Thomas Carter
Sex: M
Individual Information
Birth Date: Abt 1725 25
Christening:
Death: 1733 - ( about age 8) 25
Burial:
Parents
Father: Thomas Carter III
Mother: Joana Miller
Thomas Carter IV
Sex: M
Individual Information
Birth Date: 27 Nov 1734 - Barford, Lancaster County, VA 25
Christening:
Death: 15 Jul 1817 - Greenrock, Pittsylvania, VA ( at age 82) 25
Burial:
Parents
Father: Thomas Carter III
Mother: Joana Miller
Spouses and Children
1. *Winifred Hobson
Marriage: 10 Jul 1764 25
Status:
Notes
General:
Thomas* Carter (Thomas, 3 Thomas, 2 Thomas 1 ), born in Lancaster county, November 27, 1734, died at his home, "Green Rock," Pittsylvania county, July 15, 1817. July 10, 1764, he was married to Winifred Hobson in Cumberland county, Va. She was the eldest daughter of Adcock and Joana Lawson Hobson, was born July 15, 1745, and died December 3, 1831. Adock Hobson * was a descendant of Thomas Hobson, clerk of Northumberland county from 1664 to 1716. Joana Hobson was the daughter of John Lawson 2 of Richmond. Thomas Carter, removed to Pittsylvania after 1764
After their marriage, Thomas and Winifred Carter settled in Cumberland county, where in 1782 there were ten white
members of the family and seven servants. July 31, 1783, he purchased 467 acres of land not far from his brother, Jesse
Carter, in Pittsylvania, and removed his family to that county.
On this place, known locally as "Green Rock," he built in 1787 a fine house for those days, a part of which is yet stand-
ing. (See illustration.) Here the old folks spent the remainder of their days. In 1797, 1798 and 1802 Thomas Carter
had grants for 1,193 acres more land in Pittsylvania.
I have been given great assistance in collecting data of the descendants of Jesse and Thomas Carter by a great-great-
granddaughter of Thomas \emdash Mrs. N. E. Clements, Chatham, Va. She tells an interesting story of her great-great-grand-mother as follows: "Winifred Hobson Carter became converted to Methodism while living in Cumberland, and when they moved to Pittsylvania there were no Methodist churches up there. As she knew Bishop Asbury, she wrote to him to come to her house in his journeyings North and South. At his coming she notified the people in the surrounding country, and quite a number of them gathered at her home to hear the Bishop preach. In order to be able to address the whole crowd, he called for something to stand on, and the most convenient thing at the moment was one of Thomas's liquor cases. They are stoutly built, covered with leather and lined with velvet, and are now owned by Mr. Scott Carter, of Chatham, Va. Well the Bishop preached on the case, and Thomas afterward teased his wife so much about it that before another visit from the Bishop she had a small pulpit built, which afterward always stood in her parlor." Later Thomas Carter gave a tract of land called the "Bold Spring" place for the erection of the first Methodist church in Pittsylvania. Thomas Carter made his will September 16, 1803, probated August 18,
1817. He left a good estate to his wife and children; among the personal property were books, two sets of large silver
spoons, six sets of small silver spoons, and a large set of pink rose china. Their family Bible, now owned by Mr. Hill Carter Linthicum, Durham, N. C, records the following children:
195. Joana, born Aug. 15, 1766, died July, 1809.
196. Elizabeth, born June 21, 1768, married her first cousin, Thomas C. Carter.
197. Jesse, born November 30, 1770.
198. Sarah, born February 17, 1773, died December 25, 1805.
199. Edward, born March 8, 1775, died September 18, 1843.
200. Thomas, born March 8, 1777, died October, 1852.
201. Jeduthan, born March 22, 1779.
202. Lawson Hobson, born June 13, 1781.
203. Christopher Lawson, born February 7, 1784.
204. Dale Miller, born March 17, 1786, died September 8, 1796.
205. Rawley Williamson, born February 8, 1788, died October 18, 1847.
William and Mary Quarterly 237
William and Mary Quarterly 239
Thomas Carter
Sex: M
Individual Information
Birth Date:
Christening:
Death:
Burial:
Parents
Father: Thomas Carter
Mother: Anne Hunton
Thomas Carter
Sex: M
Individual Information
Birth Date: 24 Apr 1731 25
Christening:
Death: 1803 - Russell (now Scott) County, Virginia ( at age 72) 25
Burial:
Parents
Father: Peter Carter
Mother: Judith Norris
Spouses and Children
1. *Elizabeth Morgan
Marriage:
Status:
Captain Thomas Carter Sr.
