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Generation No. 1
1. JOHN3 CARTER (JOHN2, THOMAS1) was born
Abt. 1613 in New Gate Christ Church, Middlesex, LONDON,
England, and died June 10, 1669 in Source LDS/
Corotoman, VA/Arrived in US in 1635 .. He married (1) JANE
GLYN, daughter of MORGAN
GLYN
OF FULHAM. She was born in Fulham, Middlesex, England, and died
Bef.
1655. He married (2) ELEANOR ELTONHEAD BROCAS, daughter
of RICHARD ELTONHEAD. She was born in 3rd
wife and widow of Brocas/source "the Virginia
Dynasties" by Clifford Dowdey. He married (3) ANNE CARTER,
daughter of CLEVE
CARTER. He married (4) SARAH
LUDLOW
1662 in Source LDS, daughter of GABRIEL
LUDLOW and PHILLIS WAKELYN. She was born 1635, and died Bef. June 10, 1669 in
Sarah died when her son
Robert was just 5 years old.. He married (5) ELIZABETH SHIRLEY 1668. She
was born in Widow from Gloucester
county. She and John were NOT happily married..
Notes for JOHN CARTER:
John was a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses
1642-1658: member of the Council Virginia, 1658-1659:
commanded againest Rappahannock Indians, 1654: Colonel
of Lancaster County in 1656.
(Horace Edwin Hayden, Virginia Genealogies,
[Wilkes-Barre, PA, 1891], .225). Clifford Dowdey, The Virginia
Dynasties, [Boston: Little, Brown, n.d.], p.18). (One
ref. states he was b. Garston, Hertford, England). Virginia
Lineages, Letters & Memories, by Alice Nelson,
1984;p.194) Anne: Her father was of Ratcliffe Highway, St.
Dunstans, Stepney, England. Sarah: The Colonial
Genealogist, vol.8, no.2 [Apr 1976],pp.65-66: by Dom W.
Wilfrid Bayne, O.S.B., of Portsmouth Priory, RI). (A
History of the Carter Family, Copyright 1972 by Amer.
Gen. Research Inst., Wash., DC).
John first settled in Upper Norfolk, now Nansemond
County, and later Lancaster Co., VA. Both himself and his
eldest son, John appear on the vestry book as members
of the vestry in the year 1666, the father having been
acting in that capacity before – how long not known.
The father, who died in 1669, had previously built by
contract, the first church standing on the spot where
Christ Church now is, and the vestry received it at the hands
of his son John, in six months after the father’s
death. John Carter, Sr., was buried with his 5 wives, near the
chancel, in the church which he built, and the
tombstone covers all of them, being still in the same position in the
present church. [Old Churches, Families, II, 110, et
seq.]. The epitaph from his stone, which lies on the right hand
of the chancel, 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.
CARTER, THOMAS, (1672-1733) was the second of that
name in Lancaster County, and may have been Robert
Carter's first cousin as there is evidence that their
fathers were brothers. He lived at "Barford" in the northern part
of the county. (Catherine Adams Jones. The Early
Thomas Carters of Lancaster County, Virginia. Lancaster,
Virginia: Mary Ball Washington Museum & Library,
1982.)
BIBLIOGRAPHY FOR ROBERT CARTER PROJECT, 2001
Edmund Berkeley, Jr.
This is a list of journal articles, books, and
manuscripts cited as souces in the Robert Carter Project.
ARTICLES
"Armistead Family." William and Mary Quarterly.
1st. ser., 6: (July 1897): 31-33, (Oct. 1897):97-102, (Jan.
1898):164-171. The article is continued in volumes 8
and 9 for persons not relevant to this period.
Berkeley, Edmund, Jr. "Robert Carter as
Agricultural Administrator: His Letters to Robert Jones, l727-1729."
Virginia Magazine of History and Biography. 101 (April
1993): 273-295.
2
"Carter Papers." Virginia Magazine of
History and Biography. 5(1897-1898): 408-428; 6(1898-1899): 1-22.
"Carter Papers: An Inventory of all the S *** and
Personal Property of the Hon'ble Robert Carter of the County of
Lancaster, Esq., Deceased, Taken as Directed in his
Last Will, vizt." Virginia Magazine of History and
Biography. 6 (1898-1899): 145-152, 260-68, and 365-70;
and 7 (1898-1899): 64-68.
"The Landon Family." Virginia Magazine of
History and Biography. 24(April 1895): 430-433.
"List of Ships . . . 1705." Virginia
Magazine of History and Biography. 9 (1901-1902): 258.
"Ludwell Family." William and Mary
Quarterly.1st ser., 19(1910-11): 199-214.
Mann, Nina Tracy. "William Ball of
Millenbeck." Northern Neck of Virginia Historical Magazine. 25(Dec.
1975): 2773-2779.
Montague, Ludwell Lee. "Richard Lee, the Emigrant
1613 (?)-1664." Virginia Magazine of History and
Biography. 62(1954): 3-49.
Olson, Alison G. "The Virginia Merchants of
London: A Study in Eighteenth-Century Interest-Group Politics."
William and Mary Quarterly. 3rd ser., 40(1983):
363-388.
"Philip Ludwell's Account." Virginia
Magazine of History and Biography. 1(1893-1894): 174-186.
"Receipts of the Office of Secretary of State of
Virginia, 1700, With a Notice of Secretary Wormeley." Virginia
Magazine of History and Biography. 13:(1905-1906).
"Robert Carter and the Wormeley
Estate."William and Mary Quarterly. 2d. ser., 17(1909): 252-264.
Simpson, Alan. "Robert Carter's Schooldays."
Virginia Magazine of History and Biography. 94(1986): 161-188.
Tyler, Lyon G. "Inscriptions on Old Tombs in
Gloucester Co., Virginia." William and Mary Quarterly., 1st. ser.,
2(1893): 219-226.
Louis B. Wright, "The "Gentleman's
Library" in Early Virginia: The Literary Interests of the First
Carters."
Huntington Library Quarterly. 1(1937): 3-61.
BOOKS
Berkeley, Edmund, and Dorothy Smith Berkeley. John
Clayton: Pioneer of American Botany. Chapel Hill:
University of North Carolina Press, 1963.
Carleton, Florence Tyler, compiler. A Genealogy of the
Known Descendants of Robert Carter of Corotoman.
Irvington, Virginia: Foundation for Historic Christ
Church, Inc., 1983.
Davis, Richard Beale. William Fitzhugh and His Chesapeake
World, 1676-1701. The Fitzhugh Letters and Other
Documents. Richmond: Virginia Historical Society,
1963.
3
Greene, Jack P. The Diary of Colonel Landon Carter of
Sabine Hall,1752-1778. Charlottesville: University Press
of Virginia for the Virginia Historical Society, 1965.
Harrison, Fairfax, Landmarks of Old Prince William.
Berryville, Va.: Virginia Book Company, 1964, a onevolume
reprint of the 1924 two-volume edition.
Jones, Christine A. John Carter II of
"Corotoman" Lancaster County, Virginia. Irvington, VA: Foundation for
Historic Christ Church, 1978.
Jones, Christine Adams, Orders Book Entries at
Lancaster County Court House Lancaster, Virginia Referring to
"Robert Carter of Corotoman (1663-1732)."
Irvington, Virginia: Historic Christ Church Foundation, 1978. A nearprint
transcript.
John T. Kneebone et al., Dictionary of Virginia
Biography. Richmond: Library of Virginia, 1998. Vols. 1-
Kukla, Jon. Speakers and Clerks of the Virginia House
of Burgesses, 1643-1776. Richmond: Virginia State
Library, 1981.
Lee, Cazenove Gardner, Jr. Lee Chronicle: Studies of
the Early Generations of the Lees of Virginia. New York:
NYU Press, 1957.
McIlwaine, H. R., ed.Journal of the House of
Burgesses, 1702/3-1705, 1705-1706, 1710-1712. Richmond:
Colonial Press, 1912.
Miller, Mary R. Place-Names of the Northern Neck of
Virginia, From John Smith's 1600 Map to the Present.
Richmond: Virginia State Library, 1983.
Morton, Louis. Robert Carter of Nomini Hall.
Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1964. Reprint of the
1945 edition.
Morton, Richard L. Colonial Virginia. Chapel Hill:
University of North Carolina Press, 1960. 2 vols.
Morton, Richard L. ed. The Present State of Virginia.
. . by Hugh Jones. Chapel Hill: University of North
Carolina Press for the Virginia Historical Society,
1956.
Norris, Walter Biscoe, Jr. Westmoreland County
Virginia. Montross, Virginia: Westmoreland County Board of
Supervisors, 1963
O'Neal, William B. Architecture in Virginia: An
Official Guide to Four Centuries of Building in Virginia. New
York: Walker & Co., 1968.
Picton, James A. City of Liverpool, Selections from
the Municipal Archives and Records, from the 13th to the
17th Century Inclusive. Liverpool, 1883.
Picton, James A. ed. Municipal Archives and Records
from A. D. 1700 to the Passing of the Municipal Reform
Act, 1835. Liverpool, 1907.
Price, Jacob M. Perry of London: A Family and a Firmn
on the Seaborne Frontier, 1614-1753. Cambridge, MA,
and London: Harvard University Press, 1992.
4
Raimo, John W. Directory of American Colonial and
Revolutionary Governors 1607-1789. Westport, CT:
Meckler Books, 1980
Stanard, William G., and Mary Newton. Colonial
Virginia Register. Albany, NY: Joel Munsell's Sons, Publishers,
1902.
.
Wright, Louis B. Letters of Robert Carter 1720-1727:
The Commercial Interests of a Virginia Gentleman. San
Marino, CA: Huntington Library, 1940.
MANUSCRIPTS AND ORIGINAL SOURCES
Collector's return for Rappahannock River, 1701
December 25-1702 March 25, CO5/1441, found in the
microfilms of the Virginia Colonial Records Project,
Albert H. Small Special Collections Library, University of
Virginia.
Collector's Return for Rappahannock River, 1701 March
24-June 24, C.O. 5/1441, found in the microfilms of the
Virginia Colonial Records Project, Albert H. Small
Special Collections Library, University of Virginia.
Egerton MS921, British Library, cited in Alison G.
Olson. "The Virginia Merchants of London: A Study in
Eighteenth-Century Interest-Group Politics."
William and Mary Quarterly 3rd. ser., 40(1983): 363-388.
Lancaster County Court Order Book 5, 1702-1713.
Archives Research, Library of Virginia, Richmond.
THESE ARE TO BE USED STRICTLY AS READING AND RESEARCH
MATERIAL FOR THOSE THAT
ARE INTERESTED IN THE CARTER TREE.
3) Documents at the Virginia Historical Society
Abingdon Parish (Va.) Records, 1678-1780.
Manuscripts.
Mss5:8 BX5917
Ab584:1
Accomack County (Va.). Court Order Book, 1666 October
16 - 1670 October 17.
Manuscripts.
Mss 3 Ac275 a
5
Beverley Family Papers, 1654-1901.
Manuscripts.
Mss1 B4678 a
Bevereley Family Papers, 1654-1929.
Manuscripts.
Mss1 B4678 b
Beverley, Robert, ca. 1673-1722. Title Book,
1652-1700.
Manuscripts.
Mss5:9 B4676:1
Bowdoin Family Bible Records, 1688-1803.
Manuscripts.
Mss6:4 B6745:1
Brockenbrough Family Bible Records, 1685-1843.
Manuscripts.
Mss6:4 B7827:1
Mss5:2 B9965:1
Carter Family Bible Records, 1670-1791.
Manuscripts.
Mss6:4 C245:11
6
Carter Family Bible Records, 1689-1875.
Manuscripts.
Mss6:4 C245:6
Carter Family Papers.
Manuscripts.
Mss1 C2468 a
Charles City County (Va.) Court Orders, 1681 June 4.
Manuscripts.
Mss4 C3808 a
4
Charles City County (Va.) Court Papers, 1642-1842.
Manuscripts
Mss3 C3807 a
Charles Parish (Va.) Records, 1648-1789.
Manuscripts
Mss5:8 BX5917
C3802:1
Collier Family Bible Records, 1660-1766.
Manuscripts.
7
Mss6:4 C6905:1
Custis Family Papers, 1683-1858.
Manuscripts.
Mss1 C9698 a
Edmonds Family Bible Records, 1673-1899.
Manuscripts.
Mss6:4 Ed587:3
Fitzhugh, William, 1651-1701. Letterbook, 1679 May 15
- 1699 April 26.
Manuscripts.
Mss5:2 F5788:1
Fitzhugh, William, 1651-1701. Letterbook, 1679 May
15-1699 April 26.
Manuscripts
Mss5:2 F5788:3
F
Harrison Family Papers, 1662-1915.
Manuscripts.
Mss1 H2485 a
Hepburn Family Bible Records, 1672-1920.
Manuscripts
Mss6:4 H4107:1
8
Knox, Fitzhugh, 1867-1940, comp. Index and calendar of
the William Fitzhugh
letterbook, 15 May 1679-26 April 1699, and a
genealogical chart of the Fitzhugh
family. Compiled in 1937.
Manuscripts
Mss5:2 F5788:2
Lee Family Bible records, 1647-1892.
Manuscripts.
Mss6:4 L5167:8
Lee Family Papers, 1638-1867.
Manuscripts.
Mss1 L51 f
Minor Family Bible Records, 1680-1800.
Manuscripts
Mss6:4
M6664:5
Minor Family Papers, 1657-1942.
Manuscripts.
Mss1 M6663 a
Newell, David. Deed, 1679 December 15.
Manuscripts
9
Mss11:2
N4212:1 o.s.
Unidentified Compiler. Genealogical Notes Concerning
English Families. Compiled
ca. 1700-1768.
Manuscripts
Mss6:1 Ad995:2
Virginia Land Office. Patent, 1687 April 20, issued to
William Byrd for 956
acres of land in Henrico County [now Richmond], Va.
Manuscripts
Mss11:1
B9963:1
WASHINGTON AND LEE UNIVERSITY
LEXINGTON, VIRGINIA 24450
Lee-Jackson Foundation Papers (collection 170)
1.0 linear feet
The Lee-Jackson Foundation perpetuates the historical
memory of Robert E. Lee and Thomas J. "Stonewall"
Jackson. This collection of 118 letters ranging in
date from 1778 to 1914 is primarily concerned with the Lee
family and persons associated with them. There are
several Robert E. Lee manuscripts from the period, 1847-
1869. Other family manuscripts are from wife, Mary
Randolph Custis Lee (1808-1873); father-in-law, George
Washington Parke Custis (1781-1857); daughters, Agnes
Lee (1841-1873) and Mildred Lee (1846-1905); and
sons, George Washington Custis Lee (1832-1913),
William Henry Fitzhugh Lee (1837-1891) and Robert E. Lee,
Jr. (1843-1914). Also included are manuscripts of
American Revolutionary leaders, Richard Henry Lee (1733-
1794) and Francis Lightfoot Lee (1734-1797).
Confederate generals P.G.T. Beauregard and Joseph E. Johnston
are represented in this collection as is nineteenth
century Lexington, Virginia, poet, Margaret Junkin Preston.
There is a finding aid on file in Special Collections.
Folder List
10
Box 1
Control Folder
Folder 1 - R.E. Lee, ALS, 28 Feb 1847, to "my
dear Major", written aboard Ship Massachusetts, off Lobos
Folder 2 - R.E. Lee, ALS, 6 Jan 1853, to Gen. Joseph
G. Totten, from United States Military Academy, West
Point
Folder 3 - R.E. Lee, ALS, 11 Oct 1861, to Col. Clarke,
from Headquarters, Sewell Mountain
Folder 4 - R.E. Lee, telegram, 18 April 1862, received
in Staunton, to Major Harman, from Richmond
Folder 5 - R.E. Lee, letter in handwriting of Charles
S. Venable, Lee's aide, 23 Sept 1862, to "my dear Madam"
from Headquarters, Army of Northern Virginia, near
Martinsburg
Folder 8 - R.E. Lee, ALS?, 10 May 1864, to Lt. General
Ewell from Headquarters, Army of Northern Virginia
Folder 9 - R.E. Lee, ALS, 1 March 1865, to Mrs. Margaret
B. Daingerfield from near Petersburg
Folder 14 - R.E. Lee, ALS, 8 Jan 1866, to Major W.I.
Hawks from Lexington, Va.
Folder 17 - Printed funeral announcement re: Robert E.
Lee, 15 Oct 1870
Folder 19 - Alfred Lee, 2 ALS, 10 Feb 1852, and no
date to N. Burwell
Folder 20 - Arthur Lee, court copy, 26 Aug 1803, of
his will made on 7 July 1792
Folder 21 - Arthur Lee, printed copy of his An Appeal
to the Justice and Interest of the People of Great Britain, in
the Present Disputes with America, 1775
Folder 25 - Charles Carter Lee, ALS, 1 Feb 1848, to
Nat Burwell from Richmond
Folder 26 - Charles Carter Lee, ALS, 25 June 1848, to
Nat Burwell from Richmond
Folder 27 - Charlotte W. Lee, ALS, 30 April [no year],
to Nat Burwell from Arlington
Folder 31 - Francis Lightfoot Lee, ALS, 5 July 1780,
to "My dearest" from Richmond
Folder 32 - Fitzhugh Lee, ALS, 30 Sept 1865, to
"General" from Ravensworth
Folder 33 - Fitzhugh Lee, ADS, 11 Nov 1875? received
of Charles Kerr
Folder 34 - Fitzhugh Lee, ALS, 22 Sept 1877, to
Charlie G. Kerr from Richland
Folder 35 - Fitzhugh Lee, ALS, 9 Oct 1877, to Charlie
G. Kerr from Richland
11
Folder 36 - Fitzhugh Lee, ALS, 24 Oct 1877, to Charlie
G. Kerr from Richland
Folder 37 - Fitzhugh Lee, ALS, 27 Dec 1878, to Charlie
G. Kerr from Richland
Folder 38 - Fitzhugh Lee, ALS, 12 Jan 1880, to Mr.
Warfield from Richland
Folder 39 - Fitzhugh Lee, ALS, 4 Jan 1883, to Charlie
Kerr from Spring Bank
Folder 40 - Fitzhugh Lee, ALS, 20 Dec 1883, to Charlie
Kerr from Spring Bank
Folder 41 - Fitzhugh Lee, ALS, 5 Jan 1884, to Charlie
Kerr from Spring Bank
Folder 42 - Fitzhugh Lee, ALS, 20 April 1885? to
Samuel M. Duncan
Folder 43 - Fitzhugh Lee, ALS, 17 May 1894, to
"My Dear General" from Washington, DC
Folder 44 - Fitzhugh Lee, TLS, 14 April 1898, to Eliot
Danforth from Washington DC
Folder 45 - GWC Lee, ALS, 26 Dec 1862, from Jackson,
Mississippi
Folder 46 - GWC Lee, ALS, 10 May 1871, to Thomas F.
Balfe from Lexington
Folder 47 - GWC Lee, DS, 20 March 1875, concerning
Mrs.
Convicts sent to America from England
/http://www.genealogy-quest.com/collections/allconvicts.html
20 November 1622
A warrant to the Sheriff of London concerning John
Carter, who was convicted for the stealing of a horse. Carter
having an able body to do his Majesty and his country,
and it being doubtful upon the evidence whether the horse
was stolen or not, he is to be handed over to Sir
Edward Sackville for transportaion into Virginia or the
Bermudas.
More About JOHN CARTER:
Burial: Christ Church of Lancaster.
Notes for ELEANOR
ELTONHEAD
BROCAS:
Eleanor was from Lancastershire, England. She was the
widow of William Brocas when she married John Carter.
She did not live long and bore John no children.
Source "The Virginia Dynasties" by Clifford Dowdey.
Notes for SARAH LUDLOW:
One of the most noted Carter family's was COL John
Carter of "Corotoman" who had son Robert "King" Carter,
America's first millionaire and the wealthiest man in
Virginia when he lived. Among his direct descendants are a
number of presidents, and more than one military
leader, including Gen. Robert E. Lee, whose mother was Anne
Carter, Roberts direct descendant. Many genealogies
have been written on this family. However, many argue the
CPT Thomas Carter family of Barford Plantation
actually attained greater social and cultural prestige due to their
royal lineage and early Virginia heritage. They also
brought a great amount of wealth and political power in their
own right. CPT Thomas Carter, of Barford Plantation,
on the Corotoman River, Lancaster County, lived just a
few miles from COL John Carter. His offspring produced
Supreme Court justices, governors, U.S. senators,
colonial vestrymen, militia officers, famous
journalists and authors, U.S. Attorneys General, legislators, colonial
sheriffs, U.S. congressmen, corporate giants, and U.S.
