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Robert Carter I
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| In office 1726 – 1727 |
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| Preceded by | Hugh Drysdale |
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| Succeeded by | Sir William Gooch |
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| In office 1696 – 1697 |
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| Preceded by | Philip Ludwell |
| Succeeded by | William Randolph |
| In office 1699 – 1699 |
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| Preceded by | William Randolph |
| Succeeded by | Peter Beverley |
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| Born | 1662/63 Corotoman Plantation, Lancaster County, Virginia |
| Died | August 4, 1732 Lancaster County, Virginia |
Robert 'King' Carter (1662/63 – August 4, 1732) of Lancaster County was a colonist in Virginia and became one of the wealthiest men in the colonies.
As President of the Governor's Council of the Virginia Colony, he was acting Governor of Virginia in 1726-1727 after the death in office of Governor Hugh Drysdale.[1] He acquired the moniker "King" from his wealth, political power, and autocratic business methods.
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Biography
Robert Carter was born at Corotoman Plantation in Lancaster County, Virginia, to John Carter (1620-1669) of London, England, and Sarah Ludlow (1635-1668) of Maiden Bradley, Wiltshire. In 1688, he married Judith Armistead of Hesse in Gloucester County, an area which was included in the formation of Mathews County in 1691. [2] After her death in 1699, he married Elizabeth Landon in 1701.
At the age of 28, Robert entered the General Assembly of Virginia as a Burgess from Lancaster County, serving five consecutive years. In 1726, as President of the Governor's Council, he served as acting Governor of Virginia after the death of Governor Hugh Drysdale.
As an agent of Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron, better known in Virginia as Lord Fairfax, he served two terms as agent for the Fairfax proprietary of the Northern Neck of Virginia. During his first term, 1702-1711, he began to acquire large tracts of land for himself in the Rappahannock River region of Virginia. acquiring some 20,000 acres (81 km2), a large part of which was the 6,000-acre (24 km2) Nomini Hall plantation which Carter acquired in 1709 from the heirs of Col. Nicholas Spencer, cousin of the Lords Culpeper, from whom the Fairfaxes had inherited their Virginia holdings.[3]
When he became representative of Fairfax’s interests again in 1722, and served from 1722-32, he succeeded in securing for his children and grandchildren some 110,000 acres (450 km2) in the Northern Neck, as well as additional acquisitions in Virginia west of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Robert Carter died on August 4, 1732, in Lancaster County, Virginia and was buried in Christ Church, Lancaster County, Virginia. He left behind 300,000 acres (1,200 km²) of land, 1,000 slaves and 10,000 British pounds in cash. [4]
When Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron saw Carter's obituary in [London's monthly] The Gentleman's Magazine he was astonished to read of the immense personal wealth acquired by his resident land agent. Rather than name another Virginian to the position, Lord Fairfax made arrangements to have his cousin, William Fairfax, move to Virginia to act as land agent, with the paid position of customs inspector (tax collector) for the Potomac River district. Lord Fairfax himself then visited his vast Northern Neck Proprietary from 1735-37, and he moved there permanently in 1747.
Descendants
- Anne Carter (1702-1745), who married Benjamin Harrison IV and died on August 12, 1745; (parents of Benjamin Harrison V and grandparents of President William Henry Harrison).
- Robert Carter II (1704-1734), who married Priscilla Churchill;
- Judith Carter (1693-1730), who married Mann Page;
- Elizabeth Carter (1695-1750);who married Nathaniel Burwell
- Sarah Carter (1705-1705);
- Charles Carter (1707-1764), who married Anne Byrd, daughter of Col. William Byrd II;
- Ludlow Carter (b. 1709);
- Landon Carter (1710-1778), who married Maria Byrd, daughter of Col. William Byrd II;
- Mary Carter (1712-1736); who married George Braxton; {parents of Carter Braxton}.
- Lucy Carter (1715-1763); and
- George Carter (1718-1742).
See also
References
- ^ Brock, Robert Alonzo (1888). Virginia and Virginians, Vol. I, p. 40. Richmond and Toledo: H.H. Hardesty.
- ^ http://www.christchurch1735.org/history/robert_carter.html
- ^ The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, the Virginia Historical Society, Vol. VIII, June 1901, William Ellis Jones, Richmond, 1901
- ^ http://members.tripod.com/~Bonestwo/index-17.html
External links
- Robert "King" Carter lineage
- Catesby ap Roger Jones included is lineage of Robert "King" Carter from King Ferdinand III of Castile
- Robert "King" Carter's son John Carter to Elizabeth Hill of Plantation "Shirley"
- Anne Hill Carter Lee her parents were Anne Butler Moore married to Charles Carter of Shirley Plantation.
- Diary, Correspondence, and Papers of Robert Carter
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