Sex: M
Individual Information
Birth Date: 1630-1631 - England 25
Christening:
Death: 22 Oct 1700 - Isle Of Wight Co, VA ( at age 70) 25
Burial:
Events
• Military: Captain, Virginia Militia.
• Emigration: Bef 1652, England To America.
Spouses and Children
1. *Catharine Dale
Marriage: 4 May 1670 - Lancaster County, VA 25
Status:
Children:
1. Edward Carter
2. Thomas Carter Jr.
3. John Carter
4. Henry Skipwith Carter
5. Diana Carter
6. William Carter
7. Nich Carter
8. Elizabeth Carter
9. Daniel Carter
10. James Carter
11. Katharine Carter
12. Peter Carter
13. Joseph Carter
Notes
General:
Of the ancestry of Capt. Thomas Carter, of "Barford," Christ Church Parish, Lancaster County, Virginia, we know nothing certain. The tradition preserved by a branch of the family in Lancaster and recorded in 1858 says that he was the son of a London merchant of good family.
The circumstantial evidence of the crest on his seal, the naming of his home "Barford," and the striking similarity of the baptismal names of his children and their descendants with those of Bedfordshire, makes it appear strongly probable that he was more or less closely connected with the ancient Carter family of "Kimpson' Bedfordshire. I am of the opinion that he was a son of one of the sons of William Carter, Gent, of Kimpson,
Bedfordshire (buried Dec. i, 1605), and his wife, Mary Ancell (Buried March 1, 1619), daughter of Thomas Ancell, Esq., of Barford, in Co. Bedford. They had issue seven sons and ten daughters as follows : Thomas, eldest son and heir, born Sept. 19, 1575 ; Nicholas, William, Anne, Winifred, Mary, Oliver, Amye, Elizabeth, Temperance, Anne, Ursula, Ansyll, Robert, Katharine, Alice, and John, the youngest, born Nov. 5, 1599. The names Henry, Edward and Daniel appear among the children of those sons of William and Mary Ancell Carter, of whom we have record.
Capt. Thomas Carter of Virginia may possibly have been the youngest son of Ancell Carter, born Oct. 28, 1591, son of Wm. and Mary Carter of Kimpson, who settled in London. At the visitation of the Heralds from the College of Arms in 1634, Ansyll (Ancell) Carter of London, Grocer, had six sons living as follows : George, eldest son, John, Ansyle, William, James, and Thomas, youngest son, who could not have been over three or four years old in 1634. Capt. Thomas Carter of Virginia was born in 1630-31.
No original paper of Capt. Thomas Carter bearing his own seal has been found (he sealed his will with the Dale crest), but his grandson, Joseph Carter of Spotsylvania, in 1739 used a seal bearing the initials "T. C." surmounted by a crest showing a demi-talbot out of a mural crown. This is one of the crests of the Kimpson Carters and of Ancell Carter of London.
Though the parentage of Capt. Thomas Carter is not known, as is likewise the case of Col. John Carter of "Corotoman" and a number of other prominent emigrants to Virginia, there is plenty of evidence to show that he came of a good family, whose claim to gentility was unquestioned. He lived in an age when a man's pretensions to social consideration must bear thorough investigation before being allowed; and Capt. Thomas Carter's seem to have stood the test.
Mr. Richard Alexander Bruce in his Social History of the Seventeenth Century in Virginia says : "There was the clearest recognition of class distinctions in every department of Virginia life during the seventeenth century, a fact brought out in numerous ways by the silent testimony of different legal documents which have survived to the present day. The colonial custom, following the immemorial English, was in such documents to fix by terms, whose legal meaning was understood, the social position of the principal persons mentioned therein. In conversation the term "Mister"' was no doubt applied to both gentlemen and yeomen ; the term seems in fact to have been reserved in those early times in all forms of written and printed matter for those whose claim to be gentlemen in the broad social sense was admitted by all."
