Marty and Karla Grant
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Carpenter Genealogy - Western NC
Welcome to my Carpenter genealogy pages. I am interested in the Carpenter surname in several counties primarily in western NC, mainly Surry, Wilkes, Ashe, Burke, Yancey, Mitchell, Avery, Cherokee and Graham counties.
Carpenter is generally an English or French surname (Carpentier), however, in my case it’s the English version of the German surname Zimmerman, which means Carpenter in German. My ancestors were originally Zimmerman’s, but changed it to Carpenter around the time of the American Revolution.
Carpenter was the 211th most common surname in the United States in 2000. By 2010 it had dropped to 231st. Zimmerman was 350th in 2000 and 379th in 2010.
My earliest known Carpenter ancestors are Mathias and Elizabeth (Miller) Carpenter. I descend from them three different ways.
Line I - My Great Great Grandmother was Sarah Elvira Carpenter (1867-1939). She lived her entire live in Graham Co., NC (which was still part of Cherokee Co., NC when she was born). She married Thomas Jefferson George (1862-1945) in Graham Co., NC in 1882. They had seven children. Elvira and Jeff are buried at Cheoah Church Cemetery, known better as Old Mother Cemetery in Robbinsville, NC. Elvira is a daughter of William and Margaret (Davis) Carpenter.
William Carpenter (1830-1885) was born in Ashe (now Watauga) Co., NC. He went to Cherokee (now Graham) Co., NC before 1850. He married Margaret Ann Davis (1835-1927) there in 1855. She was his 2nd cousin (see Line II below). William is a son of David Carpenter and his first wife, thought to be a Miss Wilson.
David Carpenter (c1806-1870s) was born in Burke Co., NC in the section that later became Yancey County, then became Mitchell County, and finally became Avery County. He married 1st, a Miss Wilson (c1810-c1839) ca 1829 in Burke. They lived in Burke briefly, then moved to Ashe Co., NC for a few years then back to where they’d been in Burke, though it had become Yancey County by then. David married 2nd to Mira Gregg ca 1840. They moved into (then) neighboring Watauga Co., NC a few years before returning to Yancey, then they moved to Cherokee (now Graham) Co., NC where they remained. David is a son of Jacob and Margaret (—) Carpenter.
Jacob Carpenter (1779-1856) was born in Surry Co., NC (now Yadkin Co., NC) and moved with his parents to Ashe Co., NC in the 1790s. He didn’t remain there long, soon moving into Burke Co., NC in the same area that went through several county changes and is Avery County today. He married Margaret (—) (c1788-1875) ca 1803, probably in Burke Co., NC. They had nine children. Jacob is a proven son of Mathias and Elizabeth (Miller) Carpenter.
Mathias Carpenter (1752-1835) was born Mathias Zimmerman, either in Pennsylvania, Germany or perhaps Switzerland. He came to Rowan Co., NC in the late 1760s I think. He was in the section that soon became Surry Co., NC, and is Yadkin Co., NC today. He married Elizabeth Miller (1750/55-1835) there before 1771. They lived in that region until the 1790s when they moved to Ashe Co., NC, though then still part of Wilkes County. They remained in Ashe, both dying there in 1835. They had six children. I’m descended from three of them.
I don’t know who Mathias’s parents were.
Line II - My 5 times Great Grandmother is Francis “Franky” Carpenter (1771-1842). She was born in Surry (now Yadkin) Co., NC. She married 1st to a Mr. Weatherman, and 2nd, ca 1793, to William Davis (1731-1841). They lived in the section of Burke that went through many county changes and is now Avery County. They had nine children. Their son Jacob Davis is the father of Margaret Ann Davis who married William Carpenter (see Line I for more on them).
Frances is a proven daughter of Mathias and Elizabeth (Miller) Carpenter. See Line I above for more on them.
Line III - My 5 times Great Grandmother is Margaret Carpenter (1784-1865). She was born in Surry (now Yadkin) Co., NC. She moved with her parents to Ashe Co., NC where she married Jonathan Miller (1776-1854) ca 1802. They remained in that county and had eleven children. One of them is Susanna Miller who married Jacob Davis (see Line II above).
Margaret is a proven daughter of Mathias and Elizabeth (Miller) Carpenter. See Line I above for more on them.
Revised: July 19, 2026
Copyright © 1996-2026 Marvin A. Grant, Jr. All Rights Reserved.
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