Thomas Carter Sr. (abt. 1610 - abt. 1659)

Died about 1659 at about age 49 in Lancaster County, Virginia Colony [uncertain]

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Disambiguation note: To be distinguished from Thomas Carter, pewterer of London. Do not merge these profiles.

Research Note:

This profile of Thomas Carter was previously attached as a son to John Carter and his wife Elizabeth Benion. This identification was largely based on a mistaken identification of a passenger on the immigrant ship Safety, with researchers mistaking Thomas as the older, not the younger brother of John Carter. Furthermore, no actual evidence has been presented to confidently link him to the parents given. Accordingly, the profile of Thomas Carter has been detached, and his birthplace, that of the attested Thomas Carter, son of vintner John Carter, removed.

The attested Thomas Carter, son of John and Elizabeth, would have been born about 1616, as per the birth order established in his father's 1630 Will. Rather than emigrating from England, he appears to have been apprenticing as a pewterer from 1631. ^[1] Furthermore, it is likely that he was the Thomas Carter, master pewterer, who took an apprentice on 10 August 1637. ^[2]

Caution: Multiple Thomas Carters

At least three Thomas Carters in Lancaster County around 1650-1670:

1. this profile, Maj Thomas Carter, b. 1610 - 1658
2. Thomas Carter, Sr. b. c. 1626 m. Elinor Cooke, poss. ancestor of Pres. Jimmy Carter
3. Capt. Thomas Carter (of Barford) b. 1650 m. Katherine Dale.

Biography

Thomas Carter Sr. was a Virginia colonist.

Maj. Thomas Carter, Sr. of Lancaster^[3]

Maj Thomas Carter was born in London around 1614 and arrived in Virginia aboard the Safety with his younger brother Col. John Carter of Corotoman. Maj Thomas Carter resided in Nansemond County before moving with his brother to the Rapahannock region to expand the family’s merchant marine business to the north. Maj Thomas Carter died in 1658.^[4]

Uncertain Origin

John Carter of Christ church , London England: b: abt 1574 – d abt 1630, married Elizabeth Benion.^[5]

According to Gary Boyd Roberts writing for The American Genealogist in 1995:

Their sons Thomas and John, mentioned in their father's will, have been suggested as the immigrants Thomas Carter of Isle of Wight Co., Va. (there by 1637) probable patrilineal forebear of Pres. Carter, and John Carter of 'Corotoman,' Lancaster C., Va., d 1669, ancestor of the Harrisons. See Noel-Currer Briggs, The Carters of Virginia, their English Ancestry. (Chichester, England 1979).^[6]

John and Elizabeth (Benion) Carter are believed to be the parents of Col. John Carter and this Maj. Thomas Carter, both of whom emigrated to Virginia, but this is not proven. John Carter's 1630 will (PCC 6 May 1630) names four sons: George, William, Thomas, John and Robert.^[7] The London Apprenticeship Abstracts has an entry for this Thomas in 1631: Carter Thomas, son of John, London, vintner, to Lawrence Frith, 9 Jun 1631, Pewterers' Company ^[8] Furthermore, it is likely that he was the Thomas Carter, master pewterer, who took an apprentice on 10 August 1637. ^[9] If so, this would rule out his presence in Virginia at that time.

Evidence of a family is found in the continuing merchant links between Major John Carter and his uncle Gabriel Benyon in London. Gabriel Benyon and his son Daniel, then aged 24, were involved in merchant trade to Virginia with Major John Carter with the ship the “John and Thomas” which sailed in October 1651 as factors for Richard Glover. Part of their cargo left Virginia in the “Seven Sisters” with other ships of the English fleet in June 1652. The remainder of the tobacco consigned to Gabriel Benyon and Richard Glover in London was put aboard the Dutch ship “Fortune” at James River and given leave by the Governor to carry it to England or Holland, as there was no room on any English ships. The “Fortune” was seized by the English frigate “HMS Warwick” and carried to Plymouth.^{[10] [11]}

Researchers disagree. According to Rare Book Reprints' website, author Paul Carter, in his New Origins, argues that this Maj. Thomas Carter was not only the brother of Col John Carter, but also the father of Capt. Thomas Carter of Barford.^[12]

Any indication of parents for this Maj. Thomas Carter is based on circumstantial evidence, at best. We do not know for certain who his parents were.

Immigration

Major Thomas Carter is often assumed to have been the Thomas Carter aged 25 who sailed aboard the Safety from London to Virginia in 1636. Also aboard was a John Carter aged 22. However this is based solely on these two names on the passenger list, and the names are not listed near each other.^[13] We do not know whether of not this is the record of Thomas' immigration.

Marriage and Children

Death and Legacy

Thomas died c.at Lancaster County, Virginia Colony.^[3]

Research Notes

We now have a Thomas Carter Study page for anyone interested to add information (with sources, please). One of our goals is to study the various relationships of this family in the hope of discovering Thomas' origin. This is a space to leave more informal notes.

We also wish to determine the relationships between this Major Thomas Carter and Capt. Thomas Carter, Sr. of Barford or Thomas Carter, Sr (either of whom may or may not be the identical person).

Sources

1. ↑ London Apprenticeship Abstracts FindMyPast
2. ↑ London Apprenticeship Abstracts, 1442-1850 FindMyPast
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} 1905 "Historical and Genealogical Notes and Queries." The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography. Virginia Historical Society, JSTOR.org accessed 14 March 2016, Vol. 12, No. 4 (Apr., 1905), pp. 424-439, citing p 437 ff#8.
4. ↑ Carter, Jeff, Ancestors of Jimmy and Rosalyn Carter
5. ↑ Noel Currer-Briggs The Carters of Virginia: Their English Ancestry. Phillimore 1979 pp. 4-6. 8-11, 14-15, 39-40, 102-3
6. ↑ Roberts, Gary Boyd, 1995 "American Presidential Ancstry, a Bibliography." The American Genealogist. New Haven, Connecticut: D. L. Jacobus, 1995, Vol. 61, p. 179, (Online database accessed 13 March 2016. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2009 - .)
7. ↑ Will of John Carter vintner of London 1630
8. ↑ London Apprenticeship Abstracts FindMyPast
9. ↑ London Apprenticeship Abstracts, 1442-1850 FindMyPast
10. ↑ Coldham, Peter Wilson, English Adventurers and Emigrants, 1609-1660. Baltimore, MD, USA: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2002 pp 138-9. Ancestry.com.
11. ↑ [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=6926 'America and West Indies: December 1652', Calendar of State Papers Colonial, America and West Indies, Volume 1: 1574-1660 (1860), pp. 394-396]
12. ↑ "Carter Family Genealogy: Selected Excerpts from Paul Carter's New Origin's Work." Rare Book Reprints, accessed 13 March 2016.
13. ↑ Somerby, 1874 Safety Passengers. The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, New England Historic Genealogical Society, Archive.org accessed 13 March 2016, (Vol 15, Page 143).

See also:

• "The Carter Family." excerpts from Paul Carter’s "New Origins,"