Army generals and Naval admirals.
More About SARAH LUDLOW:
Burial: old Christ's Church, Lancaster VA
Notes for ELIZABETH
SHIRLEY:
Elizabeth was a widow from Gloucester county. SHe and
John were NOT at all happy together. John left his wife
12
Elizabeth 8 months pregnant at the time of his death.
She was to have 500 pounds,(which was part of the marriage
contract), a negro boy, "her" necklace of
diamond and pearls, and "her own books"and share with Carter's sons
John and Robert in the residual personal estate.
Assuming that her child would be a boy, "whose
name is intended Charles" and never referring to this future
Carter except as "her son"he provided for
his heir as meagerly as decency would permit. His executors were to
allow the widow 12 pounds a year for his [Charles']
education and [my] son John is to allow my wife's son
necessary clothes". Such was his indifference to
the estate of the boy who would bear his own name that he
provided for the contingency of the widow putting
"her son out to apprentice".The widow's child was a boy whom
she dutifully named Charles after which he disappeared
from the records. He was presumably still alive at 21, for
John Carter II made a provision for him in his will- -
1/3 of the personal estate- though nothing indicated that he
claimed his share. "source " The Virginia
Dynasties" by Clifford Dowdey.
Children of JOHN CARTER and JANE GLYN are:
2. i. JOHN II CARTER4 ESQ., b. 1648,
Possibly 1653 as birthdate; d. 1690.
ii. GEORGE CARTER, d. infancy.
More About GEORGE CARTER:
Burial: Chancel of Christ Church.
3. iii. ELIZABETH CARTER, b. 1651, Elizabeth married and moved to distant
parts. "The Virginia Dynasties" by
Clifford Dowdey.
Children of JOHN CARTER and SARAH LUDLOW are:
4. iv. ROBERT KING CARTER4 ESQ., b. August 04,
1663, Lancaster co, VA; d. August 04, 1732, "Corotoman" ,
Lancaster co, VA.
v. CHARLES CARTER, d. died early, unmarried..
vi. SARAH CARTER, b. Source "The Virginia Dynasties" by
Clifford Dowdey; d. died before the death of her
father John in 1669..
Child of JOHN CARTER and ELIZABETH SHIRLEY is:
vii. CHARLES4 CARTER, b. Abt.
July 1669.
Generation No. 2
2. JOHN II CARTER4 ESQ. (JOHN3 CARTER, JOHN2, THOMAS1) was born 1648 in Possibly 1653 as birthdate, and
died 1690. He married (1) ELIZABETH HULL, daughter of
JOHN HULL. He married
(2) ELIZABETH TRAVERS
CHINN 1684, daughter of CAPTAIN
RALEIGH
TRAVERS. She died 1694.
Notes for JOHN II CARTER ESQ.:
CARTER, JOHN (ca.1648-1690), older brother of Robert,
justice, militia officer, and prominent citizen of
Lancaster County. He inherited the bulk of his
father's estate, and managed it well, while adhering both to the
specifics and intent of his father's will with regard
to the education of his younger brother. John Carter II married
twice, first to Elizabeth Hull, daugher of John and
Elizabeth Hull, by whom he had his only child, Elizabeth
Carter. Carter married his second wife, Elizabeth
Travers, in 1684; she married Christopher Wormeley after
Carter's death, and died herself in 1693. (Thomas
Allen Glenn. Some Colonial Mansions and Those Who Lived in
Them, With Genealogies of the Various Families
Mentioned. Philadelphia: H. T. Coates & Company, 1899. pp.
244 ff.; review of The Ancestry of Benjamin Harrison,
President of the United States of America, 1889-1893 in
Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, 2(Oct.
1894): 236, with notes on the Carter family; and other
sources.)
LLOYD, ELIZABETH (CARTER), only child of Robert
Carter's brother John. Elizabeth (1675-1693) married
John Lloyd in 1691, and was dead by November 1693 of
measles. John appointed managers of the estate in 1699
in Essex County, and returned to England the next year
as he had inherited land there. Elizabeth inherited from
her mother, Elizabeth Hull, also an only child, all of
her grandfather John Hull's property. ("Abstracts of
Richmond County, Virginia" [from Order Book 1],
William and Mary Quarterly, 1st. ser., 18(October 1908): 73-
85; see also Carl F. Cannon, Jr., "Robert
("King") Carter of "Corotoman." Unpublished doctoral
dissertation,
Duke University, 1956, p.25.)
13
Several people wanted to get their hands on Corotoman,
the home of John Carter II. The one whos presnce
continued to be a threat to Robert KING Carter John's
young brother, was the 2nd Mrs. John Carter II . She was
the former Mrs. Elizabeth Travers Chinn, a widow and
the daughter of another substantial Lancaster County
planter- Colonel Raleigh Travers, a member of the
House of Burgesses. By his fahter's will the land and house of
Corotoman would go to any "male issue".
Along with growing up in such an unsettled household, with it's
inherent personality conflicts, Robert Carter lived
like a prince with uncertain prospects of succession.
When Robert was 25, he further unsettled the household
by bringing to Corotoman his own bride, Judith
Armistead, the daughter of a councillor. She gave
birth to a son, another JOHN. In beginning a possible "line of
succession", Robert's wife became something of a
rival mistress of the establishment to the still childless Mrs.
JOhn Carter II, between whom she and Robert there was
no love lost.
When John died, the new master of Corotoman wasted no
time in getting the entangled domestic arrangements
straightened out. Robert Carter's neice, then in her
teens, , movee out the year after her father died, and married
her grandmother's stepson Johnn Lloyd. Soon the widow,
who recieived short shrift in John's will and no claims
on Corotoman, moved out in a huff.
Mrs. Elizabeth Travers Chinn Carter took Christopher
Wormeley as her third husband and in 1692, had a
"complaint exhibited againest" her ex
brother in law" in the General Court. Robert Carter was then a burgess,
and
the House granted his request to waive the priveleges
of the house in order to answer her complaint. Shortly
thereafter she died, and her husband sued Robert
Carter for his late wife's one third of the share of John Carter's
estate. Neither of them got any satisfaction and the
line passed out of considerations for Corotoman.
Child of JOHN ESQ. and ELIZABETH HULL is:
i. ELIZABETH5 CARTER, b. 1675; d.
1693; m. JOHN LLOYD, 1691.
Notes for ELIZABETH
CARTER:
LLOYD, ELIZABETH (CARTER), only child of Robert
Carter's brother John. Elizabeth (1675-1693)
married John Lloyd in 1691, and was dead by November
1693 of measles. John appointed managers of the
estate in 1699 in Essex County, and returned to England
the next year as he had inherited land there.
Elizabeth inherited from her mother, Elizabeth Hull,
also an only child, all of her grandfather John Hull's
property. ("Abstracts of Richmond County,
Virginia" [from Order Book 1], William and Mary Quarterly, 1st.
ser., 18(October 1908): 73-85; see also Carl F. Cannon,
Jr., "Robert ("King") Carter of "Corotoman."
Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Duke University,
1956, p.25.)
LLOYD'S, a plantation lying up the Rappahannock near
the falls as Robert Carter always sent his sloop for its
tobacco. Robert Carter was involved with the Lloyd
property which was that of John Lloyd, widower of
Robert Carter's niece Elizabeth. The estate's tobacco
mark was the double arrowhead or double "L" which
Robert Carter uses in his diary to refer to it. He
undertook to buy the Lloyd estate in the later years of his life,
and finally acquired it about 1730. Richard Meeks was
the overseer
MEEKS, RICHARD, was described by Robert Carter in a
letter of July 15, 1720, as the "general overseer" of
the property that he consistently referred to by its
tobacco mark of a double arrowhead or double "L"; it was
the Lloyd properties belonging to John Lloyd, widower
of Robert Carter's niece, Elizabeth. Lloyd went to
England about 1700. Robert Carter apparently leased the
lands from him for many years, and eventually
acquired title to them about 1730.
Notes for JOHN LLOYD:
LLOYD'S, a plantation lying up the Rappahannock near
the falls as Robert Carter always sent his sloop for its
tobacco. Robert Carter was involved with the Lloyd
property which was that of John Lloyd, widower of
Robert Carter's niece Elizabeth. The estate's tobacco
mark was the double arrowhead or double "L" which
Robert Carter uses in his diary to refer to it. He
undertook to buy the Lloyd estate in the later years of his life,
and finally acquired it about 1730. Richard Meeks was
the overseer
3. ELIZABETH4 CARTER (JOHN3, JOHN2, THOMAS1) was born 1651 in Elizabeth married and moved to
distant
parts. "The Virginia Dynasties" by Clifford
Dowdey. She married (1) CAPTAIN HENRY JOHNSON. He was born
in Maryland. She married (2) COLONEL NATHANIEL UTIE 1667. He was
born in of Spesutia, Baltimore Co, MD,
and died 1675.
Child of ELIZABETH
CARTER
and NATHANIEL
UTIE
is:
i. JOHN5 UTIE, d. 1685.
14
4. ROBERT KING CARTER4 ESQ. (JOHN3 CARTER, JOHN2, THOMAS1) was born August 04, 1663 in Lancaster co,
VA, and died August 04, 1732 in "Corotoman"
, Lancaster co, VA. He married (1) JUDITH ARMISTEAD, daughter
of JOHN ARMISTEAD and JUDITH ROBINSON. She was born 1665 in Gloucester co, VA, and died February
23,
1698/99 in Lancaster co, VA. He married (2) ELIZABETH LANDON Bet. 1701 -
1702, daughter of THOMAS ESQ.
and MARY DE LAVALL. She was born May 17, 1683 in Gednal , Herford
England, and died July 03, 1719 in
Lancaster co, VA.
Notes for ROBERT KING CARTER ESQ.:
A Brief Life of Robert Carter
Robert Carter lived his adult life in Lancaster
County, Virginia, on the southern side of the Northern Neck
peninsula, not far from the point at which the
Rappahannock empties into Chesapeake Bay, where he was born in
1663 and died in 1732, at the home,
"Corotoman," established there by his father. He was educated in
England by
his father's direction, and acquired a life-long
appreciation of books and reading, and the value of a good
education. He inherited property from his father, and
a sizeable estate on the death of his older half-brother John,
but through his own business abilities and the
opportunities that he seized, he had acquired well over 300,000
acres of land, nearly 1,000 slaves, and a considerable
cash estate by the time of his death according to his obituary
in London's Gentleman's Magazine. No other Virginian
of his generation was so successful in his political career,
in the marriages made by his children, and so ruthless
in building his estate for the benefit of those children.
He was astute in business, politics, and land
speculation, and his fortune, political successes, and estates, vast
even in a time of insatiability in land ownership,
demonstrate his success. His acute sense of his own importance,
and knowledge of the power that his wealth and
political acumen had brought him, earned him the derisive
nickname of "King,"
His political power was firmly based in the
inheritances that he received from his father, Colonel John Carter (c.
1613-1669), from his older half-brother, Lt. Col. John
Carter (c. 1648-1690), and from family connections. John
Carter, the immigrant, made several voyages to
Virginia before establishing himself there permanently between
May 1638 and January 1641. Apparently he brought with
him useful political connections and considerable
money for he soon was chosen burgess for Nansemond
River in Upper Norfolk County. But his attention was
further north; he acquired land by patent and purchase
in what was then Charles River County (to become
Lancaster in 1751). Although he appears first in the
Lancaster County records in January 1652, he had apparently
not yet "seated" his land and had to obtain
that April an act of the Assembly for an extension; he moved there
soon afterwards.
Through his connections and his wealth, John Carter
rose quickly to prominence in the colony, and by 1657 he
was a member of the council. His five marriages
produced only six children, several of whom died in infancy.
Most important to Robert was his older half-brother,
John, who raised him after their father died in 1669.
John Carter I followed the custom of the time in
bequeathing most of his property to his eldest son, but he made
provision for Robert, leaving him 1,000 acres on a
branch of Corotoman, one-third of his personal estate, "his
mother's hoop ring & christall necklace," and
a sixth part of his books. Most important for Robert were the
specific instructions that his father wrote concerning
his education. Robert was to have a tutor who would teach
him both English and Latin.
John Carter II, who was about fifteen years older than
his brother, obeyed their father's instructions, and furthered
them by sending Robert home to England for higher
education. The custom of the time was that boys were sent to
England when they were nine or ten, and Robert
probably sailed to England about 1673. From a letter of Robert's
written late in his life when he was quarreling with
his English factor, William Dawkins, over the education of his
own sons and grandsons, we know that he spent at least
six years in England, living in the home of merchant and
family friend, Arthur Bailey, and learning from him,
and from the opportunities presented by living with the
merchant, much of the tobacco trade and its marketing
end.
Robert's education in England undoubtedly included
thorough grounding in the Christian religion. Most of his
schoolmasters would have been clergymen, and would
have considered religious education a fundamental
requirement of their curricula. While Robert always
considered himself "of the Church of England way," he was
not intolerant of dissenters, and Louis B. Wright has
written in several places of the books by Puritans and others
in the libraries of both John Carters which Robert
would have had access to before and after his years in England.
He would purchase titles on religious subjects for his
library, which included the books that he inherited from his
15
brother and father, through the rest of his life.
Robert returned to Virginia about 1680 to take up the
life of a Virginia gentleman on the modest estates he had
been left by his father. He built a house on the home
property at "Corotoman," however, a brick story-and-a-half
structure of three rooms. He lived in it until he
moved into the larger two-story mansion which dominated the
Corotoman landscape for a decade beginning about 1720.
John Carter II continued much of the service and
prominence that his father had established as the norm for the
family. He is referred to as captain at first, but by
1672, his rank is that of lieutenant colonel, a title, presumably
from his militia service, that he is accorded until
his death.. He served as sheriff in 1673 and again in 1678,
burgess, and at other times, he was collector of the
levy.
Unlike his younger brother, John Carter II was not
obsessed with the acquisition of land. Checks of the land office
records do not show that he took out any patents.
Apparently running his farms successfully, raising his brother,
and being active in county affairs were sufficient for
him. He married first Elizabeth Hull prior to 1675 when he is
named in the will of his father-in-law. This marriage
produced one daughter, Elizabeth, who was to marry John
Lloyd in 1693. Elizabeth Hull Carter was dead by 1684
when Lancaster records mention a marriage between John
Carter and Elizabeth Travers who outlived him to marry
Christopher Wormeley, dying herself in 1693.
By 1688 it was apparent that John Carter's principal
heir was to be his brother, and this greatly improved the
latter's prospects. Robert was married in that year to
Judith Armistead, daughter of John Armistead of "Hesse,"
Gloucester County; their son, John, was born about
1689, and four other children followed, Elizabeth in 1692,
Judith and Sarah who died in infancy, and a second
Judith in 1695. Because no letters or other texts survive from
this period of his life, little is known about his
wife, or the early years of his children, but presumably the
traditional Virginia custom was followed in raising
and educating the Carter children. Having renounced the
carefree life of the bachelor, Robert was considered
ready for the types of public service that his father and
brother had undertaken.
Robert's first position was that of justice of the
Lancaster Court, an office for which he took the required oaths on
10 June 1690. Election as a vestryman for Christ
Church Parish followed on 8 November 1690; about a year later
he was chosen church warden, a position he retained
until his death. And service to the colony soon ensued with
his election as burgess for the session beginning 1
April 1692. He was returned to every session of the Burgesses
until 1699 with the exception of the two sessions held
in 1693.
As chairman of the Committee of Propositions and
Grievances in 1695, Carter steered the members to present a
protest against the actions of the Northern Neck
proprietary agents, and the proprietary itself. This was his last
effort of this sort because the appeal of acting as
Virginia agent for the proprietors was soon to bring him over to
their side.
He took a leading role in the work of the House, and
"in September 1696 Carter was elected Speaker over five
other nominees. Carter was not chosen as Speaker for
the 1698 session, but was in April 1699. Also at this
session, the House chose Carter as Treasurer of the
colony, an office which, as Jon Kukla has observed, was one
usually associated with the Speaker. However, the
House took the most unusual step of allowing Carter to retain
the office of Treasurer even after his appointment to
the Council was confirmed in England by the Privy Council
on 14 December 1699.
There is no indication in the surviving records that
Carter had any formal training in the law, but he was interested
in it. Most planters of his day found it necessary to
learn something of the law because many served as justices.
Service in the House of Burgesses, particularly
assignment in 1695 to serve on a committee to revise the laws of
the colony as the Board of Trade had ordered, may have
spurred Robert Carter's interest. By the time of his death,
he had about 100 law books in his library, more than
one-third of its total. He never hesitated to include
references to the law in his letters.
In colonial Virginia, one official post led quickly to
others; a seat in the Council brought several posts with it.
Carter was appointed on 3 June 1699 as colonel and
commander-in-chief of the Lancaster-Northumberland
counties militia; on November 11th of the same year
the governor appointed him as naval officer and receiver, a
post of value because of the considerable income it
generated, and because of the power over one's neighbors that
it meant
16
By 1701, when the first of the extant letters was
written by Robert Carter, he was already one of the most
prominent men in the colony as a member of its
council, and the significant events of the early portion of his life
had occurred, including the death of his first wife in
1699 and his second marriage (to Elizabeth Landon Willis,
by whom he would have ten children) in 1701. The
letters dated between 1701 and 1710 included in this project
reflect little of Carter's personal, political, and
mercantile interests of that time because they are ones he wrote as
one of the trustees of the children of his friend,
Ralph Wormeley, and deal with their affairs rather than his own.
There are a few that step outside his duties to his
friend, and they show his interest in land acquisition, a topic that
would occupy him all of the rest of his life.
There is little extant on his first term as Virginia
agent for the proprietors of the Northern Neck, an arrangement
of importance to Carter because it gave him a taste of
how profitable that office could be. A separate section of
this project concerns Carter's work as the
proprietor's Virginia agent.
There are no extant texts for the years 1711-1714, one
in 1715, none in 1716, and a few for the years 1717-1719
from various sources including some nineteenth-century
copies made from a letter book no longer extant.
Beginning with the year 1720 and continuing until
Carter's death in August 1732, the record is fairly full, and a
good picture of his management of his affairs,
political interests, and daily routines can be drawn.
The most important events of the last twenty-two years
of his life were to be his term as acting governor of the
colony after the death in July 1726 of Hugh Drysdale
until the arrival of William Gooch in September 1727, and
his second term as agent for the proprietors of the
Northern Neck. By the time that Carter became acting
governor, he was in his sixties and in poor health.
His extant diary, kept between 1722 and 1728, gives
information his concerns while tantalizing with
references to his "other book" in which he apparently wrote more
detailed entries. His drive to acquire land for his
children led him to acquire in 1720 a lease of the propriety from
Lord Fairfax, and to take patents on huge quantities
of land moving ever westward in Virginia with his
acquisitions.
It is in his management of his highly successful
agricultural operations and in his operation of the proprietary that
our interest in him lies. The hundreds of letters that
he wrote in this period and the one extant diary provide a
wealth of information for those interested in Virginia
in the early years of the eighteenth century. Management of
his farms occupies much of Carter's time and his
writings. The majority of his letters are written to British
merchants consigning tobacco for sale, ordering goods
for his family, servants and slaves, and the like, but as
many of the merchants were at least old friends, there
are frequent comments about Virginia events and people.
Carter orders clothes, books, and newspapers for
himself, writes about his poor health, and seeks favors ranging
from wine to offices for his sons.
Robert Carter was influential in his own day and left
a family dynasty that continues to this day. At one time, he
was estimated to have over 50,000 descendants
including six governors of Virginia, three signers of the
Declaration of Independence, and two presidents of the
United States. Five sons and five daughters survived to
marry well and were themselves prolific. His letters
and other writings reveal his drive to establish this dynasty,
and the skill and intelligence he brought to this
effort.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sources
There are two academic lives of Robert Carter that
treat his life in detail: Carl F. Canon's doctoral dissertation,
"Robert ( "King" ) Carter of
"Corotoman" for Duke University, 1956; and "Robert King
Carter," a master's thesis
at the University of Virginia by Edmund Berkeley, Jr.,
in 1961.
Details of the Carter genealogy are to be found in
Christine Jones, John Carter I of "Corotoman" Lancaster
County, Virginia (Irvington, Virginia: Foundation for
Historic Christ Church, Inc., 1977).
One letter book of Carter's has been published: Louis
B. Wright, Letters of Robert Carter 1720-1727: The
Commercial Interests of a Virginia Gentleman (San
Marino, CA: Huntington Library, 1940). Wright also wrote of
the Carters' libraries in "The "Gentleman's
Library" in Early Virginia: The Literary Interests of the First
Carters,"
(Huntington Library Quarterly, I (1937), 3-61).
