Carman was born on April 18, 1827 in
Patchogue, New York, the son of Gilbert Carman and Mary Ann Homan. His great-grandfather
Stephen Carman was a member of the New York State Legislature for 31 years, from 1788 to 1819. In 1855, Cartman was the
American Party candidate for
Sheriff of
Suffolk County and won the election. Earlier that year, he was elected one of the seven
Town Trustees and one of the two
Overseers of the Poor. He moved to
Riverhead upon his election as Sheriff. Three years later, he served as Under-Sheriff to his successor Stephen J. Wilson. He later resigned that office and returned to Patchogue. He then became editor and proprietor of the
Suffolk County Herald, and he served as editor of the paper until 1862. In that year, President
Abraham Lincoln appointed him Collector of
Internal Revenue of the First District of New York. He was reappointed to that office in 1863. He resigned as Collector in 1869. Charman then became general manager of the South Side Railroad Company, which was headed by Charles Fox at the time. Two years later, the road was sold to Jacob R. Shiphard & Co. The road returned to the original stockholders after a year, with Carman now serving as president and Charles Fox as vice-president. The road and the company were left poorly managed under Shiphard, and after six months of trying to improve the company Carman handed it over to the United States Marshal and declared it bankrupt. Judge Benedict appointed Charles Jones as receiver in bankruptcy, with Carman as his representative to run the road until it was bought by
Conrad Poppenhusen in a public sale. In 1870, he bought the Orange Railroad (which ran from
Hunter's Point to
Winfield) from Orange Judd for $100,000 and sold it to the South Side Company. He was originally a
Free Soil Democrat and supported
Millard Fillmore in the
1856 United States presidential election. Shortly afterwards, he became an active member of the Republican Party. In 1870, he was elected to the New York State Assembly as a Republican, representing Suffolk County. He served in the Assembly in
1871. He ran again in 1878, and his opponent
Charles T. Duryea received the canvassers' certificate. But in February 1879, Duryea was unseated and Carman was declared the winner by a single vote. He served for the rest of
1879. Carman supported
Horace Greeley and the
Liberal Republicans in the
1872 United States presidential election. In the
1880 Republican National Convention, he controlled the 19 Long Island delegates and helped oppose
Ulysses S. Grant's candidacy. A
Half-Breed, he supported
Rutherford B. Hayes and
James A. Garfield but opposed
Chester A. Arthur and
Roscoe Conkling. Conkling in particular opposed him, and when Arthur became president Conkling had the Patchogue postmaster (who had Carman's favor) removed from the position, breaking Carman's political influence. He then served as president of the Patchogue Bank from its organization until his death, and was president of the Board of Education for ten years. Carman died at home on September 30, 1891. He was buried in the Carman family plot in the Patchogue cemetery. == References ==