Dates: 1847-1939; n.d.
Size: 2.97 cubic ft.

 
Biography:

Agnes Zipporah Carpenter

Agnes Zipporah Carpenter was born February 24, 1869, to Joseph Neibert and Zipporah Russell Carpenter of Natchez, Adams County, Mississippi. Her siblings were Nathaniel Leslie Carpenter and Estelle Camille Carpenter. They were a prominent family in the Natchez area and their name was scattered throughout the society pages of the Natchez Democrat. Joseph's father, Nathaniel Loomis, settled in Mississippi in 1833 and founded the cotton firm N.L. Carpenter and Sons. Joseph served in the Civil War from 1863-1865, before returning to Natchez and taking over his father's business in 1867, located in both Mississippi and New York. On April 3, 1868, he married Zipporah Russell of Louisiana. Throughout his life, he was a philanthropist and funded three public schools for the community.

In 1880, he purchased the Dunleith home where Agnes spent her childhood and inherited when she turned twenty-one years old. It seems she attended St. Agnes School in Albany, New York, and later the Mississippi Military Institute. She was a member of Trinity Episcopal Church.

Agnes was involved in many genealogical societies. She joined the Natchez chapter of Daughters of the American Revolution on December 12, 1902. She served as regent from 1904 to 1907 and again from 1915 to 1917. Under her leadership, the chapter aided the Red Cross during World War I. Part of her service included adopting a French orphan in 1917. She joined the National Society of the Colonial Dames of the State of Connecticut referencing her ancestor William Buell. She also was a member of the Order of the Crown and Americans of Royal Descent and King's Daughters. This interest in family history and ancestry led her to become a genealogist. Agnes completed extensive research on her family, tracing her line back to her English ancestors, as well as aiding other women with their genealogical projects. Her work as a genealogist allowed her to travel for research with destinations including Washington, D.C., Virginia, South Carolina, and parts of England.

Agnes kept up correspondences throughout her life with fellow genealogists, family, and friends. Among her friends were many prominent Natchez families like the Graftons, Stantons, and Huttons. She died in January of 1934 at her home. The Carpenter Memorial School in Natchez contains a library dedicated in her honor. By 1936, her nephew Joseph N. Carpenter, II, owned her home Dunleith.

 
Scope and Content Note:

This collection mainly consists of Agnes Carpenter's correspondences and genealogical projects. Also included are news clippings, genealogical society documents, and travel papers. Most of the correspondence is arranged in chronological order. However, multiple letters written by the same author have their own folders. Her genealogical work primarily correlates to the Carpenter and related families. Interesting items to note are letters from Julia Luce, Agnes's grandmother, that date back to 1859 and 1861. Agnes also had in her collection a letter dating to 1847 containing history of the Carpenter family. The rest of her work consists of smaller genealogical projects that involve many different family names. Finally, researchers will find folders containing Agnes's bibliographical information toward the end of the collection.

 
Series Identification:

Series 1. Correspondence

Subseries 1.1. General Correspondence. 1917; 1921-1933; n.d.

A majority of the letters contain a balance between personal correspondence and information on various families. There are letters mentioning the Briggs and Tracy family. One of the Tracy letters is from Italy. Other correspondence links the Wade family to the Richardson and Stockwell families. Additional letters concern information on John Gayden; the Putnam family; White, Jarman, Henderson, and Pullman surnames. This series includes letters from or concerning the Luce family and more information on the Hutton family. Mr. Hutton's grandfather was a groomsman to Alfred Davis, one of the owners of the Dunleith plantation. There is a letter from Mrs. Russell Dance, honorary founder of the La Salle chapter of Daughters of the American Revolution in Corinth, Alcorn County. She provided information on the Fields family as well as the Stewarts. Also included are “Dropped Stitches,” a genealogical newspaper column, and a newspaper clipping on Princess Mary's lineage. Swan, Montville, and Hamilton families are mentioned. There is a letter from Edwin Potter Carpenter, Agnes's British relation. There is also a brochure about a historical festival from Edentown, North Carolina, sent to Agnes. Agnes's correspondence with Mrs. Whitherstine of Chicago is about the genealogy of William Carpenter. There is also correspondence with Abner Love who included a newspaper clipping about Benjamin Russell.

Box 1, folders 1-11

Subseries 1.2. Bishop Correspondence. 1924-1925; 1929; 1931.

Jessalyn Bishop was from Austin Texas. Her letters reference the Carpenters from New York, Tennessee, and Texas.

