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Colonel John Carter[1, 2, 3, 4]

Male 1613 - 1669  (56 years)


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  • Name John Carter  [5
    Title Colonel 
    Birth 1613  Newgate Christ Church, Middlesex, London, England Find all individuals with events at this location  [5, 6
    Gender Male 
    Arrival 1635  , , Virginia, USA Find all individuals with events at this location  [7
    Name Capt John William Carter 
    Name Col. John Carter 
    Death 10 Jun 1669  Corotoman Plantation, Lancaster, Virginia, USA Find all individuals with events at this location  [5, 6
    Burial Weems, Lancaster, Virginia, USA Find all individuals with events at this location  [6
    Person ID I43359  Master
    Last Modified 17 Feb 2023 

    Father John William "The Vintner" Carter,   b. 5 Jun 1575, Watford, Hertfordshire, England Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 6 May 1630, Newgate Christ Church, Middlesex, London, England Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 54 years) 
    Mother Elizabeth Bridget Benion,   b. Oct 1583, All Halls Lombart Sreet, London, London, England Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 1630, London Christ Church Greyfriars Newgate, London, England Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 46 years) 
    Marriage 25 Apr 1609  London, London, England Find all individuals with events at this location  [5
    Family ID F10763  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family 1 Jane Glyn,   b. 1618, Fulham, London, London, England Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 1652, Corotoman Plantation, Lancaster, Virginia, USA Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 34 years) 
    Marriage 1635  , , Virginia, USA Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Children 
     1. Eleanor Carter,   b. 1 Mar 1637, Petersburg, Independent Cities, Virginia, USA Find all individuals with events at this locationd. Aug 1699, Spesutia, Harford, Maryland, USA Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 62 years)
    +2. Elizabeth Carter,   b. 1639, Corotoman Plantation, Lancaster, Virginia, USA Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 4 Aug 1699, Spesutia, Harford, Maryland, USA Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 60 years)
     3. George Carter,   b. 1640, , Lancaster, Virginia, USA Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 1654, Corotoman Plantation, Lancaster, Virginia, USA Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 14 years)
     4. Thomas Landon Carter,   b. 1642, , , Virginia, USA Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 6 Feb 1710, Nanticoke Plantation, Isle of Wight, Virginia, USA Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 68 years)
     5. John Carter,   b. 1653, , Lancaster, Virginia, USA Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 1690, Corotoman Plantation, Lancaster, Virginia, USA Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 37 years)
    Family ID F10724  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
    Last Modified 24 Jan 2023 

    Family 2 Eleanor Eltonhead,   b. 1632, Lancashire, England Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 1655, Corotoman Plantation, Lancaster, Virginia, USA Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 23 years) 
    Marriage 1655  Corotoman Plantation, Lancaster, Virginia, USA Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Family ID F10726  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
    Last Modified 24 Jan 2023 

    Family 3 Anne Carter,   b. 1635, Petersburg, Independent Cities, Virginia, USA Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 1662, Corotoman Plantation, Lancaster, Virginia, USA Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 27 years) 
    Marriage 26 Jul 1656  , Lancaster, Virginia, USA Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Children 
     1. Anne Carter,   b. 1657, Bedford, Bedfordshire, England Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 1684, , New Kent, Virginia, USA Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 27 years)
    Family ID F10725  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
    Last Modified 24 Jan 2023 

    Family 4 Sarah Ludlow,   b. 1635, Maiden Bradley, Wiltshire, England Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 10 Jun 1668, Corotoman Plantation, Lancaster, Virginia, USA Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 33 years) 
    Marriage 1662  Corotoman Plantation, Lancaster, Virginia, USA Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Children 
     1. Sarah Carter,   b. 1662, Corotoman Plantation, Lancaster, Virginia, USA Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 1662, Christ Church, Lancaster, Virginia, USA Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 0 years)
    +2. Robert "King" Carter,   b. 4 Aug 1663, Corotoman Plantation, Lancaster, Virginia, USA Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 4 Aug 1732, Corotoman Plantation, Lancaster, Virginia, USA Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 69 years)
     3. Charles Carter,   b. 1664, , Lancaster, Virginia, USA Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 1690 (Age 26 years)
     4. John Carter,   b. 1665, Gloucester, Gloucester, Virginia, USA Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 1690, Malè, Trento, Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 25 years)
    Family ID F10013  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
    Last Modified 24 Jan 2023 

