Wilmot John "Bill" Carpenter

Notes:

He was the son of John Carpenter and Jane Stover, and born in Ontario, Canada on 1 July 1891, according to the "Ontario, Canada, Births, 1869-1909" on Ancestry.com.

https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.2/M25T-2XZ/p1
Name: Wilmot John Carpenter
Event: Birth
Event Date: 01 Jul 1891
Event Place: Whitchurch Twp., York, Ontario
Gender: Male
Father: John Carpenter
Mother: Jane Stover
Registration Year:
Registration Number: cn 37449
Film Number: 1846451
Digital Folder Number: 4656908
Image Number: 486
Collection: Ontario Births, 1869-1912

He completed his World War I Draft registration card as an alien in Farwell, Clare County, Michigan, showing his place of birth as Ballantrae, Ontario, and claiming English citizenship. He was a single farmer and the time of this registration, and was shown as of Medium heighth and build, with Grey eyes and black hair.

Bonnie Benkelman reported that her uncle worked for a lumber yard. He was an enthuisiastic outdoorsman, and loved to hunt and fish.

Obituary
(Source: Clare Sentinel, 22 June 1961, Page 8, image posted to FamilySearch by Tom Ladner)

W. Carpenter Dies 17 70

Wilmot Carpenter of Farwell passed away at Central Michigan Community Hospital in Mt. Pleasant Friday, June 16 at the age of 70.

Mr. Carpenter was born on July 1, 1891 in Canada. He later met and married Mae Benkelman. They moved to the Farwell area, where they have lived ever since.

Mr. Carpenter worked as a bookkeeper of the Farwell Lumber Company until his retirement several years ago. He was a life member of the Corning Lodge in Farwell, a member of the Damascus Royal Arch Masons, and a member of the Farwell Methodist Church. He was a veteral of World War I.

Mr. Carpenter's wife, Mae, and a cousin are his only known survivors.

Funeral arrangements were taken car of by Coker's Funeral Home in Farwell. The funeral was held Monday, June 19, at 2:00 p.m. at the Farwell Methodist Church with Rev. John Allen officiating. Interment was a the Surrey Cemetery.

Wilmot married Florence Mae Benkelman on 1 May 1926 in Flint, Genesee County, Michigan. Florence (daughter of Benjamin Franklin Benkelman, Sr. and Wilhelmina "Minnie" Johanna Friederika Jesse) was born on 8 May 1896 in St. Francis, Cheyenne County, Kansas; died on 19 Dec 1989 in Stuart, Martin County, Florida; was buried in St. Petersburg, Pinellas County, Florida. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Married:
Marriage date of 1 May 1926, per Dorothy Williams (Mae's niece and later stepdaughter), may be incorrect?

The 1930 census shows that a John W and Jennie Carpenter were living in Lapeer County, Michigan. He was shown as age 39, born Michigan with both parents also born in Michigan. She was shown as age 30, also born in Michigan, with her mother born in Canada, and father in Michigan. Based on the ages of marriage shown, they would have married about 1920.

However, in 1930, Wilmot and Mae Carpenter can be found in Flint, Genesee, Michigan, having been married approximatley 5 years, based on their current age and age at the time of their marriage.

Unless Wilmot John Carpenter secretly married to both women, and moving between households in 1930, the John W Carpenter married to Jennie Hoeksema is a different man entirely, of approximately the same age. Additionally, Mae's husband was born in Canada, not in Michigan.