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Ensign Thomas Carpenter |
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Ensign Thomas Carpenter |
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There are some elements that one finds interesting when researching Ensign Thomas Carpenter because some people think he was born in America while others feel he was born outside the U.S. Many people have shared information about Ensign Thomas Carpenter over the years and I have tried to put it in some form of order. Below is my attempt.
Beau Doherty |
 Lucretia |
THOMAS CARPENTERS IN DELANCEY'S BRIGADE 1. Thomas Carpenter, Ensign in the 2nd Battalion Brig. General Delancey's Brigade. c 1783, age 26, from England, served British corps 4 yrs., Provincial 7 yrs. Source: "Loyalists in Ontario".
This obviously means there were two Thomas Carpenters in the Brigade or they made a mistake and Ensign Carpenter served as Adjutant. This would not be impossible as Lieutenant Samuel Tallmadge of the 4th New York Regiment was aLieutenant who served as adjutant.
DISPUTED ORIGINS
There are two Thomas Carpenters listed on the roles of DeLancey's Brigade:
2. Thomas Carpenter, Adjutant in the 2nd Battalion Brig. General Delancey's c. 1783. Source: "Loyalists of Ontario.
"The Carpenter Genealogy" claims the following:
| "Thomas Carpenter was the son of Joseph Carpenter and and was born in Muskeeta Bay, Long Island February 15, 1725/26 and died after 1783 in Smithtown or Southhold, Long Island. He married Ann Stocker October 2, 1748 at St. George's Church in Hemstead, New York. She was born around 1726 in New York and died before 1781. He married Lucretia Burroughs Quintard August 20, 1781 in St. George's Church In Hemstead, New York. She was the daughter of Isaac Quintard and Lucretia Burroughs. She was born February 10, 1760 in Stamford, Ct. and died May 23, 1836 in Lansingburgh, New York". |
Todd Braisted, the highly respected expert on Loyalists, gave Annabell thefollowing information:
| "Thomas Carpenter is one of a small group of unique persons holding commissions in the Provincial Corps. Carpenter was not a loyalist, from America, but rather a regular foot soldier, a Sergeant from the elite Brigade of Foot Guards. The Guards arrived in America the summer of 1776 and served in all the major campaigns. To reward faithful service and advance promising sergeants (something almost impossible in the regular army), some were made officers in the loyalist regiments. This provided for experience and professionalism in the new corps and rewarded the services of the NCOs. Carpenter was commissioned an Ensign on June 25, 1780 in the 3rd Battalion of Delancey's Brigade, commanded by Colonel Gabriel Ludlow. (Source: "1783 North American Army List," New York Historical Society). According to a list prepared at the end of the war, Carpenter was a native of England, and mentions him being a Sergeant from the Guards. (Source: "Great Britain, Public Record Office, Colonial Office, Class 5, Volume III, folio 231)." His military career after joining DeLancey was uneventful; the corps engaged only in garrison duty on Long Island for the remainder of the war. In 1783 the 3rd Battalion (DeLancey's) was renumbered to 2nd Battalion. The final half pay list at war's end still lists him as an ensign". |
| "Probably First Regiment of Foot Guards (now Grenadier Guards). Promoted to Sergeant Major 1st Battalion Brigade Of Guards in America on July 27, 1779 (from 3rd Co.) (OB). Replaced by Jarman prior to June 1779 (Thomas Cmp.17). Not in MacKinnon. Ensign in Major Gabriel DeVebers Co. of 3rd Battalion DeLancey's in August 1780, per muster rolls. 3rd Battalion DeLancey's renumbered as 2nd Battalion in 1782. The North American Army List gives his date of Commission as 25 June 1780. Final half pay list shows Thomas Carpenter as ensign in 2nd Battalion DeLancey's with notation "Sergeant from the Guards". Noted as a native of England." |
| "There seems to be a Sergeant Carpenter in the 1st Company 1st Battalion Brigade of Guards. The rolls state he was born in Port Mahan, Minorca. He had been transferred to 1st Company from the Light Infantry Company in February 1777. Beyond that I have no further information . The rolls also state that he was 22 in January 1779, 5' 9" tall and had been with the regiment 4 years 6 months. Was a Plaister before joining the Guards and had come from Col. Fleming's Company in London". |
Mr. Carpenter was a very prominent man in religious circles and also politically. He was for many years a member of the John Street Methodist Church and of the Sands Street Church in Brooklyn. He was Alderman of the second ward, New York assembly, warden of the port, et cetera. He was largely known as a wholesale grocer, doing business in Water Street and Fulton Street. Thomas Carpenter and Leffert Lefferts, owners of the brigantine Susan and Polly, petition Congress for commission of duties. Petition was granted, per journal of Representatives, 1794, p 103."
Annabell Bixby claimed that John Carpenter (who runs the Carpenter website on Family Tree Maker) feels the above mentioned Thomas, Jr. was the son of Thomas Carpenter who was born in 1726 in Musketa Bay. John also told her Thomas, Jr. was not a loyalist.
