrived at Boston on 3 June 1635. He married about 1637 at Providence (not by 1635, in England), Elizabeth Arnold, born at Ilchester, Somerset, England, on 23 November 1611, daughter of William1 and Christian (Peak) Arnold.

Children of William1 and Elizabeth (Arnold) Carpenter, all born in the township of Providence, at least iv-viii (perhaps as many as ii-viii) born at Pawtuxet. For additional information pertaining to children ii-viii, see the William1 Carpenter of Providence sketch, CHILDREN section. The birth order is slightly tentative:

i. Joseph2 Carpenter, b. ca. 1638 (aged 26 in 1664); m. Hannah Carpenter.
ii. Lydia Carpenter, b. say 1640; m. Benjamin Smith.
iii. Ephraim Carpenter, b. say 1642; m. (1) Susannah Harris, (2) Susannah (Wood) England, (3) Lydia _______.
iv. Priscilla Carpenter, b. say 1644; m. William Vincent.
v. Timothy Carpenter, b. say 1646; m. Hannah Burton.
vi. Silas Carpenter (twin?), b. ca. 1650-1651 (aged 24 in 1675); m. Sarah Arnold.
vii. Benjamin Carpenter (twin?), b. say 1650-1652; m. Mary Tillinghast.
viii. William Carpenter, b. probably by 2 Sept. 1653; unmarried.

Note:
The Carpenter Cousins Y-DNA Project has established that the Rehoboth and Providence Carpenter families are related, but far more remotely than generally thought.

Additional Carpenter-Related Materials

Zubrinsky, Eugene Cole. "The Family of William2 Carpenter of Rehoboth, Massachusetts, With the English Origin of the Rehoboth Carpenters," The American Genealogist 70 (Oct. 1995):193-204; 89 (Oct. 2017):314-15 (additions and corrections [hereafter a&c]).

Zubrinsky, Eugene Cole. "Abiah3 Carpenter of Warwick, Rhode Island, and His Family, With Additional Material Concerning William1 Carpenter of Providence, Rhode Island, and William2 Carpenter of Rehoboth, Massachusetts," The New England Historical and Genealogical Register 159 (Jan. 2005):55-68; (Oct. 2005):362-64 (a&c); 161 (Oct. 2007):300 (a&c); 163 (Oct. 2009):297-98 (a&c).

Zubrinsky, Eugene Cole. "Three John Carpenters: A Chain of Mistaken Identities," The New England Historical and Genealogical Register 159 (Jan. 2005):43-54; (Oct. 2005):361-62 (a&c); 163 (Oct. 2009):297 (a&c).

Zubrinsky, Eugene Cole. "The Immigration and Marriage of William1 Carpenter of Amesbury, Wiltshire, and Providence, Rhode Island," The New England Historical and Genealogical Register 164 (Jan. 2010):36-40; 164 (Oct. 2010):296-97 (a&c).

Zubrinsky, Eugene Cole. Selected Branches of the Redway Family Tree (Ojai, Calif.; the author, 2016), 1-5. 

Zubrinsky, Eugene Cole. “The English Origin and Parentage of William1 and Magdalen (Crane) Smith of Massachusetts and New York,” The American Genealogist 90(2018):209–14. This will be of particular interest to descendants of John3 Carpenter of Rehoboth, Massachusetts, and Long Island, New York, and his wife, Hannah (Smith). 

For more information on Eugene Cole Zubrinsky, please click on this link.