Richard Carpenter farmed the 100 acre plot at the west end of the main street in Angelica. It was situated on the north side of the street just where the creek crossed the road. At this time Angelica was mainly small log houses. Richard was one of the first pioneers to build a frame house in the town. Five years later, Richard purchased an additional 100 acres on Black Creek, about 1 1/2 miles north of Angelica in what is today called West Almond. David, his son and David's three older brothers farmed along side their father and from all accounts were all hard working sons.
Richard was an experienced farmer and he was successful and prospered. His children grew to adulthood and began to farm on their own. David and his brother Richard Ellison (called Ellison) bought seventy acres of virgin hardwood forest about a mile from their father and adjacent to their oldest brother, William. (The land deed for this property is in the index, Click on NY Land Deeds, Part 2) For years they worked the property, clearing the trees and preparing the land for farming. Their father Richard was aging and after a few years Ellison sold his share and returned home to farm his father's land. By then, David was very interested in the young daughter of Parley Warner, who farmed near by. The Warner family was well known and well liked in the community. Sometime before 1840, David and Elizabeth Warner married.
" After attaining their majority, he and his brother Ellison, bought a piece of wild land about a mile distant from the old homestead: Later, Ellison sold his interest, leaving David to occupy it alone. At the age of thirty-four or thirty-five he married Elizabeth Warner of Angelica, by whom he had eight children." The History of Allegany County, New York by George A. Morton
David, it was said, was a quiet, hard working young man. In 1840, David and Elizabeth's first child was born, a daughter, Elizabeth. As time went by, they had six sons and then their youngest child was born, another daughter, Viola. Viola died before her second birthday. David's sons worked along side their father, just as David had worked beside his father. They all attended school from an early age. The oldest one, Robert, starting school at the age of five. David was a successful farmer and provided his family with all the necessities and all additional items that a middle class farmer was able to, at that time. The sons grew and as years went by, David became known to the community as "Hote" or "Uncle Hote".
"A mortgage casts a shadow on the sunniest field." Robert Green Ingersoll
The Trouble Begins:
David owned his farm, clear of any mortgage until the late 1850s. County records and newspaper articles are not clear as to what happened. There are two known versions; 1. Very good friends of David came to him for a loan. They were positive they would be able to pay it back before his loan was called. 2. David became envolved in a financial scheme that he became convinced would pay off and make him a wealthy man. What ever the purpose for the mortgage was, when the note became due, David was not able to pay it.
" Becoming somewhat envolved, he undertook to conceal his property from his crediters, until he could make a turn that would relieve him from his embarrassments, and prevent a pecuniary sacrifice. In these maneuvers he suffered a double loss; for while much of his property failed to come back to him, many persons sued him for small demands, the costs and interest swelling in amount, in some cases, to more than twice the original debt. and the longfingers of the law, together with the scrutiny of the officers, found sufficient property to satisfy these demands. " Allegany County Advocate. Vol l, #Xlll.
In the 1860 U S Census David H. Carpenter is listed among the 12 inmates of the Angelica town jail.; Crime: "Debt" David is listed twice in this census. Under the name Howell (as he was often called) Carpenter he is at home on the farm with his wife Elizabeth and their sons. His Daughter, Elizabeth having married Justin Renwick abt. 1859. Could it be that it was too difficult for Elizabeth to explain to the census taker that her husband was in the town jail?
"When Trouble comes, things are apt to get worse before they get better." Anon.
An article in the Allegany County Advocate explains what happened next;
"These things made a deep and lasting impression on Mr. Carpenter's mind and character, over time he became a man of irritable temper. One day in April of 1863 while walking past a neighbor's house, David became envolved in an argument with Timothy S. Gregory. He shot Timothy with his pistol, grazing his cheek. What the argument was about, we have not found out. In September of that year charges were made and a trial was held. David was sentenced to the Auburn prison for the period of three years. After 2 years, David was released on good behavior and returned to West Almond and his wife Elizabeth."
Tocqueville and Beaumont, after visiting Auburn Prison in 1831, wrote of the prison routine in place at that time. It was the same system that David lived under in 1863. " Everything passes in the most profound silence and nothing is heard in the whole prison but the steps of those who march, or sounds proceeding from the workshops. Prisoners are without visitors, neither writing nor receiving letters. In the lockstep created at Auburn (a shurrling slide step with one hand on the shoulder of the next man) inmate's heads had to be turned toward the keeper, so he could see any lip movement. It was designed to force them to reflect on their sins, to repent and to resolve to obey the commandments of God. It also broke their spirits."
Auburn was set up factory style and became the first prison to achieve a profitable work program. Convict labor was sold to the highest bidder, who took their work products and sold them on the open market. Nearly the entire population was engaged in industrial activity. Prisoners were never allowed to speak to anyone. Not surprisingly, Auburn had many insane prisoners. The Auburn System lasted into the 20th Century. Flogging was outlawed in 1847.
Source: http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/3548/facility/auburn.html
With David in prison, the farm could no longer be held onto. Robert and Judson Carpenter were both in Virginia with the 188th New York Volunteers, from 1863 until May of 1865. Ellison, age 16, moved in with his grandparents, Margaret and Parley Warner. Charles, now 12, was hired out to a family in Angelica as a farm servant. Only Aaron, age 10 and Eugene, age 8, were still at home with Elizabeth. They moved into the original farm built by Richard Carpenter and now being farmed by Ellison.
By the summer of 1865, times were looking a little better. David returned to West Almond. He moved in with his brother and helped him with the farm. Robert and Judson returned from the Civil War. Judson moved in with his Uncle Ellison, now age 57, to help him with the farm. Robert moved to Angelica to study law.
What happened next is well documented in the Allegany Co. Newspapers of the time. Below is most of the main articles on the murder as taken from two newspapers, The Cuba True Patriot October, 1868, and the Allegany County Advocate, March, 1869
