A Perspective in Christian History
At the 90th Birthday Celebration of Rev. Carlton F Carpenter who was born on March 29, 1918, a bulletin was published which told some of the history of the Carpenter family. The following was included in that remembrance.
ABOUT CARLTON FOWLER CARPENTER'S FAMILY
The family history has been traced back more than a thousand years when the family name was DeMelum (1030 A.D.) but because of a significant transgression my paternal grandfather was stripped of his family name and in disgrace forced to take the name associated with his hobby of wood working - Carpenter or as he was a French man SHAR PONTE AYE. The name went through three steps in the process of being ANGLIZED. The original French was Shar Ponte Aye and it was Shar Pen Tier until they arrived in England (about 1575) when it became Carpentier. The last change came after the family arrived in Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1635 where the "i" was dropped and the process of change was over. So after thirty-one generations of family history we came to my birthday- March 29th, 1918.
Now, let us backtrack in the family history to understand why under the preaching and teaching of Roger Williams they made the break and decided to come to the colonies. The family had endured real trial and persecution as followers of one Peter Waldo. Waldo was a wealthy French business man when the Lord got hold of his heart and life and he became a traveling evangelist. Waldo questioned the clergy's only right to administer the ordinances, the veneration of the saints, the baptism of unconscious infants and often using such text of scripture as Numbers 6:21, 2 Corinthians 6:14, 2 Thessalonians 3:12 and Revelation 18:4.
Thus many followers were burned at the stake for their failure to allow their children to be baptized in the church. When the burdens became more than they could bear they made the decision to emigrate to Holland early in the fifteenth century. But sad to say this move put them under the yoke of the Reformed Church which likewise wanted them to have their children baptized. So, late in the fifteenth century these ancestors made the move to England where they hoped for greater liberty. It was here that they came under the tutelage of a young "rabble rouser" by the name of Roger Williams who was encouraging his followers to come to the colonies where they would be free to follow the dictates of conscience.
Thus, when Roger williams set a date in early 1634 to make the move. My family in the person of William Carpenter signed on in hopes of complete religious freedom.. After a long 3 month trip they arrived in America in 1635. They moved with Williams to Massachusetts Bay Colony and set up house keeping in a log cabin. But within the year Williams had run afoul of the Congregational Church because he would not worship with them. So, Roger Williams challenged his followers to pull up stakes in Massachusetts and get a land grant in what is now Providence, Rode Island.
When they arrived in what now is Providence, Rhode Island, William Carpenter purchased an eight and one half acre lot that is known today as The Carpenter Lot, though now it is a part of Brown university. The lot is located on North Main Street in Providence at the corner of South Court Street, four blocks north of the First Baptist Church.
Social scientists tell us that today there are more than a million descendants of William Carpenter living in these United States of America.
William Carpenter is my tenth generation "GRANDPA" who is remembered as an unlettered preacher in what was the forerunner of the FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH in America. However, when his library was sold at auction, among his books were well worn Latin, Greek and Hebrew texts. Thus you will have to be the judge of just how unlettered he really was!
-Carleton F. Carpenter