30 Mothers in 30 Days: Betsy

Elizabeth "Betsy' Broadway Carpenter was my 5th Great Grandmother. Her claim to fame was her longetivity. She lived to be 101, her lifespan covering nearly the entirety of the 19th century.

The Stanly County Newspaper lauded her for being 105 in 1902.

The newspaper credited her with living to be 108, and maybe the birthday we have for her is incorrect. Either way, she was long upon this Earth during an era when her life expectancy was much shorter.

Betsy was born along the Rocky River in Anson County to one of the Rocky River plantation families. Her parents were William Broadaway and his wife, Martha, maiden name unknown.

When she was 18 years old, as was common in those days, she married her Broadaway cousin, Thomas Carpenter, son of James Ludwell Carpenter and Obedience Broadaway Carpenter. "Beadie's parents were Nicholas and Grace Broadaway. I am not sure exactly how Nicholas and William we're related, but the Anson County Rocky River Broadways we're one family. One day soon, I hope to focus on them thouroughly.

Betsy and Thomas were the parents of 11 children: Obedience,  Martha, James Allen, William, Mary Ann, Nancy, Elizabeth, Caroline, Davis, John and Layfayette. Some people even attribute a Jesse and an Obediah to them. Those two I have not documented. Whether 11 or 13, by the time of her demise, Betsy Broadaway Carpenter had hundreds of descendants, as most of her children also had large families.


She and Thomas raised their children along the Rocky River in Anson. After she was widowed, Betsy would relocate to Stanly County, where she resided with her daughter, Martha Carpenter Hooks, my line.

Name:	Elizabeth Carputer [Elizabeth Carpenter]
Age in 1870:	54
Birth Year:	abt 1816
Birthplace:	North Carolina
Dwelling Number:	121
Home in 1870:	Tyson, Stanly, North Carolina
Race:	White
Gender:	Female
Post Office:	Albemarle
Occupation:	Farmer
Cannot Read:	Y
Cannot Write:	Y
Personal Estate Value:	175
Inferred Children:	Lafayette Carputer
Household Members:	Name Age Martha Hooke 39 Daniel Hooke   Elizabeth Hooke 19 Mary Hooke 17 Sarah Hooke 16 Eliza Hooke 14 Nancy Hooke 12 Ellen Hooke 10 John Hooke 9 William Hinson   Mary Hinson 25 Nancy Hinson 8 John Carpenter 18 Elizabeth Carputer 54 Lafayette Carputer 15

 

She would outlive Martha, who passed away in 1891 and after that would return to Anson County, and reside with her youngest son, Lafayette Carpenter.

Name:	Elizabeth Carpenter
Age:	100
Birth Date:	May 1800
Birthplace:	North Carolina
Home in 1900:	Ansonville, Anson, North Carolina
Sheet Number:	5
Number of Dwelling in Order of Visitation:	74
Family Number:	74
Race:	White
Gender:	Female
Relation to Head of House:	Mother
Marital status:	Widowed
Marriage Year:	1820
Father's Birthplace:	North Carolina
Mother's Birthplace:	North Carolina
Mother: Number of Living Children:	9
Mother: How Many Children:	11
Can Read:	No
Can Write:	No
Can Speak English:	Yes
Neighbors:
Household Members:	Name Age Lafayette Carpenter 41 Bettie Carpenter 45 Stephen Carpenter 19 Jesse Carpenter 17 Jonah Carpenter 14 Elizabeth Carpenter 100

Betsy died in June of 1905. She is buried in the Edwards Family Cemetery near Burnsville. Again,  her longetivity was noted by columnist "Whale" of the Wharf Community in Anson, Mr. Ingram. He was incorrect that she was raised in Stanly County, she was not. Her husband Thomas, was, but not Betsy.






Rest in Peace Grandma Betsy. I hope to follow in your longetivity.