Mr. Bruce says further that in Virginia this use was observed most constantly in the county tax lists, where only gentlemen received any designation at all ; and that was always either "Mr." or a military title if such was possessed. The Lancaster records abundantly substantiate such a claim for Thomas Carter, as from his first appearance in the tax list of 1653 as "Mr. Tho : Carter" until his death in 1700 he does not appear without the distinguishing "Mr." or "Capt." Thomas Sr came to Virginia in 1635 as an indentured servant for five years. He served as a silversmiths apprentice during this period. Following the end of his indenture he went to the Caribbean in 1641. Later he returned to VA and became a wealthy man.
The first written account we have of Thomas Carter, Gent., the emigrant, is in a MSS. account of the family in 1858 by John Carter of "The Nest," Lancaster County, who derived most of his traditions from a maiden aunt - Miss Fanny Carter, born in 1738, died in 1830, who seems to have known a great deal about the family. But in every generation the spinsters of a family, having no husband or children to occupy their time, have been the repositors of its genealogical lore. The account of Thomas Carter is as follows :
"Our ancestors came to Virginia about two hundred years ago & settled in Lancaster County. The first one of the Carters was my grandfather's grandfather Thomas Carter son of a London merchant of good family.
"I have heard said there was two brothers of them the other being a John Carter who settled south of the river in Essex but further I can't say. And I have heard said we are kin to old Robert Carter who is buried at old Christ Church in this County but have never found out how. He was very rich - some say the richest man in Virginia.
"Our old Ancestor Thomas Carter was about 21 years old when he come to Lancaster and he was a man of substance and position as a planter and tobacco trader. He was married twice. First to an English woman whose name I've never heard, they had 2 or 3 children who all died young. She died and he married a Miss Dale of good connections and had seven sons and two daughters named Thomas, Edward, James, John, Henry,
Peter, & Joseph and the girls was Betty and Katy.
"Betty married a Mr. George and has descendants in this county. Katy aunt Fanny said was a great beauty and married a Mr. Tabb and I guess was the great grandmother of the Gloucester Tabbs who are a rich and prominent family." Note. - The old Carter Prayer Book says that Katharine Carter married John Lawson on the 16th of June 1703.
The remainder of this MSS. will be given under the different branches of the family to which it refers. It is written in a little leather bound "Diary" for the year 1858 and is now owned by Miss Mary Carter, an aged lady, at present living in Lincoln County, Ky. It was sent to her uncle Thomas Carter, in 1858, by his uncle John Carter of Lancaster County. The first page is as follows: "The Carter Family Tree, for Thomas Carter Esq., Lexington, Ky. Written out by John Carter of The Nest Lancaster County Virginia from notes from the old papers at the Court House and the recollections of his aunt Miss Frances Carter who was born in the year 1738 and died in the year 1830."
As shown by the above note and the Lancaster records, Capt. Thomas Carter was besides being a planter, a merchant and tobacco trader and probably was the son of a merchant. This is true of the majority of the seventeenth century Virginians who made any stir in the social or political affairs of the colony. While most of them were more or less closely connected with the minor gentry at home in England, and an occasional "cousin to a lord," in the main the emigrants were either members of the various craft guilds or professions or sons of members.
Of the social status of these ancient tradesmen we know that in the seventeenth century the military, clerical, legal and medical professions and the mechanical and merchantile arts held relations to the social life of England vastly different from what they now have. These professions and occupations at that time were filled by the younger sons of both the nobility and landed gentry, who, owing to the law of primogeniture fixing the parental estate upon the eldest son, were thus dispersed to seek their fortune and honor elsewhere, without in any way affecting their lineal traits or mental and social investments. So a great deal of the very best blood in England entered the twelve great craft or livery companies as indentured apprentices to learn some trade or craft and later to be freemen of the same. Long lists of titled persons who actually served their apprenticeship have appeared. It is said that "from these companies sprang many of the noblest houses and grandest characters of English history."
Upon their arrival in Virginia many of these seventeenth century emigrants set up stores along the great rivers; commanded their own trading vessels, or went into business as master craftsmen, such as saddlers, carpenters, etc. Among the early merchants were the ancestors of many of the families that for three centuries have been pre-eminent in Virginia, such as the Lees, Byrds, Randolphs, Nelsons, Carters of Corotoman, Lightfoots, and others. Upon acquiring land, which most of them did soon after landing, the English law gave them the right to resume the distinguishing title of "gentleman" and the coat of arms, which came to them from their landed ancestors in England.