    Family 5 Elizabeth Shirley,   b. 1648, Gloucester, Gloucester, Virginia, USA Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 1732, , , , England Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 84 years) 
    Marriage 24 Aug 1668  Corotoman Plantation, Lancaster, Virginia, USA Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Children 
     1. Charles Carter,   b. Apr 1669, Corotoman Plantation, Lancaster, Virginia, USA Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 1690, , , Georgia, USA Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 20 years)
    Family ID F10727  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
    Last Modified 24 Jan 2023 

  • Event Map
    Link to Google MapsBirth - 1613 - Newgate Christ Church, Middlesex, London, England Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsArrival - 1635 - , , Virginia, USA Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsMarriage - 1635 - , , Virginia, USA Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsMarriage - 1655 - Corotoman Plantation, Lancaster, Virginia, USA Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsMarriage - 26 Jul 1656 - , Lancaster, Virginia, USA Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsMarriage - 1662 - Corotoman Plantation, Lancaster, Virginia, USA Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsMarriage - 24 Aug 1668 - Corotoman Plantation, Lancaster, Virginia, USA Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsDeath - 10 Jun 1669 - Corotoman Plantation, Lancaster, Virginia, USA Link to Google Earth
     = Link to Google Earth 

  • Notes 
    • John Carter, Colonel
      Born ca 1613
      Died January 10, 1670 or June 10, 1669
      Immigrated between 1638 and 1641
      Married 5 times
      Owned: Corotoman Plantation, Lancaster County, Virginia

      Likely Family
      John was born ca 1613, based on his own statement in 1635 that he was "twenty-two." He was certainly born in England, but his parentage is uncertain, and no birth or christening record has been identified, as the records of Christchurch were lost in the Great Fire of London in 1665. He was probably the son of the Newgate vintner, John Carter and his wife, 'Elizabeth' Benion Carter, and if so, he was born at Newgate Christ Church, Middlesex, London, England. Whoever his parents were, they were well connected with the Virginia Company, at least as business associates and possibly as family.

      Parents: John Carter and Elizabeth Benion.
      Place of birth: Newgate Christ Church, Middlesex, London, England.

      John Carter is named in the ten children in the will of 'John Carter citizen and Vintner of London (PCC made 3 April 1630 proved 6 May 1630) all under the age of 21 years. The ten children were subsequently subject of an order under London's Court of Orphans.

      John Carter's son Robert "King" Carter adopted the coat of arms identical to that of William Carter the vintner of London, who Currer-Briggs speculates was the brother of John Carter the vintner of London, likely father of this John Carter. Currer-Briggs also notes that the decision to rename the Lancaster Co parish church as 'Christchurch' around 1670 when John Carter Snr was vestryman, and when he was committed to funding the building of a new church, provides a further connection back to Christchurch, London, the church where his father was buried in 1630 and given as his abode in 1638.

      Some sources suggest a specific date of birth: October 7, 1613

      Early Years and Immigration
      As a young man, John probably made frequent voyages, facilitating the tobacco trade between Virginia and London as a representative of the Virginia Company. His family in England certainly had connections, both political and economic in Virginia.

      On August 10, 1635, John boarded the Safety at London and gave his age as 22 years. Thomas Carter, presumed to be his brother aged 25 years, was also on the ship.

      On 12 May 1638 in the High Court of Admiralty, John Carter of 'Christchurch, London, aged 24 or thereabouts' gave evidence that in June 1637 he did 'lade aboard the ship Leaman (Benjamin Woolmer, master) in the port of London for his own account', goods to be transported to Virginia. He and his goods were captured by the Spanish and he landed back in London. This links John Carter Jnr to the parish of his father John Carter Snr, the vintner. .

      A further connection to London is provided by records of a Merchant adventure between Major john Carter, and Gabriel Benyon (his uncle) and Gabriel's son Daniel Benyon, then aged 24,with the ship the “John and Thomas” which sailed in October 1651, as factors for Richard Glover. Part of their cargo left Virginia in the “Seven Sisters” with other ships of the English fleet in June 1652. The remainder of the tobacco consigned to Gabriel Benyon and Richard Glover in London was put aboard the Dutch ship “Fortune” at James River and given leave by the Governor to carry it to England or Holland, as there was no room on any English ships. The “Fortune” was seized by the English frigate “HMS Warwick” and carried to Plymouth.

