| SPOUSE | CHILDREN | ||
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Elizabeth Cooke Hill m. Oct 3, 1723 Shirley Plantation, Charles City Co. VA b. Feb 23, 1703 Hesse, Gloucester Co. VA d. Jun 1771? Corotoman Plantation, Lancaster Co. VA |
?Elizabeth b. 1688? ?Lancaster Co. VA d. Dec 30, 1734 York Co. VA |
Col. John Jr. b. 1727? VA d. 1781? ?Washington Dist. NC or Davidson Co. (TN) |
Charles Hill b. Oct 15, 1732 ?Corotoman Plantation,Lancaster Co. VA d. Jun 24, 1806? Shirley Plantation, Charles City Co. VA |
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Mary b. 1734? Lancaster Co. VA d. ? |
Edward b. 1734? Shirley Plantation, Charles City Co. VA d. Jun 6, 17942 Spotsylvania Co. VA |
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John's grandfather, John Carter Sr. (1613?-by 1670) emigrated from England to VA
in 1635, settling in Upper Norfolk Co. VA by 1649 [wikipedia, website]. |
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Lancaster Co. VA
(see present day map
for location) was formed from York Co. (See
present day map)
and Northumberland Co. in 1651. |
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In the 1670's, father Robert lived in England. returning to his birthplace,
Corotoman Plantation, to live with his half-brother, John Carter Jr. who was
married to Elizabeth Travers Carter. When John Jr. died in 1790, Robert
inherited his land and some land from a younger half-brother. |
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In 1710, a John Holloway "leased [from the Crown] for a term of 500 years a
tract of 2,660 acres in the section which became Drysdale Parish across the
Rappahannock-Mattapony watershed from the headwaters of Peumandsend [Creek]".
This was likely the John born 1670 and died after 1720, who was the son of
George Holloway II (1638-1688).
Then Holloway sold the lease to John's father, Robert "King" Carter, "of Lancaster
for seven pounds sterling and six Negroes". Carter never lived on the property but
"he and his heirs maintained a plantation there for many years with an
overseer in charge" [Campbell, pp. 318, 442]. |
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The wife of William Holloway (1730-1792?)
was possibly a Mary Carter who may have been a close descendant of John's father,
Robert "King" Carter, who was a Caroline Co. VA landowner, and before the county
was created, a council president and acting Governor of Virginia in 1726 and 1727
when Gov. Hugh Drysdale went to England. Carter died 1732, when his heirs were
listed as the absentee owners (planters) in Caroline Co. with John Adams as
the "overseer". Robert's heirs continued to own land there in 1743 with Henry Bell
overseeing [Campbell, pp. 380-381]. |
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A Portrait
of Robert "King" Carter at the Shirley Plantation before 1726. |
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On Jan 16, 1732 consent was given by John Carter for his half-sister Mary to
marry George Braxton Jr. They had a son Carter (Sep 10, 1736-1797) who was a
signer of the Declaration of Independence. Mary Braxton had two other children
but died from childbirth [geni.com, website]. |
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A drawing of the
The Corotoman
Plantation House [Collins, R.E.]. Father Robert started building it
in 1720 and lived there until it burned in 1729, but Carter family members
lived at the Plantation until 1862. The site was being excavated in 1978 by a
state government agency. |
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John married Elizabeth Cooke Hill of Charles City Co. VA on Oct 3, 1723. She
was born on Shirley Plantation in Charles City Co. VA.
