I represent Richard Carpenter. I was a partner in a Pensacola trading firm with my brother, Caleb Carpenter. I was born in Newport, Rhode Island and came down to West Florida in 1765. I was 36 years old with a wife (Ruth Collins) and five children. I was granted town lot no 253, on Bute Street near the swamp on the eastern side of town. (Bute Street is now Government Street, and the swamp is now 9th Avenue.) Several people in this Sampler appeared in our ledger books for 1767-1768. We appeared to deal in general merchandise – everything from soap to molasses to shingles to shoes. In 1769 I was elected to represent Mobile in the 4th provincial General Assembly; but in 1771 I was elected to represent Pensacola. I was Quaker and when I took my Assembly seat I was given permission to affirm rather than swear my loyalty to King George III. Later than year, my brother and I moved west with a lot of West Florida settlers, to the Manchac district in Louisiana. Between 1776 and 1779 Ruth died and I remarried, to Mary Fairchild Lewis. After the Spanish took control of the area, I took the oath of loyalty at Baton Rouge and continued living on my plantation on the Mississippi. I died in July 1788 at the plantation of Dr. Samuel Flowers (another plantation owner from the British period and my son-in-law).
Sources: 6, 49, 116, 138