Elizabeth (Arnold) Carpenter (1611 - aft. 1679)

Born 23 Nov 1611 in Ilchester, Somerset, England

Ancestors

Wife of William Carpenter — married about 1637 in Providence, Rhode Island

Descendants

Died after 10 Feb 1679 after age 67 in Providence, Rhode Island

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Larry Ridgley [send private message], Jan Fillingim [send private message], Puritan Great Migration Project WikiTree [send private message], Susan Lavoie [send private message], and Victoire Felix [send private message]

Elizabeth (Arnold) Carpenter migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm

Disambiguation

Elizabeth Arnold-423, born in 1611, who married William Carpenter in 1645, is not Elizabeth Arnold-4550, born in 1621, who married Thomas Hopkins in 1648.

Biography

Name

Elizabeth (no middle name) Arnold ^[1]

Birth and Parentage

Elizabeth Arnold was born at Ilchester, Somerset (not Cheselbourne, Dorset), England, on 23 November 1611 ^[2]

She was the daughter of William Arnold (1587-1677) and his wife Christian Peake (1584- ). ^[1]

Siblings

Elizabeth's family was comprised of

Elizabeth Arnold Carpenter (1611 - 1685)

Benedict Arnold (1615 - 1678)*

Joanna Arnold Rhodes Reape (1617 - 1691)*

Stephen Arnold (1622 - 1699)*

Her brother Benedict succeeded Roger Williams, founder of RI, as president of the colony, becoming Govenor in 1644 under the charter granted by King Charles II. ^[3] Roger Williams' family and Benedict were also related by marriage.) ^[1]

1635 Immigration

There is no known record of the ship on which the Arnolds sailed to New England.

Elizabeth Arnold’s brother Benedict, continuing the family record begun by their father, relates that “My father and his family . . . arrived in New England June 24 Anno 1635” (NEHGR 33:428). Daniel Hoogland Carpenter disputes the year, contending that it was actually 1636 (see Carpenter [1901] 9n). It will become apparent below, however, that 1635 is correct. Author Carpenter acknowledges that “[t]here is only ‘tradition’ to support the theory that along with [the Arnolds] came William Carpenter and his wife” (Carpenter [1901] 9). He nevertheless claims that William married Elizabeth Arnold in England, arguing that “the Arnolds and Carpenters were at Providence at the same early date” (Carpenter [1901] 8, 9). He later concludes that William and Elizabeth’s eldest son, Joseph2, must have been an adult when he witnessed a deed on 3 May 1656 and thus had been born about 1635, in England (Carpenter [1901] 30, 31; see also Arnold Mem 9, 52; RI Roots 13:75). This, of course, is consistent with the assertion that Joseph and his parents immigrated to New England with the Arnolds.^[2]

There are, however, several reasons to doubt that William Carpenter of Providence had any contact with the Arnolds in England. First, William’s probable English home of Amesbury, Wiltshire, and that of the Arnolds, at Ilchester, Somerset, are more than forty miles apart. “[H]oping to assist further research,” Elisha Arnold (1935) introduces the 1606 marriage of Richard Carpenter and Susanna Trevelian, recorded at Nettlecombe, Somerset (seventy plus miles from Amesbury), as “seem[ing] to connect in some way with a John and Richard at Salisbury, 7 miles from Amesbury.”

So as to put William Carpenter and Elizabeth Arnold in close proximity in England, overzealous researchers have converted this item into the assertions, now frequently seen online, that Richard and Susanna (Trevelian) Carpenter were Providence William’s parents and that Richard died at Ilchester in 1625. Trevelian’s husband, however, died at Loxhore, Devon, in 1627 and left neither a son William nor a daughter Frideswide (or variants Fridgsweete, Frittisweed, etc.).^[2]

The Richard Carpenter buried at Amesbury on 21 September 1625 is far more likely to have been William’s father than one said to have died at Ilchester that year.

A second reason for skepticism as to Carpenter–Arnold contact in England is that while William1 Arnold—like William1 Carpenter, an original Providence proprietor—was granted a house-lot at Hingham, Massachusetts, on 18 September 1635, Carpenter was not. Had the latter man already married Elizabeth Arnold and immigrated with her family, he, too, almost certainly would have become a Hingham proprietor; the town’s records fail altogether to mention him, however. William1 Carpenter first appears in New England records at Providence, no earlier than mid-1637, under “Agrements & orders the second year of ye Plantation” (begun in the spring of 1636 at Seekonk, on the east bank of the Seekonk River in present-day East Providence, and relocated that summer to the west bank).