      He decided to settle in Virginia sometime between May 1638 and January 1641/2, when he began, almost immediately, his first term as burgess for Upper Norfolk County (later Nansemond).

      Marriages and Children
      John married five times. He may have married for the first time to Jane Glyn before settling in Virginia.

      1) Jane Glyn, born in Fulham, Middlesex, England, died before 1655, a daughter of Morgan Glyn.

      Children of John and Jane Glyn:

      Elizabeth Carter b ca 1651, d 4 Aug 1699; 1) Col. Nathaniel Utie, (as his 2nd), son of John Utie and Ann; 2) Capt. Henry Johnson; 3) Edward Boothby.
      George Carter died young
      John Carter, Lt. Col. born 1648, died 1690
      2) Eleanor (Eltonhead) Brocas, married in 1655, daughter of Richard Eltonhead, widow and 3rd wife of William Brocas of the Virginia council. She died soon after their marriage, and there were no known children.

      3) Anne Carter, married in 1656 on a trip to England, daughter of "Mr. Cleve Carter." She died soon after the marriage, and there were no known children.

      4) Sarah Ludlow, married in 1662, born 1635 and died before June 10, 1669, daughter of Gabriel Ludlow and Phillis Wakelyn, nephew of Cromwell's General Edmund Ludlow married by early 1660's. Her son, Robert, was less than five years old when she died.

      Children of John and Sarah (Ludlow), according to Richardson, there were four children:

      John Carter, Lt. Col.
      Robert "King" Carter
      Sarah Carter
      another daughter Carter
      Children of John and Sarah (Ludlow), according to Stephen Carter, there were two children:

      Sarah Carter died in infancy
      Robert "King" Carter b 1664, d 1732
      5) Elizabeth Shirley/Sherley, marriage agreement executed on October 24, 1668, a widow from Gloucester County, and according to Stephen Carter, this was not a happy marriage. Son, Charles, removed to England as a young man and died there in 1690.

      Child of John and Elizabeth Shirley/Sherley:
      Charles Carter b 1669 Lancaster Co, d 1690 England

      House of Burgess and Other Offices
      John served as Lieutenant-colonel, Burgess, and Councillor. He was first elected in 1642 as Burgess for Upper Norfolk County (in 1646 Nansemond). He served again in 1649 as Burgess for Nansemond County, and in 1654, 1657/58, 1658/59, and 1659/60, as Burgess for Lancaster County. He was elected as Governor's council in 1658, but returned as a Burgess in 1659. Records are incomplete, but in 1663, he had been reelected and was again serving as Councillor.

      John served as Commander against the Rappahannock Indians in 1654; he was made Colonel of Lancaster County in 1656. His troops are said to have "entirely exterminated the Rappahannock Indians.

      Corotoman
      By the time of his election as Burgess in 1642, John had probably established residence in Virginia. He first settled in Upper Norfolk County (Nasemond) and meanwhile he acquired land in Charles River County (to become Lancaster in 1751). In 1642, John received his first of several land grants along the north bank of the Rappahannock River. In April of 1652, he applied for an extension by act of the Assembly on his land in Lancaster County. It seems that soon thereafter he moved to this land and built Corotoman plantation which became the family home. Corotoman Plantation was located overlooking the Rappahannock, flanked by Carter's Creek on the east and the Corrotoman River on the west. In 1656, John was made Colonel of Lancaster County militia, and by 1666, both he and his son, John, were members of the vestry for the Lancaster County Christ Church.

      Christ Church
      John and his eldest son John were members of the Christ Church Parish vestry. John, Sr. was found in the vestry book beginning in 1654 (no longer extant), and sons John, Jr. and Robert were also included, their names always preceding the minister's in a large, bold hand. Signatures in vestry books indicated social status, so this placement is significant. Meade writes he has never seen anyone else's signature placed before the ministers, even baronets like Skipwith or Chicheley.

      John also had the contract to build the original Christ Church, said to be "the oldest religious edifice in Virginia," despite the fact that it was rebuilt in brick by his son, Robert. The original, probably built from wood, was finished in July 1670, six months after John died. John and four of his wives are buried there.