Mrs. Sally Nelson Robins, a descendant of some of Virginia's most prominent families, writes : "We Virginians should never be scornful of trade, for the best of our forefathers (and indeed the most of the early ones) coined money in their houses of general merchandise. * * * They did not come to the New World for the pleasure of the thing - ah, no it was for a better living than England afforded them, and when they got here they had to hustle, as the pioneers who suffered and toiled in Alaska hustled twenty years ago. The Virginia colonist didn't have the snow and ice in abundance, but he had chills and fever - much worse - and other ills not accounted for. To make his living he set up a store, or contracted for the erection of buildings, and in consequence was called "carpenter," and this affix to his honorable name shocks his twentieth century descendants, who think of Virginians as dashing cavaliers, never as tradesmen. The little store helped to move the great plantation and evolved the lordly planter, the most picturesque personage (after the Indian) in America."
Like Colonels Edward and John Carter, Captain Thomas Carter seems to have lived at first after he came to Virginia in Nansemond County and to have continued his store in that county after he had removed to Lancaster. He appears first in the tax list of Lancaster County in 1653 when "Mr. Tho: Carter" paid tithes on himself and four servants. From this time on until his death he appears with a varying number of servants - in 1663 he paid for twenty, and in 1699, the year before he died, for nine.
He purchased his first plantation of about eight hundred acres on the "Eastermost branch of Corotoman River" from Col. John Carter, and June 1, 1654, acknowledged the debt in court - 12,852 pounds of tobacco to be paid the following October "at ye dwelling house of the said Mr Tho: Carter," and 130 sterling on Sept. 18, 1655. "Mr. Thomas Carter," Planter," "Merchant," and "Gent." acquired land as follows :
Jan. 14, 1656, from George Marsh, 560 acres; 1658 from Edmund Lunsford a plantation, acreage not given; Dec. 8, 1674 from his father-in-law Edward Dale, "Gent." 500 acres ; May 27, 1657 a patent for 150 acres; Sept. 20, 1661, patent for 220 acres; and in the next thirty years patents for small parcel a gg re g atin g 47° acres. He seems to have kept practically all of this during his lifetime. The old court records show that he
appeared frequently as the attorney for non-residents of Lancaster both in other parts of Virginia and England, thus showing that he had a wide acquaintance.
"Oct ye 21 st 1663 According to order the Oath of a Commissioner (justice) was this day Administered to Capt. Thomas Carter after which he sat in the Court," and continued on the bench until Nov. 8, 1665. March 8, 1670 the following order of court was recorded : "At ye request of Mr. Edward Dale, Mr. Tho. Carter is dep'td Clerke for the said Dale for conformation of whom in ye Clerke's place it is ordered by this Court Y at a been sent to ye Ho bl Thomas Ludwell Esq 1- Secretary for his approbation." The first order shows that he was a captain in the Lancaster militia. It is also believed that he was a burgess in 1667 and probably subsequently. The Randolph papers show that a "Captain Carter" was a burgess in that year and a member of one of the committees. This was during the "Long Assembly", which convened March 23, 1661, and lasted until Mar. 7, 1676 without a general election. At this time there seems to have been no other Carters, of any prominence, in Virginia outside of those in Lancaster County, and Giles Carter of Henrico County, who is said to have never held any military or political position. In Lancaster County the tax list for 1667 shows the names of "Col. John Carter, Sr." ; Col. Edward Carter", "Capt. Thomas Carter," and "Mr. John Carter, Jun." April 11, 1666 Col. John Carter, Sr. as presiding justice administered the oath of a justice to his son "Mr. Jo: Carter", whose name appears in the list of justices with the title of "Mr." until 1670, when he appeared as "Capt." John Carter. For a number of years prior to 1661 Lancaster county had two and sometimes three representatives in the House of Burgesses, but the incomplete lists of the "Long Assembly" give her but one, though it is presumed that she had as many burgesses during that period as before and after.
Were the old vestry book of Christ Church in existence it would most probably show the name of Capt. Thomas Carter among the vestrymen and church wardens. The old vestry book beginning in 1739 for the combined parishes of Christ Church and St. Mary's White Chapel, gives the names of the two sons of Capt. Thomas Carter surviving at that time, and two of his grandsons among the vestrymen and church wardens ; and a grandson and a great grandson were clerks of the vestry for a number of years.
From Mrs. John Scarlett Smith of San Francisco, whose stepmother was a Carter, I have obtained the old Carter Prayer Book, printed in 1662, which contains many valuable records of this family.
