James Henry Carpenter

James Henry Carpenter
James Henry Carpenter
Nickname(s)	Henry
Born	(1846-09-14)September 14, 1846 Brooklyn, Kings County, New York
Died	March 6, 1898(1898-03-06) (aged 51) Reading, Berks County, Pennsylvania
Place of burial	Charles Evans Cemetery, Reading, Berks County, Pennsylvania
Allegiance	United States of America
Service/branch	–Union Navy
Years of service	1861–1865
Rank	Master's mate and Midshipman
Battles/wars	American Civil War
Other work	Founder of Carpenter Steel Company, renamed in 1968 Carpenter Technology Corporation.

James Henry Carpenter (September 14, 1846 – March 6, 1898) was a 19th-century American engineer and industrialist who founded the Carpenter Steel Company (renamed in 1968 as the Carpenter Technology Corporation). Born in Brooklyn, New York, he joined the Union Navy as a sailor at age 15 during the American Civil War, during which he was wounded in action. He was promoted to master's mate in the United States Navy for meritorious conduct and was appointed to the United States Naval Academy at age 16. He resigned from the US Navy in 1865, aged 19, and studied engineering in New Jersey.

On June 7, 1889, he founded the Carpenter Steel Company of Reading, Pennsylvania, becoming its general manager. Under his management, the company was a successful supplier of armor plating and ordnance to the US Navy.

James Henry Carpenter was born in Brooklyn, Kings County, New York, on September 14, 1846, to Charles H. Carpenter and Elizabeth Mary Baylis. His father was a descendant of Rehoboth Carpenter family and of its founder William Carpenter (born about 1605 in England), who migrated to America in 1638 on the Bevis. His mother was a descendant of John Bayles (born about 1617 in England), an indentured servant who migrated to America in 1635 on the Truelove. Carpenter was the first of at least five children. His only brother (born 1857) became a doctor and worked with Carpenter at the Carpenter Steel Company.

Carpenter spent time on Long Island as a child, both in Jamaica, Queens, and in Brooklyn. Fascinated by sailing ships and by how things worked, he learned to sail small boats and said he wanted to be a sailor. He went to sea as a cabin boy in 1860, aged 14, with his father's permission.