CHARLES CARPENTER. – Mr. Carpenter was born in Chattendon county, Vermont, February 1, 1838. He was the third son in a family of eight. Orrin and Jane (Basut) Carpenter were his parents. When thirteen years old he went with his parents to Franklin county, New York, and there received his education. In 1859 he came in company with his brothers J.W. and Henry, to California. They came via the Isthmus of Panama, and on the Pacific side took passage in the older steamer John L. Stevens for San Francisco. While in California Mr. Carpenter was engaged in various occupations, according to necessity or opportunity. Much of his time was spent in the schoolroom.
The year 1864 found him in British Columbia, spending the winter in Victoria. In the spring of 1865 he joined his brother George, who was overseeing the construction of a railroad to the Cariboo mines. Here he engaged in driving and teaming, making as much as fourteen hundred dollars per month. Upon the completion of the road he went into the mines, and occupied himself for a few months. He then decided to make a change in his work and proceeded to embark in the stock business. He accordingly went to Eastern Washington in 1868, and located on his present ranch of one hundred and sixty acres, four miles west of North Yakima. This continues to be his home, though he has another quarter section in the county. He has of late years engaged in hop-culture, in which he has been very successful.
Mr. Carpenter is a substantial farmer, and a good representative of the fertile and progressive country in which his influence has been felt. He was married in Portland to Miss Lena Webber, and has five children, George W., Chester, Emma J., Lillie M. and Edward J.