Lydia Carpenter was born around 1855 in Pennsylvania to Riley Carpenter and Lovicy Pratt. Her father was a farmer who owned $3,000 of real estate and $600 of personal property by 1860. She grew up and attended school in Richmond, Pennsylvania. She married Oren Carr around 1880, and they had at least four children: John, born around 1885; Charles, born around 1887; Martha, born around 1888; and Christian, born around 1892. They lived in Richmond, and her husband worked as a farmer. Her husband died in the 1920s, and by 1930, she was living in Townville, Pennsylvania. She died of arteriosclerosis in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on April 16, 1937.