Cyrus Clay Carpenter (November 24, 1829 – May 29, 1898) was a

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

officer, the eighth Governor of Iowa and

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

from Iowa's 9th congressional district.

Early life

Born near

Harford, Pennsylvania Harford is an unincorporated community located in Harford Township, Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeast ...

, 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 The Rehoboth Carpenter family is an American family that helped settle the town of Rehoboth, Massachusetts in 1644. Note: This book has been reprinted and duplicated by many organizations in print, CD, DVD, & digital formats. This 900-plus page tom ...

who came to America in the mid-1630s.''Carpenters' Encyclopedia of Carpenters 2009'' (DVD format), Subject is RIN 22395; this work contains updates to the 1898 Carpenter Memorial by Amos B. Carpenter

Early work

He moved to Iowa in 1854 and engaged in teaching in

Fort Dodge, Iowa Fort Dodge is a city in, and the county seat of, Webster County, Iowa, United States, along the Des Moines River. The population was 24,871 in the 2020 census, a decrease from 25,136 in 2000. Fort Dodge is a major commercial center for North Ce ...

, 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 The Spirit Lake Massacre (March 8–12, 1857) was an attack by a ''Wahpekute'' band of Santee Sioux on scattered Iowa frontier settlements during a severe winter. Suffering a shortage of food, the renegade chief Inkpaduta (Scarlet Point) led 14 S ...

.Benjamin F. Gue, " History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century, Vol. 4 (Cyrus C. Carpenter)" pp. 42 (1902). He initially served as member of the

Iowa House of Representatives The Iowa House of Representatives is the lower house of the Iowa General Assembly, the upper house being the Iowa Senate. There are 100 seats in the Iowa House of Representatives, representing 100 single-member districts across the state, formed ...

from 1858 to 1860.Throne, Mildred, ''Cyrus Clay Carpenter and Iowa Politics 1859-1898'', 1974.

Civil War

During the

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 William Starke Rosecrans (September 6, 1819March 11, 1898) was an American inventor, coal-oil company executive, diplomat, politician, and U.S. Army officer. He gained fame for his role as a Union general during the American Civil War. He was t ...

, Grenville M. Dodge and

John A. Logan John Alexander Logan (February 9, 1826 – December 26, 1886) was an American soldier and politician. He served in the Mexican–American War and was a general in the Union Army in the American Civil War. He served the state of Illinois as a st ...

. 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.

Mid life

In 1871, he was run as a Republican for Governor of Iowa, winning his first two-year term. He was re-elected to a second term in 1873, serving until early 1876. At the expiration of his term he was appointed Second

Comptroller of the Treasury The Comptroller of the Treasury was an official of the United States Department of the Treasury from 1789 to 1817. According to section III of the Act of Congress establishing the Treasury Department, it is the comptroller's duty to :''superintend ...

of the United States, where he served two years, from January 1876 to September 1877. On March 26, 1878, he was appointed as a railroad commissioner of Iowa. In 1878 Carpenter was elected to Congress to represent Iowa's 9th congressional district, which was then made up of the sparsely-settled northwestern quadrant of the state.Jeff Morrison
Iowa Congressional District Maps
, accessed 2009-05-24. After serving in the

46th United States Congress The 46th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1879 ...

, he was re-elected in 1880 and served in the

47th United States Congress The 47th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1881, ...

. He did not seek re-election to Congress in 1882. In all, he served in Congress from March 4, 1879 to March 3, 1883.

Later life

In 1883, he again ran for the state legislature, winning election to the Iowa House of Representatives for a two-year term, and serving from 1884 to 1886. Returning to Iowa from Washington, District of Columbia for the last time, he served as postmaster of

Fort Dodge Fort Dodge is a city in, and the county seat of, Webster County, Iowa, United States, along the Des Moines River. The population was 24,871 in the 2020 census, a decrease from 25,136 in 2000. Fort Dodge is a major commercial center for North Cen ...

from 1889 to 1893. He also engaged in the management of his farm and in the real-estate business. He died in Fort Dodge on May 29, 1898. He was interred in Oakland Cemetery in Fort Dodge.

References

External links

Biographical Directory of the American Congress, 1774-1949. Pages 950-951.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carpenter, Cyrus Clay 1829 births 1898 deaths People from Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania Republican Party members of the Iowa House of Representatives Republican Party governors of Iowa Union Army officers American people of English descent People of Iowa in the American Civil War Comptrollers of the United States Treasury People from Webster County, Iowa Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Iowa 19th-century American politicians 19th-century American businesspeople Military personnel from Pennsylvania