[1][3] He intended to go to college, but after circumstances prevented that from happening, he undertook to read law, first with Frederick Hovey for short time at Eastford,[2] and then in 1844 in the office of Jonathan A. Welch of Brooklyn, Connecticut.

At the opening of the Civil War in 1861 he was a member of the Connecticut House of Representatives,[1][3] and as chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs,[1] he "rendered valuable service to the Union cause".

[3] In 1865 he was elected to the Supreme Court,[1] to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Henry Dutton, taking his seat in February 1866.

He wrote a noted opinion in case on boycotts, which "defined the rights of the workingman so clearly that there has been no controversy with regard to the matter since".

He was also prominent in secret ballot and quo warranto decisions, and in those in support of the property rights of married women.

[3] Upon leaving the bench he resumed the practice of law, and entered into partnership with Frank B. Williams, in Hartford.

[3] During his long tenure on the Supreme Court, Carpenter moved to Hartford, Connecticut,[1] where he remained for over twenty years.

[3] Sometime around 1882, Carpenter suffered a shock of paralysis which left him with a permanent lameness, but from which he wholly recovered in all other respects.