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John Carter Sr.
Born Nov 5, 1613 England
Died Jan 10, 1670 ?Corotoman Plantation, Lancaster Co. VA
SPOUSE CHILDREN
Jane Glyn

m. 1639?
?Fulham, Middlesex, England
b. 1617?
England
d. Feb 23, 1699
?Lancaster Co. VA
Elizabeth

b. 1639?
?Lancaster Co. VA
d. Dec 30, 1734
York Co. VA
John (Jr.)

b. 1640
Lancaster Co. VA
d. by Jun 13, 1690
Corotoman Plantation, Lancaster Co. VA
George

b. by 1655
?Lancaster Co. VA
d. young
?Lancaster Co. VA
Elinor Eltonhead Brocus (widow)

m. 1655
VA
b.

d. 1655
Anne Cleve (widow?)

m. 1656
VA
b.

d. 1656?
Sarah "Ladlowe" or Ludlow

m. by 1663
VA
b.

d. before 1670
?Lancaster Co. VA
Sarah

b. before 1663
?Lancaster Co. VA
d. infancy
?Lancaster Co. VA
Robert "King"

b. Aug 4, 1663/4
Corotoman, Lancaster Co. VA
d. Aug 1732
Corotoman, Lancaster Co. VA
Elizabeth Shirley or Sherley

m. about Oct 24, 1668
VA
b.

d. after 1670
England
Charles

b. 1669
?VA
d. early 1690s
England
John came to Virginia about 1635 aboard the ship Safety n giving his age as 22. A John Carter, aged 23, sailed to VA in 1637 but the ship was captured by the Spanish. He is said to have emigrated to VA by 1649 after the execution of Charles I, settling in Upper Norfolk Co. VA [Encyclopedia Vriginia, article, updated Dec 22, 2021, website].
John married Jane Glyn, daughter of Morgan Glyn, in VA about 1749.
In the 1670's, son 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 1690, Robert inherited his land and some land from a younger half-brother.
“Almost everybody by the name of Carter aspires to be descended from that lordly old John of Corotoman, whose son Robert is the only Virginian who rejoiced in the name of ‘King.’ He made the high-water mark of Virginia Carters. So prominent were these Corotoman Carters that one is apt to conclude that really no other Carters are worth a moment’s notice.” [Miller, The Descendants of Capt. Thomas Carter ...].
A drawing of the The Corotoman Plantation House [Collins, R.E.]. Son Robert started building it in 1720 and lived there until it burned in 1729. The site is being excavated in 1978 by a state government agency [DVR].
The Plaque on the tombstone of John Carter and all of his wives "successively died before him" as well as daughter Sarah, son George, and stepdaughter nee Cleve [From: Miller, The Descendants of Capt. Thomas Carter ..., website].
The wife of William Holloway (1730-1792?) had a wife possibly named Mary Carter who may have been a close descendant of son Robert "King" Carter, who owned land in Caroline Co. VA, and was before the county was created, a council president and acting Governor of Virginia in 1726 and 1727 when Gov. Hugh Drysdale went to England. Robert died in 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].
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]. Then Holloway sold the lease to 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, p. 318].
On Jan 16, 1732 consent was given by son John Carter for his brother Robert's daughter 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].
As late as 1757, the heirs of son 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.
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 shows 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].
John's will was written Sep 15, 1669, and probated Feb 1, 1690. It contained an inventory of slaves dated Jul 29, 1670 listing 43 slaves, many by name and age [wikitree, "Slaves of John Carter I"]. The will of his son John Jr., proved Jun 13, 1690, listed 110 slaves all at the "Corotoman Estate" [wikitree, "Slaves of John Carter II", website].
John was buried at Christ Church which he helped build at Corotoman in Lancaster Co. VA. Historic Marker.
John's fifth wife Elizabeth went to England with their son Charles after John died [Burke, Henry Robert, Robert Carter III (1728-1804) ..., henryburke1010.tripod.com, website].
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, 305, 318, 380-1, 430, 442, 473.
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.
Miller, Joseph Lyon, eds., The Descendants of Capt. Thomas Carter of “Barford,” Lancaster County, Virginia, 1652-1912, with genealogical notes of many of the allied families, self pub. with W. Thomas, Va., 1912.
Moss, Bobby Gilmer, The Patriots at the Cowpens, Greenville SC, A Press, p.117.
Olson, Marie K., compiler, "William Holloway", Charleston SC, Apr 9, 1988; ref to Prince George Co., Virginia Deeds 1713-28, page 292.
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.