| Accession Number: | SC U:15 |
| Location: | RB-M |
| Dates: | 1822-1901 |
| Size: | 12”x16”x4” scrapbook |
| Creator/Collector: | Thought to be collected by George Oliver Carpenter III “Sr” |
| Acquisition info: | Donated by the George O. Carpenter family? |
| Accruals: | No accruals expected |
| Custodial history: | The autographs, which are pasted into a scrapbook, are thought to be assembled over time by George O. Carpenter, Sr. and then presumably donated to the library upon his death. |
| Language: | English |
| Processed by: | Sarah Cain, January 2014 |
| Conservation notes: | Scrapbook is wrapped in acid-free tissue paper and protected by a phase box. |
| Scope and Content: | Autographs of individuals dating from 1822 through 1901, including such prominent persons as Edward Evert Hale, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Robert C. Winthrop, Henry W. Longfellow, Jefferson Davis, Grover Cleveland, Ulysses S. Grant, Booker T. Washington, John Wilkes Booth, and Charles Scribner. Some of the autographs came by way letters addressed to George O. Carpenter or his wife, Caroline (Greeley) Carpenter. Others were sent to the Commercial Club, where G. O. Carpenter was a member. Provenances for most of the letters or autographs cannot be traced. George O. Carpenter, Sr. (1852-1939) was well-known in St. Louis. He married Caroline G. Greeley (1858-1948) in 1880, from which union two sons were born—George O. Carpenter, IV “Jr.” and Kenneth Greeley Carpenter. Mr. Carpenter came to St. Louis from his native Boston in 1870 and began his career as an entry clerk with the St. Louis Lead and Oil Company. Over the next several years he worked his way up though the company--Secretary of the company in 1876, Vice-President of the corporation in 1877, and President in 1890. In 1981, the St. Louis Lead and Oil Company, the Southern Lead & Oil Co., and the Collier Lead & Oil Co. merged and became the National Lead Co. Carpenter became the Vice-President and General Manager of the new company as well as the director in charge of the company’s business in St. Louis. He held these positions until his retirement. Mr. Carpenter served as Colonel of the 1st Regiment of the Missouri National Guard from 1880-81. He also held the director position at the National Bank of Commerce and the Commonwealth Trust Company, the Vice-Presidency at the St. Louis Smelting and Refining Co., and the Presidency of the New England Society of St. Louis; and was on the Board of Directors at Washington University and the St. Louis Public Library. He was on the Library’s Board of Directors for 34 years, of which he spent the first 10 years as Vice-President of the Board and the latter 24 as President of the Board. The Carpenter Branch is named for him (by a unanimous Library Board vote) not only because he donated the site of the building in 1925, but also because he was involved with the Public Library from its rebirth as a free library. |
| Arrangement: | Topical – Autographs seem to be arranged by profession of individuals within. |
| Restrictions: | Unrestricted. Permission required to reproduce images. |
| Remarks: | “Shelve w/RB-M 929.88 ov” |
Autograph Album
1822-1901
1 scrapbook; 0.75 li. ft.
| Box/Folder | Description |
| 1/1 | Finding aid; Autograph list |
| 1/- | Scrapbook |