Third, that Providence William’s son Joseph witnessed a deed at Providence on 3 May 1656 is mistaken as evidence that he was then an adult and must therefore have been born about 1635, presumably at Amesbury. Witnesses as young as fourteen are found in early New England records, however. (This was the age of discretion, at which one could witness documents, choose a guardian, testify in court, and indenture oneself without parental consent.) Fourth, a deposition given by Benjamin Smith and Joseph Carpenter on 16 October 1664 describes the latter man as “Aged 26 yeeres,” implying a birth year of about 1638. [This paragraph and the two preceding ones are taken almost verbatim from Zubrinsky, “Abiah3 Carpenter of Warwick, Rhode Island, and His Family: With Additional Material Concerning William1 Carpenter of Providence . . . ,” NEHGR 159(2005):55–68, at 67–68 (which see for specific source citations). In the course of preparing this sketch, the author has identified additional evidence, presented below, that William Carpenter’s path and that of the Arnold family did not cross until William’s arrival at Providence (see also Zubrinsky, “The Immigration and Marriage of William1 Carpenter of Amesbury, Wiltshire, and Providence, Rhode Island,” NEHGR 164(2010):36–40).]^[2]

Finally, certain Providence records, including the first two of William Carpenter in New England, strongly imply that he came to Providence not “at the same early date” as the Arnolds (as per Carpenter [1901]) but as much as a year or so later. The first of these, under the heading “Agrements & orders the second year of ye Plantation” [about June 1637 to June 1638], is an otherwise undated order that William Carpenter, Benedict Arnold, Francis Weekes, William Reynolds, Thomas Angell, Mrs. Daniel, and Mary Sweet “shold pay in consideration of Ground at present Granted vnto them” two shillings [and sixpence?] apiece; Edward Cope is assessed five shillings [and sixpence?] (PrTR 1:3; RICR 1:15 [“and sixpence”]). ^[2]

Immediately after this is another undated entry, ordering that Mr. Cole [Robert Coles], Francis Weston, and Richard Waterman are each to pay two shillings [one shilling and sixpence?] if “they do not Improue their Ground at present graunted to them . . . by preparing to fense to plaunt to build etc” (PrTR 1:3; RICR 1:15 [“one shilling and sixpence”]). Of those named above, only four—Carpenter, Coles, Weston, and Waterman—would subsequently be identified as original proprietors (see, for example, PrTR 3:90–91, 4:73, 14:274). The latter three, slow to take up their respective grants, presumably had received and paid for them at least several months previously. Carpenter and those named with him, on the other hand, were yet to pay for their lots and almost certainly had obtained them more recently. That none of the others listed with Carpenter was an original proprietor, moreover, suggests that he was one of the last of the thirteen men to earn that designation in later records. (Roger Williams recounts that “poor young fellow” Francis Weekes and “a lad of Thomas Waterman’s,”3 generally thought to have been Thomas Angell [both are named with Carpenter, above], were among the first to join Williams in the spring of 1636 [RWCorr 2:750; RI Hist 1:97]. It is generally supposed that land grants to them were delayed until they came of age.)^[2]

The Arnolds, by contrast, had joined Roger Williams more than a year earlier. Benedict Arnold recounts that “We came to Providence to Dwell the 20th of April, 1636” (NEHGR 33:428). First situated on the eastern bank of the Seekonk River, Williams and his friends removed about two months later to the other side of the river (beyond the jurisdiction of Plymouth Colony), where they built their permanent settlement. William Arnold stated in 1659 that “I was one that the very first day entred with some others vpon the land of Prouidence and so laid out my money to buy and helpe pay for it” (PrTR 15:77–78). (Despite having accompanied his father at that time, Benedict Arnold [named with Carpenter above], did not reach adulthood until 21 December 1636 and consequently, as with Weekes and Angell, was not an original proprietor [see NEHGR 33:428].)^[2]

1637 Marriage to William Carpenter

Elizabeth married about 1637, probably at Providence (not by 1635, in England), William Carpenter. For evidence that William Carpenter arrived in New England a single man and married about 1637 at Providence—not by 1635, in England—see Immigration, below.^[2]

