The Lincoln times., 1956-05-07
Ode Carpenter

by wheelbarrow from the S.
Academy st. depot by a colored
man, Tench Lander, now de-
ceased, to the Post Office in the
Reinhardt building on West
COurtsquare.
In 1918 he got his first Model T
to deliver mail. later came the
Model A, and the latest model
ChevroletS. Fords, PlymouthS, and
a WHY'S. Even in those early days
after the Model T and Model A
replaced the horse and buggy, he
sometimes found the weather 81
bad and the roads so terrible that
old Dobbin' would have to be mar
messed up and put back into ac-
ton.
In 1921. he was transferred TO
Lincolnton and with the late Ed
win Rudisill started city carrier
mail service for the town for the
first time. His territory was the
South side of town, Nh. Rudisi.l'S s
the North side. Lincolnton had
few paved streets in those days, he
recalled.
In 1922. Carpenter transferred
to the Lincolnton, Route 3, car
rier job, swapping with Claude
Warlick. who became a city car
rier. Mr.. Warlick retired last June
after "a years as carrier.
WEARS OUT 12-I5 CARS
How many cars did he wear out
during his mail carrying days? Mr.
Carpenter didn't keep count, but
he figures II to Is. And, how
many mail miles did he travel?
He has no idea. but claims there
were thousands and thousands of
EN-" And. he recalls all of the
thousands of miles and years in
delivering the mail as pleasant,
enjoyable ones.
1--WE liked the job and serv-
ing the people," he says modest
ly. and with a note of sadness in
his voice, added, I'm sorry to
give it up. I'll miss my friends
and neighbors from all over the
county"
His mail route, in the horse
and buggy days. was unpaved
road of about 25 miles and the
pieces of mail handled were in
the hundreds. When he retired
last month, his Route l territory
consisted of about 50 miles over
we'll paved roads, and he was
handling on an average of around
$4,000 pieces of mail monthly.
COULD HAVE STAYED TIL 20
The rob I. friendly veteran
carrier, now IS, could have stayed
on the job until 10 before retiring
But, he reasons he would have
more retirement years to enjoy
beginning at IS than at 10. And,
he doesn't believe in settling down
and doing nothing. That kind
OF life is not for me-" he declared,
adding that his wife is also an
avid flower lover, likes to piddle
at the art around the house, and
he's already learned she has plans
for him to help her with some OF
the spade work.
Mr.. Carpenter related he had
missed only few days of de-
livering the mail during his
career; this due to sickness and
some heavy SHOWS that made
the roads impossible. He re-
members with a grimace those
early axle -dra gging days" over
deep-rutted, mud slOgged roads.
He figures he must have worn
out about 25 sets of tire chains.
But the roads of today are
quite different, no worry about
getting stuck up" he said.
LIVES ON STARTOWN ROAD
He and his wife. the former
Miss Susan Hallman of Lincoln
county. make their home on Lin
colnton, Route 2, Startown road
section. in Mr.. Carpenters par
ents' homeplace, a large and
handsome two-story structure. Mr.
Carpenters parents were the late
William T. Carpenter and Martha
Hinson Carpenter.
The Carpenters have three chill
dren. two sons and a daughter
The daughter is Mrs. Carl F
(Kathleen) Turbyfill of Burling-
ton. A son. NJ Sgt. Odis Carpenter
Jr., with years in the U. S. All
Force, is stationed in Camp Irwin
Calf. Sgt. Carpenter was a gun
rer on a U. S. bomber shot down
over Yugoslavia during World Wal
II. With the aid of friendly
Yugoslavians he was able to get
back to Allied lines safely
A younger son, Fred, is following
in his fathers footsteps and is now
a Lincolnton city carrier.