His schooling in England has been covered very well by
Alan Simpson in "Robert Carter's Schooldays" , an
17
article in the Virginia Magazine of History and
Biography (94[April 1986]: 161-188).
And Jon Kukla in Speakers and Clerks of the Virginia
House of Burgesses, 1643-1776 (Richmond: Virginia State
Library, 1981) gives the details of Carter's career as
a burgess and council member.
Fairfax Harrison's monumental study, Landmarks of Old
Prince William (Berryville, Va.: Virginia Book
Company, 1964, a one-volume reprint of the 1924
two-volume edition) remains invaluable for its detail about the
development of that area of Virginia and the
proprietary. There are numerous references to Carter and others of
his period in Earl G. Swem's Virginia Historical Index
which indexes a half-dozen publications on Virginia
history and genealogy.
Robert Carter and the Northern Neck Proprietary
On September 18, 1649, British King Charles II gave a
patent for a large section of Virginia between the
Rappahannock and Potomac rivers, extending west to the
heads of these rivers, to seven of the loyal followers
who were in exile with him. The lands conveyed in this
patent, known as the Northern Neck Proprietary, were to
involve Robert Carter heavily during two periods of
his life, and the second of those periods was to provide him
with an opportunity to build the fortunes of his
family in a way unprecedented in Virginia.
There were problems with the Proprietary from the
beginning. These included the actual scope of the patent since
Virginians and those in England defined the heads of
rivers by different standards. Collecting quit rents (taxes)
from settlers in the Proprietary was very difficult as
was the enforcement of other rights exercised in such royallygranted
areas. By the turn of the eighteenth century, control
of the Proprietary had come to one man, the fifth
Lord Thomas Fairfax who also inherited a new patent
issued by King James II in 1688 which established the
western limits of the Proprietary as the "first
heads or springs" of the Potomac and Rappahannock rivers, meshing
it nicely with southern border of the Maryland
Proprietary to the north. While some of the original proprietors'
rights had been lost, the collecting of quit rents
from settlers had been established through the efforts of their
agent in Virginia, William Fitzhugh, and through Lord
Fairfax himself who persuaded "Richard Lee, a large and
widely respected Northern Neck landholder, to make
quit rent payments to the Proprietors." (Brown, p. 37.) This
ensured that the proprietors received income from
their property in Virginia, and made it extremely valuable to
them.
Robert Carter lived in the Proprietary as Lancaster
County lies in it. He had therefore been well aware of it from
his youth. He had, as a member of the House of
Burgesses, led a fight against the Proprietary in the session of
1695 that had been brought on by the Proprietor's
agents, George Brent and William Fitzhugh, attempts to
establish the proprietors rights to escheats, quit
rents, and other matters. "Carter made a savage attack on the
agents. Under six heads he listed the 'abuses'
practiced" and seems to have overstated the case "by what were
acknowledged to be in the main unfair
accusations." (Davis, Fitzhugh, p. 43.)
William Fitzhugh died in October 1701 and George Brent
had died several years earlier. Lord Fairfax approached
the great London merchant, Micajah Perry, widely
acknowledged to be extremely knowledgeable about Virginia
for which he had been agent, for advice about a new
agent in the colony. Perry recommened Robert Carter, and he
was accepted.
He showed diligence in its interests--and to his own
profit. He quickly increased the number of those who
followed the example of Richard Lee in settling for
past-due quit rents. Deputies promptly collected current
accounts. More and more grants were issued in the
western, unoccupied parts of the Northern Neck. Carter did
not deny himself what he granted others. Soon after he
became agent, he had two friends patent about 13,500
acres, which were transferred to him. In 1709 he
"took up" 912 acres of choice land on the Occoquan in the name
of a three-year-old son. (Freeman, Washington, p.
489.)
After Lord Fairfax died in January 1710, his son
inherited the title and his five-sixths shares in the Northern Neck.
In May, his grandmother died leaving the new Lord
Fairfax her one-sixth share. However, because he was only
sixteen years old, the affairs of the Proprietary fell
18
Robert was known as “King” Carter due to his immense
wealth. He had a remarkable reputation as a Colonial
Official and an agent for Lord Fairfax, V. At the age
of 28, Robert entered the Assembly as a Burgess from
Lancaster County, serving five consecutive years. In
1726 he served as acting governor of Virginia after the death
of Governor Drysdale. He served two terms as agent for
the Fairfax proprietary of the Northern Neck of Virginia,
the first being, 1702-1711, and the second term,
1722-32. During his first term, he began to acquire large tracts of
land for himself in the Rappahannock region of
Virginia. After acquiring some 20,000 acres for himself, he was
succeeded by Edmund Jennings. When he became
representative of Fairfax’s interests again in 1722, he
succeeded in securing for his children and
grandchildren some 110,000 acres in the Northern Neck. He also had
additional acquisitions beyond the Blue Ridge
Mountains in Virginia. Robert’s gifted and productive life centered
around the original Christ Church, a smaller wooden
structure. His parents were buried within the chancel of the
church. A historic marker outside of the Church reads:
“Christ Church was built in 1732, on the site of an older
Church by Robert (“King”) Carter, who reserved one
quarter of it for seating his tenants and servants. It is one of
the very few colonial churches in America that have
never been altered, a typical early eighteenth-century
structure. Robert Carter is buried here. “(see tombstone
inscription and pictures). At his death in 1732, his
obituary in Gentleman’s Magazine described his estate
to be “about 300,000 acres of land, about 1000 Negroes,
10,000 pounds in money.” The tombstones of Robert and
his two wives, were placed at the east end of the old
Christ Church. When Edmund J. Lee, MD wrote Lee of VA
in 1894, he described the tombstones thusly:
“They were very large, handsome, and elaborately
carved. All are now destroyed, and the ground around is
strewn with their fragments. Bishop Meade saw that of
the husband, and wrote in his report of that church in
1838: ‘Among the latter [tombs], at the east end of
the house, within a neat inclosure, recently put up, are to be
seen the tombs of Robert Carter, the builder of the
house, and of his two wives. These are probably the largest and
richest and heaviest tombstones in our land.’ Bishop
Meade adds: ‘Tradition has it that the congregation, which
doubtless consisted chiefly of his dependents, did not
enter the church on Sunday until the arrival of his coach,
when all followed him and his family into it.’ He
rebuilt and enlarged the church; the walls are very thick, at least
three feet, and are yet sound. It has the old-style,
square, high back pews, two of which, those nearest the chancel,
are at least fifteen feet square.”
The tombstones have been replaced by the church since
that was written in 1894, and the inscription on his
tombstone (taken from the original), :
“Here lies buried Robert Carter, Esq., an honourable
man, who by noble endowments and pure morals gave lustre
to his gentle birth. Rector of William and Mary, he
sustained that institution in its most trying times. He was
Speaker of the House of Burgesses, and Treasurer under
the most serene Princes William, Anne George I and II.
Elected by the House its Speaker six years, and
Governor of the Colony for more than a year, he upheld equally
the regal dignity and the public freedom. Possessed of
ample wealth, blamelessly acquired, he built and endowed,
at his own expense, this sacred edifice - a signal
monument of his piety toward God. He furnished it richly.
Entertaining his friends kindly, he was neither a
prodigal nor a parsimonious host. His first wife was Judith,
daughter of John Armistead, Esq.; his second Betty, a
descendant of the noble family of Landons. By these wives
he had many children, on whose education he expended
large sums of money. At length, full of honours and of
years, when he had performed all the duties of an
exemplary life, he departed from this world on the 4th day of
August, in the 69th year of his age. The unhappy
lament their lost comforter, the widows their lost protector, and
the orphans their lost father.”
4.2 SOIL EXHAUSTION IN THE EARLY TOBACCO SOUTH
The Chesapeake Bay Area
1590 - 1820
Robert "King" Carter, 1663-1732
Richest man in colonial America.
Member, House of Burgesses.
300,000 acres of land in Virginia.
Plantation house.
700-1000 slaves.
2000 head of cattle.
100 horses.
NOTES ON OFTEN-CITED
19
PERSONS, PLACES, AND THINGS
IN ROBERT CARTER'S DIARY AND LETTERS
Edmund Berkeley, Jr.
This text contains brief notes with sources
identifying persons with whom Robert Carter frequently corresponds,
or that he mentions often in his diary and letters.
Sources
CARTER (SHIP) A vessel named the Carter traded to
Virginia for many years; she is most often referred to as the
Carter Frigatt. The captain in 1706 was Thomas Graves
who is mentioned in the Lancaster County Court Orders
Book for judgements against him obtained by Robert
Carter. Later, the Carter would be commanded by Baily
Kent, 1718-1721, Thomas Dove, and by Benjamin Graves.
She was owned by Robert Carter and William
Dawkins in 1720. (Survey report 6800 for Adm. 68/194-5,
Virginia Colonial Records Project, Albert H. Small
Special Collections Library, University of Virginia;
and Lancaster County Court Orders Book 5, 1702-13, p. 187,
as abstracted in Jones, Orders Book Entries . . .
Referring to "Robert Carter. . . . " )
CHANGLINS was a farm owned by Robert Carter located in
Lancaster County relatively close to Corotoman.
FALMOUTH was a new town created by the Assembly in
February 1727. Robert Carter, Mann Page, Nicholas
Smith, William Thornton, John Fitzhugh, Charles Carter,
and Henry Fitzhugh the younger were the "directors and
trustees." The land chosen for the site lay in
King George County, and deeds were recorded in its court records.
(William Waller Hening, The Statutes at Large; Being a
Collection of the Laws of Virginia . . . . [Richmond,
1820. reprint, 1969], IV, pp. 234-39).
HEDGEMAN, NATHANIEL, (d. 1721), settled his family at
"Accokeek" on Potomac Creek, Stafford County, a
property he bought from George Mason (1629-1686). He
was one of Robert Carter's senior overseers, or
managers, and his accidental death caused problems for
Robert Carter. (Harrison, , pp. 198-203; and Robert A.
Rutland, The Papers of George Mason. [Chapel Hill:
University of North Carolina Press, 1970], l, x.)
HILLS QUARTER was a farm owned by Robert Carter
located in Lancaster County relatively close to his home,
"Corotoman."
INDIAN TOWN (plantation) was a farm located in
Lancaster County near Weems and Carter's home at
"Corotoman." He inherited it from his
brother John Carter II. In 1732, John Leathead was the overseer of 26
slaves, 114 cattle, and a number of hogs. (Miller, p.
72; "Carter Papers: An Inventory. . . ." ; and Christine A.
Jones, compiler. Irvington, VA: Foundation for
Historica Christ Church, Inc., 1978. p. 54.)
INNIS, a Richmond County property acquired by Robert
Carter toward the end of 1728. Enoch Innis inherited it
from his father, James, who died in 1709. (Lucy Jane
Brent Palmer, "Charles Brent of Stafford County and Some
of His Descendants," Virginia Magazine of History
and Biography, 34(1926): 280-85 and 378-84; and "Abstracts
From Records of Richmond County, Virginia,"
William and Mary Quarterly, 1st. ser.,17(1908-09): 173-177,
which cites records of Richmond County concerning this
will, probated 25 December 1709, as from Will Book
3).
JENINGS, EDMUND (1659-1727), at odds with Robert
Carter for most of his life. Born in England, he was
trained as a lawyer and practiced that profession in
Virginia where he was Attorney General and Secretary of
State as well as a member of the Council and holder of
many lesser offices. He succeeded Robert Carter as agent
for the proprietors of the Northern Neck in 1711, and,
due to his poor health, left the records in a considerable
muddle as Robert Carter found upon resuming the agency
in 1721. Jenings accrued many debts, especially to
London merchant Micajah Perry, and Robert Carter
eventually took a mortgage on Jenings' estate, "Ripon Hall,"
taking it over when Jenings could not make the
payments. Because of poor health Jenings was suspended from the
Council in 1726 when Lt. Governor Hugh Drysdale was
planning a trip to England for his health. Robert Carter
thus became first member of the Council, and acting
governor upon Drysdale's sudden death on July 22, 1726.
(Brown. Virginia Baron. . . . and a variety of other
sources.)
MORATTICO was a large farm of some 1,800 acres in
Richmond County where there were several of that name.
20
Robert Carter had bought it from Moore Fauntleroy;
"it was located on the hill just south of the present Totuskey
Bridge." The farm had eight slaves, thirty-six
hogs, and a horse in the 1732 inventory of Robert Carter's estate.
(Miller, Place-Names of the Northern Neck. . . ., 19,
102-103.; and "Carter Papers: An Inventory. . . .")
MOUNTAIN was a farm in Spotsylvania County; in the
inventory of Robert Carter's estate, it had 22 slaves, 7
horses, 73 hogs, and 59 cattle. This may be the farme
referred to as "Carter's Mount."("Carter Papers: An
Inventory. . . .")
OFFICE was a farm apparently not too far from
"Corotoman" in Lancaster County because Carter mentions in his
diary visiting it fairly often. It had seven slaves,
twenty-four hogs, and thirty-five cattle in 1732 inventory of
Robert Carter's estate. ("Carter Papers: An
Inventory. . . .".)
OLD ORDINARY, a tract in Westmoreland County, had 15
slaves, 87 hogs, 57 cattle, 27 sheep, and 6 horses in
the 1732 inventory of Robert Carter's estate; James
Whaley was then its overseer. ("Carter Papers: An Inventory. .
. .".)
PARK QUARTER lay in Stafford County. In the 1732
inventory of Robert Carter's estate, James Seben was
overseer; it had twenty-four slaves, four horses,
thirty-eight hogs, and fifty-four cattle. Carter bequeathed it to his
son George and it came to Landon Carter in 1741 after
George's death. (Greene. The Diary of Colonel Landon
Carter. . . ., p. 5.; and "Carter Papers: An
Inventory. . .
PENMOND'S (Peumond's, Pewmond's, etc.) END
(plantation) was located in a part of Essex County (as Carter
stated in his will), later to be Caroline County,
where it appears on the Fry-Jefferson map near Port Royal. In
1732, there were 26 slaves, 50 hogs, and 92 cattle
under the direction of overseer Henry Bell. ("Carter Papers: An
Inventory. . . ." )
RED OAK QUARTER was in Prince William County; in the
1732 inventory of Robert Carter's estate, John
Wilcox was overseer, and there were fourteen slaves,
fifty-one hogs, forty-one cattle, and one horse. ("Carter
Papers: An Inventory. . . .".)
RICHLAND was a farm located in King George County. In
the 1732 inventory of Robert Carter's estate, it had
thirteen slaves, one horse named "Mountain,"
seventy hogs, and fifty-five cattle. Tim Stamps was the overseer
here in 1726. ("Carter Papers: An Inventory. . .
.".)
WICCOCOMOCO was a farm owned by Robert Carter,
probably located in Northumberland County where there
is a creek of this name.
WOLF HOUSE was a farm owned by Robert Carter located
in Lancaster County relatively close to Corotoman.
Notes for JUDITH ARMISTEAD:
CARTER, JUDITH (ARMISTEAD) (1665-1699), Robert
Carter's first wife, mother of: John Carter (1689/90-
1742), Elizabeth Carter (1692-1734); Judith Carter (c.
1693, d. in infancy); Sarah Carter (c. 1694, d. in infancy);
and a second Judith Carter (1695-c. 1750) (Carleton. A
Genealogy. . . of Robert Carter. . . . p. 2.)
Octobeer 7, 1718
Letter from Robert Carter to [Mann Page, October 7,
1718]
Robert Carter writes his son-in-law, Mann Page,
concerning Judith (Carter) Page's illness and his hope to visit
her although his wife, Elizabeth (Landon) Wilkes
Carter, will not be able to accompany him due to her own poor
health.
[Rappahannock, Lancaster County, Virginia]
Octor 7th 1718
21
Dear sir,
The sight of your man
did not a little surprise me --
Had heard of my daughter being
taken ill at her uncle Armistead's
before. I pray God, you are not
mistaken in the conquest of her
distemper. Were it not for these
difficult rivers, I would imme=
=diately come and see her. The
calamitys upon my family ever since
I saw you have made it impossible
for my wife to pay her respects to
York River ; and she's at this time so
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-2-
feeble in her knees she can hardly rise off
the chair she sits in, which forces
her to lay aside the thoughts of
that journey until my return
from Town.
I thank you for the offer of your
chariot. God willing I intend
to be at Rosegill on Saturday the
18th Instant by 12 o'clock, to make
use of your favour. If your wife
should relaps before that [and] you
think it expedient to let me know
it, I will endeavour to get to her
by horseback.
The proper respects of this family
you command. Pray, my love &
blessing to my dear girl. That you
may all enjoy your healths is
the constant petition of
&c
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTES
Source copy consulted: Minor-Blackford Papers, James
Monroe Law Office and Museum, Fredericksburg,
Virginia. These texts are all nineteenth-century
copies. Apparently there was in existence a letter book of Robert
Carter's -- now lost -- from which the unknown copyist
recorded these texts. As they are the only texts, the
22
punctuation and "corrections"obviously
supplied by the copyist have been retained.
The nineteenth-century copyist wrote at the head of
this letter: "[Letter without address but meant for his son-inlaw
Mann Page of 'Rosewell.' It is also without date but
appears in the letter-book between a letter dated Octor:
7th 1718 and the 16th of the same month.]"
Robert Carter generally used a return address of
"Rappahannock" for the river on which he lived rather than
"Corotoman," the name of his home, on his
correspondence, especially to merchants abroad. The return address,
county, and state have been added for clarity to this
unheaded letter.
[1] Judith Carter (1695-c. 1750) was RC's fifth child
"and the last by his wife, Judith Armistead, [and] was also
named Judith following the first Judith who died in
infancy. . . . She was the grandmother of John Page, Governor
of Virginia." She married in 1718 Mann Page of
"Rosewell," Gloucester County. (Carleton. A Genealogy. . . of
Robert Carter. . . . p. 211.)
[2] Elizabeth Landon Willis (1684-1719) was RC's
second wife by whom he had ten children. She had their last
child, George, in 1718.
[3] Williamsburg.
[4] "Rosegill" is the Wormeley home in
Middlesex County; it lies between Rosegill Lake and Urbanna Creek,
slightly up the Rappahannock from
"Corotoman." The nineteenth-century copyist-editor added in a note,
"When
Mr. Carter went to Williamsburg he crost the Rapph at
Rosegill & went thence to Rosewll, & thence by land."
[5] This word was added in brackets by the
nineteenth-century copyist.
Robert “King” Carter
(1663-1732)
Robert “King” Carter had a passion for accumulating
land, wealth, and power. He owned at his death around
300,000 acres, 45 plantations, and was one of the
wealthiest men in Virginia. His power was derived from his
wealth, political and civil positions. He was the
treasurer of the colony, Naval Officer of the Rappahannock, a
Member of the House of Burgesses as well as the
Speaker of the House, President of Governor’s Council, and
interim Governor of Virginia. In 1702 he was appointed
as the salaried agent and Virginia representative for Lord
Fairfax, whose holdings encompassed five-and-one-half
million acres. When Robert died he left 10,000 pounds
sterling, 734 slaves, 2266 head of cattle, sheep,
hogs, and horses.
Robert was born in 1663 and was the second son of John
Carter I (1613-1669) and Sarah Ludlow Carter, John’s
fourth wife. John Carter I died when Robert was six
(1669/70), leaving to him 1,000 acres and under the
guardianship of the oldest son John II. Believing that
education was of the utmost importance, Robert was sent to
board in England for six years. In 1690, John II died
and having no male heir left his estate to his younger brother
Robert.
Majority of Robert “King” Carter’s wealth was derived
through the cultivation of tobacco. Tobacco was shipped
on consignment to agents in England who would sell the
leaf. The money was placed into an English account,
from that account Robert would write a note called a
Bill of Exchanges (a check) to pay for goods. The notes
were carried back and fourth between Robert and his
agents in England. “King” Carter also acted as the
middleman between other colonial planters and their
English agents. To ensure the movement of his goods,
“King” Carter had a fleet of boats, which he used or
rented out to others.
In 1688 Robert married Judith Armistead of “Hesse”
(1665-1699) in Gloucester County. They had five children,
of which three survived into adulthood. Their names
were John, Elizabeth, and Judith. John Carter, became the
Secretary for Virginia Affairs and married Elizabeth
Hill of Shirley in 1723. John constructed the present mansion
at Shirley around the 1730s. Elizabeth Carter married
Nathaniel Burwell their son Carter Burwell constructed
Carter’s Grove. Judith married Mann Page of Rosewell.
Robert remarried in 1701 to Betty Landon Willis.
23
Together they had ten children of which seven survived
into adulthood. Their children also married into
prominent colonial families, the most noted probably
being Anne who married Benjamin Harrison of Berkeley.