      Slaves and Indentured Servants
      At the time of his death, John left some thirty indentured servants and some forty African slaves. This increasing reliance on the lifelong service of African slaves as opposed to the finite service of indentured Europeans typified the changing labor norms in Virginia.

      Death and Legacy
      According to the Encyclopedia of Virginia, John died on January 10, 1670, probably at Corotoman Plantation, Lancaster County, Virginia. He was buried inside the Christ Church, now rebuilt on the foundation of the original. A large etched tombstone, to the right-hand side of the chancel, covers John, four of his five wives, and some of their children (Elizabeth Shirley is not there). The epitaph reads:

      Here lyeth buried ye body of John Carter, Esq., who died ye 10th of June, Anno Domini 1669; and also Jane, ye daughter of Mr. Morgan Glyn, and George her son, and Elenor Carter, and Ann, ye daughter of Mr. Cleave Carter, and Sarah, ye daughter of Mr. Gabriel Ludlow, and Sarah her daughter, which were all his wives successively, and died before him.
      Note: According to Edmund Berleley, Jr., he died in 1669. Researcher, Stephen Carter states his death date was 10 June 1669, but apparently the source for this is the "LDS."

      John left the majority of his estate to his eldest son, Lt. Col. John Carter, as was the tradition, but he specifically left to second son Robert: one-third of his personal estate, 1,000 acres on a branch of the Corotoman River, one-sixth of his books, and "his mother's hoop ring & christall necklace." After son John's death, the inheritance transferred to the younger son, Robert "King" Carter, who vastly increased the family's wealth. Robert had been well prepared, as also dictated in his father John's will, he had been provided a tutor for his classical education, including Latin.

      Associations
      Edward Carter (d. 1682), House of Burgesses and governor's Council, was certainly related, but the exact connection is unknown.

      Thomas Carter (1672-1733), also of Lancaster County, may have been a first cousin, as there is some evidence their fathers were brothers.
    • History of the Carter Family
      The Carter’s of Colonial Virginia

      John Carter, immigrated to Virginia from England in 1625 aboard the “Safety”. Living in Jamestown, no one know why he came to the Virginia colony, perhaps to leave the political strife in Great Britain, possible to better his station in an already hard world. Within a year his neighbors were so taken with his character, they asked him to represent them at the House of Burgesses.

      In 1642, after acquiring some 13,500 acres in the Northern Neck between the Rappahannock and Potomac Rivers building his family estate called “Corotoman”. He became a successful planter and businessman, also serving first as an elected Burgess, and then, as a member of the Governor’s Council.

      Marrying in 1650, his first wife, Jane Glyn, gave him three children, George, who dies young, Elizabeth and John II. After the early death of his wife, he married Eleanor Eltonhead Brocas in 1656. It was about this time he was elected to the House of Burgesses that automatically made him the commander of the local militia. This militia was responsible for ridding the area of the last of the Rappahannock Indians that brought to its commander more accolades. Eleanor died the next year leaving no children.

      His third wife, Anne Carter, daughter of Cleve Carter of England, whom he married in 1658, died within the first year of their marriage, leaving no children.

      In 1660, he married Sarah Ludlow, and had two more children, Sarah, who died young, and Robert Carter. Sarah Ludlow Carter died in early 1668 and her family had inscribed on her tombstone, “May her descendants make their mother’s virtues and graces the pattern of their lives and actions”. Little did anyone realize to what great heights her son Robert would achieve.

      John Carter took a fifth wife marrying Elizabeth Shirley in late 1668. A son, Charles, was born in 1669. That same year John died. As a young man, Charles moved to England to live and died there sometime after 1690. John Carter the émigré, achieved prominence, wealth, political power, material goods and social prestige that he had earned for himself, but his sons and grandsons were to carve out an empire, such as he had never envisioned.

      Upon his death, John’s main estate, holdings and slaves went to his oldest son, John II, with 6,000 English pound’s going to his wife, Elizabeth. Robert “King” Carter was seven years old when his father died. Upon gaining his majority, being a second son, his prospects were not exceptionally bright. He had inherited 1,000 acres near the Corotoman River and one third of his father’s personal estate valued at 1,000 English pounds consisting of a library of Latin books, a few slaves, and some other personal items.

