John CARTER

1613 - 1669  (55 years)

• Name	John CARTER  [1, 2]
  Birth	7 Oct 1613	Shadwell, London Borough of Tower Hamlets, Greater London, England   [1, 2]
  Gender	Male
  FamilySearch ID	LZPY-WMQ
  Immigration	1635	Virginia, United States   [3]
  Death	10 Jan 1669	Lancaster, Virginia, British Colonial America   [1, 2]
  Will Dated	15 Sep 1669  [3]
  Will Proved	6 Jan 1670	, Lancaster, Virginia, USA   [3]
  Name	John Carter  [3]
  Name	John Carter  [3]
  Name	John Carter  [3]
  Burial	Christ Church Cemetery, Weems, Lancaster, Virginia   [1, 2]
  Person ID	I594785094	Carney Wehofer 2024 Genealogy
  Last Modified	22 Dec 2024

  
  

  Father	John William CARTER,   b. 5 Jun 1574, Watford, Hertfordshire, England d. 25 Jan 1630, Newgate, London, England (Age 55 years)
  Mother	Elizabeth Bridget BENION,   b. 1578, London, Middlesex, England d. 1630, London, Middlesex, England (Age 52 years)
  Family ID	F536734218	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family 1	Jane GLYNNE,   b. 1613, Fulham, Middlesex, England d. Abt 1655, Lancaster Colony, Virginia, British Colonial America (Age 42 years)
  Marriage	Abt 1638	Probably England   [3]
  Children	1. Elizabeth CARTER,   b. 1636, Lincolnshire, England d. 4 Aug 1699, Spesutia, Baltimore, Maryland, British Colonial America (Age 63 years)   2. Frances CARTER,   b. 1 Mar 1637, Lancaster, Virginia, British Colonial America d. 27 Mar 1699, Spesutie Cemetery, Harford, Maryland, British Colonial America (Age 62 years)   3. George CARTER,   b. 1638, Norfolk, New Kent County, Virginia Colony d. 1638, Norfolk, New Kent County, Virginia Colony (Age 0 years)   4. John CARTER,   b. 1642, Corotoman Plantation, Lancaster County, Virginia Colony d. Between 3 Jun 1690 and 13 Jun 1690, likely Corotoman Plantation, Lancaster, Colony of Virginia, British Colonial America (Age 48 years)
  Family ID	F536734219	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	22 Dec 2024

  
  

  Family 2	Elinor ELTONHEAD,   b. 1608, Eltonhead, Lancashire, England d. Apr 1656, Weems, Lancaster, Virginia, British Colonial America (Age 48 years)
  Marriage	9 Apr 1655	Corotoman, Lancaster, Virginia, USA   [3]
  Family ID	F536734220	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	22 Dec 2024

  
  

  Family 3	Sarah LUDLOW,   b. 1620, Maiden Bradley, Wiltshire, England d. 10 Jun 1668, Corotoman Plantation, Lancaster County, Virginia Colony, British Colonial America (Age 48 years)
  Marriage	1662	Lancaster, Virginia, British Colonial America   [2]
  Children	1. Sarah CARTER,   b. 1662, Corotoman, Lancaster, Virginia, United States d. 1662, Corotoman, Lancaster, Virginia, United States (Age 0 years)   2. Robert CARTER,   b. 4 Aug 1663, Lancaster, Virginia, British Colonial America d. 4 Aug 1732, Corotoman, Lancaster, Virginia, British Colonial America (Age 69 years)
  Family ID	F536734134	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	22 Dec 2024

  
  