Robert “King” Carter’s descendants were quite respectable
and held considerable power. Robert descendant’s
include three signers of the Declaration of
Independence: Carter Braxton, Thomas Nelson Jr., and Benjamin
Harrison; two U.S. Presidents: William Henry Harrison
and Benjamin Harrison; General Robert E. Lee; a
Supreme Court Justice, and eight Governors of
Virginia.
Old Churches Ministers, and Families of Virginia.
Article LVII.
The first of the family, so far as is known, settled
in Upper Norfolk, now Nansemond county, and was a member
of the House of Burgesses in 1649. In the year 1654,
we find him a Burgess from Lancaster county, and
Commander-in-chief of the forces sent against the
Rappahannock Indians. He continued to be a member of the
House of Burgesses for some years. Both himself and
his eldest son John appear on the vestry-book as members
of the vestry in the year 1666, the father having been
acting in that capacity before,--how long not known. The
father, who died in 1669, had previously built, by
contract, the first church standing on the spot where Christ
Church now is, and the vestry received it at the hands
of his son John, in six months after the father's death. The
name of John Carter, 1702, is still to be seen on an
old dialpost of cedar, which was taken out of the ground, near
the churchdoor, some years since, and placed under the
pulpit in the present Christ Church. The first John Carter
had three wives,--1st, Jane, the daughter of Morgan
Glyn, by whom he had George and Eleanor; 2d, Ann, the
daughter of Cleave Carter, probably of England; 3d,
Sarah, the daughter of Gabriel Ludlowe, by whom he had
Sarah. All these died before him, and he was buried
with them, near the chancel, in the church which he built, and
the tombstone from which we take the above covers them
all, being still in the same position in the present
church. He had also a son named Charles, of whom
nothing is known. His son Robert was by his last wife, Sarah
Ludlowe. The eldest son, John, married,--1st,
Elizabeth Wormley, and 2d, a Miss Loyd, and had issue. Of this
branch we have no account, and must confine ourselves
to that of Robert, alias King Carter. He married twice:--
first, a Miss Armistead; next, a widow Willis,
daughter of Thomas Landon, of England. He had ten children by
the two wives. Those of whom we have information were
John, Elizabeth, Judith, Ann, Robert of Nomini,
Charles, Landon of Sabine Hall, Mary, Lucy, and
George. The eldest son, John, married Miss Hill, and was
Secretary of State to the Colony, having to pay one
thousand five hundred pounds sterling for the office. His
daughter Elizabeth married, first Mr. Nathaniel
Burwell, of Gloucester, and then Dr. George Nicholas, of
Williamsburg. His daughter Judith married the first
Mann Page, of Gloucester, and lived with him at Rosewell.
His daughter Ann married Benjamin Harrison, of
Berkeley. His son Robert married a Miss Bladen. His son
Charles married first a Miss Walker, then a Miss Byrd,
sister of Mr. Byrd, of Westover, lastly a Miss Taliafero.
His son Landon, of Sabine Hall, married first Elizabeth,
daughter of Mr. Wormley, of Rosegill, then Maria, a
sister of Mr. Byrd, of Westover, then a Miss Beale.
His youngest child, Lucy, married Henry Fitzhugh, of King
George county. Thus we have disposed of the sons and
daughters of Mr. Carter, of Corotoman, and their
marriages. To attempt to do the same even with his
grandchildren, much more with their descendants, would not
merely exceed the bounds prescribed to such
genealogies in these notices, but would require a small volume.
Suffice it to say, that, besides intermarriages one
with another, the family of Carter may be found intermingled,
not only with those already mentioned, but with those
of Moore, Lee, Berkeley, Champe, Skipwith, Braxton,
Nelson, Waller, Randolph, Brown, Clayborne, Tasker,
Churchill, Chiswell, Minor, Brooke, Thornton, Baylor,
Grymes, Peck, Mitchell, Harris; and should we attempt
to bring down the list to present times, it would contain
others almost without limit. Out of the number of
descendants, of whom both Church and State might well be
proud, it would be invidious to select. So far as we
have been able to judge by observation and learn by report, we
may be permitted to say that there has been much of
the amiable and the pious in the family, sometimes mixed
with a portion of eccentricity in individuals of it.
In CouncillorCarter, of Nomini, the grandson of King Carter,
this peculiarity was found in a large measure. Early
in life his disposition was marked by a tendency to wit and
humour. Afterward he was the grave Councillor, and
always the generous philanthropist. At a later day he became
scrupulous as to the holding of slaves, and manumitted
great numbers. The subject of religion then engrossed his
thoughts. Abandoning the religion of his fathers, he
adopted the creed of the Baptists, and patronized their young
preachers, having a chapel in his own house at Nomini.
After a time he embraced the theory of Swedenborg, and
at length died an unhappy death-dreading Papist. All
the while he was a most benevolent and amiable man. I
might mention many others, of both sexes, with whom I
have had personal and intimate acquaintance, who have
been beautiful specimens of piety, without the
versatility and inconsistency of Mr. Carter, of Nomini. I was not
acquainted with Mr. Charles Carter, of Shirley, though
it has been my happiness to know many of his descendants
and to love them for their work's sake. I find his
name on the list of those few devoted friends of the Church who
after the Revolution met together in Convention at
Richmond, to rescue the things that remained and were ready
24
to perish. I have, however, in the following letter, a
better proof of his love to the Church and its ministers than
any mere attendance on Conventions could furnish. It
was addressed to his old friend and pastor, the Rev. Mr.
Currie, of Lancaster, who was the faithful minister of
Christ Church parish for fifty years. Anticipating his own
death as well as that of Mr. Currie, as events which
might occur before that of Mrs. Currie, he thus generously
provides for her support during her remaining days.
She did survive her husband a number of years, and doubtless
enjoyed the bounty of Mr. Carter.
Notes for ELIZABETH
LANDON:
Robert remarried in 1701 to Betty Landon Willis.
Together they had ten children of which seven survived into
adulthood. Their children also married into prominent
colonial families, the most noted probably being Anne who
married Benjamin Harrison of Berkeley. Robert “King”
Carter’s descendants were quite respectable and held
considerable power. Robert descendant’s include three
signers of the Declaration of Independence: Carter
Braxton, Thomas Nelson Jr., and Benjamin Harrison; two
U.S. Presidents: William Henry Harrison and Benjamin
Harrison; General Robert E. Lee; a Supreme Court
Justice, and eight Governors of Virginia
Database: Virginia, Prominent Families, Vol. 1-4
Volume II
Chapter VII The Carter Family.
V.
To the memory of Betty Carter, second wife of Robert
Carter, Esq., youngest daughter of Thomas Landon, Esq.,
and Mary, his wife, of Grednal, in the County of
Hereford, the ancient seat of the family and place of her nativity.
She bore to her husband ten children, five sons and
five daughters, three of whom-Sarah, Betty, and Ludlowedied
before her and are buried near her. She was a person
of great and exemplary piety and charity in every
relation wherein she stood; whether considered as a
Christian, a wife, a mother, a mistress, a neighbor or a friend,
her conduct was equalled by few, excelled by none. She
changed this life for a better on the 3rd July, 1710, in the
36th year of her age, and the 19th of her marriage.
May her descendants make their mother's virtues and graces
the pattern of their lives and actions
Elizabeth made Robert extremely happy during their
life together. "The Virginia Dynasties" by Clifford Dowdey
Landon Family Research Quarterly
<http://homepages.rootsweb.com/%7Elandon/images/land_sm.gif>
Volume III, Issue 2 - July 1994 (cont.)
THOMAS LANDON OF HEREFORDSHIRE AND VIRGINIA
by Betty BrassingtonLandon Family Research Quarterly
<http://homepages.rootsweb.com/%7Elandon/images/land_sm.gif>
Volume III, Issue 3 - July 1994 (cont.)
ROGER LANDON OF VOWCHURCH, HEREFORDSHIRE
by LaDean Lee
This is one of the most illustrious families of
America. Elizabeth Landon Carter, daughter of Thomas Landon of
Herefordshsire was the Fore-Mother of a true American
dynasty. Her descendants helped to shape the very
pattern of our country. There seemed to be a
comfortable understanding that the children of these families would
marry other movers and shakers. Looking through the
descendants and in-laws, you will find mention of George
Washington, Robert E. Lee, and Zebulon Pike and many
other less-known but important founders of our country.
The descendants include the names of two United States
Presidents and possible relationship with yet a third --
but President Jimmy Carter's ancestors have not been
definitely traced into the original Virginia Carter families.
25
Discussion about his ancestors is found in the Briggs
book, THE CARTERS OF VIRGINIA.
We begin with Thomas Landon, a member of the English
Landon family shown in the article by LaDean Lee.
1. THOMAS LANDON born 1648, Credenhill, Herefordshire,
perhaps married (1st) by 1667, to MARY
ST.LEGER, who perhaps died soon after Aug 1677 Thomas
married (2nd) after 1677, MARY DE LAVAL,
daughter of Thomas DeLaval, a merchant of New York.
Thomas died 1701, Middlesex Co, Virginia.
Children perhaps by Mary St.Leger:
i William Landon baptized 10 March 1667, Credenhill,
Herefordshire.
ii Mary Landon baptized 20 Feb 1669, Credenhill.
iii Thomas Landon baptized 16 Jan 1671, Credenhill.
iv Silvanus Landon baptized 21 Jan 1673, Credenhill.
v Roger Landon baptized 14 Mar 1674, Credenhill.
vi Ann Landon baptized 14 Apr 1676, Credenhill.
vii John Landon baptized 22 Aug 1677, Credenhill.
Children by Mary DeLaval: viii St.Leger Landon born
about 1681, perhaps at Credenhill, Herefordshire. Lived in
Virginia at least from 1696 to 1701. There is no
baptism record at Credenhill, Herefordshire for St.
Leger. Perhaps he was born in London since his father
had important positions there.
ix (2) Elizabeth Landon.
The following is quoted from: THE ANCESTRY OF BENJAMIN
HARRISON, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED
STATES OF AMERICA 1880-1893 . . . , by Charles P.
Keith, published 1893 at Philadelphia, p. 88. "The
Thomas and Mary Landon mentioned on the tombstone of
Betty, second wife of 'King Carter', as her parents,
were perhaps the Thomas Landon of Credenhill,
gentleman, eldest Groom of His majesty's Buttery, and Mary
called 'his now wife' in the will, dated Feb. 6, 1679,
of his kinsman, Thomas Landon, who styles himself 'of
Monington Stradell, in the parish of Vowchurch in
County Hereford, gentleman, yeoman to the Buttery of King
Charles I, and now in the same office to King Charles
II'.
"Betty was born after the will was made.
Credenhill is the birthplace intended on Betty Carter's tombstone.
Thomas of Credenhill aforesaid was the son of Silvanus
Landon of St. Martin's in the Fields, Middlesex, gent.,
whose will also was executed prior to Betty's birth.
Sylvanus' second wife was Frances, born Scott, widow of Sir
Anthony St. Leger.
"Thomas, son of Sylvanus, had a son Thomas, and
it is possible that he took a wife named Mary, lived at
Credenhill, and was father of Betty. Among the
manuscripts of Sir Hans Sloane in the British Museum is a letter
addressed to him by a Mary Landon dated Aug 24, 1716,
expressing a design 'to spend her days in the service of
God and the study of philosophy'.
NOTE: By 1716 the Thomas Landon family had all moved
to America and Thomas died there in 1701. So this
Mary Landon had to be from another family -- unless,
after the death of her husband in Virginia, Mary DeLaval
Landon returned to England and decided to spend the
rest of her days in a convent.
"From the Credenhill branch of the family
descended Letitia Elizabeth Landon, who wrote over the initials L.E.L.
"After figuring out the children that King Carter
had by Judith Armistead, the tombstone giving the number of
them, I am obliged to contradict the Carter Family
Tree, and place Anne, wife of Benjamin Harrison among the
26
children by Betty Landon."
NOTE: If the above sounds familiar, it is because the
author of the published Landon Genealogy, used it almost
verbatim in his book without giving credit to his
source.
English records specifically name the wife of Thomas
Landon as Mary St. Leger. How can this be reconciled with
the American records that say his wife was Mary
DeLaval? Since Thomas Landon's mother was first married to a
St. Leger, it is possible that Thomas married a
relative of his mother's first husband. There seems to be a break in
birthdates after son, John, was baptized at Credenhill
in 1677. Perhaps this is significant. Thomas may have
married twice -- first to Mary St.Leger and second
(after 1677) to Mary DeLaval who became 'his now wife' by
1679. The next son born after 1677 was named
"St.Leger". This may have been in honor of the first wife's family.
All speculation, of course.
Thomas came to America and arrived first in New York
according to a letter I received from Dale Landon on 1-
20-93: "Thomas Landon, father of Elizabeth
Carter, came to Virginia from New York. "Thomas Landon was the
attorney for his brother-in-law, John DeLavall, 'now
overseas' who was the executor of Thomas DeLavall (his
father). Will proved 7 February 1682/3 in the city of
New York. Thomas DeLavall had land in Harlem upon the
island of New York, all that island by the name of
great Barnes Island, a mill and land at the Esopus, a mill called
Younkers Mill, lying in the Hudsons River, land and
houses at Gravesend upon Long Island and land beyond
Smiths Fly in New York."
Note: When Thomas DeLaval died in 1683 in New York,
Thomas Landon was still living in England with his
family (since his daughter's baptism is recorded at
Credenhill on 17 May 1683). If he was the attorney when the
Thomas Delaval will was settled, then he was the one
who was 'now overseas'. It must be presumed that Mary
(DeLaval) Landon received a part of her father's huge
estate in the area of New York. Perhaps this is the event
that brought the family to America.
Thomas Landon left New York and settled in Middlesex
Co, VA near Chesapeake Bay. He lived across the river
from "King" Carter, his daughter's husband.
Thomas died there in 1701, the same year that Elizabeth was married
to Robert Carter.
LANDON RESEARCH, Vol II, Issue 1, p.20 has this
information furnished by Dave Skinner, which comes from
CAVALIERS AND PIONEERS, VIRGINIA LAND GRANTS AND
PATENTS, by Nell M. Nugent, pub 1963,
Vol III, p.504:
"In March 1663, George Gill received acreage for
transfer of 8 persons including DAVID LANDON." (Who is
he? He was perhaps a close relative of Thomas Landon
and since he was in Virginia since 1663, this may explain
why the Thomas Landon family moved to Virginia. More
research is needed to find information about this David
Landon. It is even possible that he is the ancestor of
the Maryland Landons.)
"In May 1705, John Hay and Christopher Robinson
received acreage for transfer of 66 persons including --
THOMAS LANDON, ROGER LANDON, SELENGER (obviously ST.
LEGER) LANDON, THOMAS
LANDON, MARY LANDON, and BETTY LANDON."
Putting all of this together: Thomas Landon and family
came to New York sometime after 1683. Apparently, the
reason they went to New York is that her father and
brother had been living there and Mary may have inherited
property there from her father's estate.
We know that Robert and Elizabeth were married in 1701
so the Landon family came into Virginia at least by that
time. It seems that son, St. Leger Landon, was in
Virginia at least by 1696 so this may be the date of their move
from New York to Virginia.
Second Generation
2. ELIZABETH LANDON was baptized 17 May 1683, at
Credenhill, Herefordshire. Elizabeth Landon married
27
(1st) Richard Willis. She married (2nd) 09 Apr 1701,
ROBERT CARTER, born 1663, (son of Col. John Carter
and Sarah Ludlow) who died 04 Aug 1732, Middlesex Co,
Virginia. Elizabeth died 03 Jul 1710, Middlesex Co,
Virginia, buried: Christ Church, Irvington, Virginia.
Robert "King" Carter was President of the
Council of Virginia and in 1726-27, was Governor of Virginia. At the
time of his death, he had 44 tobacco plantations of
300,000 acres and over 1000 slaves. In any time period he
would be considered an extremely wealthy man.
Robert Carter married 1st in 1688 to Judith Armistead,
b. 1665 in Lancaster County, Virginia and d. 23 Feb 1699
in Virginia. Since I haven't yet found birthdates for
most of the children, she may be the mother of several of
them. It is known that she was the mother of Elizabeth
Carter who married Nathaniel Burwell. Elizabeth was born
in Gloucester County, VA. Judith was buried at Old
Christ Church. She was the daughter of John Armistead and
wife, Judith Robinson. Judith's tombstone gives the
number of her children but does not give their names, so there
is some question as to which children were hers and
which were born to Elizabeth.
Elizabeth Landon married Robert Carter in 1701 when
she was eighteen years old. She died only nine years later
in 1710 so she may have had 8-9 children. She died at
27 years.
Robert Carter was born in 1663 so was twenty years
older than Elizabeth when they were married. Elizabeth died
in 1710 and Robert lived until 1732. Perhaps he may
have married a third time.
Children by Judith:
i John Carter: probably born about 1689/90. He was a
Barrister in London, England but returned to Virginia in
1723 when he was appointed Secretary of the Colony of
Virginia.
ii Elizabeth Carter married (1st) Nathaniel Burwell,
married (2nd) Dr. George Nichols.
iii Judith Carter married Mann Page.
Children probably by Elizabeth:
iv (3) Ann Carter.
v Robert Carter.
vi Sarah Carter died young.
vii Betty Carter died young.
viii Ludlow Carter died young.
ix Charles Carter.
x Landon Carter married Judith Fauntleroy. (They had a
son, Moore Fauntleroy Carter.).
xi Lucy Carter married Henry FitzHugh.
xii George Carter.
Third Generation
3. ANN CARTER married Col. BENJAMIN HARRISON.
Children:
i Anne Harrison md. William Randolph, born of Wilton.
28
ii Elizabeth Harrison married Peyton Randolph. (He was
President of the First Contentinental Congress.).
iii (4) Benjamin Harrison born 05 Apr 1726.
iv Carter Henry Harrison.
v Henry Harrison died young.
vi Charles Harrison md. Mary Claiborne.
vii Nathaniel Harrison md. Ann Gilliam.
viii Henry Harrison md. and had children.
ix Robert Harrison md. ___ Collier.
SOURCES OF INFORMATION:
THE ANCESTRY OF BENJAMIN HARRISON, PRESIDENT OF THE
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
1880-1893 . . . , by Charles P. Keith, published 1893
at Philadelphia.
(Contains complete family charts).
BURKE'S LANDED GENTRY, and BURKE'S PRESIDENTIAL
FAMILIES OF THE UNITED STATES OF
AMERICA
THE CARTERS OF VIRGINIA, by Noel Currier-Briggs (good
photos)
CARTERS OF VIRGINIA, by Dorothy Wulfeck
LANDON FAMILY RESEARCH, Vol II, Issue 1, Jan 1993
THE VIRGINIA DYNASTIES, by Clifford Dowdey
<
More About ELIZABETH
LANDON:
Burial: Old Christ Church,Lancaster co, VA
Children of ROBERT
ESQ.
and JUDITH
ARMISTEAD
are:
5. i. JOHN OF COROTOMAN5 CARTER, b. 1689,
"Corotoman" , Lancaster co, VA; d. April 30, 1743,
"Shirley"
plantation, Charles city, VA..
ii. ELIZABETH CARTER, b. 1692, "Corotoman", Lancaster co, VA; d.
April 30, 1734, VA; m. (1) NATHANIEL
BURWELL, 1709; b. Abt. 1680; d. 1721, At age 41.; m. (2) GEORGE NICHOLAS, 1724; b.
1695; d. 1734.
Notes for NATHANIEL
BURWELL:
BURWELL'S QUARTER probably had belonged to Robert
Carter's son-in-law, Nathaniel Burwell, who died
in 1721. The profits from this farm went to Burwell's
widow, Elizabeth, and Robert Carter acquired title to it
at some point because he bequeathed it to one of
Elizabeth's sons
iii. SARAH CARTER, b. Abt. 1694, "Corotoman" , Lancaster co,
VA; d. Bef. 1699.
iv. JUDITH CARTER, b. died in infancy. She was born before the 2nd
Judith.; d. 1750, "Rosewell", Gloucester co,
VA; m. MANN PAGE, 1718; b. Abt. 1690; d. January 24, 1729/30.
29
Notes for JUDITH CARTER:
PAGE, JUDITH (CARTER) (1695-ca. 1750), Robert Carter's
fifth child" and the last by his wife, Judith
Armistead, [and] was also named Judith following the
first Judith who died in infancy. . . . She was the
grandmother of John Page, Governor of Virginia."
(Carleton. A Genealogy. . . of Robert Carter. . . . p. 211.)
