Cyrus Clay Carpenter | |
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Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Iowa's 9th district |
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In office March 4, 1879 – March 3, 1883 |
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Preceded by | S. Addison Oliver |
Succeeded by | William H. M. Pusey |
8th Governor of Iowa | |
In office January 11, 1872 – January 13, 1876 |
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Lieutenant |
Henry C. Bulis Joseph Dysart |
Preceded by | Samuel Merrill |
Succeeded by | Samuel J. Kirkwood |
Member of the Iowa State Legislature | |
In office 1884–1886 |
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Personal details | |
Born | November 24, 1829 Harford Township, Pennsylvania |
Died |
May 29, 1898 (aged 68) Fort Dodge, Iowa |
Resting place |
Oakland Cemetery Fort Dodge, Iowa |
Political party | Republican |
Spouse(s) | Susan C. Burkholder |
Profession | Teacher Surveyor |
Cyrus Clay Carpenter (November 24, 1829 – May 29, 1898) was a Civil War officer, the eighth Governor of Iowa and U.S. Representative from Iowa's 9th congressional district.
Born near Harford, Pennsylvania, Carpenter attended the common schools, and was graduated from Harford Academy in 1853. His parents were Asahel Carpenter and Amanda M. Thayer and he is a descendant of the immigrant William Carpenter (1605 England - 1658/1659 Rehoboth, Massachusetts) the founder of the Rehoboth Carpenter family who came to America in the mid-1630s.
He moved to Iowa in 1854 and engaged in teaching and afterwards in land surveying, working as the County surveyor of Webster County in 1856. He studied law but never practiced. In March, 1857, he joined the relief expedition sent to Spirit Lake to aid the settlers driven from their homes by the Sioux Indians in the aftermath of the Spirit Lake Massacre.
He initially served as member of the Iowa House of Representatives from 1858 to 1860.
During the Civil War Carpenter volunteered as a private then was elected captain of volunteers on March 24, 1862, appointed lieutenant colonel on September 26, 1864, and brevet colonel on July 12, 1865 "for efficient and meritorious services" when he was in charge of commissary of subsistence in Sherman's Army on the march to the sea. He was mustered out July 14, 1865. During the war he served on the staff of Generals William Rosecrans, Grenville M. Dodge and John A. Logan.
After his service, he returned to Iowa where he married Susan C. Burkholder of Fort Dodge. He was elected as registrar of the Iowa state land office, from 1866 to 1868.