Carpenter family papers

Collection

Identifier: MS-0007

Staff Only

Collection Overview

Abstract

The collection consists of a diary, financial documents, educational records, subject files, and miscellaneous printed items belonging to members of the Adam T. Carpenter family of southern Wood County, Ohio; primarily items related to daughter Esther Carpenter and her teaching career.

Dates

Creation: 1914-1969

Extent

0.5 Cubic Feet (1 legal size archive box and 1 volume)

Creator

Carpenter family (Family)
Carpenter, Esther, 1912- (Person)
Lima Crude Oil Improvement Association. Wayne Branch (Organization)

Scope and Contents

The bulk of the material in the Carpenter family papers relates to Esther Carpenter's schooling and professional career in elementary education, including an almost complete series of her report cards from elementary school through high school. There are also a few grade books and lesson plan books from her early teaching jobs in the Montgomery Township schools.

The collection also gives a financial picture of the family in the form of a farm ledger from 1915-1920, with information on dairy and oil production from the Montgomery Township holdings; account sheets from Carpenter's Garage and Electrical Service, operating in Prairie Depot; and Adam Carpenter's farm and personal tax forms from 1947-1948. Also included in the Garage account volume are the minutes and membership list of the Wayne Branch of the Lima Crude Oil Improvement Association, of which Adam Carpenter was the secretary.

Other members of the Carpenter Family are represented in minor items, such as 4-H Club notes and a pocket diary kept by Mary A. Carpenter in 1927, and a school souvenir pamphlet of Otto Carpenter from Prairie Depot (Wayne) Village School for 1924.

Biographical / Historical

The Adam T. Carpenter Family came to southern Wood County from Pennsylvania around 1908, first to Liberty Township, and in 1914, moved to Montgomery Township. From the start Adam was involved in the oil and gas trade as a small-time producer. He also ran a small dairy farm. The family consisted of his wife, Sarah Christena (Robinson) Carpenter, and four children, Harold T. (born 1899), Mary A. (born 1908 or 1909), Otto (born Aug 5, 1910), and Esther V. (born Sept 29, 1912). Adam was also active in local organizations, being a member of the Montgomery Township Board of Education, and secretary of the Wayne Branch of the Lima Crude Oil Improvement Association.

Esther V. Carpenter, around whom the bulk of the collection is centered, was the youngest child of the family. She attended school in Montgomery Township rural schools and then went to Bowling Green State University, where she got her degree in elementary education in January, 1933. Her earliest teaching positions were in the Montgomery Township schools starting in 1934. In 1944 she was teaching second grade in Elida, Ohio. Finally, she moved into the Fostoria School system, where she taught second grade at Whittier School starting in the Fall of 1944.

Conditions Governing Access

No known access restrictions

Conditions Governing Use

There are no restrictions on the research use of this collection and duplication is permitted for purposes of preservation and scholarly research.

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Immediate Source of Acquisition

The records were donated and transferred to the Center for Archival Collections in April 1992 with the cooperation of Esther Carpenter and Lindy Eynon.