Judge Louis Carpenter, Lawrence Massacre.

The following Information was taken from a book called:

Quantrill and the border wars.
By William Elsey Connelly, 1909.
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Judge Louis Carpenter



Judge Louis Carpenter lived on the Northwest conner of Berkeley and New Hampshire streets.  Several squads of guerrillas visted his house, but he met them so frankly and received them in such genial maner that they did nothing but rob him and plunder his house.  Near the time of their leaving a gang rode up quite under the influence of liquor.  They came to murder.  They desired to know where Carpenter came from to Kansas, and he told them he came from New York, one of them said, "It's you New York fellers that's doing all the mischief.", as he drew his revoluer.

Carpenter ran into the house, and up there the stairs, then down again, the ruffians after him, firing all the time.  He finally got to the cellar badly wounded.  There he was soon discovered and driving out to the yard where he fell mortally wounded.  His wife and her sister threw themselves on him to shield him from the brutal guerrilla.  But he was not to be thwarted in his purpose.  He pulled the women aside, thrust his pistol a gainst the judge's head where his wife must see, and fired the fatal shot.  They fired the house, the marks of which are plainly to be seen today.  Mrs Carpenter sister put out the fire.

Louis Carpenter.

Birth: Dec. 14, 1829.
Death: Aug. 21, 1863.
Burial: Oak Hill Cemetery, Lawrence, Douglas County, Kansas.