      Then by a sudden turn of events, his older half brother, John II, who ad married twice and had one daughter, Elizabeth (1675-1693), died at age 43, leaving Robert the sole adult male representing the family and inheriting the family estate.

      Two years later in 1688, now at age 25, Robert married Judith Armistead, who gave him five children. John III (1689), Elizabeth (1692), Judith (1693), who died in infancy, Sarah (1694), who died at eight years of age, and another Judith (1695), named after the first daughter who died. Judith Armistead Carter passed after eleven years of marriage.

      In 1697, Robert married his second wife, Elizabeth Landon Willis, the 16 year old widow of Richard Wilis and they had ten children. Anne (1702), Robert II (1704), Sarah (1705) dying as a young child, Betty (1706) who also died as a young child, Charles (1707), Ludlow (1709) who died young, Landon (1710), Mary (1712), Lucy (1714) and George (1716).

      Robert Carter, being born into the Tidewater gentry of the young colony, eclipsed his father’s accomplishments. Becoming a member, and later, speaker of the House of Burgesses, a member of the Governor’s Council, a vestryman in Christ Church, a Justice of the Peace, and acting governor of the colony from 1726-1727 until William Gooch arrived. He was also a rector of the College of William and Mary, seeing that institution through the most trying of times. Because he so eclipsed his father, he has been regarded by historians as the founder of this Virginia family and was nicknamed “King”. He ultimately became the richest and perhaps the most powerful man of his day.

      Realizing the need that future generations would have for fresh lands, he obtained for his heirs some 333,000 acres.

      Robert “King” Carter had arranged that the bulk of his lands would go to his eldest son, John Carter III (1689-1742) who married in 1725 Elizabeth Hill of Shirley Plantation.. He also saw to it that his other sons, Robert II, Charles, Landon and George would have ample estates. Robert “King” Carter died at the age of 69 in 1732 leaving an estate of 333,000 acres, more than 1,000 slaves and 10,000 English pound, a tremendous fortune in those days.

      Robert Carter II (1704-1732) died unexpectedly at age 28, only months after his father, leaving his wife of seven years, Priscilla Churchill (1705-1757), a daughter Elizabeth born in 1725, and a son, four year old Robert III, born in 1728.

      Priscilla Carter later married Colonel John Lewis from a family as ancestral and honorable as the Carters. Colonel Lewis was a widower with five children and when Elizabeth moved to his home, “Warner Hall” in Gouchester, her two children joined an already active household.

      When Robert Carter III reached his majority, he became the master of more than seventy thousand acres including 5,025 acres in old Prince William County, inheriting his father’s portion of his grandfather’s estate. Young Robert, at age nine, went to the College of William and Mary. When the young man turned twenty-one, he went to England leaving Colonel Lewis in charge of his affairs. For the next two years historians presumed this trip to England was to complete his education following in the footsteps of his grandfather, father and uncles, although it was also a time to explore the arts and other diversions of the day. It was said that a young gentleman, “lacking a broad basis of knowledge would be unfit for any gentlemen’s conversation and therefore a scandalous person and a shame to his relations, not having one single qualification to recommend him”. It was quoted of one colonial father to have said, “that his children had better be never born than illbred”.

      Upon young Robert’s return to the colony of Virginia in 1751, he was steeped in public duties. At age 28, he was made a member of the Governor’s Council and, by virtue of his belonging to the Council, he also served as a colonel in the militia. As was customary, he was known as “Councillor” Carter. He lived at Nomini Hall, the elegant manor house his father built about 1729 in Westmoreland County, overlooking the Potomac and Nomini Rivers, a plantation of about 2,000 acres. The square Georgian style home with four chimneys was made of brick, two stories high, located on a hill with a spectacular view of the rivers. Robert “Councillor” Carter married Frances Ann Tasker (1720-1787) on April 2, 1745, in Annapolis Maryland by the Reverend Mr. Malcolm, the minister of St. Anne’s Parish. His wife, the daughter of the Honorable Benjamin Tasker, one of the foremost citizens of the colony of Maryland, brought to the marriage, not only family influence, but also a large dowry. The marriage also enabled her husband to secure a one fifth control of one of her father’s businesses, the Baltimore Iron Works.

