Submitted by David Kearns

In the 1890's, George C. Carpenter and his family lived on a farm of 160 acres on section 1, in what was then Chikaskia Township, Sumner County. To him and his wife, Nancy (Kaster) Carpenter, were born seven children, five of whom survived childhood: Robert V., George B., Clara Belle, Ira W., and Mary E.

George C. was born December 1, 1833, in Warren County, Ohio. His family moved to Ripley County, Indiana in 1835. George C. married his wife, Nancy Kaster (Caster?) in 1856, and moved to Appanoose County, Iowa, the next year.

During the Civil War, George C. enlisted in Company F of the Thirty-sixth Iowa infantry. His company was engaged in various conflicts in Tennessee, Missouri, and Arkansas. At the batte of Mark's Mill in Arkansas, April 25, 1864, he was wounded by a bullet that entered his left jaw and exited through his neck, shattering his mandible and damaging his tongue. While the rest of his company was captured and spent the remainder of the war as prisoners of the Confederacy, he was left for dead.

However, he did not die, and was actually discharged from service in October of 1864. After recovering from his wounds, he returned home to Appanoose County, Iowa.

In 1876, George C. moved his family to Monroe County, Missouri, for a span of four years, arriving in Sumner County in 1880. He made Sumner County his home until his death on April 9, 1919.

Sources:

Portrait and Biographical Album, Sumner County, Kansas (1890). Chapman Brothers, Chicago.

US Federal Archives, Civil War Pension Records.

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