Notes for MANN PAGE:
PAGE, MANN (1691-1730), of "Rosewell,"
Gloucester County, married in late July or early August 1718
Judith Carter, Robert Carter's fifth child by his wife
Judith Armistead. Page attended Eton and Oxford, and
was appointed to the Council shortly after returning to
Virginia. In 1726 he began the house at "Rosewell" but
he did not live to complete it. Mann Page II finished
the construction; the house burned in 1916, and it is now
a "romantic and noble ruin." ("Council
Proceedings." Virginia Magazine. . . .; and O'Neal. Architecture in
Virginia. . . . p. 101.)
Letter from Robert Carter to [Mann Page, April 5, 1724]
Robert Carter writes to an unidentified correspondent,
probably his son-in-law, Mann Page, [April 5,
1724], informing him of the death of Daniel McCarty and
soliciting his support for George Eskridge for the
post of collector of Potomac River, an opening created
by McCarty's death.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Letter from Robert Carter to [Mann Page, April 5, 1724]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-1-
[Corotoman, Lancaster County, Virginia]
Honble: Sr
This is a hasty Errand occasioned by a Lettr: to
me at Church this Day which gives me an Accot of
Captain McCartys
Death last night, Eskridge is gone to Stafford but in
Expecta
tion of his Neighbours Death every minute leaves this
Lettr:
to be dispatched away to me Earnestly pressing me to
write to
the Governour in his favour for McCartys place our
friend
ship hath been so long and strong I cannot deny him
Accord
ingly my Coach man comes post with my Express now my
desire to you is that you will let your Man ned who is
better
Acquainted with the Town carry this Express and Charles
will Supply his room until he comes he may go over to
new
Quarter and there take a horse to Town by your Order I
have
writ a line to the Commissary knowing he is alwayes at
hand
you know the Maxim Vis unita fortior
whether you will think it proper to say a word in
Eskridges favour I shal submit Intirely to you I pur
pose by my man that is come for my Children
to write Severall Lettrs: to Williamsburg have onely
time
at prsent to bid you all hail from
Sunday 4 of the Clock
If there by any hopes of a Answer from the Governour it
will
30
be very proper ned waits for it
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTES
Source copy consulted: Robert Carter letter book, 1723
June 16-1724 April 23, Robert Carter Papers (acc. no.
3807), Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections
Library, University of Virginia.
The name of Carter's home, the county, and colony have
been added for clarity to this unheaded draft.
Because Carter's son-in-law, Mann Page lived in
Gloucester County, just across the York River from
Williamsburg, and because of the affectionate tone of
this letter, the editor believes that it was sent to Page,
also a member of the Council.
Most references cite the date of Daniel McCarty's death
as 1724 May 4, and cite his tombstone inscription:
"Here lyeth the body of Daniel McCarty, who
departed this life the fourth of May 1724 in the forty fifth year
of his age. He was endowed with many virtues and
qualifications, but the actions proceeding therefrom
bespeak their praise." (See, for instance, Kukla.
Speakers and Clerks. . . . p. 100. The inscription is quoted
from an email, 2002 July 30, William M. McCarty to the
editor. Dr. McCarty has been working on a book on
the McCarty family for some sixty years.)
There is no indication in the minutes of the Council
that Eskridge was given the post that Carter sought for
him. (McIlwaine. Executive Journals of the Council. . .
. , 4[1721-1739].)
[1] Vis unita fortior means strength united is
stronger.
Children of ROBERT
ESQ.
and ELIZABETH
LANDON
are:
6. v. ANNE5 CARTER, b. 1702; d.
1743.
7. vi. ROBERT CARTER II, b. 1704, "Corotoman" , Lancaster co, VA;
d. May 12, 1732, "Nomini" Westmoreland
co, VA.
vii. SARAH CARTER, b. 1705, died in infancy; d. Bef. 1719.
viii. BETTY CARTER, b. 1706, died as an infant.; d. Bef. 1719.
8. ix. CHARLES OF CLEVE CARTER, b. 1707; d. 1764, "the most COLORLESS" of
the boys.
x. LUDLOW CARTER, b. 1708, died as an infant..
9. xi. LANDON SR. OF SABINE HALL CARTER, b. June 07, 1709, ref#5b Corotoman,Lancaster co,
VA/AKA
Colonel Landon Carter; d. December 22, 1778, Sabine Hall,
Richmond co,VA age at death 69/"the MOST
BRILLIANT of the boys".
10. xii. MARY CARTER, b. 1712, 13th child of Robert KING Carter/ King and
Queen co, VA; d. 1736.
11. xiii. LUCY CARTER, b. 1715, "Corotoman" , Lancaster co, VA; d.
1763.
xiv. GEORGE CARTER, b. 1718; d. 1742, in England, unmarried..
Notes for GEORGE CARTER:
CARTER, GEORGE (ca. 1718-ca. 1741/42), Robert Carter's
fifteenth child. He attended William & Mary,
and was sent to London by his older brother, John
Carter, after Robert Carter's death. He studied law there,
and remained in London until his death. (Carleton. A
Genealogy. . . of Robert Carter. . . . p. 2.)
PARK QUARTER lay in Stafford County. In the 1732
inventory of Robert Carter's estate, James Seben was
overseer; it had twenty-four slaves, four horses,
thirty-eight hogs, and fifty-four cattle. Carter bequeathed it to
his son George and it came to Landon Carter in 1741
after George's death. (Greene. The Diary of Colonel
Landon Carter. . . ., p. 5.; and "Carter Papers:
An Inventory.
The Complete Book of Emigrants, 1607-1776
January 1742. Grants made in the Prerogative Court of
Canterbury,
London:
Probate of will of George Carter of the Middle Temple,
London, whose
father was Robert Carter of Virginia deceased;
Generation No. 3
31
5. JOHN OF COROTOMAN5 CARTER (ROBERT KING CARTER4 ESQ., JOHN3 CARTER, JOHN2, THOMAS1) was born
1689 in "Corotoman" , Lancaster co, VA, and
died April 30, 1743 in "Shirley" plantation, Charles city, VA.. He
married ELIZABETH
HILL
October 03, 1723, daughter of EDWARD HILL and ELIZABETH WILLIAMS. She was
born
in Shirley , Charles city, VA., and died 1771 in died
in the summer of 1771..
Notes for JOHN OF COROTOMAN CARTER:
CARTER, JOHN (ca. 1689-1742), oldest child of Robert,
studied at Trinity College, Cambridge, and then at the
Middle Temple; was called to the bar in 1720.
Alexander Spotswood appointed John Carter agent for Virginia in
England, but he resigned this post when he was
appointed Secretary of State for the colony in 1722. He returned
to Virginia in 1723, and had a distinguished career.
He married Elizabeth Hill of "Shirley," and had four children.
(Carleton. A Genealogy. . . of Robert Carter. . . . p.
3.; and "Virginia Council Journals," Virginia Magazine of
History and Biography. 32(1924): 48.)
July 13, 1720
Letter from Robert Carter to John Carter, July 13,
1720
Robert Carter writes to his son John Carter, then in
London studying law, about July 13, 1720, reporting in the
closing fragment that survives that the family is well
and expressing his hope that John "may be a wise & Good
man & prove a Comfort to Your family."
July 13, 1720]
[Rappahannock, Lancaster County, Virginia]
[. . . ] Country fitted for Your Duty to Your God
& Neighbours
Yor bro [the]rs and Sisters & all Yor relations
are well I thank
God at this time to whose mercifull providence &
Guidance
I Commit You making It my daily request That You may
be a wise & Good man & prove a Comfort to Your
family particularly to --
Yor Dear affectionate Father
July 13, 1720
Letter from Robert Carter to John Carter, July 13,
1720
Robert Carter writes to his son John, then in London
studying law, on July 13, 1720, complaining at length
about John's expenses, particularly in persuading
Micajah Perry to advance him funds beyond his allowance. He
states that if John deceives him again about the
expenses, he will no longer accept John's word about the
management of his affairs in London. He continues by
refuting John's claim that John Randolph has maligned
John, and adds that Randolph never wore better clothes
that he has observed although his acquaintance with
Randolph is slight. Randolph's politics and his were
so opposed, Randolph being "a rank Torey a Proud, humble
Parasite a fawning Sycophant to his Patron," that
he had not hired Randolph again after a year of retaining him,
and now finds Randolph involved in almost all cases he
has lost. Robert continues that his lawsuit against Thomas
Wise should soon be concluded, and that he will write
separately concering "Mr. Lee's Settlemt. & Sr. Robt.
Raymond's opinion upon the Case." He writes John
some information "Mr. Cary's Lawsuit is not Yett determin'd"
and gives some details of the case, and notes that
some poor familys that "whose Ancestors before them have liv'd
& Dyed in quiet possession of these Lands"
are likely to be hurt by the suit, adding that he has a closer claim to
the lands than the person from whom Cary acquired
because they had belonged to his niece. He instructs John to
visit Cary and make him acquainted with these facts,
reporting that he had made offers to Cary through his
lawyers to buy the lands in question, and directing
John to keep in close contact, pressing Cary for his "Lowest
Demands." He concludes by criticising John for
not mentioning his brothers who are in England at school, and
reports that the family is well.
Letter from Robert Carter to John Carter, July 19,
1720
Robert Carter writes to his son John, then in London
studying law, July 19, 1720, about an opinion that he has
received from Sir Robert Raymond in England concerning
"Mr. Lee's Deed of Settlement," expressing his
dissatisfaction with it. Sir Robert's opinion had
indicated "a wide Difference between a bond Debt and a debt
32
upon Simple Contract" and Carter expounds upon
the trouble such an interpretation will create for the colonists.
He asks John to attempt to see Sir Robert or another
able attorney to have certain points in the opinion expanded
upon, and adds that he will consult lawyers in
Virginia. He sends family news, and indicates his need for a
schoolmistress for "my three Younger Children . .
. at home with me Mary, Lucy, & George," noting that he has
written Mr. Perry about one, but John may be able to
assist.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Letter from Robert Carter to John Carter, July 19,
1720
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-1-
Rappahannock, [Lancaster County, Virginia]
July 19 1720
Dear Son John -- --
I have Consider'd Sir Robert Raymonds opinion
upon Mr. Lee's Deed of Settlement & can find but
little encouragement
Therefrom for the recovery of my money, Sir Robert
makes a wide Difference between a bond Debt and a debt
upon Simple Contract now If all Debts are resolvable
into these two mine must be Construed to be a Contract
Debt. & so according to Sir Robert not recoverable
out
of a real estate, If This be Law we in the Plantations
are in a very Dangerous condition for we have nothing
but the Merch [an]ts Accounts for our Security, and
any Merch [an]t
for the advancement of his family may Throw all the
money he has of others to purchase a real Estate
with & when he's Dead his family goes into the
possession of It
& his Claimers are with out remedy, but to the
point as
for the pretence of a free contract that was made
between
Lee & his wife before the Coverture I believe
There's
nothing In It nor indeed can It be thought That Lee
the
Son Should propose a settlement out of his fathers
Lands which were fee Simple So long before the fathers
Death when he had no knowledge whether the lands would
Ever come to him or no. If the truth were known this
settlement was Contrived Just as Lee found himself
Tottering to Defraud his Creditors, & to do
something
for his wife and Children at other men's cost, but how
to discover the Dark part of this Storey I cant find a
way, my next Step must be to Show Sir Robert's opinion
to our Lawyers here & See what they Say to It. It
is a hard
case & for my Life I cant see the Equity of It.
That my
Children Should go a Starving & another mans upon
my money should have a maintenace & no Law
will Afford me nor mine a remedy, Sir Robert Raymond
is a very Great man & perhaps will not allow You a
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
33
-2-
Free Discource with him If You can have so much
Influence
with him or any other able Lawyer wthout heaving away
more money, to gain me a Clear opinion upon all
These points It wold be Sattisfactory, Sir Robert's
opinion is in such a terrable Character in some places
I can do no more but guess at his meaning, all Your
friends here are well for what I know, Mrs. Ann is the
chief housekeeper I have, my three Younger Children
are at home with me Mary, Lucy, & George I greatly
want a Schoolmistress for them a Grave woman of
abt. forty years of age, that hath been well Educated
&
is of a towardly Disposition to make It her business
to be
their Tutoress I would willingly give reasonable
yearly
wages to such a person for four or five Years, I know
There are a great many Such to be met with in London
That are hardly able to maintain themselves, I have
written to Mr. Perry to send me in such a person. You
may Perhaps be instrumental in procuring one
& It being a matter in which You are more nearly
Concerned
have thought It not amiss to mention It to You
I am
Letter from Robert Carter to John Carter, July 23,
1720
Robert Carter writes to his son John, then in London,
July 23, 1720, to make peace with him over John's
excessive spending, noting that he will pay the
expenses of John's call to the bar, that he has ordered Mr. Perry to
pay the tailor's bill, and hoping that John will make
the best use of his time to study before returning to Virginia.
He also chides John about paying more attention to his
younger brothers, also in England at school.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Letter from Robert Carter to John Carter, July 23,
1720
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-1-
Rappahannock, [Lancaster County, Virginia]
July 23d. 1720
Dear Son John -- --
I have lately received Your letters in Mr. Perrys
Packett of April Date In which You make me repeated
promises to retrench Your Expenses to reduce them to
the bounds I have set You That is to take no more
from Mr. Perry Than £37"10S per Quarter Except
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
34
-2-
The Charge of calling You to the barr, You likewise
pro=
mise me a Strict improvement of Your time that You
have
to spend in England by a Close application to Your
Study,
May Heaven keep You fixed to this resolution with out
Wavering. It will prove a Cordial at Your Heart all
The Days of Your Life upon these hopes I Shall pass
over what is past, according to Your desire and have
orderd Mr. Perry to pay Your
Taylors bill of Fifty odd pound, Your relations here
are in health, all that are capable I believe write
to You themselves, pray to take a little more care
of Your brothers in England, The rest is to begg Gods
blessing upon You and to Subscribe
Letter from Robert Carter to John Carter, September
27, 1720
Letter from Robert Carter writes to his son, John
Carter, then in London studying law, September 27, 1720, "to
acquaint You of the present Circumstances of Your
relations," reporting that John's sister, Elizabeth Burwell, has
lost "her second Son Nathaniel." He adds
that the rest of the family has been in good health although he has "had
frequent fitts of that pityless distemper the
tooth=Ake." Commenting that the Virginia trade has suffered a great
loss with the death of Richard Perry, and that
"The Old Gentleman [Micajah Perry] holds on to a wonder," he
does not believe that the grandsons will be as good
businessmen. He reports the good crop of tobacco but notes
that it will lower prices, and also report the death
of [John] Baylor, "the greatest Mercht: in our Country." He
concludes with wishes that John and his brothers, also
then in England at school, are enjoying good health, and
that John will work hard during his remaining time in
England.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Letter from Robert Carter to John Carter, September
27, 1720
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-1-
Rappahannock, [Lancaster County, Virginia]
Sepr. 27. 1720.
Dear Son John
By the Carter (whose arrival
with you I hope to hear of before this Day) I wrote
in full in answer to Your several letters This is to
acquaint
You of the present Circumstances of Your relations
Your Poor Sister Burwell is in Mourning for the
Death of her second Son Nathaniel a hopefull toward
=ly Child, which is an aggravation to the loss God
grant she
may bear It with a Christian courage. She hath had
many tryals of this Nature. The rest of Your friends
at York are in health for anything that I know
I thank God in this Family we have had a large mea-
=sure of health this Summer. I have had frequent fits
35
of that pityless distemper the tooth=Ake The almost
Inseparable Companion of old age The [gou]t hath
not attacked me since my first fits
The death of Mr. Richd. Perry we have had an
Account of long ago, a great loss in the Virginia
Trade, The
Old gentleman holds on to a wonder, whenever he goes
It is
much to be feared. The Young men will never come up
to his Spirit in business but these things must be
left
to Providence,
We have made a plentiful Crop this Year
The Consequence of which it is [not] to be doubted
will be
a depression to our Markett, & that must of
necessity
make us lower our Topsails --
Mr. Baylor the greatest merchant in our Country
how great an estate will now be known -- is lately
dead, I pray God Send this may find you & Your
brothers in health, & that you may make the best
use of the
time You have to stay in England
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTES
Source copy consulted: Robert Carter Letter Book, 1720
July-1721 July, BR 227, Huntington Library, Art
Collections, and Botanical Gardens, San Marino,
California. Printed: Wright. Letters of Robert Carter. . . . pp. 54-
55.
Robert Carter generally used a return address of
"Rappahannock" for the river on which he lived rather than
"Corotoman," the name of his home, on his
correspondence, especially to merchants abroad. The county and state
have been added for clarity.
[1] Elizabeth Carter (1692-1734) married in 1709
Nathaniel Burwell (1680-1721) of "Carter's Creek," Gloucester
County, and, in 1722, Dr. George Nicholas.
[2] Richard Perry, son of and partner with his father
Michajah, in the great London firm of Perry & Lane, had
died in April 1720.
[3] John Baylor (d. 1720) lived first in Gloucester,
and was burgess in 1692. He subsequently moved to King and
Queen County (which he represented in the Assembly in
1718), and became a prominent merchant with stores in
Gloucester, King and Queen, and New Kent counties.
"His principal warehouses were at Baylor's on the
Mattaponai between Walkerton and King & Queen
Court House." ( "The Baylor Family." Virginia Magazine of
History and Biography. 6[1898-1899]: 197-199.)
[4] John Carter's younger brothers, Robert
(1704-1732), Charles (1707-1764), and Landon (1710-1778), were
then in England for their education. (Greene. The
Diary of Colonel Landon Carter. . . . , 3.)
Letter from Robert Carter to John Carter, November 8,
1720
Robert Carter writes to his son, John, then in London
studying law, November 8, 1720, concerning the
postponment of Robert Cary's law suit concerning lands
that Carter is attempting to purchase from Cary. He
reiterates the offer he has made to Cary, and tells
John to press either for Cary to accept the previous offer, or to
negotiate up to a thousand pounds for the land,
"truly more I cant think It worth."
36
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Letter from Robert Carter to John Carter, November 8,
1720
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-1-
Rappa [hannock, Lancaster County, Virginia]
Novr. 8th. 1720
Dear Son John
This is to let You know Mr. Carys Cause
is not Yett decided but is put over to april Court
You inform me he presses very much to have
an offer from me. I have already offerd the gentleman
Concernd here to pay him Interest for his money
from the time of his purchase to pay him all
the Charges he has been at in the Sale and to
give him besides a hundred Pound for his
bargain which one would think is temptation
enough Especially considering I am so near
related to the Cause. I shall Say this further
to You that I believe I may adventure a
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-2-
Thousand pound at It or thereabouts & truly more I
cant think It worth, It is a large quantity of Land it
is true
& Contigious to A fine tract of mine but it is all
back
forest Land & in a part of the Country where lands
are
not very valuable I cant think any one else will offer
more for It, You say You have his word & honor
that I
Should have the refusal I believe his Interest will be
his chief Guide If You can rivet the bargain at either
of these offers I Should not Scruple to come into It
& If I had his Title I would forthwith conclude
the
Lawsuit & not Carry on so rigorous a Tryal by
such such [sic] unequall Strength to Evict several
poor familys
out of what I think in my Conscience is their right
& who have & their posteritys enjoyed their
plans. Ever since old Colonel [John]
Hulls Days I Shall conclude at present with
my blessing to You & remain --
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTES
37
Source copy consulted: Robert Carter Letter Book, 1720
July-1721 July, BR 227, Huntington Library, Art
Collections, and Botanical Gardens, San Marino,
California. Printed: Wright. Letters of Robert Carter. . . . pp. 59-
60.
Robert Carter generally used a return address of
"Rappahannock" for the river on which he lived rather than
"Corotoman," the name of his home, on his
correspondence, especially to merchants abroad. The county and state
have been added for clarity.
[1] Robert Cary (1685-1751) was a London merchant,
second of the name, a partner in a firm that was involved in
the Virginia tobacco trade for over 100 years. RC
mentions in his will that he had purchased lands in Richmond,
Westmoreland, and King George counties from Cary.
These lands had belonged to his niece, Elizabeth (Carter)
Lloyd, who had inherited them from John Hull, her
grandfather. For other information about Carter's pursuit of
these lands, see Carter's letters to John Carter, July
13, 1720, and to the Perrys July 14, 1720. (RC's will, and
Price. "Who Was John Norton? A Note on . . . Some
Eighteenth-Century London Virginia Firms.")
[2] At this point, the paper of the letter book
returns to the less absorbent composition of the earlier pages making
the letter drafts much easier to read.
