Carpenter-Richardson Family Papers

Carpenter-Richardson Family Papers, 1880-1972

Overview of the Collection

Creator: Carpenter family
Title: Carpenter-Richardson Family Papers
Dates: 1880-1972 (inclusive)
18801972
Quantity: 8 Linear feet of shelf space, (16 Boxes)
Collection Number: Cage 171 (collection)
Summary: Correspondence and other papers of the Carpenter and Richardson families of Cle Elum, Washington.
Repository: Washington State University Libraries' Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections (MASC)
Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections
Terrell Library Suite 12
Pullman, WA
99164-5610
Telephone: 509-335-6691
mascref@wsu.edu
Access Restrictions: This collection is open and available for research use.
Languages: English

Biographical NoteReturn to Top

The Carpenter-Richardson family established itself in Cle Elum, Washington in 1906 when Frank Carpenter, a native of Girard, Illinois, arrived and organized the Cle Elum State Bank. Norah Carr, also of Girard, joined him at Cle Elum in 1908 and they married soon after. Their daughter, Margaret, was born at Cle Elum about two years after her parents' marriage. In 1943, she married Dr. John Purver Richardson, a physician from Ellensburg, Washington. John Richardson died in 1953, Frank Carpenter in 1959, Norah Carpenter in 1962, and Margaret Carpenter Richardson in 1973. During its sixty-seven years in Cle Elum, the family's place was among the community's relatively well-to-do elite. It was supported by Frank Carpenter's income from the Cle Elum State Bank, a small state bank with branches at Cle Elum and Roslyn, and from his various investments in local real estate. This income enabled his family to conduct a style of life which included an expensive house, travel around the United States, and boarding schools for daughter Margaret.

Margaret Carpenter, the principal figure in the Carpenter-Richardson papers, first attended Annie Wright Seminary in Tacoma and then Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, New York. Ill at ease in school, despite excellent academic performance, Margaret left Sarah Lawrence in her sophomore year and attempted to find a career in, successively New York, Washington D. C., and San Francisco. Meeting with little success, she returned to Cle Elum and took a modest positon at the bank her father managed. She continued to travel, participate in amateur theatrical productions, and carry on correspondence with a cosmopolitan circle of acquaintances from her college days. In 1943, she quietly married Dr. John Richardson, founder and partner in an Ellensburg clinic, and for several years continued her life much as before, adopting Dr. Richardson's name only in about 1948. After her husband's death in 1953, Margaret returned to her association with her parents in Cle Elum. After their deaths, she adopted a daughter, Susi. She also became involved in various local volunteer activities, such as the Cle Elum Historical Society. She lost her sight in 1968, but remained active until her death in 1973.

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

The Carpenter-Richardson family papers consist of about 4,000 items, mostly letters received by four members of the family: Cle Elum banker Frank Carpenter, his wife Norah Carr Carpenter, their daughter Margaret Carpenter Richardson, and her husband Dr. John P. Richardson. The papers concern the movement of the family from Illinois to Washington State, the operation of the Cle Elum State Bank, the education of Margaret Carpenter at Annie Wright Seminary and Sarah Lawrence College, the medical practice of Dr. Richardson, and personal relations of members of the family. As each member of the family wrote to other members, the papers accordingly contain some letters written by the respective members and received by others. A larger portion of the papers, however, consists of letters written by persons outside the immediate family. Many from earlier dates are written by sisters and cousins of Norah Carr Carpenter. Those from a later time, addressed mainly to Margaret Carpenter, are also from cousins, aunts and so forth, but to a greater degree reflect a non-familial pattern. Many are from college friends or Central Washington figures of social circumstances similar to those of the family. The papers also contain some materials relative to the education and occupations of the various family members.

Use of the CollectionReturn to Top

Restrictions on Use

Preferred Citation

[Item description]

Carpenter-Richardson Family Papers, 1880-1972 (Cage 171)

Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections, Washington State University Libraries, Pullman, WA.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Arrangement

The papers are arranged into two series. The first series, correspondence, is divided into two subseries, one consisting of the letters written by members of the family, the other of letters received by the family. The second series consists of materials relative to the education, occupations, and interests of the family members.

Acquisition Information

The Carpenter-Richardson Family Papers, were gifted to the Washington State University Library by the University of Oregon Library, in January 1975.