Box 2, folder 1

Subseries 1.3. J. Hatten Carpenter Correspondence. 1924; 1926-1927; 1930-1932.

Originally, from London, England, J. Hatten Carpenter moved to Salt Lake City, Utah, in 1887. He wrote about the Wallop relations to the Carpenters. He included a newspaper clipping on a Bishop Wallop elected to the House of Lords. He and Agnes also started projects on genealogy of William Carpenter and employed the help of Mrs. Whitherstine of Chicago. A majority of the letters are personal. One thing of interest was that J. Hatten Carpenter read William Dudly Pellam's book Seven Minutes in Eternity.

Box 2, folder 2

Subseries 1.4. Freear Correspondence. 1926-1927; 1930.

Mrs. Freear was from Jackson, Tennessee, and had information on Feudall Carpenter.

Box 2, folder 3

Subseries 1.5. Stanton Correspondence. 1921; 1923-1926; 1928-1929; n.d.

These were written by Elizabeth Brandon Stanton from Natchez, Adams County, and pertain primarily to genealogical interests of the Stanton family and related connections.

Box 2, folder 4

Subseries 1.6. Tullis Correspondence. 1930-1932.

Letters written by Octavia Tullis, who was related to the Gayden family, offer some family history and genealogical research.

Box 2, folder 5

Subseries 1.7. Wilson Correspondence. 1923-1924; 1930.

Agnes was working with Letitia Wilson to track down her White relations that married into the Gayden family. Additional three letters are included from Mary L. White due to her connection to Ms. Wilson and the content concerning the Gayden family.

Box 2, folder 6

 

Series 2. Travel. 1923; 1927; 1932-1933; n.d.

This series contain itineraries, receipts, and postcards. The itineraries are from Agnes's summer travels of 1932 and 1933. Included are her notes about two counties in Maryland. There is also an envelope containing parts of a thousand year tree from Stoke-Poge, England. Another object is a pamphlet on the history of St. Andrew's Church, Cobham, England.

Box 2, folders 7-8

 

Series 3. Genealogical Societies. 1901-1902; 1929-1930; n.d.

This series contains Agnes's membership applications for Daughters of the American Revolution and Colonial Dames of America of Connecticut. There is an interest letter from the Huguenot Society. There is also mention of other societies like the National Society Magna Charta Dames and National Society Women Descendants Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company. Finally, Agnes's Daughters of the American Revolution notes on the history of Natchez are included.

Box 2, folder 9

 

Series 4. Genealogical Research Projects.

Subseries 4.1. Carpenter Family. 1847; 1859; 1861; 1916-1918; 1923-1925; 1930-1932; n.d.

This subseries contains history of the Carpenter and related families. There are notes on William Blake of Dorchester, Massachusetts, and his descendants that married into the Wallop family. There is also information on the Pope, Wales, West, and Buells. Copies of the Pope and West coat-of-arms are included. There are notes on the Loomis and Luce families that married into the Carpenter families. The Luce notes include two letters from Julia Luce, Agnes's grandmother, to Corintha. The first letter is from 1859 and paints a picture of Independence Day in Natchez. The second letter is from 1861 and gives insight on Loomis and Julia Carpenter’s thoughts about Abraham Lincoln and the threat of the Civil War. Finally, a letter dated 1847 from Reverend John Mapes Carpenter of Vincetown, New Jersey, contains the history of the first Carpenters that immigrated to America.

Box 3, folders 1-10

Subseries 4.2. Gayden Family. 1916; 1928-1931; 1939; n.d.

This subseries contains notes on the Gaydens, Russells, and Leas. Agnes's mother was Zipporah Russell, daughter of Susanna Gayden. There is a postcard of the Gayden grave in South Carolina in folder 1. There is also a news clipping of Martha Jane Gayden's obituary.

Box 4, folders 1-5

Subseries 4.3. Liddel Family. n.d.

This subseries contains information on the Liddel and related families. These included the Richardson, Stanton, Brandon, Roper, Wyatt, Metcalfe, and Randolph. Folder 6 contains three Liddel family trees that need to be unfolded due to their size. Also included are notes on the Liddel family that reference a famous duel (folder 7). Of particular interest may be a language family tree for those interested in linguistics.

Box 4, folders 6-10

Subseries 4.4. White Family. 1917; 1921; 1923; 1927; n.d.