• Notes

  John Carter Jr. was the orphan son of an London wine merchant. Five years after his father's death, he sailed to the Virginia Colony. After some years in transatlantic commerce, he focused on acquiring property in Virginia, and prospered. Colonel John Carter setled in Nansemond Couny prior to 1650, purchased several thousand acres of land on Corotoman River, Lancaster, to which he removed. Ultimately he served in the Virginia House of Burgesses and on the Governor's Council. He founded the more famous branch of the Carter family of Virginia. The immigrant ancestor of the other branch, Thomas Carter of Barford plantation (d. 1700) may have been related, but he was not a brother of this John Carter. The John Carter who is the subject of this profile had a younger brother Thomas who became a pewterer and stayed in England. In contrast, Virginia colonist Thomas Carter settled in Northumberland County initially, and later moved to Lancaster County (John Carter's home county). He was most likely a cousin of John Carter (1613-1670) On the passenger list of the "Safety" 10 August 1635, John Carter gave his age as 22 . On 12 May 1638, he gave evidence in the High Court of Admiralty in London, stating that his age was 24. Accordingly, he must have been born between 12 May and 10 August of 1613. His father was the London merchant and vintner John Carter, who died in 1630 leaving ten children. From the estate documents, it is clear that John Carter (Jr.) was the son of the vintner's first marriage, to Elizabeth Benion (or Benyon), as John Carter Sr. designated her brother Gabriel Benion as executor of his estate and, in particular, charged him with the financial care of his children. The will names a second wife, Bridget, but her maiden name is unknown. There is no evidence demonstrating that any of the ten children of John Carter Sr. (the vintner) were hers, but at a minimum the older children must have been the offspring of Elizabeth Benion. (As a fine point, there is a chance that the first wife's given name was Mary rather than Elizabeth, but based on subsequent naming patterns in the family, her name was much more likely to have been Elizabeth.) The previous version of this sketch stated that John Carter Jr. "was christened on December 18, 1614 at Christ Church Parish of Newgate Street in London, near St. Paul's Cathedral." Unfortunately, the alleged christening date is without support, as the parish register perished in the Great Fire of 1666. In addition, it is at odds with John Carter's own statements about his age. [The prior version of this Sketch also referred to John Carter's "2-year older brother Thomas," but this is the product of a merely assumption that the two Carter men on the "Safety" In 1635 were brothers. They were not. John Carter had a brother Thomas, as noted above, but he was younger than John, as he is listed after John both in their father's will and in the proceedings before the Court of Orphans regarding the family. I have removed other useless speculation from the Sketch. – Barry Wood 5 March 2023] As noted above, John Carter, age 22, sailed to the Virginia Colony from England in 1635 aboard the ship Safety. He subsequently returned to England, as in his 1638 testimony to the Admiralty Court he stated that in June 1637 he did "lade aboard the ship Leaman (Benjamin Woolmer, master) in the port of London for his own account" cargo bound to Virginia. He and the cargo were captured by the Spanish, but he made his way back to London. During his time back in England, he courted and married Jane Glyn. Jane is identified as the daughter of Morgan Glyn on her tombstone in Virginia. The prior version of this sketch stated, without a source, that Mr. Glyn "owned land in Middlesex, England and Llanidloes[,] Montgomeryshire in Wales"). John Carter returned to Virginia by about 1640, as he acquired land in Upper Norfolk County (which is now Nansemond County) then, and became the area's representative in the House of Burgesses (1642). In August 1642 John Carter bought 1300 acres on Cossotomen Creak (which became Carters Creek) north of the Rappahannock River in what became Lancaster County from Daniel Gookin, a burgess and Puritan who was preparing to leave Virginia for Maryland and eventually Massachusetts. That land grant would become the core of Carter's Corotoman plantation. In December 1643 John Carter patented 300 acres in Nansemond County for transporting six indentured servants to the colony. Unfortunately, the Powhatan Confederacy under Opecancanough rose up against white settlers in 1644, killing many as well as destroying farms and livestock. Major John Carter led the Lancaster County militia on a retaliatory expedition against the Rappahannock tribe the next year. Governor William Berkeley then made a treaty restricting white settlement to lands south of the York River, although Carter's land on the Rappahannock River was considerably north. By 1649 Governor Berkeley withdrew from that provision and again allowed settlements north of the York and even Rappahannock River. Carter settled on the Corotoman land by 1652. He farmed it using indentured and enslaved labor, and made it his permanent home. Carter served many terms in the House of Burgesses, representing Upper Norfolk County beginning in 