Along with having three children of her own with Isaac Carpenter, two sons and a daughter, Gertrude also raised Isaac's son from his first marriage to Ida Worden. Two children went west, one stayed at home and farmed, and the daughter became a teacher in Nova Scotia. Gertrude Caprenter died 25 June 1937.

Gertrude's black silk and lace dress shows that the women of rural Queens County were not strangers to the latest fashions. The handmade gown dates to about 1910 when women had shaken off the restrictions of Victoriana with looser fitting gowns, simpler decorations and higher waists giving a much more modern silhouette. The simplicity of the exterior, however, belies the complexity of the dress construction; dozens of hooks and eyes on the interior and elaborate seams provide the "new look". This gown was purportedly worn to a Provincial Ball during Isaac Carpenter's term in office.