      Together they had seventeen children. Benjamin (1756) dying at age 23, Robert Bladen (1759), who died unmarried at age 34, Priscilla (1760-1823), all born at Nomini Hall. About 1761, Robert “Councillor” and his growing family moved to Williamsburg to a home he purchased adjacent to the Governor’s Palace where the following three daughters were born. Ann Tasker (1762- ), Rebecca (1762) who died in infancy, and Frances (1764-1795), returning to Nomini Hall for the birth of his remaining children. Betty Landon (1765-1842), Mary (1767) who died at age four, Harriet Lucy (1768- ), Amelia Churchill (1769) who died in her first year, Rebecca Dulany (1770) who also died in her first year. John Tasker (1772- ), Sarah Fairfax (1773-1829), Judith (1775) who died as an infant, George (1777-1846), Sophia (1778-1832), who died without marrying and Julia Carter (1783- ). In spite of such a large family, “Frances Tasker Carter remained elegant and beautiful in a youthful way, ever cheerful and agreeable”. She managed the household with great success and carefully trained and helped educate their children.

      Managing seventy thousand acres demanded foresight and planning. Robert III cultivated as many as fifteen large plantations and farms at once. Each plantation and farm had an abundant amount of buildings used for storing tobacco, corn and wheat. Shops for weavers, carpenters, coopers, blacksmiths, as well as the manor houses and/or estate managers quarters. There were many independent buildings such as kitchens, bakeries, dairies, meat houses, slave cabins, stables, mills for grinding grains and factories for the production of textiles. Indentured servants were brought in from Ireland to spin and weave as well as to teach the Carter slaves these skills. The training of slaves in the trades was a necessary result of the conditions of life on large estates where free artisans found it difficult to serve more then a limited clientele. Many Carter slaves were trained as coopers, carpenters, blacksmiths, millers sailors, brick makers and layers and shoemakers. This training also increased their worth.

      Though tobacco was the crop of importance, Robert also would devote entire plantations to producing grain and other supplies needed at Nomini Hall. Running the plantation, clearing new land for planting, civic and family duties, proved to be a laborious task. Though the basis of life was agricultural, the great landowners fulfilled a wide variety of other economic functions. They served as factors for their neighbors, buying their crops, and selling them supplies. When European conditions interfered with the import trade, enterprising men frequently set up grist mills, textile factories, and foundries on their plantations, to supply their own and their neighbor’s needs.

      Robert “Councillor” Carter was a patriot during the American Revolution and as a member of the court of Westmoreland County he took an oath as prescribed by the Virginia Assembly renouncing allegiance to George III, pledging loyalty to Virginia and to the Continental Congress. At one point, he sent 50 bayonets to Captain Burgess Ball and also furnished him with other supplies. He sent Colonel Thomas Jones beef, hops, 2,950 lbs of flour as well as many loaves of bread. In September 1776, he supplied the commissary of Lancaster County with 2,000 lbs of bread and the same amount of flour. He also secured iron for the manufacture of munitions.

      During the American Revolution rapid adjustments had to be made. Wheat, corn, hemp, flax, cotton, oats and barley were cultivated extensively by Robert III, while tobacco became less important in his scheme of operations. By the end of the 18th Century, the tobacco industry had sunk into a state of chronic depression. The rapid depletion of soil, the wasteful agricultural methods and over production were all making themselves felt. Robert III was ahead of his time in raising other grains for cash crops. He had set up and equipped so many plantations and farms that he resorted to naming twelve of them after the signs of the zodiac. Two of these farms, Leo, consisting of 809 acres with 309 acres cleared, and Cancer with 700 acres of which 400 were cleared, were dedicated to the growing of tobacco, shipping 79 hogshead of tobacco, between the two in 1785. In 1791, there were 509 slaves, with an estimated worth of well over a hundred thousand dollars, belonging to Robert III, a number that was large enough to generate efficient cultivation of his many plantations. He was also the largest single slave- holder in Virginia at that time. During the year 1791, Robert “Councillor” Carter provided, in a Deed of Manumission, for the freeing of almost all of his 509 slaves. This was to be accomplished on a gradual basis over a period of twenty years since to have set all free at once would have resulted in great distress for the slaves and chaos for the community. He gave or rented lands to some of his former slaves as they were freed.

  • Sources 
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