All right now, I have seen an email from a long lost cousin looking for the elusive Jose Antonio Carpenter my great, great granfather. Please contact me again, as I have lost your contact info. Yes two can do more than one. And if your just trying to write a book. GREAT! I can help. Lets not be selfish. I write this because I had some other family member, a split off the gene tree at Jose. give me this wierd run around with not being able to type and having friends dieing left and right. She acted like she was on speed. Very odd!

I was working for Harvest Rock Church in Pasadena. I wasn't looking for it, It came to me. I didn't even know there was anything to look for. I grew up with the belief that the Carpenters (my ancestors) were nothing but a bunch of drunkards, liars, horse thieves and cheats. This is what I was told and this is what I grew up thinking my heritage was. It all changed with one divinely ordered meeting During a conference at Mott Auditorium staring the prophetess and cofounder of generals international Cindy Jacobs. I was the facilities worker dealing with the typical (the world is ending) emergencies of no paper in the women's restroom and trash overflows and complaints of its to hot, to cold, running to unlock unlocked doors. I was changing the trash bag outside the front door while watching through the doorway Cindy praying for this young man who was about in his early 20's. The Holy Spirit impressed on me that I need to talk to this young man. But I was working and he was on stage so I forgot about it. The night wore on and the conference was winding down. I was outside taking care of what facilities people take care of when I found myself standing next to him. I started a conversation with him and asked who he was. He said he was an evangelist. He told of going to reservations and ministering to the indians. He named some reservations and in naming them brought up the Pala reservation. I used to spend the summer on the Pechunga reservation with my cousin at my aunt and uncles place and I shared this with him. He the asked my last name, I told him and he said wow we are most likely related from some 100 years back through a man named Emanuel Carpenter. I found out this kid was sleeping in his car and offered room at my place where the conversation continued into the early morning hours when his memory kicked in with the name Lemuel Carpenter. I was stunned! That is my middle name, My grandmother made my mother give me that name. I never knew where it came from or why I had it but it was mine like it or not, which for most of my life I did not like. The next day I went to the computer and googled the name and a whole new world opened up before me. A world that most of the Carpenter descendants of my generation and latter had no clue existed. For 6 years I have been digging for info on Lemuel a white man from Kentucky who took on and lived the life of a spanish Don. Who owened the Rancho Santa Gertrudes here on the San Gabriel/Rio Hondo river and on that same river started the first soap factory in Los Angeles and here I will try to bring all this information on the southern California Carpenters together as best as I know how.

Today while searching for the jobaneria ford crossing of the san gabriel. I came across another name for it and followed that trail which has, through the guidance of the man who wrote the article that i had contacted, narrowed down the area of the soap factory. He also is putting me in contact with the archivist who is related to the dominguez and portifino families. Yes it is about time I got some breakthrough. I am pretty happy about this.

I have just found a site put out by USC that has coies of the Los Angeles Star from the very first printing. I spent around three hours looking through them for anything relating to the obituary of Lemuel and found a small 2 liner. The photo will be in here soon.  The date was Nov.12, 1859.