The Richland County Historical society, of which the late George F. Carpenter was vice president, held a memorial meeting at the home of Gen. R. Brinkerhoff this afternoon at which addresses were delivered by Gen. Brinkerhoff, A.J. Baughman and others.

GEN. BRINKERHOFF'S TRIBUTE

In the death of our friend and associate, Mr. George F. Carpenter, the Richland County Historical society has lost one of its oldest and most faithful members and we are convened this afternoon to pay our tribute to his memory.

When I came to Mansfield in 1850, as a law student, Mr. Carpenter was in active practice as a lawyer, in partnership with Gen. William McLaughlin and, of course, I soon made his acquaintance and have known him ever since.  He rarely appeared in court or before juries, but was always considered a good business lawyer and he made that department a specialty and prospered in it.  As an all-around business man he had no superior at the Mansfield bar, and probably no equal, unless we except his early partner James Purdy, whom he resembled in many respects.  He kept out of politics and attended strictly to business and in due time accumulated a handsome fortune.

Both of us married in 1852 and we have been neighbors and friends ever since -- our wives were life-long friends and our families grew up together and our intercourse was always kindly and agreeable.  Mr. Carpenter was at his best, I think, in his home and as a husband and father he was a model of excellence.  He was always interested in local history and for a number of years past he was the vice president of our society and was always ready to contribute time and money to its work.  We shall miss him greatly and will remember him gratefully.

To our secretary.  Mr. Baughman, has been assigned the preparation of a memorial address, which will now be presented.

MEMORIAL BY A.J. BAUGHMAN

The world always appreciates and honors success, whether achieved in the field, at the forum, or in the less ostensive lines of professional and business pursuits.

But in the presence of the Omnipotent how insignificant is the most successful and prominent of men!  Even Washington who alone could all that comprehensive epitome of General Henry Lee:  "First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen" -- was allowed no exemption from the common lot of mortals, for on the 14th. of December, 1798, in the sixty-eighth year of his age, his earthly life ended.

More recent calamities remind us that the kind of terrors is a universal king -- that we are all born under the condemnation of death;  that "Death borders upon our birth, and our cradles stand in the grave."

Scarcely had the orator's lingering tones been mellowed into since;  scarcely had writers ceased to fill pates with glowing eulogies of the life, character and services of William McKinley, at whose bier a nation wept, hardly had we recovered from the shock of that dreadful assassination until death entered our historical society, and took from us one of our most prominent and useful members.

George F. Carpenter died at his home in this city, Nov. 12, 1901, aged over 81 years.  The deceased was vice president of the Richland County Historical Society, and one of its charter members, and we have met today to make memorial his successful life, his historic character.

Daniel Carpenter was from Vermont, and his wife from Connecticut -- Yankees with that energy and push that caused them to seek home and fortune in the west.  In this brief sketch I have only space to state that Richland county, Ohio, was then almost a wilderness.  Baltimore was the market mart and products and merchandise had to be hauled by teams 500 miles.  The only exportable products of the south part of the county at that time were beewax and ginseng.  Daniel Carpenter had opened a store of general merchandise, but money was too scarce to do much business and he concluded to add another product to the export list and started an ashery, for the manufacture of potash and pearlash, and thus opened a market for the farmers ashes, which put more money into circulation.  But he did not stop at that, for he soon added a tannery to his other lines -- an industry that was much needed at that time -- and Daniel Carpenter was looked upon as a benefactor of that community.

During that pioneer period of which Daniel Carpenter was a prominent actor -- a period of hardships and of toil -- the Carpenter children were born and reared to habits of industry and economy which won them success in after years -- success that takes both discipline and courage to win.

Don Carpenter, the youngest son, served as a soldier in our war with Mexico.  One dark night while on a march, the army came to a stream of water whose depth and breadth were unknown to the officers.  The commander called for volunteers to explore the river.  Don Carpenter officered his service and upon his return, reported that although the stream was deep and wide, it was fordable, and had the honor of piloting the army successfully across to the opposite bank.  Don Carpenter afterwards served his country in the war of the rebellion.  He long since answered the long roll call from above where the brazen throat of war is voiceless in the presence of the prince of peace.

It was patriotism that took Don Carpenter to two wars to fight for his country.  It was patriotism that took George F. Carpenter to the front during our civil war;  it was patriotism, love of kindred and of home that caused him to take a deep interest in our Historical Society, that the history of our county might be gathered and preserved.

George F. Carpenter's life was an historic one -- a life that spanned from the pioneer period to that of today over four-fifths of a century.  He saw the time when the Indian was a frequent caller at this father's door.  He saw the forests disappear, and towns and villages build up.  But in all that change and transition and in all the success that came to him in life, he always affectionately remembered the home of his boyhood years.

As a man, George F. Carpenter's striking characteristics were devotion of principle and steadfastness of purpose.  He was never charged with trimming or insincerity.  He was no dreamer, no mere theorist, but a worker -- one who did well whatever he undertook to accomplish.  At times he may have seemed severe and inflexible, but his friends knew that beneath the stern exterior he assumed in his contact with the world, there beat a heart as warm and gentle as ever sanctified the domestic circle or made loved ones happy.

Remembering the interest the deceased took in our society -- in its objects and aims -- it behooves us to falter not in our work, although the collection of historical data is often accomplished with tired hands and weary feet.

At the portals of his tomb, we bid farewell to our departed friend, in the full assurance that a blessed life awaits him beyond the grave.  He is gone from earth, but he left to his family, not only the fortune he had accumulated, but that richer legacy -- an honored and unsullied name.

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