1642. He returned to England no later than 1651, when he entered into a business arrangement with his maternal uncle Gabriel Benion (whose son Daniel was in the Virginia colony) styled as a "merchant adventure" for the delivery of cargo to Virginia on the "John and Thomas," which sailed in October 1651. In this deal, the Benions and Carter acted as factors for Richard Glover. They sold the cargo in Virginia in exchange for tobacco. Part of the tobacco thus acquired was shipped back to England in "The Seven Sisters" as part of the English fleet departing Chesapeake Bay in June, 1652. Unfortunately, there was more tobacco than could be laden on English ships, so the balance was loaded onto the Dutch ship "Fortune" on James River, with the approval of the Governor, to return to Europe. The Fortune was, however, seized by the English frigate "HMS Warwick" and taken to Plymouth pursuant to the Navigation Act 1651, which required all cargo out of the American colonies to pass on English bottoms. It is unclear whether Carter, the Benions and Richard Glover were able to recover their goods. Whatever the outcome of the suit, John Carter soon returned to Virginia. He represented Lancaster County in the House of Burgesses beginning in 1652. He also held various local offices. By 1652, Carter was colonel of the Lancaster County militia. The following year Carter was one of the Justices of the Peace for neighboring Northumberland County, together with Richard Lee and Toby Fleet, The General Assembly also named Carter Commander-in-Chief of the militias of Northumberland, Lancaster and Rappahannock Counties -- all of which continued to face Native American raids. In 1654 Carter was among Lancaster County's 117 enumerated households and paid taxes on 33 "tithables" (essentially all adult men, including indentured and enslaved workers). In 1655 Carter also became the tax collector for all major ships entering the Rappahannock River. For this service, he was paid 4% of the tax levied. In 1655-6, Carter also built the lower courthouse for the county. It ran over budget. On March 13, 1658, Carter's fellow Burgesses elected Carter to the Governor's Council. This was generally a lifetime appointment. Carter was a Royalist. When news reached Virginia concerning Oliver Cromwell's death and his son Richard Cromwell's succession as Lord Protector, Carter objected so strenuously that the Cromwellian Governor, Samuel Mathews, issued a warrant for his arrest. Upon the restoration of King Charles II to the throne the following year, he confirmed the reappointment of William Berkeley as Virginia's Governor. Berkeley and Carter also received reparations for their tobacco and trade losses under the Cromwellian regime. Carter won reappointment to the Governor's Council and probably served the rest of his life, but the records from that period are too incomplete to be certain. In 1663, John Carter acquired another 2,160 acres in Lancaster County, and the number of his tithables increased to 45. A year later, the county was physically reduced to the land which became present day Lancaster and Middlesex Counties. In or about 1665, when Carter was warden of Christ Church, he began construction of a church, which would be completed a year after his death. It was later superseded by the historic brick church which remains today. In October 1665, Carter received his largest land grant of all, for 4,000 acres. Evidently this included a land covered by a prior grant to Captain Samuel Mathews (the Cromwellian governor), but Mathews had died and abandoned his claim. Carter established his entitlement to the land based on his having paid for eighty people to emigrate to Virginia, including 21 people of African origin or descent. Under the headright system, the importation of 80 people (at 50 acres per person) equated to 4,000 acres. Col. John Carter died on January 10, 1669/70. (Some say June 10, 1669, but the replacement tombstone clearly shows the month as "Jan."). By the time of his death, Carter had 58 tithables. His will was not recorded until more than 50 years later. The Lancaster County Order book records that on 6 February, 1722/3, "On the motion of Col. Robt. Carter It is Ordered that ye last Will & Testament of John Carter Esqr. Heretofore proved together with ye Codicils thereto Annexed together with their proof be inserted in ye Records of this Court." https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSL6-L9W2-R. He was an ancestor of, among many other notables, Lewis Burwell Puller, the most decorated Marine of all time.

  
  

• Sources

  [S1160] The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, FamilySearch Family Tree (http://www.familysearch.org), ((http://www.familysearch.org)), accessed 21 Dec 2024), entry for Robert Carter, person ID LTDM-3HZ. (Reliability: 3). [S1160] The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, FamilySearch Family Tree (http://www.familysearch.org), ((http://www.familysearch.org)), accessed 22 Dec 2024), entry for Sarah Ludlow, person ID LYTP-NGQ. (Reliability: 3). [S1160] The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, FamilySearch Family Tree (http://www.familysearch.org), ((http://www.familysearch.org)), accessed 22 Dec 2024), entry for John Carter, person ID LZPY-WMQ. (Reliability: 3).