Increase Carpenter was a minuteman and American Revolutionary War veteran who was born in Jamaica, Queens, New York. He served as a first lieutenant. Carpenter wore the uniform of the Jamaica Minutemen, served on the Committee of Correspondence, and was also a prisoner of war. He was at one time a Commissary of the Army. He was also a church elder, a butcher and an innkeeper.

Hollis is a residential middle-class neighborhood within the southeastern section of the New York City borough of Queens. While a predominantly African-American community, there are small minorities of Hispanics and South Asians residing in the area. Boundaries are considered to be 181st Street to the west, Hillside Avenue to the north, Francis Lewis Boulevard to the east, and Murdock Avenue to the south. Hollis is located between Jamaica to the west and Queens Village to the east.