1680 Husband's Will

William’s will instructs sons Silas and Benjamin to “take ye whole & sole Care of Elizabeth my loveing wife their mother” (PrTR 6:144). That Elizabeth was an Arnold by birth is evident from another passage in the will referring to “my brother Stephen Arnold” (PrTR 6:141). Other records—a deed from William’s son Joseph to “my uncle Stephen Arnold,” for example—further confirm Elizabeth’s identity (RILE 50).^[2]

The will of William1 Carpenter “of Pautuxett in ye towneshipp of Providence,” dated 10 February 1679/80 and proved (with codicil) 1 October 1685, names the following legatees (in order of first appearance):

• eldest son Joseph;
• daughters Lydia Smith and Priscilla Vincent;
• sons Silas (co-executor), Benjamin (co-executor), Timothy, and Ephraim;
• grandsons Ephraim Carpenter (eldest son of aforesaid son Ephraim, by first

wife), William Carpenter [son of eldest son Joseph], and Joseph Smith (son of daughter Lydia);

• wife Elizabeth;
• granddaughter Susanna (sister of grandson Ephraim);
• and grandson Simon Smith (brother of grandson Joseph Smith) ^[4]

Others mentioned include

• brother-in-law Stephen Arnold and
• deceased son William.

Death and Burial

Elizabeth Arnold Carpenter died after 10 February 1679/80 (date of husband's will).^[2] The Sep 7,1685 death date on her cenotaphic memorial is actually the date of death of her husband William Carpenter. Neither her death date nor place of burial is known, and she may have outlived her husband, having been named in his will of Feb 10,1679/80. (He wrote a codicil at the death of his son in 1683/4, so lack of a further codicil suggests the possibility she may have outlived him.) She and her husband were almost certainly buried on their homestead, located in present-day Cranston, RI. ^[1]

William and Elizabeth were almost certainly buried on their homestead, in present-day Cranston ^[5]

Children

Elizabeth Arnold and her husband William Carpenter had eight children. ^[1]

1. Joseph Carpenter, (1638-1683)
2. Lydia Carpenter Smith, (1638-1711)
3. Ephraim Carpenter, (1640-1703)
4. Priscilla Carpenter Vincent, (1648-1691)
5. William Carpenter,
6. Timothy Carpenter,
7. Silas Carpenter, (1650-1695)
8. Benjamin Carpenter.(1692-1710)

Elizabeth was born about 1611. She passed away about 1685.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4} Elizabeth Arnold Carpenter. Find A Grave Memorial# 6804645 created by Sue Williams, Sep 27, 2002. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=6804645. Accessed October 6, 2015
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9} Eugene Cole Zubrinsky, FASG, Ojai, California, 2008. Last revised 9 December 2010. William1 Carpenter of Providence, Rhode Island Prepared for Carpenters’ Encyclopedia of Carpenters 2008. From Carpenter Sketches, Carpenter Cousins. http://www.carpentercousins.com/Wm1_Providence.pdf
3. ↑ This Benedict lived over a hundred years before the General Benedict Arnold who became a traitor during the American Revolution.
4. ↑ PrTR 6:135, 138–46, 148 [also 4:21–22, 14:218, which identify grandson William as Joseph2’s son]). cited by Eugene Cole Zubrinsky, FASG, Ojai, California, 2008. Last revised 9 December 2010. William1 Carpenter of Providence, Rhode Island Prepared for Carpenters’ Encyclopedia of Carpenters 2008. From Carpenter Sketches, Carpenter Cousins. http://www.carpentercousins.com/Wm1_Providence.pdf.
5. ↑ PrTR 5:323–25, 6:141, 150, 17:62–63; NEHGR 33:428, 69:66–68, 159:67–68; Austin 36; Arnold Mem 35, 52; cited by Eugene Cole Zubrinsky, FASG, Ojai, California, 2008 Last revised 9 December 2010. William1 Carpenter of Providence, Rhode Island Prepared for Carpenters’ Encyclopedia of Carpenters 2008. From Carpenter Sketches, Carpenter Cousins. http://www.carpentercousins.com/Wm1_Providence.pdf. Sources are cited in full in the Key to Source Notes Paragraph.

• Carpenter Sketches, -- William Carpenter of Providence, RI sketch.

• https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.2.1/9HB3-5WJ