Cora Margaret Carpenter (1872-1964)-P3

I've often said that Putnam men tend to marry strong, intelligent women.  My wife and Mother are examples,  so is Cora.  There is quite a bit that could be done documenting Cora's life and I've only scratched the surface with this post but you have to start somewhere.

Cora Putnam at the Charles Street house, 1935

Cora Margaret Carpenter (1872-1964)-P3
Birth: June 14th, 1872 in Houlton, ME
Father: Frank H Washington Carpenter (1845-1936)-P6
Mother: Elvira A. Green (1850-1917)-P7

Married: Amos Putnam (1863-1936)-P2 on June 2nd, 1891 in Houlton, ME

Children:
Frank Houlton Putnam (1892-1930)
Ervin Earl Putnam (1893-1988)-P1
Margaret Louise Putnam (1895-1978)
Hariette Carpenter Putnam (1898-1992)
Ruth Lydia Putnam (1900-1978)

Death: January 30th, 1964 in Houlton, ME

1872-1890
Cora Margaret Carpenter was born on June 14th, 1872 to Frank H Washington Carpenter (1845-1936)-P6 and Elvira A. Green (1850-1917)-P7 in Letter B, Houlton, ME  She appears to have been the younger of twins with her older sister, Nora Louise Carpenter (1872-1952) being listed first.  Frank is listed as being a trader.  Her brother, Walter Garfield Carpenter (1874-1956) was also born in Houlton in 1874.  Frank is now listed as a clerk.  Sometime between September 1874 and December 1875 the family moved north to Fort Kent, ME.  Their daughter, Althea Carpenter (1875-1894) was born there in December.  They lived there until at least 1880 when their son Frank Benjamin Carpenter (1880-1968) was born.  The 1880 U.S. Census shows them all living in Fort Kent.  Cora's father is listed as being a Deputy Sheriff.




By 1887, the family had moved to Van Buren, ME where Cora's twin siblings, Elivra Lydia Carpenter (1887-1978) and Charles Stinchfield Carpenter (1887-1965) were born. At some point between 1887 and 1891 they had moved back to Houlton.




1891-1910
On June 18th, 1891 Cora married Amos Putnam (1863-1936)-P2 in Houlton, ME.  Soon after that, they moved to Oakfield, ME where their oldest son, Frank Houlton Putnam (1892-1930) was born.  Their second son, Ervin Earl Putnam (1893-1988)-P1 was born on July 9th, 1893.  Cora is listed as being a teacher on his birth certificate.


In 1894, Cora's youngest brother Ralph B Carpenter was born and died in Houlton.   She also lost her sister Althea that year.  Cora appear to have stopped working before the birth of her next child in 1895, Margaret Louise Putnam (1895-1978) and she remained that way through the birth of her next two daughters, Hariette Carpenter Putnam(1898-1992) and Ruth Lydia Putnam (1900-1978).  At the time of Ruth's birth, the family had moved back to Houlton.  The 1900 U.S. Census has her living with Amos and the five children in back on Elm St in Houlton, ME.

Sometime after 1901, Cora started to work as a reported and she is listed as being a reporter for a newspaper in the 1910 U.S. Census.  She is living with Amos and the children  somewhere around number 6 Green Street.  The documents are a bit unclear as to the exact address.

1911-1930

Putnam Family in 1916-back row left to right: Ervin Putnam, 

Ruth Putnam, Elvira Green Carpenter, Amos Putnam, Charles Carpenter,

front row left to right: Harriette Putnam, 

Cora Carpenter Putnam, and Vie Carpenter

Both Cora's sons went of and fought in World War I.  Frank join up with the Canadians before the U.S. entered the war and Ervin was an X-Ray technician for the U.S..  Cora's mother, Elvira, died on April 26th, 1917.    By 1920, Cora is shown to be living with Amos, her daughters, Margaret, Hariett and Ruth, and son Frank with his wife at 6 Elm St. in Houlton ME.  Cora is listed as being a reporter and the Secretary for the Red Cross at the Red Cross Room.



We have a passenger list showing that she returned from a trip to France in 1927.  The return trip started in Le Harve, France on September 24th, 1927 and ended in Boston, MA on Octobr 2nd, 1927 on board the Scythia.  The document shows her still living at 6 Elm St.

 According to the 1930 U.S. Census she had moved with Amos to 9 Charles St. and was living with her father Frank and sister Elivira L. Carpenter.  Cora was still working as a reporter.  He eldest son, Frank died in 1930.

9 Charles St, Houlton, ME -1935

1931-1964

Carpenter Family at the Anchorage camp, 1931
Walter Carpenter, Frank Carpenter, Cora Putnam
Vie Carpenter, and Florence Carpenter 

1936 was a hard year for Cora with the loss of both her father and husband.  By 1940 she had moved to 21 Park St to live with daughter Harriette , Harriette's husband (Harold Cates) and children Francis A. and Jeanette.

She was a member of the Unitarian Church in Houlton and was active with quite a few organizations throughout her life.  We have newspaper articles That shows she held many offices with the Lydia Putnam Chapter of the Daughter's of the American Revolution, a member of the Legion Auxiliary, a member of North Star Camp Royal Neighbors of America.  In 1910 she was elected the Grand Matron of the Maine Grand Lodge of the Order of the Eastern Star.

She published two books.  I haven't been able to see a copy of one, History of the Carpenter family 1303-1845.  She published The Story of Houlton in 1958 after years of effort.  She built her work on research that her husband, Amos, and Father-in-Law Levi Houlton Putnam started.

Cora passed away in Houlton on January 30th, 1964 and is buried next to her husband in Evergreen Cemetery.  Her death was noted as far south as Portsmouth, NH, where the Order of the Eastern Star honored her.

Sources:

• 1880 United States Federal Census: Database online. Year: 1880; Census Place: Fort Kent, Aroostook, Maine; Roll: 476; Family History Film: 1254476; Page: 24C; Enumeration District: 199; Image: 0049.
• 1900 United States Federal Census: Year: 1900; Census Place: Houlton, Aroostook, Maine; Roll: 589; Page: 4B; Enumeration District: 0028; FHL microfilm: 1240589
• 1910 United States Federal Census: Year: 1910; Census Place: Houlton, Aroostook, Maine; Roll: T624_537; Page: 1B; Enumeration District: 0035; FHL microfilm: 1374550
• 1920 United States Federal Census: Year: 1920; Census Place: Houlton, Aroostook, Maine; Roll: T625_641; Page: 40B; Enumeration District: 32; Image: 235
• 1930 United States Federal Census: Database online. Year: 1930; Census Place: Houlton, Aroostook, Maine; Roll: 829; Page: 5B; Enumeration District: 39; Image: 53.0; FHL microfilm: 2340564.
• 1940 United States Federal Census: Year: 1940; Census Place: Houlton, Aroostook, Maine; Roll: T627_1472; Page: 2B; Enumeration District: 2-53
• Maine Death Index, 1960-1997: Name Cora M Putnam, Death Date 30 January 1964, Age 91. Town Houlton, Certificate 6400136
• Maine, Birth Records, 1621-1922: Name Cora Margaret Carpenter, Gender Female, Birth Date 14 Jun 1872, Birth Place Houlton, Registration Place Houlton, Aroostook, Father Frank Carpenter, Mother Elvira A
• Boston, Massachusetts. Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at Boston, Massachusetts, 1891-1943. Micropublication T843. RG085. 454 rolls. National Archives, Washington, D.C.
• U.S., Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current, http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=15973429&ref=acom
• U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014: Database online. Number: 325-14-0871; Issue State: Illinois; Issue Date: Before 1951.