Letter from Robert Carter to John Carter, January 17,
1721
Robert Carter writes to his son, John Carter, January
17, 1721, briefly reporting family news, and then turning
to the newly-acquired lease of the Northern Neck
proprietary which he has just received from Micajah Perry in
London. He informs John that he needs to have the kind
of power to make grants of land in the proprietary that he
had previously had from Lady Fairfax; he has sent a
copy of that power to Perry, and directs John to have it
signed before witnesses who are coming to the colony.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Letter from Robert Carter to John Carter, January 17,
1721
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-1-
Rappahannock, [Lancaster County, Virginia]
Jan 17th. 1720/21
Dear Son John
I wrote to You plentifully in Novr. & sent You
Duplicates. Your Relations are all well at this time
for what
I know pray God this may find You & Your brothers
in the Same
s[ta]te Your Sister Page hath a Son born.
I find in the lease Mr. Perry Sent me for the Northern
Neck [Proprietary]
You are one of the Witnesses indeed I desired him to
make You
privy to that affair. I am affraid upon this fall of
Tobacco It
will prove a very disadvantagious bargain to me, I was
always
Inform'd Colonel Jennings gave but two hundred &
fifty pounds
per Annum for It there is no repenting I am now bound
and
must do the best I can with It, one great perquisite
to the
Estate arises from the Granting away the lands that
are
Yett to take up I doubt not the Lord Fairfax &
Colonel Cage
for their own Interst as well as mine design'd me this
Power
38
by their Lease & I shall proceed accordingly
however I
would have a fuller power from them have wrote to
Mr. Perry abt. It & have sent him a Coppy of the
power I
received from my Lady Fairfax to Draw another by,
(rebus
sic Stantibus) I would have You be very carefull of
this
affair & to have It executed before a Suff
[icien]t Number of
Witnesses bound to this place, when I am to Expect
Your Company
Dont Yett know if not this Shipping to be sure the
next It must
be, with my prayrs. for God's blessing upon You and
Your brothers
I Conclude at present
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTES
Letter from Robert Carter to John Carter, February 10,
1721
Letter from Robert Carter to John Carter, February 10,
1721, then in London, concerning his lease of the
Northern Neck proprietary, asking John to clarify with
Colonel William Cage, one of Lady Fairfax's trustees,
whether land grants in the proprietary that Carter
makes must carry only the name of the underage Lord Fairfax,
or those of his trustees as well. He turns to the
question of the Brent Town grant within the proprietary, the need
for a survey of its 30,000 acres, and the difficulties
that shroud taking up lands there when the bounds remain
unknown. He asks John to pursue the question of a
survey with Robert Bristow, the current owner of the Brenton
grant, and also asks him to contact the heirs of
London Alderman John Jeffreys concerning the 14,000 acres
granted to Cadwallader Jones in Stafford County that
has not been settled, and which has not paid quit rents.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Letter from Robert Carter to John Carter, February 10,
1721
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-1-
Rappahannock, [Lancaster County, Virginia]
Feby. 10th. 1720/21
Son John
The Foregoing was to come by a Bristol man She passed
by with [out stop]ping Its necessary, to say something
more to You
about the Northern Neck affair, The Power of Atturney
already
Mentiond to You must be had and I must have the
Proprietors
Direc [tion]s. in whose name the Grants I make for
Lands must
run whether in the Lord Fairfax's name alone or with
the
Addition of Collo. Cage & the other Trustee of My
Ladys will
I have sent to Mr. Perry also Copys of the Bronton
Pattents
upon perusial of which You'l find My Lord Culpeper in
1686 Grants
to Alderman Bristow and others Thirty Thousand Acres
of
uncertain Lands in the Back Woods at the rent of two
shillings
per a hundred Acres in 1688 he Releases this Rent and
only
reserves the acknowledgemt. of a Beaver Skin Yearly in
the
39
First Grant there is a Provisoe for my Lord to Survey
in the
latter no notice of any such Provisoe, Brent a long
time
ago makes a Settlement upon the Lower part of these
lands
soon after his Death It was deserted and ever since
hath
layn without any Cultivation from any of the Grantees
and the bounds of this Grant wholly unknown to this
day
where they will Extend which makes people mightily
affra [id]
to take up back Lands very much to the Damage of the
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-2-
Proprietors and I Should think not at all to the
advantage of
those that Claim this Grant for certainly the more the
Lands are
Peopled thereabouts the more value will their Estate
be of and
besides if Any persons shall take new Grants of the
Lands by
Mistake & Should Sett down with their familys and
Improve make chargable
Improvements thereon `twould be a harsh Case and I
believe a
Difficult one to turn them of, upon the whole seeing
accord=
=ing to my Thoughts [everybody's in]terest Should
prompt them
to Contribute what in them lyes to give bounds to
these Lands
with all possible Expedition I cant see what should
obstruct it I shall do all I can when I receive
direc [tion]s. about It, but `twould be best and
Easiest done if both
partys were Consenting and will pay their proportion
of the
Charge, You are accquainted with Mr. Bristow I believe
and
You know where to apply to the Proprietors, I would
have You
leave no Stone unturn'd to get this business Effected
put upon some
Foot or other It would be a mighty Sattisfaction to
the people
as well as a benefit to all concernd.
Esquire Jeoffrys holds 14,000 and [odd] Acres of Land
in the
backwoods of Stafford County It was never yett Seated
or paid
any Quitt Rents nor are the bounds Certainly known. I
would
have You know his mind about this Land and where I'm
to apply
for my Quitt Rents, As I suppose the Pattent for them
is in
the name of Cadwalliter Jones who convey'd them over
to the
Alderman or Sir Jeoffry this is a matter worth looking
After the Rents in my time will come to above four
score
pound, I tell Mr. Perry I have instructed You in all
these matters
and You will Ease him of the greatest part of the
trouble
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTES
Source copy consulted: Robert Carter Letter Book, 1720
July-1721 July, BR 227, Huntington Library, Art
Collections, and Botanical Gardens, San Marino,
California. Printed: Wright. Letters of Robert Carter. . . . pp. 64-
66.
Robert Carter generally used a return address of
"Rappahannock" for the river on which he lived rather than
"Corotoman," the name of his home, on his
correspondence, especially to merchants abroad. The county and state
have been added for clarity.
40
[1] This sentence was written into the draft by Robert
Carter.
[2] Cadwallader Jones (1652?-1700?), an Indian trader
and fighter, was lieutenant colonel of the Stafford militia.
Fairfax Harrison writes that "in 1677 he
patented, with David Jones, 17,114 acres in the Stafford backwoods . . .
on the drains of Accotink and Pohick." (Harrison.
Landmarks. . . . p. 608.) He got into financial trouble, and left
for England in 1687. The holders of many of his debts
were the Jeffreys, prominent London merchants. The
alderman to whom RC refers is John Jeffreys
(1614-1688), master of the Grocers Company and alderman in
1661. He was in business with his nephew, Sir Jeffrey
Jeffreys, MP, who was his heir. ( J. R. Woodhead, The
Rulers of London. London: London and Middlesex
Archaelogical Society, 1965. pp. 97-98.; Harrison.
Landmarks. . . . p. 607-612.; and various references
in Davis, William Fitzhugh. . . . )
Robert Carter to John Carter, February 14, 1721
Letter from Robert Carter to his son, John Carter,
then in London studying, February 14, 1721, asking him to
pay close attention to the proprietors' affairs of
which he has written in other letters. He tells John that his sisters
and their husbands are well, reports that Micajah
Perry has sent gloomy news about the South Sea bubble, and its
effects on trade. He closes by chiding John for not
writing.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Letter from Robert Carter to John Carter, February 14,
1721
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-1-
Rappahannock, [Lancaster County, Virginia]
Febr. 14th. 1720/21
Dear Son John -- --
I have wrote to You at Some Length by this post
Concerning the Proprietors affair which I Would have
You per
=sue with the utmost Dexterity, This is cheifly to let
You
know That Your Sisters and their Husbands are both of
thm.
now here in very good health, and have all their
proper
Remembrances to You, Mr. Perry Tells me many a
Mellancholy Storey of the ruinous Effects of the South
Sea
Stock and other Bubles, and what is worse the fatal
consequences to Trade & particularly Tobacco which
looks with
but a Dark Aspect all that I can say is we must haul
in our horns and live as we can afford, Mr. Perry
mentions
the Swelling of Your Legg Some time ago but that you
were
better, when You come to live an Active life in Your
own
Country I hope that Malady will wear away, It had not
bin amiss If You had taken the opportunity of Some of
these Ships, to let me hear from You, pray God
preserve
You and keep You under his awe I am
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTES
41
Source copy consulted: Robert Carter Letter Book, 1720
July-1721 July, BR 227, Huntington Library, Art
Collections, and Botanical Gardens, San Marino,
California. Printed: Wright. Letters of Robert Carter. . . . p. 79.
Robert Carter generally used a return address of
"Rappahannock" for the river on which he lived rather than
"Corotoman," the name of his home, on his
correspondence, especially to merchants abroad. The county and state
have been added for clarity.
[1] Carter refers to the scandal of the value of the
stock of the South Sea and other companies which wild
speculation had driven enormously high in June 1720,
and which was nearly worthless several months later. Many
fortunes were made and lost. Perhaps the most
succesful speculator was Sir Robert Walpole who made a fortune,
retired, and then was called to save the nation as
prime minister, a post he held from 1721 until 1742. ( Goldwin
Smith. A History of England. Chicago, etc.:
Scribner's, 1949. pp. 422-424.)
Letter from Robert Carter to John Carter, February 23,
1721
Robert Carter writes to his son, John Carter, February
23, 1721, in London concerning his anger at merchant
William Dawkins there who has written Carter very
arrogantly about his handling of John's younger brothers,
Charles, Robert, and Landon. The younger boys are also
in England for their education, and their father directs
John to relieve Dawkins of their care, and to turn it
over to merchant Thomas Evans.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Letter from Robert Carter to John Carter, February 23,
1721
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-1-
Rappahannock, [Lancaster County, Virginia]
Febr. 23. 1720/21
Dear Son John
I have lately taken several ways of writing to You
Arthur Lee's Ship arriv'd here two Days ago but I see
no Letter
from You neither by her nor any other way, I hear Some
Letters are come
to me from Will Dawkins wrote in Such a lofty
unhandsome Strain
that I cannot tell how to brook Such Treatment from
such an upstart
that is but of Yesterd
Notes for ELIZABETH
HILL:
John Carter
(1696-1742)
John Carter, the eldest son of Robert “King” Carter
(1663-1732), grew up in the lap of luxury. He received a
liberal education in England, attended Trinity
College, Cambridge and legal training was acquired at the Inns of
Court, in London. In 1720 he became a “Barrister at
Law in the Middle Temple”. June 21, 1722, John was
appointed Secretary for Virginia Affairs. October 3,
1723, John Carter married Elizabeth Hill. Around the 1730s
the construction of the present mansion at Shirley
commenced and many English Craftsmen were employed to
create the house. Most of the building materials came
from the area, the timbers came from surrounding woods
and the brick was made from local clay and fired on
site.
42
Children of JOHN CARTER and ELIZABETH HILL are:
i. JOHN6 CARTER.
ii. ELIZABETH HILL CARTER, b. 1731; d. July 05, 1760, "Westover"
Charles City, VA; m. WILLIAM BYRD III,
April 14, 1748; b. September 06, 1728, Westover Parish.
Charles City, VA; d. January 01, 1777.
More About ELIZABETH
HILL CARTER:
Burial: Crushed by an overturned highboy.
12. iii. CHARLES HILL OF CLEVE CARTER, b. 1732, "Shirley" plantation, Charles
city, VA.; d. June 28, 1806, Age
73 or 74/Father of 23 children.
iv. EDWARD CARTER, b. 1734, VA; d. 1808; m. SARAH CHAMPE, 1757.
6. ANNE5 CARTER (ROBERT KING CARTER4 ESQ., JOHN3 CARTER, JOHN2, THOMAS1) was born
1702, and died 1743.
She married BENJAMIN
HARRISON
IV 1722, son of BENJAMIN HARRISON and ELIZABETH BURWELL. He was
born
Abt. 1695 in Berkeley Plantation, Charles City co, VA,
and died July 12, 1745 in Berkeley Plantation, Charles
City co, VA due to being struck by lightening..
Notes for ANNE CARTER:
HARRISON, ANNE (CARTER), (1702-ca. 1743), Robert
Carter's daughter, married in 1722 Benjamin Harrison
IV of "Bromley," Charles City County.
Notes for BENJAMIN
HARRISON
IV:
HARRISON, BENJAMIN, (1695-1745), of
"Bromley," (later the builder of "Berkeley,") both in
Charles City
County, a prominent citizen and frequently a burgess,
married Robert Carter's daughter Anne in 1722. ("Harrison
of James River," Virginia Magazine of History and
Biography. 32(1924): 97.)
Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Elbridge Gerry each
became Vice President, and John Adams and Thomas
Jefferson became President. The sons of signers John
Adams and Benjamin Harrison also became Presidents.
Children of ANNE CARTER and BENJAMIN HARRISON are:
13. i. BENJAMIN6 HARRISON V, b.
April 05, 1726, Signer of Declaration of Independence; d. April 24, 1791,
"Berkeley" Charles City co, VA.
ii. ELIZABETH BETTY HARRISON, b. 1731; d. January 31, 1783; m. PEYTON RANDOLPH, March 08,
1745/46;
b. 1721.
Notes for ELIZABETH
BETTY
HARRISON:
HISTORICAL ALMANACK; PEOPLE ; [BIOGRAPHIES, RANDOLPH]
Betty Randolph
(Born by 1731, died January 31, 1783)
FAMILY OF BETTY RANDOLPH:
Parents: Mother: Ann Carter Harrison; Father: Benjamin
Harrison
Marriage: Husband: Peyton Randolph; 8 March 1745/46
Because her exact birth date is unknown, her age upon
marriage can only be speculated. Circumstantial
evidence suggests that she was 21 or 22 years old.
43
Children: None
EDUCATION: Literate
RELIGION: Baptism unknown
OCCUPATION: Housewife; Wife of the Attorney General of
Virginia and Speaker of the House of Burgesses
OCCURRENCES, PUBLICK AND PRIVATE:
13 March 45/46 Virginia Gazette
Peyton Randolph Esq, his majesty's atto. Genl of this
colony was marry'd to Bettye Harrison daughter of the
late Col. Benjamin Harrison of Berkley in Charles City
County, deceased.
7 July 1751 John Blair Diary
Sun p.m. Mrs. Bride, Mrs. Grimes, Mrs. Burwell, Mrs.
Atto. &c., visited Mrs. Blair who could not go to
church.
25 Nov. 1751 John Blair Diary
The Govr, his lady and Mrs. Dinwiddie, Mr. Attorney and
his lady, the Councilr and his lady dined and
supped with us this day [Monday]
17 March 1755 Daughter Ann to be kept by Mrs.
Dinwiddie, Mrs. Attorney, Mrs. Chiswell. or one of them.
Will of Kenneth McKenzie, Surgeon of Williamsburg,
decd.
16 Feb. 1769 Wife of the Speaker owns slave attending
the Bray School in Wmsburg
23 Oct. 1775 Death of Peyton Randolph
Last Will and Testament of Peyton Randolph
IN THE NAME OF GOD AMEN. I Peyton Randolph do make this
my last will & testament. I give & devise
to my beloved wife my dwelling house, lots & all
the outhouses thereto belonging in the city of Williamsburg,
with the furniture of the same, & also my chariot
& horses & all her wearing apparel rings & jewels, all which
estates real & personal I give to her heirs, exrs,
& adrs. I give to my sd wife also Little Aggy & her children,
Great Aggy & her children, Eve & her children
Lucy & her children to her & her heirs forever. I give to my
wife also the use & enjoyment of my whole estate
real & personal, not hereafter given away during her natural
life. I give to Harrison Randolph a negro boy called
Caesar, the son of Sue to him & his heirs forever. I give
to my brother John Randolph the two negro boys such as
he shall choose out of my estate which have not
been particularly disposed of to him & his heirs,
after the death of my wife I give to my sd brother all my
estate both real & personal to hold the same during
his life except my man Johnny whom in that case I give to
my nephew Edmund Randolph to him & his heirs &
after the death of my brother John I give all the estate
devised to him for life to the sd Edmund Randolph his
heirs exrs & admrs, subject nevertheless to the
payment of £500 each to his sisters Susanna &
Arrianna Randolph for the payment of which sums I allow him
four years after the estate shall come into his hands,
he paying them interest yearly for such sums as remain
unpaid. I do hereby empower my exrs. to sell my books
& presses to pay my debts & if that is not sufficient to
sell so many of the negroes as they think can be best
shared from the use of the plantations to answer that
purpose. I do appoint my wife, my brother John Randolph
& Mr. James Cocke exrs. of this my will. IN
WITNESS whereof I have set my hand & seal this 18th
day of August in the year of our Lord 1774
Peyton Randolph L.S.
Signed sealed published & declared by the sd Peyton
Randolph as & for his last will (he being present at the
[signing ?] of this attestation in presence of
Thomas Mason
Samuel Henley
John Pope
3 Jan. 1776 All persons who have any Demands against the
Estate of Peyton Randolph, Esq.; deceased, are
desired to bring their Accounts properly proved. Those
indebted to the said estate are requested to make
44
immediate Payment.
Betty Randolph
James Cocke
Those Gentlemen who have borrowed any Books of the late
speaker are desired to return them immediately
21 August 1780 Ordered that . . . Betty Randolphs
Nineteen Tiths be added to Bruton list
1782 Wmsbg Land Tax: Betty Randolph 3 lots
17 Feb. 1783 Estate auction
Last Will and Testament of Betty Randolph
IN THE NAME OF GOD AMEN. I Betty Randolph do make her
my last Will and Testament June 1st 1780 I
give to Edmund Randolph Esqr nephew of my dear departed
Husband the Family Picture the Silver Chafing
Dishes the four New Silver Salt Cellars the Silver Cup
and two Silver Waiters I also give him the Suit of
Yellow printed Cotton Curtains, the Bed, Bedstead, and
Blankets thereunto belonging the Clock, and his
uncles Seal which I wear to my Watch. I give to my
nephew Harrison Randolph the silver cruet frame Table
Spoons, Sout ditto, Punch Strainer ladle the four old
silver Candlesticks two old Silver Salt cellars the Cross
the China Bowls the Tea set of India China all the
House Linnen and half the Beds with Blankets &c. I give to
my niece Elizabeth Harrison who lives with me the new
Tea spoons four Silver Saucers all my w/earing
Cloths my miniature Picture of my dear Husband my Watch
and the Treasury Bond of the United States for
Ninety Pounds now in the House I give to my Niece Lucy
Burwell the set of Chelsea Tea China, as a token
she is not forgot. I give to my Nephew Peyton Randolph
the Silver coffee Pot for the same reason. I give to
my Nephew Benjamin Harrison of Berkley four Silver
Candlesticks called the new ones which were given me
by my grandmother Harrison I also give him a mulatto
Woman called little Aggy, her Daughter Betsy and her
son Nathan to him and his heirs forever. I also give
him the other half of the Beds Blankets and Curtains. I
give to my Nephew Carter Harrison of Berkley a Molatto
Boy named Wat, to him and his Heirs forever. I give
to my niece Ann Coupland a Negro woman named Eve and
her son George to her use and after her death to
her Heirs. I give to my niece Elizabeth Rickman a Negro
woman called great Aggy and her son Henry to her
use and after her death to her Heirs. I give to my
Niece Lucy Randolph Daughter of my sister Necks a molatto
girl named Charlotte to her use and after her death to
her Heirs. I give to my Nephew Harrison Randolph a
negro woman named Lucy and her Children to him and his
Heirs forever. I have in the loan office of this
Commonwealth the sum of nine hundred pounds which I
dispose of in the following manner, five hundred
pounds I give and bequeath to my niece Elizabeth
Harrison who lives with me. One hundred to her sister Ann
Harrison, One hundred to Sarah Harrison, daughter of my
Brother Benjamin Harrison, One hundred to Ann
Harrison daughter of my Br Charles Harrison, and One
hundred to his daughter Betty Randolph Harrison My
Will and desire is that the House and all the lots in
Williamsburg given me by my dear Husband together with
the furniture not particularly given away, Chariot,
Waggon & Horses in town, and all the Estate I shall die
possessed of not particularly disposed of may be sold,
and after paying any debts (which I design shall be very
few) the money arising from the sale thereof may be
divided into two equal parts, the one half I give and
bequeath to my Nephew Harrison Randolph, out of the
other half I desire forty Pounds may be divided among
the servants that shall attend me in my illness as they
shall deserve, the remainder to be divided into six equal
parts to be given to six persons hereafter mentioned
Viz, Peyton Harrison, son of my Br Carter Harrison,
William Harrison son of my Br Benjamin, the youngest
son of my br Nat. the youngest son of my Br Charles
and the two sons of my Br Robert Harrison. If either of
my Brother Roberts sons should die before the age of
twenty one the survivor to take both his own and his
brothers part. My Will & desire is that the Heirs of my
dear & honoured Husband (by whose bounty I have
been enabled to make these bequests) may be put to no
inconveniency by my heirs for which reason I desire the
Carts Waggons & work Horses on the Plantation &
tools for the use of the Plantation tho purchased by me
may not be looked on as part of my Estate. I also
desire a sufficient quantity of Corn and fodder may be
left on the Plantations for the use of the Negroes &
Stocks. I also direct that whatever Cloths, or
materials for making Cloths for the Negroes, that shall be found
in the House shall be given up for that purpose. If I
should have any money in the House or Treasury not
already given away I give it to Harrison Randolph I
have lent the Estate money as Mr Cocks receipt & Books
will shew to the amount of One hundred & thirty
pounds which I designed should be laid out in a monument
to the memory of my dear and blessed husband. My Will
& desire is that the above Sum of One hundred &
thirty pounds due from the Estate be paid to Edmund
Randolph esqr he giving bond to my Executors to put up
a monument in the Chapel of Wm and Mary College
opposite to that of his grandfather Sir John Randolph
(which I have been informed cost about that sum) as
soon as possible. he is to pay no Interest for the money.
only to lay out the sum of One hundred & thirty
pounds. My Body which I had almost forgot. I desire may be
put in the Vault in the College Chapel in which the
remains of my blessed Husband are deposited with as little
ceremony & expense as possible, as being there is
the summitt of all my wishes with regards to this world &
that the expenses of the funeral may be paid before the
division is made. My share in the Wmburg factory I
45
give & devise to Harrison Randolph my Books to his
sister Lucy Randolph I do appoint my Brother Benjm
Harrison my Nephew Benjm Harrison my Nephew Harrison
Randolph Exors or this my last Will & Testament
In witness whereof I have set my hand & seal this
23d day of October in the Year of our Lord 1780
Signed Sealed & declared by the said Betty Randolph
LS
Betty Randolph to be her last Will in presence of us
Rachel Whitaker, Sally Singleton
20 July 1782 A Codicil to the above Will
Whereas Eve's bad behaviour laid me under the necessity
of selling her. I order and direct the money she sold
for may be laid out in purchasing two negroes Viz, a
Boy & Girl, the Girl I give to my niece Ann Copland in
lieu of Eve, in the same manner that I had given Eve.
