Carpenter Wrote Columns on Farm Life

In 1964 Transylvania County’s economy was strong.  The population was just over 16,000.  Olin, DuPont and Mitchell-Bissell were the leading industrial employers.  The Rosman Research Station had opened in late 1963.  The average weekly earnings for a worker were $98.58, well over the state average of $80.18.

Although many farm owners were now working in industry the county was still largely made up of rural communities and small farms.  Real estate prices in Brevard were relatively high but farm owners couldn’t sell their outlying property for enough to entice them to sell and move to town.  For this reason when Cal and Marge Carpenter started looking for 10-15 acres there wasn’t much available.

Carpenter had over 20 years of service with the U.S. Air Force.  He had taken night ground school classes with the Civilian Pilot program at Brevard College in 1940, served in WWII as a pilot and continued his military career as a meteorologist.  He had been raised in Canton and Marge was from Yancey County.  Their dream was to retire to a small farm in the mountains of Western North Carolina.

In July 1964 real estate agent Frank King showed them a place with 70 acres, a little trout lake and over half a mile of French Broad River frontage off Lions Mountain Road east of Rosman.   The place was larger than they had in mind but they immediately fell in love with it and purchased the property within a few days.

It was two years before Colonel Clarence Carpenter retired and Cal and Marge settled into their new home and lifestyle.  During the summer of 1966 they lived in a small cabin on the property while renovating the main house.  They grew a large garden and had a variety of animals.  In addition, Carpenter was a writer. 

Cotton and her half-Arabian colt, Sweetheart,
as illustrated by Constance Griffin.

Beginning in October 1967 he wrote a popular weekly column, “From ALMAR Farm in Transylvania”, for the Transylvania Times.  He shared stories of his and Marge’s misadventures as they adapted to country life.  The main characters were often the cats, dogs, cattle, chickens, geese and wild Russian boars on the farm.  Readers were introduced to “Moms” Cat; Cotton, a palomino horse; border collie-huskie mix, Butch and his side-kick Haole, “a big, raw-boned brindle.”

Griffin's illustration of loading hay into the barn loft.

He described his stories as “about quiet, peaceful things—retired life on a farm, reminiscences of a good past, and an occasional bit of philosophy intended only to enhance the subject matter, not to convince anyone of anything.”  In 1969 Carpenter published, The Best from ALMAR Farm in Western North Carolina.

The book features black-and-white illustrations by Constance Griffin, a nationally known artist living in Cedar Mountain.

Cal Carpenter is also the author of The Walton War and Tales of the Great Smoky Mountains and Take the Wings of Morning, a novel of a Western North Carolina preacher turned WWI fighter pilot.  All three books are available at the Transylvania County Library. 

Photographs and information for this column are provided by the Rowell Bosse North Carolina Room, Transylvania County Library.  Visit the NC Room during regular library hours (Monday-Friday) to learn more about our history and see additional photographs.  For more information, comments or suggestions contact Marcy at marcy.thompson@transylvaniacounty.org or 828-884-3151 X242.