John's Children

 

From the will of John Carter. Spotsylvania County, VA.

In January I returned to researching the family of my 7th-great-grandfather John Carter. This has been a fascinating line of the tree to follow, more so now knowing I share a cousin connection with fellow family history blogger Jacqi of A Family Tapestry. Looking into this family means trying to unravel connections blurred by the passage of time, lost records, and lost memory of descendants and their links to the bends and knots in the Carter and associated families of 1700s Virginia.

Just like Jacqi, I'm starting with the children of John Carter, and hoping to resolve a discrepancy over the mothers of all those children. I am doing the same activity, comparing the names of the children listed in the 1912 book The Descendants of Capt. Thomas Carter of "Barford" with the children in the 1778 will and disposition of John Carter's estate between 1780 and 1786.

The book names the following as children of John Carter and Elizabeth Armistead (see page 280-281):

• William Carter
• Elizabeth Carter (who left daughter, Sarah Kenyon Thomas)
• Frances Carter (married Rice Curtis)
• Martha Carter (married Robert Goodloe)
• Anne Carter (married William Heslop) * [My 6th-great-grandmother]
• Margaret Carter (married Capt. John Marshall)
• Sarah Carter (married William Sutton)
• John Carter Jr.

The book then states that Elizabeth Armistead Carter died about 1763-1765, and John Carter next married Hannah Chew around 1767-1768. According to the book, John and Hannah had the following children:

• Mary Beverley Carter (married Capt. Richard Stevens)
• Margaret Chew Carter (married Zacariah Taliaferro)
• Judith Carter (married Joseph Sutton)
• Lucy Carter (married Burton Taliaferro)
• Robert Carter
• Elizabeth Matilda Carter

Some records indicate a John Carter married Sarah Kenyon in February 1741. The Kenyon name appears in the middle name of John Carter's granddaughter Sarah Kenyon Thomas, and in the middle names of Anne Carter Heslop's children Elizabeth Kenyon Heslop and Sarah Kenyon Heslop. John's son William also named a son Kenyon Carter. I need to do some more work to verify Sarah as second wife of John Carter, between Elizabeth Armistead and Hannah Chew. To do that, I'll return to John Carter's 1778 will and disposition of his estate, which has some differences from the 1912 book.

The will, dated 9 May 1778, names the following children in this order:

• Robert Carter
• John Carter (in trust for his grand-daughter Sarah Kenyon Thomas)
• daughter Frances Carter
• daughter Martha Carter

John's other children were referenced in the will but not named. A codicil signed on 13 October 1783 provided for daughter Elizabeth Matilda Carter, who was born after the initial 1778 will. John Carter died in November 1783. John's son William, as executor of the estate, entered the will and estate inventory with the Spotsylvania County Court on 18 December 1783.

The disposition of John Carter's lands and estate begins on page 721 of Spotsylvania County Will Book E. This includes a rough map of his property and a description of the items and amounts provided to his surviving wife Hannah, John's children, and grandchildren. The division follows this order:

• Mrs. Hannah Carter - 490 acres, 24 slaves
• William Carter - 80 acres and 1/7th interest in the Low Ground Tract, 5 slaves, plus some other items
• John Carter Jr - 220 acres and 1/7th interest in the Low Ground Tract, 4 slaves, plus other items
• Rice Curtis and Frances his wife - 80 acres of land and 1/7th interest in the Low Ground Tract, 5 slaves, plus other items
• Robert Goodloe and Martha his wife - 200 acres of land, 3 slaves, bed, furniture and chairs
• William Heslop and Ann his wife - 50 acres of land and 1/7th interest in the Low Ground Tract, 5 slaves
• John Marshall and Margaret his wife - 1/3 interest of tracts No. 5 and No. 10, 1/7 interest in the Low Ground Tract, 4 slaves
• William Sutton and Sarah his wife - 50 acres of land and 1/7 interest in the Low Ground Tract, 4 slaves
• Richard Stevens and Mary Beverley his wife - 1/3 of tracts No. 5 and No. 10, 1/7 interest in the Low Ground Tract, 4 slaves
• Lucy Carter - 1/3 of tracts No. 5 and No. 10, 3 slaves
• Judy Carter - 1/4 of 394 acres of land called the Old Place, 4 slaves
• Margaret Chew Carter - 1/4 of 394 acres called the Old Place, 3 slaves
• Robert Carter - 1/4 of 394 acres called the Old Place, 3 slaves
• Elizabeth Matilda Carter - 1/4 of 394 acres called the Old Place, 4 slaves
• granddaughter Sarah Kenyon Thomas - 2 slaves

The division above doesn't settle which children may have belonged to Elizabeth Armistead or the potential second wife Sarah Kenyon, but it does allow us to follow the land in the records and the disposition of the estates for John Carter's children. I've already covered Anne Carter Heslop's 1829 estate in a previous post.

The Low Ground Tract was distributed among William, John Carter Jr, Frances, Anne, Margaret, Sarah and Mary Beverley. William died in 1802 and directed his property and interest in over 1020 acres to be sold rather than divided. Anne conveyed her 1/7th interest in the tract to Thomas Hicks in 1814. The remaining distribution of that tract, and other inheritance from the Carter children became tied up in chancery cases in Caroline and Spotsylvania counties. This will be the subject of the next post.

Before I move on, in the disposition of John Carter's estate above, 74 slaves were divided up and assigned to the children and grandchild of John. Most were mentioned by first names in the county court record. These were people. Some were children. Probably many of these people were parents of children who were separated and sold off to other locations. Bridgett and Amey were two of these 74. There are more stories here that I have not yet had the opportunity to follow.