The Boy I give to Peyton Harrison son of my Brother
Carter Harrison, to him & his heirs forever. I have
lent Charlotte to my nephew Harrison Randolph during my
life. As he will perhaps be at some expense in raising
& maintaining other children she may have as a gratuity
I give to him & his Heirs forever her Son called
Thomas Prouce. I have given in my Will forty Pounds paper
Currency to be divided amongst the Servants, instead of
which I order Ten Pounds of the money found in the
House to be divided as afore directed. I also Order
Twenty Pounds out of the same money to be given to my
Niece E Harrison if she should be living with me at the
time of my death in order to enable her to pay her
Expenses to some friendly roof. I think I have express
myself with regard to Thomas Pruse in a manner that
may leave room for a dispute to prevent which I declare
my Will is that Harrison Randolph is to have the said
Thomas Pruse at all events. I give to my Niece Eliza
Harrison my dressing Table and Glass that stands in my
Chamber and the Cabinet on the Top of the Desk.
Betty Randolph
This Codicil was Signed, Published and declared to be
part of the last Will of the said Betty Randolph in
presence of us
John Blair
James Madison
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7. ROBERT5 CARTER II (ROBERT
KING CARTER4 ESQ., JOHN3 CARTER, JOHN2, THOMAS1) was born 1704 in
"Corotoman" , Lancaster co, VA, and died May
12, 1732 in "Nomini" Westmoreland co, VA. He married
PRISCILLA BLADEN CHURCHILL 1725, daughter of WILLIAM
ESQ.
and ELIZABETH
ARMISTEAD. She was born
December 21, 1705 in "Nomini" Westmoreland
co, VA, and died 1763 in "Warner Hall" Gloucester co, VA.
Notes for ROBERT CARTER II:
CARTER, ROBERT, II, Robert Carter (1704-1732) was
Carter's seventh child by his second wife, Elizabeth
Landon (Willis) Carter. Robert was sent to England to
school in 1718; see Carter's letter to William Dawkins,
July 9, 1718. Robert married Priscilla Churchill in
1725 and had two children, one of whom, Robert Carter III,
would be known as "Councillor" Carter of
"Nomini Hall." Robert Carter II died a few months before his father.
(Morton. Robert Robert Carter of Nomini Hall.)
More About ROBERT
CARTER
II:
Burial: "the eldest of the boys"
Children of ROBERT
CARTER
and PRISCILLA
CHURCHILL
are:
14. i. ROBERT COUNCILLOR6 CARTER III, b.
February 1726/27, Nomini, Westmoreland co, VA; d. March 1804,
Baltimore , MD.
ii. ELIZABETH CARTER, m. FRANCIS WILLIS.
Notes for ELIZABETH
CARTER:
46
Volume II
Chapter IX Willis Family.
Seventh Generation.
VII. Francis Willis((7)) (Francis((6)), Francis((5)),
Henry((4)), -((3)), -((2)), Francis((1))), son of Col. Francis
Willis and Anne (Rich) Willis, according to the
Abingdon Parish Register. Married (1742) Elizabeth Carter.
She was a granddaughter of Robert (known as King)
Carter, by his second wife, Betty Landon, and daughter
of their son, Robert Carter
8. CHARLES OF CLEVE5 CARTER (ROBERT KING CARTER4 ESQ., JOHN3 CARTER, JOHN2, THOMAS1) was born
1707,
and died 1764 in "the most COLORLESS" of the
boys. He married (1) MARY WALKER 1728, daughter of
JOSEPH WALKER. She died 1742. He married (2) ANNE BYRD 1742,
daughter of WILLIAM BYRD and MARIA
BYRD. She was born 1725, and died 1757. He married (3) LUCY TALIAFERRO 1762.
Children of CHARLES
CARTER
and MARY
WALKER
are:
i. ELIZABETH6 CARTER, m. WILLIAM CHURCHILL, 1751.
15. ii. CHARLES OF LUDLOW CARTER, b. 1738.
iii. JUDITH CARTER, b. 1739; d. 1764; m. WILLIAM BURNET BROWNE, 1763.
16. iv. MARY WALKER CARTER, b. 1736, "Cleve"; d. January 30, 1770,
"Corotoman" , Lancaster co, VA.
v. ANNE CARTER.
vi. MARIA CARTER.
vii. LUCY JANE BYRD CARTER.
viii. SARAH CARTER.
ix. CAROLANNA CARTER.
x. LANDON CARTER.
xi. JOHN CARTER.
xii. CHARLES CARTER.
9. LANDON SR. OF SABINE HALL5 CARTER (ROBERT KING CARTER4 ESQ., JOHN3 CARTER, JOHN2, THOMAS1) was
born June 07, 1709 in ref#5b Corotoman,Lancaster co,
VA/AKA Colonel Landon Carter, and died December 22,
1778 in Sabine Hall, Richmond co,VA age at death
69/"the MOST BRILLIANT of the boys". He married (2)
ELIZABETH WORMELEY November 16, 1732 in Christ Church , Loudoun co, VA/
Christ Church Parish, VA marr.
1653-1812, daughter of JOHN WORMELEY and ELIZABETH. She was
born November 16, 1713 in Rosegill,
Middlesex co, VA ref (5b1), and died January 31,
1739/40 in Age at death 27. He married (3) MARIA
BYRD
1742, daughter of WILLIAM
BYRD
and MARIA
TAYLOR. She was born January 16, 1726/27, and died November
29, 1744. He married (4) ELIZABETH BEALE 1746,
daughter of THOMAS BEALE and ELIZABETH TAVENER. She
was born 1709.
Notes for LANDON SR. OF SABINE HALL CARTER:
Landon of Sabine Hall as he was known served as
Burgess for Richmond Co, VA from 1748-1764. He also
served as Colonel of Militia. Landon Carter of Sabine
Hall, in his will of September 4th, 1770, probated Feb.
1779, "Son Robert Wormeley to have half of my
slaves except for those hereafter given to George Carter, my
grandson, and to Robert Hamilton: the other half... to
be equally divided between sons Landon and John (friends
Mr. Nelson Berkeley, Mr. Robert Beverley, the Hon.
John Tayloe and Mr. Richard Parker to div. the slaves): son
Robert W. all lands in York, Charles City, King and
Queen, Lancaster, Northumberland, Richmond,
Westmoreland, King George, and Stafford cos.,as also
my lands upon the Shenandoah River as well as those in
the county of Frederick as that tract on the Blue
Ridge or the Virginia side of the Shenandoah River, as it is called
by the upper inhabitants, which includes the Blue Ball
Mountain excepting always tract called Summer Duck
Run, which I have herein given to Robert Hamilton in
case that tract may happen to lie in King George, Stafford,
or Prince William Co., both of my Bull Run tracts to
be equally divided between son Landon and John: son
Landon half of the lands on Goose Creek, that is, such
of them as are situated in Loudon, Fairfax, Prince William,
or Fauquier counties: the other half of said lands on
Goose Creek to son John"....
.
MANGORITE (or Mangorike) was a farm in Richmond County
"in the vicinity of present Downing Bridge
spanning the Rappahannock and present-day Little
Carter Creek. . . . It consisted of 1,800 acres belonging to
Colonel Moore Fauntleroy in the seventeenth
century." Robert Carter bequeathed it to Landon Carter. (Miller,
Place-Names . . ., p. 93.; and Greene, , 5.)
PARK QUARTER lay in Stafford County. In the 1732
inventory of Robert Carter's estate, James Seben was
overseer; it had twenty-four slaves, four horses,
thirty-eight hogs, and fifty-four cattle. Carter bequeathed it to his
47
son George and it came to Landon Carter in 1741 after
George's death. (Greene. The Diary of Colonel Landon
Carter. . . ., p. 5.; and "Carter Papers: An
Inventory.
Omitted Burgesses
In order to make the list of the members of the House
of Burgesses of Virginia as complete as possible, the
following names are added, with the counties
represented and the years of service. Sketches of many of them are
found in Volume II. under the head of the
"Fathers of the Revolution." It is also to be noted that most of the
Councillors have been Burgesses.
Name: Landon Carter
County Representative: Richmond county
Years: 1748-1765
Large enough to share
Massive Sabine Hall is a two-family dwelling
BY SANDE SNEAD FULK
SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT Apr 14, 2002
NORTHERN NECK
* Wednesday, April 24: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
* Tickets: $20, block; $10, single
It's hard to imagine two families coexisting
peacefully on one property when often a single family has trouble
doing so these days, but that's the way it's been done
at Sabine Hall since 1929 when the massive mansion became
a two-family dwelling.
Sabine Hall was built circa 1738 by Landon Carter,
fourth son of Robert "King" Carter. Originally a classic
Georgian brick structure with steeply pitched hipped
roof and tall chimneys, Sabine Hall has been altered by
builder Landon and ensuing generations.
Two wings were added: the early east wing as a covered
passage in 1764, and the west wing in 1929. It is the west
wing of the house where Mr. and Mrs. Beverley Randolph
Wellford reside. On the east side lives Mr. Wellford's
cousin and his wife, Mr. and Mrs. Robert Carter
Wellford IV. Sabine Hall has always been owned and occupied
by direct descendants of Landon Carter.
"The main part of the house is a four-on-four
design with a center passageway, and extending from each side is a
wing," said Mrs. Beverley Randolph Wellford
(Joyce). "It's not unlike living in a town house. We share the
passage, but we each have our own kitchens and all
other facilities. We see them coming and going."
The Wellfords enjoy each other's company and socialize
whenever they have the chance. Both wings are open for
the Garden Club tour.
The Beverley Randolph Wellfords moved to Sabine Hall
in 1979. Before that, another of Mr. Wellford's cousins
lived in the west wing - Rev. Thomas Dabney Wellford.
He moved out when he decided to build a house on the
river.
The Beverley Randolph Wellfords have decorated their
home traditionally with family pieces and period
antiques. The parlor is paneled and is painted a
celadon green. The room is filled with English and American
antiques from the 18th century and early-19th century.
The Chippendale sofa and loveseat are reproductions.
The dining room is also paneled and features an Early
American six-legged walnut-inlay dining table, a huntboard
made by a cabinetmaker in Richmond, a maple New
England high chest and cherry corner cupboard, as well as a
pair of Queen Anne footman's chairs. Both the living
room and dining room have fireplaces.
The porch on the river side of the house is what
Landon Carter referred to as his "piazza" and was documented in
a 1797 insurance policy. In the 1820s, influenced by
the Classical Revival movement, Robert Wormley Carter II
lowered the roof, added a large portico on the land
side, a classical pediment on the river side and several
classical architectural elements on the interior. He
painted the exterior of the house white.
48
Sabine Hall sits on a ridge on the northeast side of
the Rappahannock River, with six terraces sloping toward the
river. The garden, on the terrace below the house,
retains its original 18th century design, featuring paths,
parterres and English boxwood.
Mr. Wellford works in real estate and Mrs. Wellford is
director of cultural resources for Stratford Hall Plantation.
In her spare time, she enjoys getting out into the
garden.
Other homes and gardens on the tour sponsored by The
Garden Club of the Northern Neck include:
* Juggs. On the property of Sabine Hall is a
vernacular Gothic Revival farmhouse and retreat of family members.
Of frame construction, it was built c. 1700. A
Wellford family partnership, owner.
* Mount Airy. Acclaimed as one of the most beautiful
Palladian houses in Virginia, it has been in the Tayloe
family since the end of the 17th century. The present
house is the second on the estate. Mrs. H. Gwynne Tayloe
Jr., owner. Refreshments will be served at the
stables.
* Woodford. Landscaped with shade trees, evergreens
and magnolias, the 18th century home is located on
Farnham Creek on 53 acres with water on three sides.
Mr. and Mrs. C. Clayton Hurt Jr., owners.
* Wilna. A Federal farmhouse (c. 1824) located on the
Rappahannock River at the mouth of Farnham Creek. The
home offers a river view from the pier. Box lunches
($7.50) will be served 10:30 a.m.-2 p.m. at Warsaw United
Methodist Church. Reserved lunches must be prepaid by
today (April 14). A limited number will be available
without reservations. Reservations required for tour
buses. Checks payable to Warsaw United Methodist Women;
call (804) 333-3963 for reservations.
SABINE HALL COUNTRY SEAT OF THE CARTERS
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HALL_small.JPG>
Click on small pictures to enlarge
Ogle Family of Maryland and Allied Families. com©
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BUILT IN 1730 FOR LANDON CARTER 1710-1778 WHO WAS A
YOUNGER SON OF ROBERT (KING)
CARTER OF CROTOMAN, BY HIS SECOND WIFE BETTY LANDON.
SABINE HALL DESCENDED
FROM COL. LANDON CARTER TO HIS SON BY HIS THIRD
MARRIAGE, ROBERT WORMELEY
CARTER, HE MARRIED WINIFRED BEALE AND HIS SON COL.
LANDON CARTER INHERITED THE
HOME AND BY HIS FIRST MARRIAGE WITH CATHERINE TAYLOE
OF MT. AIRY WAS THE FATHER
OF THE NEXT HEIR, A SECOND ROBERT WORMELEY CARTER AND
UPON HIS DEATH IN 1861,
THE ESTATE PASSED TO HIS SISTER ELIZABETH, WIFE OF DR.
ARMISTEAD NELSON WELLFORD,
AND THENCE TO THEIR SON CARTER WELLFORD, ESQUIRE AND
HIS WIFE ELIZABETH
HARRISON, OF THE JAMES RIVER FAMILY. THIS ESTATE IS
STILL OWNED BY THE CARTER
FAMILY.
Early Morning
Landfront Portico, Sabine Hall
Tappahannock, Virginia
Photograpger: E. Landon Wellford
GRANTEE Carter, Landon. grantee. DATE 19 September
1724. NOTE Location: Stafford County.
NOTE Grantee(s): Carter, Landon... NOTE Description:
41,660 acres 130 poles. NOTE Source: Northern
Neck Grants A, 1722-1726, p. 71, folio (Reel 290).
NOTE Part of the index to recorded copies of land grants
issued by the agents of the Fairfax Proprietary between
1690 and 1781 and by the Commonwealth between 1786
and 1874. Original and recorded surveys are also
indexed when available. The collection is housed in the
Archives at the Library of Virginia. OTHER FORMAT
Available on microfilm. Northern Neck Grants, reels
288-311.
49
GRANTEE Carter, Landon. grantee. DATE 22 September
1730. NOTE Location: Stafford County.
NOTE Grantee(s): Carter, Landon... NOTE Description:
50,212 acres. NOTE Source: Northern Neck
Grants C, 1729-1731, p. 77, folio (Reel 290). NOTE Part
of the index to recorded copies of land grants issued
by the agents of the Fairfax Proprietary between 1690
and 1781 and by the Commonwealth between 1786 and
1874. Original and recorded surveys are also indexed
when available. The collection is housed in the Archives at
the Library of Virginia. OTHER FORMAT Available on
microfilm. Northern Neck Grants, reels 288-311.
Records of Ante-Bellum Southern Plantations
From the Revolution Through the Civil War
Series M: Selections from the Virginia Historical Society
Part 1: Tayloe Family (1650-1870)
Section 129, Carter, Landon (1757-1820), 1815
This section consists of one item, a letter, 1815
December 25, from Landon Carter, Sabine Hall, Richmond
County, Virginia, to Doctor Walter Jones. The letter
concerns William Henry Tayloe; and wine.
Section 130, Carter, Robert Wormeley (1792-1861),
1830-1847
This section consists of thirteen items,
correspondence, 1830-1847, of Robert Wormeley Carter (of Sabine Hall,
Richmond County, Virginia) with Doctor George Watson
(concerning Landon Carter), W. S. Williams, and
William H. Garnett & Co. of Norfolk, Virginia.
Section 131, Carter, Robert Wormeley (1792-1861),
Administrator of Landon Carter, 1809 and Undated
This section consists of four items documenting Robert
Wormeley Carter as administrator of Landon Carter.
Items include a letter, 1809, of William Holburne (of
Mount Airy, Richmond County, Virginia) to Lewis
Gustavus Adolphus Armistead (of Sabine Hall, Richmond
County, Virginia) concerning an account of Landon
Carter with William Holburne (account annexed); and
notes of Robert Wormeley Carter concerning the account.
Interest on the account is brought up from 1805 to
1813.
Section 132, Carter, Robert Wormeley (1792-1861),
Accounts, 1823-1851
This section consists of eleven items, accounts,
1823-1851, kept at Sabine Hall, Richmond County, Virginia, by
Robert Wormeley Carter.
Section 133, Carter, Landon (ca. 1804-1829),
Correspondence, 1821-1829
This section consists of fifteen items, correspondence,
1821-1829, of Landon Carter (of Richmond County,
Virginia) with P. Alexander, William Dandridge
Alexander, Horatio Clagett, Henry S. Dawson, Samuel Miller
Dold, Frances Armistead (Carter) Dulany, William
McDowell Gold, William H. Hill, Albert Gallatin McNutt, H.
T. Phillips, John Power, Christopher Columbus Scott,
John M. Shepherd, John Stith, Alexander S. Trotter, Robert
Weir, and John F. Caruthers & Co. of Richmond,
Virginia, and the Washington Society of Washington College
[now Washington and Lee University], Lexington,
Virginia.
Section 134, Virginia Governor James Pleasants, 1824
This section consists of one item, a commission, 1824
November 17, appointing Landon Carter (ca. 1804-1829) a
lieutenant in the Virginia Militia (4th artillery
regiment). The commission is a printed form with handwritten
completions signed by James Pleasants and John Woodson
Pleasants that bears the seal of Virginia.
Section 135, Carter, Landon (ca. 1804-1829), 1826-1829
This section consists of three items, 1826-1829,
concerning Landon Carter (ca. 1804-1829) and his estate. Items
include an order, 1826, of the court of Spotsylvania
County, Virginia, to the sheriff of [Richmond] County,
Virginia, to seize the goods of Landon Carter to
satisfy the claim of Caruthers & Shields of [unidentified location]
(issued by R. L. Stevenson); list, 1827, compiled by
Robert Lathum of Negro slaves belonging to Landon Carter;
50
and a bond, 1829, of Thomas T. Reynolds and William H.
Hill to William Henry Tayloe (administrator of
Landon Carter).