The early marriage and birth records in this old book are all in the same handwriting, but as it is a seventeenth century hand, they were probably written in by Capt. Thomas himself in his old days, or else copied from some other record by one of his sons.
His Marriage and Children.
"With this Book (p r R v?) Mr John Shepperd on Wednsday ye 4th Day of May 1670 - was Mar'd Mr Thomas Carter of Barford in ye County of Lancaster in Virg'a & Katharine Dale ye eldest Daughter of Mr Edw. Dale ye same County." Capt. Thomas and Katharine Dale Carter had issue ten sons and three daughters, three of whom died in infancy.
"Edward ye eldest Sonne of Tho. & Kath'n Carter was born on ye 9th Ap'll 1671 of a Sunday at 8 aClock in ye Morn 8 and was bap 12 on Sunday the 30* Mr John Carter, Mr Edw'n Conaway & Mr Edw. Dale Gdfath rs & Mrs Diana Dale & M sz Lettys Corby n G'dMoth rs ."
"Thomas Carter son of Thomas was Born on the 4th day of June 1672 betw'n 3 & 4 aclock in ye Morn 8 and was Baptz d att ye new Church Aug 1 5th. Capt n John Lee, Mr Th: Hayne, ye Lady Ann Skipworth & Eliz h Dale godpar* 9 ."
"John 3 d Son was born ye 8th May 1674 and bap d Sunday y* 24 11 and had for God parents Col. Jno Carter, Mr Jno Stretchley and Mrs Ball."
"Henry Skipwith, 4th sonn Tho. & Kath. Carter born d of a Wednesday the 7 th June & was baptzd att Home by R ey Mr Dogette on Sun day after Service ye 18th Cap" W m Ball, Cap n David Fox and Mrs Sarah Fleete standing.
"Diana ye Eldest Daugh r Th: & Kath n Carter was born on the last Day of Ap n 1678 near 5 in the Affnoone and Christn d on Sunday 12 of May by M r Doggett when was Entertain 11 a large Company. M rs Diana Dale, M rs Mary Willys & Cap" Ball God parents. She Depart* 1 this Life of a Putrid Soar Throate at ye age of 2 yeares and 3 days."
"Wm & Nich twin sonnes of Tho : Carter born 2 d Nov r 1679 and dyed on the nth & 12th July 1680 of a Cholrey.
"Elizabeth 2 d Dauter was Born 11 day of Feb y 1680 about Sunrise & weigh d n lbs. Baptz d at S l Marys Sunday 15 May M rs Margaret Ball, M rs Elizabeth Rogers & Captain Ball standing for her.
"Daniel son of Thomas & Katharine Carter born 22 d Oct'br 1682 and died on the 30 11 of a Fit."
"James 8th sonn was Borne on Christ mas Day 1684 it being Thursday at 2 in the morn 8 & was Chris nd at Home on Sundy. Mr Jno Edwards, M r Tho. Wilkes & M rs Edwards standing as God parts ."
"Katharine 3 d Dau. was born at 6 aclock Easter Morning 4 h Ap 1 1686 Bap d on Whit-Sund y Mr David Fox M rs Hannah Fox & M rs Sarah Perrotte Gdp ts ."
"Peter 9th Son was Born near Midnight 23 d May 1688 & Baptzd on 3 d June M r Edwin Conaway, M r Tho. Dudly & M ri Ann Chowning standing."
"Joseph Youngest son born Friday 28 Nov r 1690 & Christ and at home on 10th Dec r M r Rob 1 Carter & Mr Joseph Ball Godfath rs & M rs Judith Carter Godmother."
Capt. Thomas Carter, Sr. died Oct. 22, 1700 "aged about 70 years."
Mrs. Catharine Dale Carter died May 10, 1703 in the 51st year of her life.
Capt. Carter's will, dated Aug. 16, 1700 was probated Nov. 14, 1700 by his second son Thomas Carter, Jr. He divided his estate as follows: Wife Catharine to have the home plantation for the rest of her life, a negro man named Dick, the great table, and one-third of the remainder of his personal property. Sons Edward, Thomas, Henry (then in England) and John to each have a hundred acres of land; son James to have the land devised to Henry if the latter did not return from England. Daughters Elizabeth and Katharine, and sons Peter and Joseph had been provided for by their grandfather Dale. Son-in-law William George to account for 1,560 pounds of tobacco that he had advanced him on the Dale estate due to his wife from her grandfather. Son Thomas to have the home plantation after the death of his mother. The rest of his real and personal estates to be divided equally between all children.
