[5][6] On October 24, 1861, Carpentier sent the first telegram from the west to the east over the newly completed transcontinental telegraph line.

Carpentier notoriously represented members of the Peralta family, the original Spanish land grant owners of the entire region now encompassing Oakland and Berkeley, in various legal proceedings ostensibly initiated to protect their holdings.

The end result of these proceedings was that Carpentier himself received large chunks of what remained of their holdings as compensation for his services.

[14] This was done in honor of his valet Dean Lung [zh], who in 1902 had contributed $12,000 of his savings to the establishment of Chinese Studies at Columbia.

[16] Endowed professors include David Der-wei Wang, Madeleine Zelin (current), Luther Carrington Goodrich and Hans Bielenstein.

[17] Carpentier remained single his entire life, although he seems to have shared a household with his cousin Harriet for many years in Oakland.