Related Materials

Preliminary Guide to the Carpenter-Richardson Family Papers, circa 1870s-1970s (MS 2017.13)

United States Two-and-One-Half Dollar Coin, 1861 (Cage 5111)

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

Series 1: CorrespondenceReturn to Top

Container(s)		Description	Dates
		Subseries 1.1: Carpenter-Richardson Correspondence
Box	Folder
1	1	50 items.	1901-1907
1	2	50 items.	1908
1	3	50 items.	1909-1921
1	4	50 items.	1922-1925
1	5	50 items.	1926
2	6	50 items.	1927
2	7	50 items.	1928
2	8	50 items.	1929
2	9	50 items.	1930
2	10	50 items.	1931-1935
3	11	50 items.	1936-1942
3	12	50 items.	1943-1947
3	13	50 items.	1948-1951
3	14	50 items.	1952-1972
3	15	30 items.	undated
		Subseries 1.2: Letters received
Box	Folder
3	16	A's 10 items.	1943-1963
3	17	Allen, Bruce 8 items.	1908-1942
3	18	Allen, Mrs. Frank DeWitt 100 items.	1896-1930
4	19	Allen, Frank Carr 30 items.	1943-1958
4	20	Allen, Frank DeWitt 9 items.	1896-1909
4	21	Allen, Vera Ann 18 items.	1954-1960
4	22	B's 35 items.	1897-1972
4	23	Bartlett, Emaline 5 items.	1922-1968
4	24	Bergman, Erma 8 items.	1948-1972
4	25	Bon, Frances 15 items.	1947-1963
4	26	Bond, Edna 8 items.	1956-1959
4	27	Bowen, Ruth 13 items.	1933-1965
4	28	Bowersox Family 8 items.	1897-1911
4	29	Bowles, Helen 5 items.	1944-1956
4	30	Burkhalter, Babs 8 items.	1953-1958
4	31	C's 25 items.	1899-1966
4	32	Campbell, Mary 14 items.	1944-1956
4	33	Carpenter, Charles 7 items.	1915-1926
4	34	Carpenter, Mayme 45 items.	1908-1967
4	35	Carr Family 10 items.	1876-1912
4	36	Carr, Harmen 20 items.	1891-1899
4	37	Chalkey, Dell 20 items.	1940-1971
4	38	Cook, Anna 65 items.	1924-1963
5	39	D's 20 items.	1910-1966
5	40	Davidson, Gertha 60 items.	1945-1966
5	41	Diller, Elizabeth 15 items.	1911-1943
5	42	Donaldson, Georgia 40 items.	1923-1969
5	43	Dunham, George 15 items.	1941-1944
5	44	E's 15 items.	1952-1971
5	45	F's 12 items.	1908-1956
5	46	Fisher, Ella 20 items.	1924-1948
5	47	Frederick, Frank 200 items.	1929-1931
6	48	Frierson, Rowenna 20 items.	1930-1968
6	49	G's 10 items.	1897-1966
6	50	Gage, Kate 15 items.	1940-1968
6	51	Garretson Family 25 items.	1931-1969
6	52	Griggs Family 10 items.	1942-1943
6	53	H's 20 items.	1897-1962
6	54	Haak, Noralee 50 items.	1936-1967
6	55	Harlan, Elizabeth 12 items.	1906-1942
6	56	Hoover, W. D. 20 items.	1947-1958
6	57	Houser, Ruth 20 items.	1953-1966
6	58	Houser, Clifford 8 items.	1960-1969
6	59	Houser, Harold	1940-1960
6	60	Houser, Vera 50 items.	1902-1927
7	61-63	Houser, Vera 220 items.	1928-1957
8	64-66	Houser, Vera 140 items.	1958-1971
8	67	J's 4 items.	1908-1943
8	68	Jaloneck, Edwin 15 items.	1948-1960
8	69	Jamison, Neil 15 items.	1951-1952
8	70	Johnson, Anna 6 items.	1911-1913
8	71	Johnsone, Charles 8 items.	1935-1959
8	72	Jones, L. P. 12 items.	1942-1956
8	73	K's 12 items.	1936-1962
8	74	Kaden, Mary 25 items.	1926-1965
8	75	Kay, Judith 14 items.	1916-1930
9	76	Kearby, Alice 15 items.	1911-1947
9	77	Kenworthy, June 10 items.	1928-1948
9	78	Kine, Mary 20 items.	1908-1955
9	79	L's 35 items.	1915-1966
9	80	LeMoyne, Clara 15 items.	1933-1957
9	81	Liebes, Dorothy 10 items.	1940-1941
9	82	Loveless, Minerva 20 items.	1935-1956
9	83	Low, Roland & Mary 15 items.	1948-1959
9	84	M's 50 items.	1895-1961
9	85	Melly, John 10 items.	1935-1936
9	86	Menaglia, Catherine 35 items.	1930-1967
9	87	Mergentive, Marguerita 15 items.	1936-1941
9	88	Mounts, Walter 20 items.	1887-1914
10	89	N's 15 items.	1895-1968
10	90	Newgord, Jules 15 items.	1936-1946
10	91	O's 15 items.	1909-1952
10	92	Orr, Helen 30 items.	1909-1971
10	93	Ottiano, Bessie Richardson 15 items.	1950-1955
10	94	P's and Q's 25 items.	1911-1962
10	95	R's 25 items.	1909-1969
10	96	Reed, Charles 15 items.	1910-1944
10	97	Richardson, Margaret Sloan 3 items.	1935-1950
10	98	Russell, Katie 15 items.	1947-1967
10	99	S's 65 items.	1908-1966
10	100	Simmons, Mary 20 items.	1908-1949
10	101	Slasor, Roy 15 items.	1950-1953
10	102	Sloan, W. & J. 10 items.	1951-1952
10	103	T's	1911-1955
10	104	Tolan, Ella 25 items.	1908-1933
11	105	Univeralist Church 15 items.	1945-1958
11	106	Vernaid, Mary 10 items.	1897-1917
11	107	W's 55 items.	1908-1971
11	108	Walker, Turnley 10 items.	1952-1960
11	109	Wallace, Gertrude 15 items.	1930-1960
11	110	Walker, Maxine 20 items.	1897-1953
11	111	Warren, Stryker 40 items.	1942-1945
11	112	Wesson, Miley 45 items.	1957-1965
12	113	Whitaker, Wendy and Skip 50 items.	1931-1960
12	114	Whiting, Bill 15 items.	1952-1963
12	115	Woods, Kate 12 items.	1940-1960
12	116	X's, Y's and Z's 10 items.	1930-1967
12	117	Unidentified 20 items.	1898-1964

