John Carter

Notes:

In 1812, John swore that he had assisted his father as entry taker and verified the accuracy of a number of North Carolina land grants which were being registered to establish land ownership in the State of Tennessee. To have legally assisted his father he would have to have been at least 16, and the earliest land grant he testified to was in 1778, which would put his birth date at 1762 or earlier.

Notes:

Note from John James Henry : John Carter was one of the first permanent white settlers in Tennessee in 1766. He opened a store at Carter's Station in Carter's valley (just west of Kingsport, TN). He and other settlers thought they were in Virginia but learned later that they were a little too far south and in land claimed by North Carolina. After Indians burned his store in 1768, he moved east to a safer region along the Watauga River. The area near his settlement later became Elizabethton, TN. He was a merchant, farmer, land agent (entry taker) and land speculator, who before his death in 1781 became the richest man in North Carolina, though his home is now in Tennessee. A gentleman educated in England, John greatly loved wandering in the wilderness and often went on long hunting trips into uncharted territory, taking along his overseer as guide and companion. It was on these trips that he saw much of the land and was able to acquire the choice property (cheap) for resale to later settlers at significant profit. John was principal Author of the Articles of the Watauga Association (the first Constitution of a self governing body in America) and served on the committee which drafted North Carolina's first State Constitution, He served as a Colonel in the NC Militia during the American Revolution and Commanded the defense of the Watauga Settlements against a British incited raid by the Cherokees in 1778. He trained the troops used by Col. John Sevier in the battles he won against British Gen. Howe in North and South Carolina.

John married Elizabeth Taylor about 1761 in Rockbridge County, , , Virginia. Elizabeth was born in 1743 in Rockbridge County, , , Virginia; died after 1776 in Washington District (Carter County), , North Carolina, . [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

The exact date of the marriage of John Carter and Elizabeth Taylor in Rockbridge Co. VA is not known but was certainly before November 1761. Elizabeth is presumed to have remained in Rockbridge Co., VA with her three young children while John and Landon operated a trading post in Carter;s Valley, NW of present day Kingsport, TN about 1766-1767. John's Store was burnt out by hostile Indians about 1769 and he removed his operations then to the Watauga River area, near Watauga Old Fields (a deserted former Indian village). Elizabeth and her children joined John and Landon at the Watauga River area when her brothers settled on Buffalo Creek in the area that later became Carter Co., TN about 1771 or 1772. She was still alive in 1776 but is presumed to have died before her husband made his will in 1780 as he made no mention of her in his will, probated in 1781 and daughter Susan is named as his executrix.

John married Elizabeth Hill in 1723 in Christ Church, , Lancaster County, Virginia. Elizabeth was born before 1708 in Shirley, , Virginia, Am. Col.; died in 1771 in Shirley, , Virginia, Am. Col.. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Robert married Judith Armistead about 1687 in Christ Church, , Lancaster County, Virginia. Judith was born about 1664 in Lancaster County, , , Virginia; died on 23 Feb 1700 in Lancaster County, , , Virginia. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]