This subseries concerns how the White family relates to the Selby, Maddox, Briggs, and Hussey families. Briggs and Hussey married into the Selby-Maddox family. This genealogical project was a collaboration between Agnes and Letitia Wilson.

Box 4, folders 11-13

Subseries 4.5. Other Major Genealogical Projects.1917; 1923-1926; 1928-1929; n.d.

This subseries contains projects concerning Bathurst, Townsend, Tucker, Spencer, and Stith families. There is a copy of the Bathurst coat-of-arms. Particularly, this subseries consists of notes on the Alexander-Poindexter family; the Perrie, Gardner, and Claireborne families; the Pickering, Russell, Corwin, and Burrill families; and the Tyler-Swan family. Also included is information on Jonathan Wade of Ipswich, Massachusetts, and his descendants. Those descendants include the Grafton and Wiley families of Natchez. Additional material on the Seete, Walworth, and Morgan families is included.

Information on the Ross-Meade, Wade-Farrar-Young, and Gallard families is in folder 1. The Gallards were a Huguenot family. The Farrars married into the Ross-Meade family. Additional papers concern the Jeremiah Clarke, and surnames Powell, Lyman, Servier, and Hutton. The Serviers were a Huguenot family related to St. Francis Xavier. The Huttons were an old Natchez family. There are more genealogical notes on the Thornton and Buckner families; the Hyde, Williams, Collins, Clarke, and Cooke families; and the Croker-Strode-Courtney family.

Box 5, folders 1-8
Box 6, folders 1-6

Subseries 4.6. Small Genealogical Projects. 1916; 1924; 1932; n.d.

Agnes Carpenter worked on many genealogical projects and this subseries contains information about some of the minor projects. Surnames and related family connections of interest include Coffin, De Morville, De Beke, Faushaw, Plumpton, Ashton, Little-Mercer, Hurst, Shryock, Woodson-Williamson, Williamson-Price, Ferris, Fields, Shackleford, Towke, Brown, Ferrer, Gifford-Kinnersly, Courtney, Rainsford, Skipwith, Bradshaw, Thornton, Souvaine, Grosvenor, Buckner, Corbin, Rice-Hove, Buckly-Spencer, Wentworth, Caswell, Bathurst, Benson, Marshall, French, Beebe-Foster-Parker families, Boyd, Dicks-Barber, Alderick-Henderson-Smith, Germaine, Davis, Griswold, Tankersly/Tankersley, Southworth, Hart-Sooney-Marshall, Meeks-Artherton, Richardson-Thompson, Jarman, Lynch, Nash, and Putnam-Waldo.

Also included are the lines of Charlemagne, Alfred the Great, and Henry of Scotland. There is a brief note on a Mr. Hodgeson and notes on the family of Eliza Ventures Fellows (folder 10). The related families to Mrs. Fellows include Paddock, Marehead, and Schofield. There is also a brief note on the family of Mrs. Flavia Platt Keller. A newspaper clipping with the Wells coat-of-arms and history as well as a clipping on the history of the Patridge family is included. The subseries includes the pension records of Daniel Alderman (folder 5) who served under Captain Coleman of the North Carolina regiment in 1781. The Daughters of the American Revolution application of Mrs. Theodora Marshall may be of particular interest.

Box 6, folders 7-11
Box 7, folders 1-16

 

Series 5. Miscellaneous Genealogical Notes. n.d.

Agnes Carpenter made copious notes on a variety of paper, and these notes are loosely organized for ease in searching about particular surnames.

Surnames and related family connections of interest include Elam, Hoover, and Irving-Chin families, Durant and Fairfax families, Chapman, Roe, Spelman, Willington, Dalton, and Hamilton, Spotswood and Davis families, Sutton, Thurston, and Goode-Sevier families, French, Grant, Greenway, Halgrave, Hyde, Miller, Thurston, Wales, and Williams families, Sutton, Dudly, and Bradstreet families, Carpenter, Liddel, Richardson, Curwin, Hamilton, Woodbridge, Reede, Buck, and Maisie families.

Of interest may be the pedigree chart of President Hoover; the extensive and large Willington family tree; a note on the Native American descendant of Jefferson Davis; and contents from an envelope titled “Odds and Ends” about the Plantagenet line, Charlemagne line, and history of the first settlers of Manakintown. There is also reference to a Virginian merchant ship from Jamestown. Also included is a copy of the Miller coat-of-arms. There are also notes on the Hoffman and Schenck families; The Schencks were Dutch Anabaptists that were disciples of Menno Simons.

