William Henry Carpenter (1821–1885), was U.S. Consul to Fuzhou, China, during the American Civil War years.

[2] Prior to his appointment to the consulship, Carpenter was proprietor of a livery stable in his hometown of Auburn, Cayuga, New York and was active in local civic matters, serving as postmaster of Fleming village in the early 1850s,[3] state commissioner for development of the salt springs at Montezuma, New York from 1858,[3] on the first board of directors for the city waterworks company from 1859,[4] and as a founding member of the Cayuga County Historical Society in 1877.

[5] He was sometimes styled "Colonel", a rank-equivalent title from his service as a consul.

[6] After his service in China, Carpenter retired to Auburn, where he lived until his death at the age of 64, on Sunday, October 25, 1885.

[7][8] He married Sevira Wethey in 1848, with whom he had two children before her untimely death in 1864.