QUINTARD RELATIVES
Isaac Quintard (Thomas Carpenter's father-in-law) was born December 29, 1727 in Stamford Connecticut. He died in 1794 in Stamford. He married Lucretia Burroughs Oct 10, 1754 in New Haven. Annabell Bixby found the following information when reading two books on the History of Stamford Connecticut:
| "Isaac wrote to the Stamford newspaper to prove to the town that he was not abetting loyalists. He owned a local tavern. He had been cleared of any "conspiracy" with the loyalists by the town council, but to make sure the townspeople understood, he wrote his version to the newspaper. He was a captain in the local militia. He had the following children:
Isaac Burroughs Quintard - Served as captain in Captain Fitch's Independant volunteers. This was a continental unit. Isaac Sr. also had the following sisters:
Hannah Qintard who married loyalist Jonathan Ketchum. She died in Kingston, New Brunswick on May 29, 1811 |
| " Lucretia Quintard was daughter of Isaac an Lucretia Quintard. They were loyalists who went from Stamford to Long Island for protection, and after the war were compelled to emigrate to Nova Scotia. Thomas was ensign in DeLancey's 3rd Battalion and adjutant of the corps. He went to St. Johns N.B. and was one of the grantees of that city, receiving half pay. He could not have remained there very long as on September 30, 1797 he and his wife were at Saratoga Springs and sold land at Stamford, Connecticut. After that date there is no trace of them." |
In New Haven Trinity Church records 1767-1814, Vol. 1 I found the following information:
Page 144 - Isaac Quintard Carpenter - Feb. 10, 1788 (baptism) Isaac Quintard the infant son of Thomas and Lucretia Carpenter. Sponsors; Isaac Quintard, Benjamin Sanford and Elizabeth Perit.
Page 132 - Betsy Quintard Carpenter - (birth) Betsy Quintard Carpenter daughter of Thomas and Lucretia Carpenter Oct. 15,1786.
Betsy Quintard Carpenter - (death) daughter of Thomas and Lucretia Carpenter Nov. 19, 1786. Buried Nov. 26th, 1786.
I think all of you agree this information about the birth of Betsy Quintard Carpenter rules out that Thomas Carpenter is the one who tried to get land in Kings County. In the book "Three Centuries of New Haven," by Rollin G. Osteveis (pg. 28) we find out why Thomas settled there a few years:
| "During the war New Haven Churches found themselves in numerous problems as a result of loyalty. The situation was particularly tense at the Episcopal Church. The attitude finally changed after the war. On March 8, 1784 a committee stated 'to consider the property and expediency of admitting as inhabitants of the town persons who in the late war adhered to the cause of Great Britain. Loyalists were admitted to full status'." |
There is a Thomas Carpenter listed in the Lansingburgh, New York census in 1800, 1810 and 1820. Two of his daughters are buried in the Episcopal Church Yard with him. Katherine born 1799, died 1819 and Elizabeth Quintard Carpenter Taylor, wife of Dr. John Taylor born 1791, died 1823. Annabell Bixby viewed his will and had this to say:
| "He left so many shares of Lansingburgh Bank that I think he owned it or owned a good portion of it. He left a great deal of property in comparison to other people at the time. He appeared to be well-to-do, perhaps even a wealthy man. He left his daughter Lucretia his home and land, etc... as she was the only living child. So with the exception of his daughter Lucretia Burroughs Carpenter Thompson, he gave everything to his grandchildren, who included two Taylors, two or three Carpenters and some Thompsons. He not only left stock, but at least two or perhaps three houses and quite a bit of land. He gave Lucretia the one he was living in; another house and lands went to the two Taylor grandsons and their sister. Lucretia Jane (Annabell's ancestor) inherited another house and grounds he was renting". |
Carpenter, Thomas of Lansingburgh 17 Feb. 1831 - 2 June 1831 Heirs Mrs. Lucretia B C Thompson. Grandsons: Thomas C. Thompson, Augustus C. and John Taylor, William Henry and Thomas Smith Carpenter; Granddaughters: Lucretia Jane Taylor, Elizabeth Q. and Catherine Thompson, and Dr. John Taylor, father and guardian of the grandchildren. Exec: two sons-in-law, John Taylor and Andrew Thompson.
THE PORTRAIT
I came upon this picture the following way: It sits in my mother-in-law's dining room and I always wondered who this guy was who looked so much like my brother-in-law. My mother-in-law stated that she knew his name at one time but she had forgotten it since her husband passed away. In doing my wife's genealogy on the Tallmadge side I found out that Dr. Henry Orton Tallmadge's wife Catherine Thompson had a grandfather by the name of Thomas Carpenter who was married to Lucretia Quintard. Somehow I ran into Lynn Moore on the internet and she gave me his loyalist background. I then went to my wife's aunt, Catherine Tallmadge Sweet Winslow, whose mother once owned the portrait, and without giving her any information asked who he was and she said "Colonel Carpenter". She claimed when she was very young her mother, as a punishment, used to make her stand next to his picture when she was naughty. I then told my mother-in-law the name and she said "that's right, it has been so long I forgot Colonel Carpenter's name". However, I knew this was Thomas Carpenter when Lynne Moore sent me the picture of his daughter Lucretia Burroughs Carpenter who married Andrew Thompson. The likeness is amazing!
The potrait was handed down as follows: Thomas Carpenter to Lucretia Burroughs Carpenter Thompson, who marries Andrew Thompson. They leave it to Catherine Thompson Tallamage, who marries Dr. Henry Orton Tallmadge. They leave it to Dr. Andrew Thompson Tallmadge, who marries Lucretia Cole. They leave it to Catherine Orton Tallmadge, who marries Dr. Alfred Sweet. They leave it to Dr. Richard Sweet, who marries Jane (Eaton) Sweet.
I know that many of you may have further questions, and I will forward them to the appropriate people. In the meantime, I would like to thank Lynn Moore, Annabell Bixby, Todd Braisted, Lt. Col. Stone, John Carpenter and Linnea Bass for all the information you have uncovered. Beau Doherty.
