He was an active member of the Protestant Episcopal Church, serving as vestryman, warden, and deputy to the diocesan and general conventions.

After receiving a liberal education, Carpenter studied law with Judge John Moore White of Woodbury, New Jersey, and was admitted as an attorney in September 1830.

On October 26, 1838, he was appointed prosecutor of pleas of Gloucester County, New Jersey and took a prominent part in several important trials.

In 1845, he was appointed by Governor Charles C. Stratton one of the associate judges of the Supreme Court of New Jersey, his circuit comprising Burlington, Camden, and Gloucester Counties.

This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: History of the counties of Gloucester, Salem, and Cumberland, New Jersey, with biographical sketches of their prominent citizens.