Carpenter Genealogy - Mountains of Western North Carolina

Welcome to my Carpenter genealogy pages. I am interested in the Carpenter surname in western North Carolina, primarily in the counties of Cherokee, Graham, Surry, Wilkes, Ashe, Burke, Yancey, Mitchell and Avery. I have only limited interest in the Carpenter surname in other western North Carolina counties (see list below).

Carpenter Family Pages - Each Carpenter family has their own web page, complete with all documentation I've found so far. The link will take you to the surname index. Find the "Carpenter" surname and click on it and an index of all individuals will be displayed. Or you can use the search engine (to the left) to find a specific family or person.

What's New - Recent updates.

My Ancestry:

Matthias Zimmerman (later changed to Carpenter) (1752-1835) was probably born in Pennsylvania, though that isn't known for certain. His ancestry is likely Germanic or Swiss. His parents are unknown. He came to what is now Yadkin Co., NC ca 1770 when the regionw as still part of Rowan County. It became Surry County in 1771. He married Elizabeth Miller (c1755-1835) ca 1770. They left Surry County in the 1790's and moved to what is now Ashe County, but was then still part of Wilkes County. They remained there until their deaths, both dying in 1835. They had six proven children, three of whom are my ancestors!
Frances "Franky" Carpenter (1771-1842) married William Davis (1730s-1841). See the Davis section for more on them. Their son Jacob Davis (1801-1873) married Susanna Miller, daughter of Margaret Carpenter (see below).
Margaret Carpenter (1784-1865) married Jonathan Miller (1776-1854) in Ashe Co., NC. See the Miller section for more on them. Their daughter Susanna Miller (1808-1895) married Jacob Davis (see above).
Jacob Carpenter (1779-1856) married Margaret --- (1788-1875) in old Burke Co., NC (now Avery County). I have yet to discover her maiden name. Jacob and Margaret settled in the Three Mile Creek area of the Toe River Valley in what is now Avery County, but at the time was Burke County until the 1830's when it became Yancey County. In the 1860's the area became Mitchell County, and finally in the early 1900's became Avery County. Jacob and Margaret had nine proven children one of whom is my ancestor David Carpenter. See below.
David Carpenter (c1806-1870s) married first to ----, and 2nd to Mira Gregg. David married his first wife in Burke (we think) ca late 1820's, but unfortunately we have not been able to find any record of her given name or surname. They lived in Ashe County a few years on land his father deeded him and some of the children were born there, some of them in the part of Ashe that later became Watauga County. Mrs. Carpenter died sometime ca 1839 in Yancey County. David married Mira Gregg ca 1840 same place. They remained in that area until the very early 1860's when they moved to Cherokee (now Graham) County, North Carolina where other relatives had already moved a decade or so earlier.
William Carpenter (1830-1885) married Margaret Ann Davis (1835-1927) in 1855 in Cherokee Co., NC (now Graham County). She was a daughter of Jacob Davis and Susanna Miller (see above). William and Margaret lived out their lives in Graham County. William was a Confederate Soldier during the Civil War, as was several of his brothers.
Sarah Elvira Carpenter (1867-1939) married Thomas Jefferson George (1862-1945) in 1882 in Graham Co., NC. They lived out their lives in Graham County. They were my Great Great Grandparents. See the George section for more on them.

What's New?

1 Nov 2015 - Refreshed all pages. I have continued documenting the family and descendants of my ancestors William Carpenter and Margaret Davis. They are primarily located in Cherokee and Graham Counties. More to come on them.

3 Mar 2015 - Refreshed all pages. I have continued documenting the family and descendants of my ancestors William Carpenter and Margaret Davis. They are primarily located in Cherokee and Graham Counties. More to come on them.

7 Sep 2014 - Refreshed all pages. I have completed documenting the family and descendants of my uncle Wilson Carpenter and his wife Elizabeth Ammons. They are primarily located in Cherokee and Graham Counties. More to come on other branches of the family.

2 Mar 2014 - Refreshed all pages. I have completed documenting the family and descendants of my ancestor David Carpenter via his 2nd wife Mira Gregg. They are primarily located in Yancey, Watauga, Mitchell, Cherokee and Graham Counties. I will next concentrate on David's children by his first wife (name unknown).

10 Feb 2014 - Refreshed all pages. Since December I've been working on documenting the family and descendants of my ancestor David Carpenter via his 2nd wife Mira Gregg. They are primarily located in Yancey, Watauga, Mitchell, Cherokee and Graham Counties. I will continue to work on this family, then I will switch to the children by David's first wife (name still unknown).

Counties included. If a county isn't listed, I have not done any Carpenter research there. Clicking on the link will open a search window showing results for Carpenter + that county name. New updates may take a few days to appear in search results.
Alleghany - thru 1860
Ashe - thru 1860*
Buncombe - thru 1860
Burke - thru 1860*
Caldwell - thru 1860
Cherokee - thru 1880*
Clay - thru 1880
Graham - thru 1900*
Haywood - thru 1860
Henderson - thru 1860
Jackson - thru 1860
McDowell - thru 1860
Macon - thru 1860
Madison - thru 1860
Mitchell - thru 1900*
Surry - thru 1900*
Watauga - thru 1860*
Wilkes - thru 1860*
Yancey - thru 1900*
* Asterisks mark my primary counties of interest.
Italics indicate I have not completed that section yet.

Marty and Karla Grant

Carpenter Genealogy - Mountains of Western North Carolina