Series 2: Subject FileReturn to Top

Container(s)		Description	Dates
		Subseries 2.1: Frank Carpenter
Box	Folder
12	118-119	Cle Elum State Bank 120 items.	1910-1958
12	120	House 20 items.	1910
12	121	Estate 30 items.	1958-1962
13	122	Material relative to death of father, Charles Carpenter 25 items.	1934-1935
		Subseries 2.2: Norah Carr Carpenter
Box	Folder
13	123-124	Early life and education 60 items.	1880-1900
13	125	Marriage 15 items.	1908
13	126	Material relative to death of father,Harmen Carr 35 items.	1897
		Subseries 2.3: John Purver Richardson
Box	Folder
13	127	Medical papers 20 items.	1935-1950
13	128	Business papers 30 items.	1935-1950
		Subseries 2.4: Margaret Carpenter Richardson
Box	Folder
14	129	Advertising 15 items.	1900-1920
14	130	American Red Cross 12 items.	1918-1919
14	131	Biographies 4 items.	undated
14	132	Cle Elum Historical Society 30 items.	1963-1968
14	133	Clippings 15 items.	1910-1945
14	134	Displaced persons 50 items.	1947-1955
14	135	Dogs 5 items.	1944-1952
14	136	Doctors 20 items.	1928-1964
14	137-141	Education 120 items.	1918-1935
15	142	Education
15	143	Genealogies 5 items.	1935
15	144	Girard, Illinois 20 items.	1910-1960
15	145	Golden Gate exposition 15 items.	1939-1940
15	146	Marriage 15 items.	1943
15	147	Property 50 items.	1900-1970
15	148	Richardson, Susi, adoption 3 items.	1960
15	149	Small Towns Institute 10 items.	1968-1969
		Subseries 2.5: Business Records
Box	Folder
16	150-157	Account books and note books, most from Carr family business at Girard, Ill. 8 items.	1880-1895
16	158	Accession folder, including preliminary inventory prepared at the Library of the University of Oregon. 5 items.	1974

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

Bankers -- Washington (State) -- Cle Elum -- Records and correspondence.
Physicians -- Washington (State) -- Records and correspondence.

Personal Names

Carpenter, Frank, 1871-1959.
Carpenter, Norah Carr, ca. 1875-1962.
Richardson, John Purver, 1892-1953.
Richardson, Margaret Carpenter, 1910-1973.

Corporate Names

Annie Wright Seminary (Tacoma, Wash.) -- Students -- Archives.
Cle Elum State Bank (Wash.)

Family Names

Carpenter family -- Archives.
Richardson family -- Archives.

Geographical Names

Cle Elum (Wash.) -- History.

Other Creators

Personal Names
- Carpenter, Frank, 1871-1959. (creator)
- Carpenter, Norah Carr, ca. 1875-1962. (creator)
- Richardson, John Purver, 1892-1953. (creator)
- Richardson, Margaret Carpenter, 1910-1973. (creator)
Family Names
- Richardson family (creator)

Archives West Finding Aid

Table of Contents