El
Dorado County
Biographies
PRENTISS CARPENTER
The subject of this review is
actively connected with a profession which has important bearing upon the
progress and stable prosperity of any section or community, and one which has
long been considered as conserving the public welfare by furthering the ends of
justice and maintaining individual rights.
With a high appreciation of his ability and his trustworthiness as a
citizen his fellow townsmen have conferred upon him the highest office within
their power to bestow, and he is now serving as the mayor of Placerville, to
which position he was elected in 1900.
Mr. Carpenter is a native of central
California and was reared and educated in the city where he still resides. His birth, however, occurred in Volcanoville, El Dorado County, on the 8th of
February, 1858. His father, Hon. G. J.
Carpenter, was one of California’s most distinguished pioneers and is
represented on another page of this volume.
Prentiss Carpenter, the eldest son, pursued his education in the academy
at Placerville, and when his literary course was completed he took up the study
of law in the office and under the direction of his father, a distinguished
jurist of this section of California.
When twenty-one years of age he was admitted to practice in the township
courts and has since been actively connected with the profession in his native
county. He has served for three terms as
district attorney, during which time he acquired an enviable reputation as a
criminal lawyer, rendering the public valuable service by securing the
conviction of several notable criminals.
He has the power of keen analysis, which enables him to readily
determine the strong points in the case.
In argument he is logical and forceful and his oratorical ability adds
to the effectiveness of his speech before court and jury. His standing at the bar is high and a liberal
patronage indicates the confidence of the public in his professional ability.
Mr. Carpenter was married on the 11th
of June, 1889, to Miss Annie J. Thomas, who was born in California. They have one daughter, Lucile Clare, who is
with them in their beautiful home in Placerville, where hospitality reigns
supreme and where the spirit of genial companionship and good cheer is always
found. Mr. Carpenter is a valued member
of Palmyra Lodge, No. 157, F. & A. M., also belongs to the Native Sons of
the Golden West, and in the year 1900 represented his parlor in the grand parlor
of the state.
Like his honored father, he has ever
been a representative of the Democratic Party, but by a unanimous vote of all
parties he was elected as the first mayor of his city after its reorganization
in 1900, in which capacity he is now acceptably serving. He never lacks the courage of his
convictions, and he is a man of intelligence and genuine public spirit and his
administration has won the approval of all those who have due regard for the
welfare and upbuilding of their city.
Transcribed by
Gerald Iaquinta.
Source:
“A Volume of Memoirs and Genealogy of Representative Citizens of Northern
California”, Pages 520-521. Chicago Standard Genealogical Publishing Co. 1901.
© 2010
Gerald Iaquinta.
Golden
Nugget Library's El Dorado County Biographies