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WHO WAS WHO in PLUM TOWNSHIP
~ Titusville Herald ~
By H. W. Strawbridge

Willis H. Carpenter

Probably no other Plum Township resident accomplished as much in a short life span of 26 years as did Willis H. Carpenter of Wallaceville. Born on Sept. 28, 1859, he moved with his father’s family to Wallaceville when he was four years old.

His parents were Samuel and Ellen Jones Carpenter. The Carpenters were of English descent, while the Jones were of Welsh descent. Willis was the sixth born of a total of seven children.
Willis, or “Will” as he was called, didn’t have a middle name, so he inserted the letter “H” as his middle initial.
Will received his education in the Wallaceville school. He was a brilliant youngster. He yearned for a more advanced education then what the elementary school provided. He set about to learn this himself. He would go out to his father’s pasture in good weather, climb a tree, and sin in the fork of it. Here he studied so the other children and various noises wouldn’t disturb him. In this tree he studied shorthand and became very adept at it. At night, after the others had gone to bed, his mother would read to him and he would write down in shorthand what she had read.
The system of shorthand that Will studied was the Graham system. His uncle and aunt, Dr. and Mrs. Walter Whann of Franklin, had given to him a shorthand book they had purchased in Philadelphia. He studied and studied it.
He taught himself algebra, geometry and trigonometry too, and developed into an expert mathematician. He was granted a Number One certificate from the Venango County Superintendent of Schools. Will then taught at the old Fairview School, Plum Township.
On March 15, 1881, an autograph album was presented to Will by the following pupils of the Fairview School: Jennie Cowen, Linda M. Alcorn, Sylvia Alcorn, Gilbert F. Proper, Frank W. Goodwin, Elmer R. Proper and E. D. Goodwin. Many people signed their names in this book. Some signed their full names, other just their first names. One signed in it, “Peach”. An interesting inscription written on Sept. 20, 1881 by James Cowen, Will’s future father-in-law, is as follows: “Let us read and read to a purpose, seeking those things which will teach us to act well and wisely our part in life, to do always our whole duty, thanking God that we live in an age of reading and thinking”. This album is still preserved by Will’s daughter.
It was probably in 1882 that Will, being the wonderful intellect that he was, was appointed the Venango County Court Stenographer by Judge Charles E. Taylor. Will held this position until his death four years later. When court was in session, he stayed at the Dr. Whann home in Franklin.
Once he was called to court when the weather was extremely bad and the road from Wallaceville to Franklin was in terrible shape. So Will went to Titusville where he boarded the train to Franklin.
Four young ladies from the Wallaceville-Fairview area had their eyes on Will as a good prospect for marriage. They were Miss Nellie Orr Cowen, Miss Jennie M. Cowen, Miss Sylvia I. Alcorn and Miss Lida M. Alcorn. Nellie Orr Cowen was the lucky one. Strangely, none of the other three ever married.
Miss Nellie Orr Cowen was a daughter of James and Catherine Richey Cowen, and was born near Wallaceville on March 8, 1862. She had united with the Sunville Presbyterian Church when a girl. She and Willis Carpenter were married in the home of her parents on Feb.15, 1883 with Rev. Silas H. officiating. Shown in this sketch is their wedding photograph.
Willis bought on and one-half acres of land in Wallaceville from the John Loker family in August, 1883 for $200. Will and Nellie lived on this place. It is the present house of Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Hartman, though the house has been remodeled since.
Will’s place adjoined his father’s property. Later Will bought the one-acre store lot too, which was located north of the Carpenter property.
On Oct. 22, 1883, Will was appointed postmaster at Wallaceville. He held this position until his death, after which John M. Eddy was appointed the position. Will and Nellie were the parents of one child, a daughter, on May 30, 1884. She is Mrs. Kittie Fox who lives in Venus, Venango County, with her son-in-law and daughter, Charles and Jennie Wood. Mrs. Fox also has a son, Howard Fox, who lives on Union Street, Franklin. Mrs. Fox’s husband, Sherman Fox, died in an automobile accident in October, 1931. Among other things, Mrs. Fox has a notebook containing her father’s shorthand writing.
On Friday, Jan. 9, 1885, a number of young men of the township met at the old Plum Center schoolhouse and organized a debating club. Will was one of the fellows. Two weeks later the club met and debated on the following subject: “Resolved, That Civilization Advances Morality”. The affirmative side was composed of W. H. Carpenter, Frank F. Murray, C. A. Gilliland and Thomas H. Richey. The negative side included Frank W. Goodwin, John C. Richey, John T. Murray and W. J. Richey. Again, in another two weeks the young men debated the following: “Resolved, That Compulsory Educational Laws Are Desirable”.
Willis H. Carpenter was a Republican. He took interest in the political matters of the time. He was one of two Plum Township delegates who attended the Republican County Convention held in the Franklin Court House on June 23, 1885.
Will was not a strongly built individual. He was six feet tall and was very thin. His weight was 130 pounds. He was highly esteemed by all who knew him.
When he was 12 years old he hurt his knee while doing a handspring. This knee, thought to be his left one, bothered his very much on certain occasions. It would pain him to the extent that he sometimes used crutches. The odd part of it was the nothing visibly wrong showed on the outside of his knee. Then it would be alright for a spell of time, then bother him again.
In his last sickness which lasted a week in his Wallaceville home, a red spot the size of a 25 cent piece appeared on his knee, and a red streak went up his leg. The attending physician painted the entire leg with iodine. Then his leg commenced to turn black. Blood poisoning and gangrene apparently set in. It was a painful illness. A few days before his passing his little daughter came in the sick room and slid down the couch several times to make him laugh. He was too sick to laugh. Then her grandmother Cowen came and took her out. This happened on May 30 – the little girl’s second birthday.
Will died on Saturday morning, June 5, 1886. His funeral was held on Sunday afternoon in the Wallaceville M. E. Church with Rev. J. L. Robertson, the Presbyterian pastor at Sunville, giving the sermon. Burial was in the church cemetery.
Among those attending the large funeral from Franklin were Judge Charles E. Taylor, Prothonotory and Mrs. Philip Engelskirger, Dr. and Mrs. Walter Whann, State Senator J. W. Lee, Register and Recorder Carisle J. Crawford, Sheriff J. S. Shearer, County Treasurer I. H. Davison, L. D. David, Mr. and Mrs. W. Horton.
Thus passed an individual who had indeed accomplished much in a life span of 26 years.
Mrs. Carpenter with her daughter then moved in her parents’ home where she helped care for her invalid father (who had suffered a bad stroke the same morning that Will died) until his death in 1889. Then she went to Oil City and learned the dressmaking trade, after which she moved to her mother’s home again for a few years.
Mrs. Carpenter taught school for many terms. Among the schools she taught were Diamond, Chapmanville, Plum Center, Wallaceville, Bradleytown, Wallace School in Mineral Township, and Boals School in Jackson Township.
She also lived a few years near Raymilton. Her last years were spent on a place on the Dempseytown-Oil City road where she died of a heart condition on June 13, 1937.

Transcribed by Chrissy Wolfgong

Disclaimer:there may be errors due to transcription of information from both early and late (current contributors) work.