Capt. Carter sealed his will with a seal showing the crest of his father-in-law, Edward Dale, which doubtless was more convenient at the time of signing the paper than his own seal. The original papers in Virginia show numerous examples of men using some other family seal than their own, though they are known to have possessed one with their own crest on it.
The personal estate amounted to £236. and included a "parcel of old Bookes", a silver drinking pot, tankard, and twelve silver spoons, beside the usual household and plantation furnishings of a man of his class.
I obtained from a Mr. Dorit, a Lancaster photographer, a photograph and description of a delapidated old frame house standing not far from Corotoman River, and said to have been the old Carter home. It is a long wooden building, a story and a half high, and dormer windows front and back. There are four rooms and a small hall on each floor. A small chimney in the center and a great inside chimney at each end with enormous fireplaces upstairs and down. On either side of these end chimneys were large alcoves or closets with windows in them. The main rooms were about sixteen by twenty-four feet.
Imagination easily pictures Thomas Carter with his family and neighbors in the long winter evenings gathered about the huge log fires piled high in these wide throated chimneys at "Barford." And while the boys and girls played the old-time English games, roasting chestnuts, telling apple seeds, or dancing the old English dances, their elders around a great bowl of steaming punch (as was the custom), sang the old songs and told tales of the old days "at home" - their hearts and minds filled with happy recollections, as they watched the tree in its last glorious hour
giving back its memories in amethyst and sapphire haze, and gold and crimson flame. Memories, like those of the men and women about it, of blue skies and lost rainbows of Junes far past ; of threatening clouds and scurrying snowflakes of gray days untinged with gold. The sweet perfume of flowers, soft, clear call of birds, and drifting mounds of fallen leaves - friendly ghosts of days long gone conjured back in swift changing shadows along the walls and floor.
THE DESCENDANTS OF Capt. Thomas Carter OF "Barford" Lancaster County, Virginia
BY JOSEPH LYON MILLER, M. D.
Reference:
THE DESCENDANTS OF Capt. Thomas Carter OF "Barford" Lancaster County, Virginia JOSEPH LYON MILLER, M. D.
74174333 genealogy of the descendants of Jacob Carter of South Carolina.
Thomas Carter
Sex: M
Individual Information
Birth Date: 8 May 1720
Christening:
Death: 1738 - ( at age 18)
Burial:
Parents
Father: Joseph Carter
Mother: Catherine Stevens
Notes
General:
Thomas 4 Carter (Joseph, 3 Thomas, 2 Thomas 1 ), born May 8, 1720, was killed by accidental discharge of a gun at
the wedding celebration of his sister, Mary Elizabeth, Christmas week, 1738.
Thomas Carter
Sex: M
Individual Information
Birth Date: 1 Feb 1700 - Gloucester Co., VA 25
Christening:
Death: 3 Dec 1776 - ( at age 76) 25
Burial:
Parents
Father: Edward Carter
Mother: Elizabeth Thornton
Spouses and Children
1. *Anne Hunton
Marriage: 15 Jan 1750 25
Status:
Children:
1. Edward Carter
2. John Carter
3. George Carter
4. Thomas Carter
5. James Carter
6. Raleigh Carter
7. Sarah Carter
8. Alice Carter
9. Judith Carter
10. Lucy Carter
11. Mary Carter
12. Millicent Carter
Notes
General:
Thomas Carter is mentioned as follows :
1795-
"Jan. 6. I went with Capt. Fouchee to Thomas Carter's to see
about his son's board. Rained all day."
"Jan. 9. Received a letter from Col. Conway and one to
Nancy upon religion, but in my opinion very little to the purpose.
Thomas Carter ree'd one which displeased him very much. Col.
4 GENEALOGY OF THE CARTER FAMILY
Conway seems so great a bigot that people who are religiously
inclined dispise his advice.''
"Aug. 10. Went to Col. Conway's in order to make friends
with him about the letters he has lately rec'd from Thomas Carter,
or in his name - which I performed with much difficulty. The
old gentleman was in a great rage at first."
"Oct. 22. Col. Conway has begun to write to Thomas Carter,
which surprises us all, after his promise to have done with such
writings."
"Nov. 30. Thomas Carter here and several of the neighbors."
1761.
