Thomas Carpenter

Thomas Carpenter (November 2, 1752 at Salem, New Jersey – July 7, 1847 at Carpenter's Landing, New Jersey) was an early American glassmaker and devout Quaker who, at significant spiritual and personal risk, found an important way to assist the American Revolutionary War, serving in the militia and the New Jersey Continental Line as what would today be called a logistics officer and earning the title of "Fighting Quaker." After the war, he contributed significantly to the rise of New Jersey glass production.

Family Carpenter was the sixth child and second son of Preston Carpenter (1721-1785) and Hannah Smith (1723-abt 1766?).

Carpenter served an apprenticeship in an auction store at Front and South Street in Philadelphia. As auctions were then prohibited within city limits, they were held at the southern city limits. Carpenter learned to pack, transport, issue, auction, then repack and re-transport many wagons several times each week.

Revolutionary conflict Carpenter was a member of the Society of Friends, or Quakers which influenced, and distinguishes, his non-combat service in the Revolutionary War. Because of their refusal to pay military taxes or fight in the war, Quakers, who had been generally admired for their honesty and simple living in the North American colonies, were looked upon differently when the Revolutionary War broke out, and some were exiled for their beliefs. Some Quakers chose to support the wartime effort, resulting in rifts within the Friends religion; some enlisted for military service, and were expelled from the Society. Some provided financial aid, medical assistance, or supplies at the individual or community level, and a few like Carpenter found ways to assist the combat effort at higher levels without bearing arms, as he did by serving in legal, financial, and logistical roles at the highest levels within a rebelling colony which bore a key central role in the Revolutionary War.

During the American retreat from the banks of the Assunpink Creek on January 3, 1777, in the Second Battle of Trenton, Carpenter withdrew all of his supplies and assisted another unit to do likewise and then, exhausted, camped with them. He 'loaned' his coat to an officer who had misplaced his and bedded down in his blanket. Later that night, a messenger awoke them and informed them that they were now stragglers because the rest of the army had retreated. Suffering from the bitter cold without his coat, Carpenter made his way back to his unit. His actions helped General George Washington continue the fight threatening the rear area of the British forces.

An example of a surviving document mentioning Carpenter is a dispatch dated at Burlington, January 17, 1780, from Light-horse Harry Lee to "Thomas Carpenter, purchasing commissioner" reading in part, "I have written to the Magistrates of Salem County begging them to aid you …" and ends with, "For God's sake perform this business with all possible dispatch." where he engaged in the manufacture of glass, and later at Glassboro, New Jersey with Colonel Thomas Heston. The partners were described as "two 'fighting Quakers' who had given gallant service for the American cause in the Revolution."

On May 18, 1808, after Heston's death and the retirement of Thomas Carpenter, Carpenter's son Edward acquired his father's share of the original Glassboro glassworks and the firm of Heston & Carpenter became known as Edward Carpenter & Co., Olive Works. He became one of the historic figures in the history of Glassboro and in the art and craft of glass making — the Heritage Glass Museum, founded in 1979 to celebrate glass blowing and glass art and noteworthy people in the history of glass making, includes him on its Who We Are webpage.

In 1787, Carpenter bought and restored a house in Mantua Township once owned by Restore Eastlack, who died in 1773. This indicates the original portion of the house was built during or prior to 1773. Carpenter added a southern half and a second story and lived there until his death in 1847. Today, it is known as the Thomas Carpenter House. While it is in private hands, the timber framed, two and one half story house is considered a historical site by Gloucester County, New Jersey and the Library of Congress. The house is located at the southwest corner of Main and Martel Streets in Mantua Township, New Jersey. The house does not seem to be registered with the National Register of Historic Places, but it has a Historic American Buildings Survey number: HABS NJ-68 and a Library of Congress call number of HABS NJ,8-MANT,1-