Aaron Carpenter Biography


	This biography appears on pages 1341-1342 in "History of South 
	Dakota" by Doane Robinson, Vol. II (1904) and was scanned, 
	OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net.

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	AARON CARPENTER, who is associated with his sons under the firm 
name of A. Carpenter & Sons, in the ownership and operation of the 
Vermillion Nursery and Fruit Farm, which is located in the immediate 
proximity of the city of Vermillion, is a native of the old Green 
Mountain state and a scion of a family whose name has been identified 
with American history from the colonial epoch, when the original 
progenitors in the new world came hither from England and established a 
home in New England. He was born in Concord, Vermont, on the 7th of 
July, 1826, and thus will soon join the ranks of the octogenarians. He 
is a son of Jedidiah and Elizabeth (Chamberlain) Carpenter, both of whom 
were born and reared in New Hampshire, whence they removed to Vermont, 
where the father was engaged in farming until 1858, when he came to 
South Dakota, being one of the earliest settlers in Clay county, where 
he passed the remainder of his life, his death here occurring September 
21, 1886, at which time he was eighty-four years of age. His devoted 
wife died in Vermont, in 1847, at the age of fifty-one years. They 
became the parents of four children, namely: Lyman, who died in 
Washington in 1900; Aaron, who is the immediate subject of this sketch; 
Mary, who is the wife of Charles Stacey, of Vermillion; and John, who 
died in Washington, in 1898. 

	In 1858 the subject's father located in Nebraska, and two years 
later first stepped foot on the soil of the territory of Dakota. From 
Dubuque, Iowa, he made the trip overland with ox-teams, and he located 
just across the Missouri river in Dixon county, Nebraska, where he 
remained until 1861, in February of which year he took up his permanent 
residence in Clay county, South Dakota, where he took up government 
land, here passing the remainder of his life. The country was on the 
very frontier of civilization, and Vermillion was then nothing more than 
an isolated trading post. The subject was reared and educated in 
Vermont, and was thirty years of age at the time when he came with his 
father to the west. In 1861 he established his permanent home in Clay 
county, this state, taking up one hundred and sixty acres of government 
land, and erecting a log house on the same, after which he turned his 
attention to the reclamation of a farm from the virgin wilderness, and 
here he has ever since maintained his home, the farm being one of the 
best improved and most eligibly located in the county, adjoining the 
city of Vermillion. In 1873 Mr. Carpenter began the propagation of 
fruits of various kinds, and he has since devoted special attention to 
this line of enterprise, while his fruit farm and nursery are among the 
best to be found in the state, the business ramifying into the most 
diverse sections of South Dakota, as well as into adjoining states, 
while the firm of which he is at the head enjoys the highest reputation 
for reliability and for the excellence of all products. The nursery 
department of the enterprise offers the best of products in apples, 
crab-apple, plum, pear, cherry and other trees, while special attention 
is given to the raising of scions in the small fruit-line, as well as 
roses, garden roots, flowering plants of varied kinds, ornamental shrubs 
and forest-tree seedlings, evergreens and shade trees. From the 
Vermillion farm in season are shipped large quantities of fruit, and the 
same finds a ready market at the maximum prices. In the year 1903 more 
than twenty thousand grafts were put out in the nursery. 

	In politics, Mr. Carpenter is a staunch adherent of the Republican 
party, and he has ever taken an active interest in public affairs. He 
was a member of the territorial legislature for two terms—in 1867 and 
1868-9 and was a member of the first board of county commissioners of 
Clay county, whose organization was effected in 1862. He and his wife 
are prominent and valued members of the United Brethren church, and have 
long been active in church and social affairs. 

	On the 21st of June, 1849, in Concord, Vermont, was solemnized the 
marriage of Mr. Carpenter to Miss Kezia Russell, who was born and reared 
in Middlesex, that state, being a daughter of Rev. John M. and Sarah 
(Foss) Russell, her father having been a clergymen of the Baptist 
church. Of the four children of the subject and his wife, we offer the 
following information: George L. who was born on the 9th of March, 1862, 
is associated in business with his father, as a member of the firm of A. 
Carpenter & Sons, and has the practical management of the enterprise at 
the present time, being a careful and able business man and one who is 
thoroughly informed in the practical and theoretical details of fruit 
culture and general nursery work. He was married on the 12th of October, 
1887, to Miss Mary Auther, a daughter of James Auther, of this county, 
and they have five children, namely: Ellen K., Arthur A., Francis M., 
William A. and Joseph W. He is a Republican in politics and is a 
progressive and loyal citizen of the state in which he has passed 
practically his entire life. Alba, the oldest of birth, is a resident of 
Fort Gamble, Washington, where he is engaged in farming; he married Emma 
Ridell, of Yankton, May 22, 1872, and they have two children living, 
Jennie May Hicks and Ethel K. Johnson. John, who was born on the 14th of 
October, 1869, is still at the parental home and is an active member of 
the firm of A. Carpenter & Sons, being an able coadjutor of his father 
and brother; and Carrie M. is the wife of Edward Coles, a successful 
farmer of this county; they have one child, George A.