"Aug. 10. I went for some of the neighbors, viz: Dale and
Thomas Carter, John Mitchell, etc.," about getting a new minister.
"Dec. 26. Sent for several of the neighbors to dine with us -
Col. Taloe, Mr. Dale Carter, Thomas Carter and many of the
girls of the neighborhood. All very agreable."
1762.
"April 29. We went to Mr. Thomas Carter's to Mrs. Whale's
funeral, where Mr. Waddel preached an excellent sermon to a
large number of people, who seemed well pleased."
Note. - Mrs. Whale was probably the mother of Thomas
Carter's second wife, who was Anne Wale, before her first
marriage.
1763.
"Feb. 13. Mr. Waddel proposed ten persons for elders - Col.
Selden, Dr. Robertson, Mr. Chichester, Dr. Watson, Mr. Thomas
Carter, Mr. Dale Carter, Mr. John Mitchell, Mr. Belvard, Mr.
Wright and myself."
"Aug. 14. Told Mr. Criswell that his difference with Mr.
W. has made it disagreeable at his boarding longer at our house,
so he and his wife went to Thomas Carter's."
Note. - Mr. Criswell was the minister of the Episcopal church,
and Mr. Waddel was the famous Presbyterian minister of that
day.
"Aug. 23. After dinner went with Mr. Chichester to the meet-
ing house to meet Mr. Waddell and Mr. Criswell, who appointed
this day to talk over their differences before Mr. Thomas Carter
and Col. Selden. After much debate they agreed to be friends."
"Sept. 13. This day our son Nathaniel was baptized by Mr.
Wadell. No company but Mr. Chichester and Nancy, Molly Chi-
chester with Mr. Carter and their girls."
In 1745 and '46 Thomas Carter was a member of the vestry
of Christ Church as shown -by the old vestry book. He seems
later to have gone to the Presbyterians as in 1763 his name was
one of ten proposed as elders in that church. In 1747 and 1752
his name appears in a poll of freeholders of Lancaster, when
he voted for Col. Edwin Conway and Capt. Wm. Tayloe for
burgesses.
Dec. 1, 1776, '"Thomas Carter of Christ Church Parish, Lan-
caster, Gent.' made his will, which was probated on the 19th ;
he died Dec. 3rd. He disposed of his estate as follows : To son
John, negroes Mima and Winny ; son Edward to have his lower
plantation and negro Frank ; son Thomas, all that he had paid
on a hundred acres of land, half his wearing apparel and son
Thomas Carter's son Edward a negro woman named Sue ; son
George to have negro woman Siller, and his book called "Becket
on the New Testament" ; son James to have negro men named
Mark and Mingo to maintain him during his natural life - and
he was to be under the care of his brother Edward Carter, who
was to have the two negroes if James lived fifteen years longer;
son Rawleigh to have his upper plantation and a negro woman ;
daughter Millicent Cummings to have the three negroes he
had already given her, Which was all he intended for her ; daugh-
ter Sarah McTire to have an equal share in his residuary estate
as he had already given her a negro divided in the estate of her
first husband, Robert Henning, Jr. ; daughter Alice Griggs to
have two negroes, horse "Jewell" and her side saddle; daughter
Judith Chilton a negro woman; to daughter Mary Chilton's
son Charles Chilton £40, he having already given her son Thomas
Chilton a like sum; daughter-in-law (step-daughter) Anne Hun-
ton, a negro girl, a side saddle, the least great Bible, a new
table "cloath," second best bed and furniture, the old desk, and
a loom and weaving gear; cousin Dale Carter five pounds for a
mourning ring. All children except Millicent Cummings to
share in the residuary estate. Sons Edward and Raleigh to be
executors.
Thomas Carter
Sex: M
Individual Information
Birth Date:
Christening:
Death:
Burial:
Parents
Father: Edward Carter Sr
Mother: Elizabeth Heale
Notes
General:
Thomas 3 Carter (Edward, 2 Thomas 1 ) owned and
lived on a plantation on Corotoman River adjoining the homes of Col. James Gordon, and his cousin Dale Carter. Col. Gordon mentions him several times in his Journal, from which I take the following extracts:
1759.
Jan. 6. "I went with Capt. Fouchee to Thomas Carter's to see about his son's Board. Rained all day'
Jan. 9. "Received a letter from Col. Conway and one to Nancy upon religion, but in any opinion very little to the purpose. Thos. Carter rec'd one which displeased him very much. Col. Conway seems so great a bigot that people who are religiously inclined dispise his advice."
