Lewis Cass CARPENTER, Congress, SC (1836-1908)

CARPENTER, Lewis Cass, a Representative from South Carolina; born in Putnam, Conn., February 20, 1836; attended the public schools; moved to New Jersey, where he taught school; appointed State inspector of public schools in New Jersey in 1863; at an early age began writing for the press, and was connected with the New York papers for several years; went to Washington, D.C., in 1864 and was employed in the Treasury Department; studied law at Columbian (now George Washington) University; was admitted to the bar and practiced; Washington newspaper correspondent; moved to Charleston, S.C., in 1867 and became editor of the Charleston Courier; assisted in establishing the Charleston Republican in 1868; secretary to United States Senator William H. Buckingham, of Connecticut, 1868-1873; elected as a Republican to the Forty-third Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Robert B. Elliott and served from November 3, 1874, to March 3, 1875; unsuccessful candidate for election to the Forty-fifth Congress; moved to Denver, Colo., in 1878, and thence, in 1879, to Leadville, where he edited a newspaper; appointed supervisor of the census for Colorado in 1880; appointed United States post-office inspector in 1881 and resigned in 1883; engaged in the insurance business 1883-1890; resumed the practice of law; died in Denver, Colo., March 6, 1908; interment in Fairmount Cemetery.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present