Box 7, folders 17-20
Box 8, folders 1-7

 

Series 6. Bibliographical Notes. n.d.

This series contains bibliographical information written on small and large sheets of paper, and sometimes on scrap paper. Also included are large paper slips from libraries, including blue central desk slips and her Library of Congress call slips. Many include titles and call numbers for books pulled during her research.

Box 8, folders 8-14
Box 9, folders 1-7

 

Series 7. Newspaper Clippings. 1920; 1926; 1931-1932; n.d.

This series contains newspaper clippings collected by Agnes Carpenter, however some sent by friends were enclosed in letters. Other clippings, like the article from Greensboro Daily News, possibly saved during her travels. The dated newspapers mainly come from the years 1931 and 1932. She has three copies of the “Royal Lines of Georgians,” which gives a family line starting with Charlemagne and ending with the Sloan family. Many other news clippings pertain to genealogy such as the “Dropped Stitches” column. Various family names that appear are Martin, Wyman, Starke, Saltonstall, Sears, Valentine, Eltonhead, Avery, Endicott, Huger, and Cushing. Other interesting articles include the mystery of Pocahontas's grave at Gravesend and two clippings regarding President Hoover's presidential tour in North Carolina.

Box 9, folders 9-11

 

Series 8. Miscellaneous. 1923; 1930; n.d.

This series contains a photograph of Edwin C. Carpenter. It also contains a program with seating arrangements of a dinner he attended in honor of Rt. Hon. Sir Esme Howard, a British ambassador to the United States. For additional information on Edwin Carpenter see series 1A. Also included are various addresses that Agnes kept for reference.

Box 9, folders 12-13

 

Box and Folder List:

Box 1

Folder 1: General Correspondence, n.d.
Folder 2: General Correspondence, 1917; 1921-1922
Folder 3: General Correspondence, 1923
Folder 4: General Correspondence, 1924-1925
Folder 5: General Correspondence, 1926
Folder 6: General Correspondence, 1927
Folder 7: General Correspondence, 1928
Folder 8: General Correspondence, 1929
Folder 9: General Correspondence, 1930
Folder 10: General Correspondence, 1931
Folder 11: General Correspondence, 1932-1933

Box 2

Folder 1: Bishop Correspondence, 1914-1925; 1929; 1931
Folder 2: J.H. Carpenter Correspondence, 1924; 1926-1927; 1930-1932
Folder 3: Freear Correspondence, 1926-1927; 1930
Folder 4: Elizabeth Brandon Stanton Correspondence, 1921; 1923-1926; 1928-1929; n.d.
Folder 5: Tullis Correspondence, 1930-1932
Folder 6: Wilson Correspondence, 1923-1924; 1930
Folder 7: Summer Travels, 1927; 1932-1933; n.d.
Folder 8: Summer Travels; Receipts, 1923; 1933; n.d.
Folder 9: Genealogical Societies, 1901-1902; 1928-1930; n.d.

Box 3

Folder 1: Carpenter family notes, 1930; 1932; n.d.
Folder 2: Blake (related to Carpenter) notes, 1932
Folder 3: Blake-Wallop notes (related to Carpenter), n.d.
Folder 4: Julia Luce letters to Corintha, 1859; 1861.
Folder 5: Luce notes (m. Carpenter), 1916-1918; 1925
Folder 6: Loomis notes (m. Carpenter), n.d.
Folder 7: Pope, West, Wales notes (related to Carpenter), n.d.
Folder 8: Carpenter-Tracy notes, 1923; n.d.
Folder 9: Carpenter-Tracy notes, n.d.
Folder 10: John Carpenter letter, 1847

Box 4

Folder 1: Gayden notes (typed), 1928-1930; 1939; n.d.
Folder 2: Gayden notes (handwritten), n.d.
Folder 3: Gayden notes (handwritten), 1931; n.d.
Folder 4: Lee/Lea notes (m. Gayden), n.d.
Folder 5: Russell notes (m. Gayden), 1916; n.d.
Folder 6: Liddel family tree, n.d.
Folder 7: Liddel-Richardson notes, n.d.
Folder 8: Liddel-Stanton notes, n.d.
Folder 9: Liddel-Brandon notes, n.d.
Folder 10: Related families to Liddel (Roper, Wyatt, Metcalfe, and Randolph), n.d.
Folder 11: White family notes, 1917, n.d.
Folder 12: White family notes (Submitted by Letitia P. Wilson), 1923
Folder 13: Selby-Maddox, Briggs, Hussey, 1921; 1927; n.d.
Folder 14: Selby-Maddox (m. White), 1927; n.d.

