Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 1).djvu/565

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CARPENTER
CARPENTER
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where he was elected, in the following year, an as- sociate member of tlie academy. He has had many distinguished sitters, among them being Presidents Fillmore, Lincoln, Tyler, and Pierce, William H. Seward, Ciharles Sumner, George William Curtis, James Russell Lowell, Henry Ward Beecher, Schuyler Colfax, and John C. Fremont. In 1864 he painted a large historical picture representing President Lincoln signing the proclamation of the emancipation of slaves in the United States. 1 Jan., 1863. After its exhibition in the principal northern cities in 1865, it was purchased by Mrs. Elizabeth Thompson for $25,000, and presented to the government ; and it now hangs on the stair- ease of the house of representatives in Washing- ton. Mr. Carpenter is the author of " Six Months in the White House with Abraham Lincoln " (New York, 1866).


CARPENTER, George Washington, b. in Germanrown, Pa., 31 July, 1802: d. there. 7 June, 1860. He was a successful merchant in Philadel- phia, and devoted his leisure to the study of sci- ences. His opinion on subjects in geology was of recognized value. Pie accumulated a choice collec- tion of minerals, and showed considerable interest in the medical sciences. Mi*. Carpenter was a mem- ber of numerous scientific societies in this country and Europe, and from 1826 till his death was treas- urer of the Academy of natural sciences in Phila- delphia. His principal papers are "Experiments and Remarks on Several Species and Varieties of Cinchona Bark " (ISSo) ; " Observations and Ex- periments on Opium " (1828) ; " Remarks on the Use of Piperine"(1828); "On the Mineralogy of Chester Co., with an Account of some Minerals of Delaware, Maryland, and other Localities " (1828) ; " Observations on the Inefficiency of the Cathartic Power of Rhubarbarine " (1828) ; " On the Muriate of Soda or Common Salt, with an Account of the Salt Springs of the United States " (1829) ; " Ob- servations and Experiments on Peruvian Barks " (1829) ; " Observations on a New Variety of Peru- vian Bark " (1831) ; " The Vesicating Principle of Cantharides " (1832) ; and " Notice of New Medical Preparations" (1832), most of which appeared in the "American Journal of Science and Arts."


CARPENTER, Matthew Hale, senator, b. in Moretown, Vt., 22 Dec, 1824 ; d. in Washington, D. C, 24 Feb., 1881. He entered the U. S. military academy in 1843, and two years later he returned lo Vermont and studied hiw with Paul Dilling- ham (subsequently governor), whose daughter he married. At the age of sixteen he tried a suit in a justice's court in Moretown, against his grand- father, and gained it. He received a gold ring valued at five dollars as his first fee. In Novem- ber, 1847, he was admitted to the bar of Vermont, and, attracted by the splendor of Rufus Choate's fame, set out at once for Boston, to enter his office. Early in 1848 he left Boston and settled in Beloit, Wis. He soon became prominent, and first at- tracted attention by a land suit involving several millions of dollars, which he tried against James R. Doolittle, Daniel Cady, and Abraham Lincoln. His appearance in the quo-warranto proceedings that removed William A. Barstow from the guber- natorial chair of Wisconsin, in January, 1856, added materially to his reputation, and he then settled in Milwaukee. At the beginning of the civil war he left his law practice and espoused the cause of the Union as a war democrat, making recruiting speech- es throughout the west. He was also appointed judge-advocate-general of Wisconsin. In March, 1868, by invitation of Sec. Stanton, Carpenter rspresented, with Lyman Trumbull, the govern- ment in the McCardle case, brought to try the validity of the reconstruction act of 7 March, 1867, for the government of the states lately in rebellion. This, up to that time, was the most important case, not excepting that of Dred Scott, that had ever come before the U. S. supreme court. Carpenter gained it, though Jeremiah S. Black was on the other side ; and, when he completed his argument, Stanton clasped him in his arms and exclaimed, " Carpenter, you have saved us." Later he was spoken of by Judge Black as " the finest constitu- tional lawyer in the United States." His success in this case led to an appeal to the republicans in Wisconsin by Stanton and Grant, advocating his election to the U. S. senate. The advice was taken, and he served from 4 March, 1869, till 3 March, 1875, during which time he was a member of the committees on judiciary, patents, and revision of laws, also becoming president pro tern. At the end of his term he received the caucus nomination for re-election, but was defeated in the legislature by a coalition of a " bolting " minority with the democrats. He then retired to his law practice, which had become very great. Among other im- portant cases, he appeared as counsel for William W. Belknap, then late secretary of war, who was charged by the house of representatives with " high crimes and misdemeanors." Belknap's acquittal was due to Carpenter's masterly management and great ability, as a political campaign was pending and the secretary's sacrifice was demanded to ap- pease the cry of corruption. In February, 1877, he appeared before the electoral commission as counsel for Samuel J. Tilden, although he had been partially engaged by Zachariah Chandler to repre- sent the other side, and would have dpne so had not the republican managers failed to coinplete their arrangement within the period agreed upon. In 1879 he was again chosen to the U. S. senate, and served from 4 March until his death. His greatest speeches in the senate are those on the French arms case ; his defence of President Grant against the attack of Charles Sumner ; on so-called loyal claimants in the south ; on the ku-klux act ; on Charles Sumner's second civil-rights bill ; on Johnson's amnesty proclamation ; on the bill to restore Fitz John Porter; on the iron-clad oath; and on consular courts. For logic, that on Porter stands foremost ; while for eloquence and passion, that on Grant against Sumner is considered the greatest. Senator Carpenter opposed the fugitive slave-law, and, although a democi-at, was an advo- cate of emancipation in 1861. In 1864 he declared that the slaves must be enfranchised, and up to his death insisted that they must be protected at every cost. As early as 1865 he advocated state and gov- ernment control of railway and semi-public corpo- rations, and he had the satisfaction of seeing all his theories in that direction finally affirmed by the highest courts and recognized as settled law. He was christened Decatur Merritt Hammond, but, his initials having frequently led to the belief that his name was Matthew Hale, he adopted that form about 1852. See the "Life of i\ratthew Hale Car- penter," bv Frank A. Flower (Madison, Wis., 1883).


CARPENTER, Philip Pearsall, naturalist, b. in Bristol, England; 4 Nov., 1819: d. in Montreal, Canada, 24 May, 1877. He was the youngest son of Dr. Lant Carpenter and brother of William B. Carpenter and Mary Carpenter. His education was obtained at the University of Edinburgh, and in due time he took his B. A. degree at London university. He was fitted for the Unitarian ministry at Manchester new college, after which he held appointments on Strand, near Manchester