James E. Carpenter was born on June 11, 1849, in Pennsylvania to Riley Carpenter and Lovicy Pratt. His father was a farmer who owned $3,000 of real estate and $600 of personal property by 1860. He grew up and attended school in Richmond, Pennsylvania. He remained in his parents’ household until at least 1870. He married Rebecca Winans around 1878, and they had at least two children: Iva, born around 1880; and Eva, born around 1885. They lived in Richmond, and he worked as a farmer. They moved to Hickory, Pennsylvania, in the late 1800s, and Carpenter operated a boarding house there. Rebecca died around 1900, and he eventually married Lily Bloomer. He returned to Richmond by 1920. He died of “gangrene of both legs” in Meadville, Pennsylvania, on November 13, 1925.