Box 5

Folder 1: Bathurst, Townsend, Tucker, Spencer, and Stith, n.d.
Folder 2: Bathurst coat-of-arms, n.d.
Folder 3: Alexander-Poindexter, 1917; 1923; n.d.
Folder 4: Wilson Pickering: Perrie, Gardner, and Claireborne notes, n.d.
Folder 5: Wilson Pickering: Pickering, Russell, Corwin, and Burrill notes, n.d.
Folder 6: Tyler-Swan notes, 1928-1929; n.d.
Folder 7: Wade notes, 1924; n.d.
Folder 8: Seete, Walworth, and Morgan, n.d.

Box 6

Folder 1: Ross-Meade, Wade-Farrar-Young, Gallard, n.d.
Folder 2: Jeremiah Clarke papers, n.d.
Folder 3: Powell, Lyman, Sevier, Hutton, n.d.
Folder 4: Thornton, Buckner, 1925-1926, n.d.
Folder 5: Hyde, Williams, Collins, Clarke, Cook, n.d.
Folder 6: Croker-Strode-Courtney, 1924, n.d.
Folder 7: Small Genealogical Projects, I, 1924; n.d.
Folder 8: Small Genealogical Projects, II, n.d.
Folder 9: Small Genealogical Projects, III, n.d.
Folder 10: Small Genealogical Projects, IV, n.d.
Folder 11: Coffin family, n.d.

Box 7

Folder 1: Caswell, Bathurst, Benson, Marshall, French, 1916; n.d.
Folder 2: Beebe-Foster-Parker, 1932; n.d.
Folder 3: Boyd, n.d.
Folder 4: Dicks-Barber, n.d.
Folder 5: Daniel Alderman, n.d.
Folder 6: Alderick-Henderson-Smith, n.d.
Folder 7: Germaine-Davis-Griswold, n.d.
Folder 8: Tankersly/Tankersley, n.d.
Folder 9: Southworth, n.d.
Folder 10: Meeks-Artherton, n.d.
Folder 11: Hart-Sooney-Marshall, n.d.
Folder 12: Richardson-Thompson, n.d.
Folder 13: Jarman, n.d.
Folder 14: Lynch, n.d.
Folder 15: Nash, n.d.
Folder 16: Putnam-Waldo, n.d.
Folder 17: Elam, Hoover, Irving, Chin/DeCheyne, Green (misc. families), n.d.
Folder 18: Durant, Fairfax (misc. families), n.d.
Folder 19: Chapman (misc. family), n.d.
Folder 20: Roe, Spelman, Willington, Dalton, Grimstead, Hamilton (misc. families), n.d.

Box 8

Folder 1: Davis, Spotswood, n.d.
Folder 2: Sutton, Thurston, Goode-Sevier (misc. families), n.d.
Folder 3: “Odds and Ends”: misc. genealogical notes, n.d.
Folder 4: Sutton, Dudly, Bradstreet, Wade (misc. families), n.d.
Folder 5: Hoffman, Schenck (misc. families), n.d.
Folder 6: Miscellaneous families, n.d.
Folder 7: Miscellaneous families, n.d.
Folder 8: Bibliographical information, n.d.
Folder 9: Bibliographical information, n.d.
Folder 10: Bibliographical information, n.d.
Folder 11: Bibliographical information, n.d.
Folder 12: Bibliographical information, n.d.
Folder 13: Bibliographical information, n.d.
Folder 14: Bibliographical information, n.d.

Box 9

Folder 1: Bibliographical information (small pieces), n.d.
Folder 2: Bibliographical information (small pieces), n.d.
Folder 3: Bibliographical information (large pieces), n.d.
Folder 4: Bibliographical information (large pieces), n.d.
Folder 5: Library slips, n.d.
Folder 6: Library of Congress slips, n.d.
Folder 7: Library of Congress slips, n.d.
Folder 8: Library of Congress slips, n.d.
Folder 9: Newspaper clippings, 1926; 1931-1932.
Folder 10: Newspaper clippings, 1931-1932.
Folder 11: Newspaper clippings, 1920; 1931; n.d.
Folder 12: Photograph and Program of Edwin P. Carpenter, 1930
Folder 13: Addresses, 1923; n.d.