Section 136, Carter, Landon (ca. 1804-1829), 1829
This section consists of two items, 1829, documenting
the estate of Landon Carter. Items include an inventory,
1829 July 24, of the estate of, presented to the court
of Richmond County, Virginia, by William H. Hill and John
F. B. Jeffries that bears affidavits of Bartholomew
Carter Chinn and Samuel A. M. Leland; and an enclosure to
the inventory, 1829 July 24, of the estate of Landon
Carter.
Section 137, Carter, Landon (ca. 1804-1829), 1820-1829
This section consists of twenty-three items, bonds,
1820-1827, of Landon Carter with Benjamin Alsop, Thomas
Brann, Elias Edmonds Buckner, Alfred G. Carter, Mary
(Burwell) Carter, Isaac Caruthers, John Leyburn, John
Lunsford, Horace Marshall, Richard G. Peacock, Nathan
Patton, Thomas Seddon, John Sloan, William Henry
Tayloe, James Waddell, Edwin Waller, Robert Waring,
William Young Weathers, Jeremiah Webb, and Eatel &
Flag of [unidentified location]; and protests,
1826-1829, of Horace Marshall, Lewis Rawlings, and J. Gray (bond
attached) of unpaid bonds of Landon Carter (filed
before Gulielmus Smith and John Metcalfe [notary public,
bears seal]).
Section 138, Brokenbrough, Moore Fauntleroy
(1780-1845), 1828
This section consists of one item, an affidavit of
Moore Fauntleroy Brokenbrough, 1828 January 22, Richmond
County, Virginia, concerning a Negro slave of Landon
Carter taken up by James Scrimger. It is signed by
Brokenbrough and bears receipt of James Scrimger and
William Henry Tayloe. Verso: receipt, 22 January 1828,
of F. H. Jeffries, holograph signed.
Section 139, Estate of Landon Carter, 1832-1848
This section consists of five items, 1832-1848, legal
papers of the estate of Landon Carter. Items include a bill,
1832, in the lawsuit of James Williams, James Wilkins,
Jesse Curtis, Charles A. Pearson, Thomas Wright,
Horatio Clagett, and Albert Fairfax v. Robert Wormeley
Carter, Elizabeth Landon Carter, Williamson Ball
Tomlin, Ann Catherine (Carter) Tomlin, Henry Roger
Dulany, Frances Armistead (Carter) Dulany, William
Alexander Eliason, Mary L. (Carter) Eliason, John
Armistead Carter, William Henry Tayloe (administrator of
Landon Carter), and Mary (Burwell) Carter, in Stafford
County, Virginia, Circuit Superior Court of Law and
Chancery; decree, 1848; and agreements of William
Henry Tayloe and Presley Thornton Lomax concerning the
suit.
Section 140, Carter, Landon (ca. 1804-1829), Accounts,
1819-1829
This section consists of 126 items, accounts,
1819-1829, of Landon Carter, kept in Richmond County, Virginia.
Section 141, Carter, Landon (ca. 1804-1829), Estate
Accounts, 1829-1846
This section consists of eight items, accounts,
1829-1846, of the estate of Landon Carter. The accounts were kept
by William Henry Tayloe (administrator) in Richmond
County, Virginia.
More About LANDON
SR. OF SABINE HALL CARTER:
Burial: "Old Churchyard" in Warsaw, VA./DAR
record has death date as Aug. 10, 1778.
Occupation: Colonel of the Militia
Notes for ELIZABETH
WORMELEY:
Richmond County, VA - Will of Landon Carter, 1770/1779
Will of Landon Carter (1770/1779) of Sabine Hall,
Richmond County,
Virginia
51
In the Name of God Amen, I Landon Carter of Sabine
Hall in Richmond
County being of sound and disposing mind and memory
the fourth day of
September in the year of our Lord seven hundred and
seventy do make this
my last Will and Testament hereby revoking all other
Wills that have
been heretofore made by me.
Imprimis. I desire that no other Ceremony may be used
at my Burial than
such as are common in the Church of England, and let
those who chuse to
mourn for me, do it as they please out of what I may
leave them.
Item 1st. I intend that my son Robert Wormeley Carter
shall have one
half of my slaves excepting I have hereafter given to
George Carter my
grandson and to Robert Hamilton and the other half
much the same
excepting just mentioned to be actually divided
between my sons Landon
Carter and John Carter. But whereas I have by a kind
of gift or
schedule signed by me the twenty second of December in
the year Seven
thousand and sixty hereunto annexed in a manner made
over and given to
my sons Landon and John forty two slaves to be equally
divided between
them. And whereas I have also given to my son Robert
Wormley Carter
fourteen slaves the thirteenth day of November in the
same years and
Schedule hereunto annexed which said several slaves of
said sons have
severally and respectively had the possession of
agreeable to such
intended Gifts. I do hereby appoint my friends Mr.
Nelson Berkeley, Mr.
Robert Beverly, The Honble. John Tayloe and Mr.
Richard Parker my
trustees to divide all my slaves except as before mentioned
to George
Carter & Robert Hamilton into four equal parts and
I do desire that in
the said division they have negros to the number and
not to the Quality
of these Slaves that have already been given or
mentioned to have been
given by me (but not their increase) to my said sons
the gifts before
mentioned so as my intention may be complied with in
giving my estate as
I have before declared (to wit) two fourths of my
slaves to be divided
to my son Robert Wormley Carter to be allotted him by
my said Trustees
in which lot Johnson a Mulatto, Betty a daughter to
old Frank and
[creased - next two-three lines partially illegible]
not their increase
may be included. One fourth part of my said slaves
including those
before mentioned to be given by deed as aforesaid (but
not their
increase) so my son Landon Carter and his [illegible]
fourth part
including those slaves before said to be given by the
said Deed but not
their increase. To my son John Carter to be allotted
him by my said
trustees as aforesaid, and in order to prevent any
[illegible] that may
otherwise happen in the Division and for a future
[illegible] to my said
Trustees in the division of my slaves as aforesaid I
do discharge my
intention to be that my several Sons amt. stand to
their satisfaction in
the slaves I have by deed as aforesaid given them so
that the number of
such slaves whereby given by the deed as aforesaid
must be the principal
Consideration of my said trustees and the division to
be made as
aforesaid without their [illegible] from the date of
the said gift which
I intended each son should [illegible- fold/crease]
[page 2]
by as I subjected them to any loss that might happen
in the Slaves given
them as before.
Item 2d. As I have given so large a proportion of my
slaves to my son
Robert lest it should be thought that the slaves which
I hold under the
Will of my deceased brother George Carter are entailed
(though I am
fully persuaded they are not) I do declare it to be my
Will and desire
that my said son Robert should only have one Moiety or
half part of all
my slaves including of such as may be adjudged to be
entailed upon him
52
on any suit or [examination?] to be brought by him or
given on his
favour of his heirs for the recovery of them upon my
Brother George’s
Will.
Item 3d. I give and devise to my son Robert Wormeley
Carter and his
heirs forever all my lands in the counties of York,
Charles City, King &
Queen, Lancaster, Northumberland, Richmond,
Westmoreland, King George &
Stafford and all my lands upon Chenandoah [sic] River
as is all those in
the County of Frederick as that tract on the blue
Ridge on the Virginia
side of Chimans River as it is called by the upper
Inhabitants [crease -
illegible] I have hereinafter given to Robert Hamilton
in case that
tract may happen in King George, Stafford or Prince
William Counties.
Item 4th. In Confirmation of a deed I have only
intended to make to my
Sons Landon and John I do give to them both of my Bull
Run Tracts of
Land to be equally divided between them in the manner
following. First
the whole land to be run round from the Corner Tree by
John Young’s
Plantation to the new tract on the Piney branch along
the line that
divides Mr. Page’s land and Mr. Armistead’s formerly
my brother George’s
land from my largest tract and from there round the
first two tracts to
the first mentioned corner tree at John Young’s as
before. Then by a
line to be run from [illegible] in that first line
from John Youngs
corner to the Piney Branch so that the said lines
shall run below the
old quarter called the Bull Quarter and the New
Quarter seated upon the
Fork of the Run called the Cow Quarter to be divided
and equally affect
the two Quarters upon which my two sons are seated (to
wit) my son
Landon on the old Quarter and my son John on the New
Quarter; this
division to be quite equal in [illegible] as I expect
a dividing line to
run to [illegible] here in the bounding lines on the
back or other side
of those tracts as to also make the Division equal in
goodness. The
lower part of which division I give to my Son Landon
and his heirs
forever. And the upper part of the said Division I
give to my Son John
and his heirs forever [fold/torn] or any three of them
to see this
dividing line run so at my intention may be perfectly
complied with for
I always intended that Landon should have the old
Quarter and the lands
claimed for that Quarter use over Bull Run, and that
my Son John should
have the New Quarter and the lands claimed for that
Quarter towards the
old Quarter before my sons either of them seated these
and I hope this
dividing line can be made equally between both of them
with as little
damage as possible to either of them when a
[illegible] is had to the
time of this intended division which to be sure was
about the time of
the date of that Gift or Schedule hereunto annexed
which gives the
forty-two slaves into their possession.
Item 5th. I give and devise unto my son Landon Carter
and his heirs
forever one moiety or half part of my lands on Goose
Creek (that is )
such [bottom of page missing].
[page 3]
them as are situate lying and being in Loudoun,
Fairfax, Prince William
or Fauquier Counties. The other moiety or half part of
my said lands on
Goose Creek and so forth I give and devise unto my son
John Carter and
his heirs forever. The lands on both sides of
Chenandoah River however
given before to my son Robert excepted, provided any
part of them shall
lie in either of the Counties of Loudoun, Fairfax,
Prince William, or
Fauquier. And also that Tract on Goose Creek adjoining
to Leesborough
Town which I have hereinafter given to my Grandson
George. And also
that tract of land on Summer Duck Run which I have
hereinafter given to
Robert Hamilton son of the late Gilbert Hamilton to be
accepted if
53
either of the said Tracts shall be in either Fauquier,
Prince William,
Fairfax or Loudoun Counties. The division of these
lands on Goose Creek
between my said two sons Landon and John Carter to be
made by my [fold -
one line illegible] whom they shall appoint at the
reasonable expence of
my said two sons.
Item 6. Having paid my Daughter Berkeley her full
fortune long ago and
also given her her Mothers gold watch new fitted up
and with a new gold
Chain to it I only hereby give her the sum of twenty
pounds Current
money to be disposed of by her as she may please.
Item 7. Having likewise paid off one half (to wit)
four hundred pounds
sterling of my daughter Maria Beverly’s fortune the
remaining four
hundred pounds sterling if it should be unpaid at the
time of my death,
I do direct my three sons Robert Landon and John to
pay as soon as
conveniency will permit of together towit the law
[fold - line
illegible] on the said four hundred pounds [illegible]
from the second
year after the marriage of my said Daughter Maria to
Mr. Robert Beverly
in the same proportion that they my sons are directed
to pay off their
younger Sisters fortunes hereafter mentioned and I
also give unto my
Daughter Beverly a handsome gold watch and chain
together with the sum
of twenty pounds Current money to be disposed of by
her as she may
please.
[page 4]
Item 8. I give unto my Daughter Lucy the sum of eight
hundred pounds
sterling to be paid to her by her Brothers Robert
Landon and John in the
same proportion which they take any Slaves to wit
Robert one half Landon
one fourth and John one fourth hoping and indeed
directing that she
shall be contented with the interest thereof from the
day of my death
until it shall be convenient for them in any
reasonable time to pay
their respective parts of the said Legacy And I also
give to my said
Daughter Lucy a handsome gold watch and chain together
with the sum of
twenty pounds Current money to be disposed of by her
as she shall please
which watch and money I hereby direct my sons to
provide in their same
proportion that they are ordered to pay her fortune in
And it is my
desire that if she chuses it she may live with either
of her Brothers
without any expence of board And that my Negroe Girl
Franky (but not any
increase of the said Frankys) before allotted as a
Child of Mulattos
Betty’s to my son Robert as his part of the division
of my slaves may
wait upon my said Daughter Lucy until she shall marry
or die for which
purpose my Trustees are desired to compensate my son
Robert in the
division as before which they are requested to allot
for the time which
this Wench Franky may attend my daughter Lucy.
Item 9. If my Daughter Judith should be under the age
of twenty one
years or not married at the time of my death I give
unto her the same
fortune of eight hundred pounds Sterling to be paid to
her in the same
manner as her Sister Lucys is directed to be paid. And
in case of my
said Daughter Judith should die before she arrived to
the age of twenty
one years or marries, it is my will that the said
Legacy shall sink into
the estate of my three sons in the same proportion in
which they are
directed to
[page 5]
raise it but the [interest?] amount heretofore of the
same for as long
as she shall live after my death under age or
unmarried annually to be
paid to her. And also I give her a handsome Gold watch
and Chain
together with the sum of twenty pounds Current money
to be disposed of
54
as she shall please which watch and money are to be
provided by her
Brothers as is directed in the devise to her Sister
Lucy. And as my
daughter Judith may be under age and unmarried at the
time of my decease
in such case I appoint her three Brothers to be her
Guardians and also
direct that she may live with which of them she
pleases without any
expences of Board the Interest of her fortune from my
death being
sufficient to cloath and otherwise maintain her. And
that my Negro
Wench Whinney (but not any of the said Winneys
increase) also constantly
wait upon her so long as she shall live single for
which purpose I
desire my Trustees before mentioned may pay a proper
consideration to
which ever of my Sons the said Winney may fall in the
division of my
Slaves which they are requested to allot for the time
that the said
Winney shall be so waiting on my Daughter Judith.
Item 10th. I intend to have given to Robert Hamilton
Son of the late
Gilbert Hamilton that tract of land which I purchased
of Tobias Pursell
lying and being on Summer duck Run in which soever
County it may be,
together with six young working slaves one third to be
females, to be
provided then two years after my decease by all my
Sons in the same
proportion that they are directed to pay their
Sister’s Legacies. I say
I intended this Legacy to the said Robert Hamilton and
his heirs
forever; but having seen every good purpose of this my
intention in
great danger of being affected through the weakness of
his mother in
keeping him at home to loiter and mispend his time
without the last
Chance of improving himself to take care of (perhaps)
all that he will
ever have upon, I will now attempt to take that case
for him. Therefore
I hereby desire the said six Slaves to be purchased
within two years
after my decease by my sons as before mentioned and
their increase unto
the said tract of land lying and being [fold - most of
line illegible]
that the said land and Slaves go first to the said
Robert Hamilton as
soon as he arrives to the age of twenty one years
after my death, for
and during his natural life and after his decease the
said lands and
slaves, together with their increase, to descend to
the heirs of his
Body lawfully begotten, and from want of such the said
land to descend
to my son Robert and his heirs forever, but the said
Slaves and those
with all their increase to return to my said three
Sons Robert, Landon
and John and their heirs forever in the same
proportion as they are
directed to purchase the said Slaves (that is) Robert
one half of all
the Slaves and their increase, Landon one fourth and
John one fourth of
the said Slaves and their increase.
[page 6]
Item 11th. Reflecting with a grateful as well as
Brotherly concern that
the name of George would be lost in my Family from
whom I had received a
very comfortable part of my Estate And being persuaded
that through my
means my Son Robert had a Child & heir baptized by
the name of George,
Now, to continue such an affectionate will and
grateful Benefaction to
some degree and permanency There by order and direct
that my tract of
land adjacent and Continuous to the Town of
Leesborough in the County of
Loudoun shall be called and go by the name of Georgia.
And if it should
not be done before my death to be immediately seated
with Twelve young
working Slaves one half of these females to be chosen
by my Trustees our
of the young Slaves that I leave behind me before any
division shall be
made of my Slaves among my Sons as is before directed
which Lands and
Slaves together with their increase I hereby give unto
my Grandson
George Carter the Son of Robert Wormley Carter and to
his heirs forever
to be immediately invested in his father Robert
Wormeley Carter to and
for the use of the said George in the manner following
(to wit) That two
thirds of the profits arising annually out of the land
so seated with
55
Slaves shall be constantly accounted for by my Son
Robert in the County
Court of Richmond during the minority of the said
George, which two
thirds shall from time to time be applied according
back value towards
purchasing other Slaves for the said George Carter
property and are to
be seated on the said land. The other third part of
the profits of the
said land and Slaves during such his Son George’s
minority I hereby give
to my Son Robert as an increment to his particular
case in the Improving
of this land and Slaves settled as before. And also to
[illegible] his
natural affection unto every possible endeavor for the
Educating of his
said Child who he has said by my leisure tho constant
application as
Capable of a very good Instruction and notwithstanding
until lately the
door of his knowledge has not been attempted to be
opened back by the
common faced modes of Instruction not justifiable to
all my youthful
{grammar?]. However this Devise to be subject to the
contingency
following (That is) Provided that my Grandson George
shall live to the
age of Twenty one years or be married by the Consent
of his father. In
such such case only the Division of land and slaves as
willed to him
[fold - half illegible] out of the profits to be made
of the said Estate
to him and his heirs forever. but if my Grandson
George does not live to
the age of twenty one years or marry as aforesaid then
I give the said
land and Slaves together with their Increase and
addition to be made to
the Estate by the profits ordered to be laid out as
before to the next
younger Son to George Carter that may be born to my
son Robert who shall
be alive at such time of the said George’s death
before he comes to age
or marries as aforesaid, and to the heirs forever of
such Child. And in
case one such Child shall be born alive to take this
Estate according to
the articles intended them then the land so settled
with Slaves and
their increase together with whatever part of their
profit, which shall
or shall not be applied as before directed I give to
be divided between
the two second Sons that may be alive at that time of
my Sons Landon
[page 7]
and John Carter and their heirs forever And in Case no
such second Sons
shall be alive at the intended time of their
Limitation the said Land to
descend one half of it to my son Robert and his heirs
forever the other
half to my sons Landon and John and their heirs
forever & The whole
Slaves as before to be divided as I have before
directed Robert to have
one half and Landon and John the other half.
Item 12. I give and bequeath unto my Trustees before
mentioned to each
of them Twenty pounds Current money to be disposed of
as they shall
severally please, which I devise my Sons to pay them
respectively in the
Same proportion in which they are to pay their Sisters’
Legacies.
Item 13. I give and bequeath to my son Robert all my
household
furniture at Sabine hall including my Book Cases and
Books together with
my Chariot and harness and also all my Horses Mares
Cattle Sheep and
hoggs in the County of Richmond or elsewhere that
shall at the time of
my death be either on the estate or other plantations
which I have
hereby given him As I have already given to my sons
Landon and John
Carter all the Slaves of every kind on my Bull Run
plantations when
[illegible] and then up to them which were to have
been inserted in the
Gift before mentioned of the Slaves delivered into
their possession.
Therefore I do not intend that my Trustees shall make
any division of
this part of my personal estate. [One line scratched
out]. Neither do
I desire there shall be any Appraisement of my
personal Estate.
Determining so likely that all and every part of my
Estate either as
real personal shall be subject in my Sons hands to
whom it is given to
the payment of what debts I may owe at my death and to
the Legacies
56
disposed of by this my Will in the same proportion
that i have given my
Slaves to them.
Item 14. I constitute and appoint my three sons Robert
Landon and John
Executors of this my last Will and Testament.
Item 15. It is my will and desire that my said three
sons Robert Landon
& John before any division and allotment of my
Estate by my Trustees be
made as aforesaid every of them enter into separate
Bonds with good
security to my said Trustees with condition for the
payment of the
Proportion with which these several Estates hereby
given are intended to
be charged by this my Will either of my debts or my
Legacies such bonds
I desire may be recorded in some County Court.
Item 16. If there should be any part[fold - illegible]
desire that
every such disputes may be referred to the said
Richard Parker in whose
integrity and judgment I hereby assign him that I
place an affectionate
confidence having [illegible] that his calm
consideration of a man of
judgment and integrity is in fact a more formable way
of determination
according to [illegible] than can generally be had
from the possible
confusion or private partiality frequently to be met
with in Courts of
law. Therefore I respectively recommend and positively
direct that the
determination of the said Parker shall be abided by as
the proper mode
of construing the meaning of this my will.
Item 17. Having seen some strange opinions relative to
the Salves
devised by my deceased Father to his Sons in which
opinions further
inaccurately formed or inadvertently entered into
against the true
meaning of words and impressions it is given out that
the said Slaves
are entailed upon by
[page 8]
said Sons. Now altho I am convinced that no such
determination can ever
be justly obtained in any Court of Law of Equity and
have frequently
heard my Son Robert Wormeley Carter disclaim that he
did not think that
such an opinion could ever be entered into by any man
that ever read the
Codicil of his Grandfather expressly revoking every
such intention of