John eventually inherited Shirley Plantation, where John and Elizabeth lived
until 1732 when his father died leaving Corotoman Plantation to him [geni.com,
website]. |
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Son John was "chairman of the court" of the Watauga Association (1772), the
first majority-rule political system in America. |
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About 1760, son John married Elizabeth Taylor (1743-1771) and they had one son
Landon C. Carter (1760-1800?) who died in Elizabethton, Carter Co. TN. Elizabethton
was named for Landon's wife, Elizabeth Maclin Carter (1745-1842) and Carter Co.
in far northeastern TN was named for Landon in 1796 [wikipedia, website]. |
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After the French and Indian War (1754-1763), dozens of troops or heirs of troops
from Caroline Co. VA appeared in the Order Books claiming "land bounties for
services rendered" including son John Carter, Jr., relatives of John's wife,
James and Samuel Taylor, and a Nathaniel Holloway, probably
Lt. William Nathaniel Holloway, who
would have been in their 20s or 30s during most of the war
[Campbell, pp. 283, 372]. |
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Half-brother Robert Carter II married a slave named Mary (1703?-1792?) and
possibly had three children, including William "Billy" Burke Carter (1725?-1794).
He then married Priscilla Churchill (1705-1757) and had at lease two children,
including Robert Carter III (1728-1804) who died in Baltimore MD
[Burke, Henry Robert, Robert Carter III (1728-1804) ...,
henryburke1010.tripod.com, website]. |
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As late as 1757, the heirs of father Robert "King" Carter owned land in Caroline Co.
but still had "never resided on their Caroline plantation". That year the
sole schoolhouse in St. Mary's Parish was mentioned as being on the Carter
land "on Peumendsend [creek] between Port Royal and the Bowling Green" and
was apparently "a free school for the children of the overseer and other
freeholders nearby" [Campbell, pp. 318, 442]. Son George probably would have
just started his schooling by this date. |
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St Mary's Parish bordered the Rappahannock River to its north and Drysdale
Parish to its south. See
Map of
Caroline Co. drawn in 1751 showing what were previously St. Mary, Drysdale
and St. Margaret parishes [Louisa Co. VA Genealogy, website].
The only church in St. Mary by 1760 was the Mount Church on the Rappahannock
north of Port Royal [Campbell, p. 430]. |
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Half-brother George died in 1742, unmarried [geni.com, website]. |
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A "John Carter, Jr." [grandson] served with a "John Carter, Sr.", both privates
in the NC 6th Regiment under Donohoe's company. Sr. was discharged May 16, 1779.
Jr. enlisted in 1777 after Sr., no other info [Univ. of NC, website]. |
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A "John Carter, Jr." [John's grandson] received a warrant for 250 acres in
Greene Co. NC (TN). The grant was entered in 1783 and issued Sep 20, 1787
However in 1788 he was a resident of Davidson Co. TN [ancestry.com, website]. |
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Sources: Burke, Henry Robert, Robert Carter III (1728-1804), Emancipator of the Burke Family", henryburke1010.tripod.com, website. Campbell, T.E., Colonial Caroline, A History of Caroline County, Virginia, The Dietz Press, Richmond VA, 3rd ed., 1989, pp. 53-54, 283, 305, 318, 380-1, 372, 430, 442. Caroline Co. Deed Book, Part II, p.135. Collins, R. E., drawing, "Robert Carter I", wikitree.com, website. Find-a-grave, memorial of Edward M. Holloway [grandson], #57472710, identifying immigrant ancestors, unknown contributors. Holloway, Dr. Robert, Rochester NY, emails Jan 2026, re: shared DNA ancestor. Louisa Co. VA Genealogy, "Caroline Co. Creeks and Rivers", map drawn 1751 by Joshua Fry and Peter Jefferson, website. Olson, Marie K., compiler, "William Holloway", Charleston SC, Apr 9, 1988; ref to Prince George Co., Virginia Deeds 1713-28, page 292. Univ. of NC, Colonial and State Records of North Carolina, "Roster of the Troops in the Continental Army", vol. 16, on website, 6th Reginment, pp. 1031. Virginia Landmarks Register (VLR), "Corotoman", # 051-0034, upd. Jun 30, 2025. "Virginia Troops in French and Indian Wars", Virginia Hist. Mag., v.1, 1894, p. 389. |
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