Aug. 10. "Went to Col. Conway's in order to make friends with him about the letters he has lately rec'd from Thomas Carter, or in his name - which I performed with much difficulty. The old gentleman was in a great rage at first."
Oct. 22. "Col. Conway has begun again to write to Thomas Carter, which surprises us all, after his promise to have done with such writings."
James Davis,
of "Broadfield," Spotsylvania County.
Nov. 30. "Thomas* Carter here and several of the neighbors."
1761
Aug. 10. "I went for some of the neighbors, viz.: Dale & Thos. Carter, John Mitchell, &c," about getting a new minister.
Dec. 26. "Sent for several of the neighbors to dine with us - Col. Taylor, Mr. Dale Carter, Thomas Carter & many of the girls of the neighborhood. All very agreeable."
Apr. 29, 1762. "We went to Mr. Thomas Carter's to Mrs. Whale's funeral, where Mr. Waddel preached an excellent sermon to a large number of people, who seemed much pleased."
Feb. 13, 1763. "Mr. Waddel proposed ten persons for
elders - Col. Selden, Dr. Robertson, Mr. Chichester, Dr. Watson, Mr. Thomas Carter, Mr. Dale Carter, Mr. John Mitchell, Mr. Belvard, Mr. Wright, & myself.
1763.
Aug. 14. "Told Mr. Criswell that his difference with Mr. W. has made it disagreeable his boarding longer at our house, so he & his wife went to Thos. Carter's."
Aug. 23. "After dinner went with Mr. Chichester to the meeting house to meet Mr. Waddel & Mr. Criswell, who appointed this day to talk over their differences before Mr. Thomas Carter and Col. Selden. After much debate they agreed to be friends."
Sept. 13. "This day our son Nathaniel was baptized by Mr. Waddell. No Company but Mr. Chichester & Nancy, Molly Chichr. with Mr. Carter and their girls."
At a poll of freeholders in 1747 and again in 1752 for the election of Burgesses Thomas Carter voted for Col. Edwin Conway and Capt. Wm. Tayloe.
January 15, 1750, Thomas Carter married as his second wife Mrs. Anne Hunton, nee Wall, widow of Thomas Hunton whom she had married on Nov. 15, 1737. She had at least one daughter by her former husband *as Thomas Carter remembers his daughter-in-law Anne Hunton in his will. By his first wife Thomas Carter had issue as follows :
46. Edward, died in Lancaster in 1781.
47. Thomas.
48. George, removed to Spotsylvania about 1743, and later to Buckingham county prior to 1766.
49. John, removed to Spotsylvania about 1743, where he died 1783.
50. Rawleigh, removed to Amelia County prior to 1772.
51. James, probably a cripple or an embecile.
52. Margaret, married a Cummings.
53. Sarah, married a Mr. McTire.
54. Alice, married a Mr. Griggs.
55. Judith, married a Mr. Chilton.
56. Mary, married a Mr. Chilton.
57. Lucy, married John Smither, Nov. 11, 1761.
"Thomas Carter, of Christ Church Parish Gent." made his will in 1776, prob. Dec. 19, 1776. To son John two negroes; to son Edward two negroes and his lower plantation; son Thomas all the cash he had paid on a tract of a hundred acres of land, all his wearing apparel, and to Thomas's son Edward a negro ; son Rawleigh a negro and his upper plantation ; son George a negro and his book called "Becket on the New Testament" ; daughter Judith Chilton a negro; daughter Margaret Cummings three negroes that he had already given her daughter Sarah McTire an equal share of estate after all legacies were paid, as he had already given her a negro devided
in the estate of her first husband Robert Henning, Jr. ; daughter Alice Griggs two negroes, horse and sidesaddle; son James two negro men to maintain him during his natural life. He was to be under the care of his son Edward, who was to receive the negroes if James lived fifteen years longer. Also
gave James his best bed and furniture; to grandson Charles Chilton, son of daughter Mary, £40, he having already given a like sum to his brother Thomas Chilton. To daughter-in-law Anne Hunton he gave a negro girl, her sidesaddle, his least
great Bible a new table cloath, second best bed and furniture, his old desk and a loom and weaving gear. To cousin Dale Carter £5. All children to share alike in the residuary estate. Sons Edward and Rawleigh to be executors.