California Biographies Mendocino and Lake Counties, California Transcribed by Peggy Hooper This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm Source: History of Mendocino and Lake Counties, California With Biographical Sketches History by Aurelius O. Carpenter And Percy H. Millberry Illustrated, Complete In One Volume Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, California, 1914 AURELIUS O. CARPENTER.� Aurelius O. Carpenter was born in Townshend, Vt., November 28, 1836, and was given educational advantages six months in the year until the age of fourteen, when he entered the office of The Windham County Democrat, of which his stepfather, George W. Nichols, was the proprietor. Here he mastered all the details of the newspaper business and laid the foundation of much of his life work. In 1855, when Kansas was opened for settlement, he accompanied the fourth party from the East, under the immediate charge of Governor Robinson, and in the survey of Topeka carried the chain over the future capital of Kansas. When a printing office was established in Lawrence, he had the distinction of setting the first stick of type that went to make up the first newspaper in the terri- tory � The Herald of Freedom � and later assisted in the founding of another publication, The Free State. A final settlement of the family was made on Ottawa Creek, .near Prairie City, where he with other residents were forced into taking an active part in defending the homes and lives of the pioneers against the raids of lawless bands of border ruffians. On June 2, 1856, he was seriously wounded in one of these encounters, at the battle of Black Jack, which was near his own home. On Christmas day, 1856, Mr. Carpenter was married to Miss Helen McCowen, and the following year they with relatives crossed the plains in ox wagons. After a journey of four months and a half. Grass Valley, Cal., was reached and here a home was purchased, which included several acres besides mining land. Farming, mining and typesetting in the Telegraph office, furnished sufficient employment for his active disposition. In 1859 the family moved to Potter Valley, Mendocino county, this county having but recently been set apart from Sonoma county. After assisting in the establishment of the Mendocino Herald (the first newspaper venture in the county) and becoming a partner in the same with E. R. Budd, the residence was changed to Ukiah. In 1865, during the Civil war, the appointment as United States assistant assessor of the revenue department came as a surprise, as it was entirely unsought. Mr. Carpenter was sworn in at Santa Rosa, April 13, 1865, on the same day word was received of the fall of Richmond. Staging to Cloverdale, he was compelled by change of time of the Ukiah stage to wait there three days for the conveyance or seek some other mode of transportation. Pioneer experiences led to the decision to go by "Walkers train," as that was the quickest way over bad roads, and easier than riding and walking by turns and carrying a rail to pry the stage out of the mud. He arrived in Ukiah with the news of the fall of Richmond, two days ahead of the mail, and assumed the duties of his office, which he continued to discharge, first as assessor and afterwards as deputy collector, through five successive administrations and for a term of eighteen years. Although a Republican and residing in a strongly Democratic locality, Mr. Carpenter has been appointed and elected to various places of trust, and has established a record of unswerving integrity and business ability. When the Democratic party was likely to lose its organ. The Constitutional Democrat, for want of an editor, Mr. Carpenter helped the party out of its difficulty by assuming control. At various times he had charge of the mechanical and editorial departments of the Fair Daily, a paper published in the Mechanics Institute Fair in San Francisco. As superintendent of highways and road construction (from the head of Potter Valley to near Sanel, a distance of forty miles) his executive ability and thoroughness are still in evidence, after a space of nearly half a century. In service on the board of education, as" deputy county assessor, deputy county recorder, etc., Mr. Carpenter has earned the commendation of all in the discharge of his public and private duties. Multifarious business interests have been constantly in hand and sandwiched in with the legitimate calling of printer and editor. In January, 1879, he purchased The Ukiah City Press and under his control the paper was a newsy sheet and had a wide circulation. The children, May, Grace, Grant and Frank L., are talented and bear witness to a mother's earnest care and cultivation. In countless ways, the family rendered pioneer life less burdensome and monotonous to their neighbors, and were accountable for very many happy occasions.