Grandson of Charles Brown, Edward Laramie Carpenter Jr. was born March 3, 1900 in Vancouver, Washington right here in the Brown House. His parents Edward Laramie Sr. and Harriet Brown Carpenter were living in Aberdeen, Washington at the time but Harriet returned to Vancouver to give birth at the family home which was fairly common at the time.
E.L. attended public school in Aberdeen and attended the University of Washington, where he graduated with a degree in Engineering. While attending the University of Washington, he met his future wife, Margaret Kamps. They would eventually have two children, Edward L. III and Margaret (Peg). Peg visited the Brown House on July 10th while passing through Vancouver. This photograph of E.L. Carpenter Jr. was donated by his daughter Peg as well as this memoir taken from the American Society of Civil Engineers.
In 1942 E.L. was called into active duty in the U.S. Naval Reserve. He was assigned to the Admiral’s staff in the Alaska Sector and while on an inspection trip in July he was killed in an airplane crash.