The Carter branches
How to read the labels. DOCUMENTED an original or contemporary record ·
SUPPORTED a credible published source or sourced tree; original not yet seen · FAMILY TRADITION a handed-down story, not yet proven ·
HYPOTHESIS a reasoned idea still to be tested · DISPROVEN-CORRECTED shown to be wrong, with the correction.
“Potts” means Thomas Maxwell Potts, Bi-Centenary Memorial of Jeremiah Carter (1883); “Court Record” means Record of the Courts of Chester County (1910).
Abraham Carter stayed on the original land on Chester Creek. This page follows the other lines. Potts (1883) names only three sons: Edward, Nineveh and Abraham. DISPROVEN-CORRECTED Sons named John or Joseph belong to other Carter families.
Where the lines went
A schematic chart, not to scale. Each line shows a documented or supported removal.
Branch by branch
Abraham Carter (#7), the home line
Stayed on the Chester Township land on Chester Creek. Married Lydia (Clayton) Spruce about 1739; will made 29 Dec 1787, proved 27 Apr 1789 (Will Book H p.311); buried in the Carter graveyard.
- William (#17): Shoemaker in Philadelphia near Front and Arch; married Hannah Ashburnham 1765; died 1785. SUPPORTED Potts, Bi-Centenary Memorial of Jeremiah Carter (1883) p.59
- Edward (#18), c.1743–1821: Farmer on the Chester Township land; married Eleanor Dod, then Catharine Scott. SUPPORTED Potts, Bi-Centenary Memorial of Jeremiah Carter (1883) pp.60–63
- Joseph (#20), 1749–1830: Farmer on part of the Cartertown land; shared 165 acres with Daniel, divided 1793. His will (Media Will Book C p.187) mentions the copper mine and the Lazaretto fishing place. Buried at Mount Hope M.E. Church, Aston. DOCUMENTED Potts, Bi-Centenary Memorial of Jeremiah Carter (1883) pp.64–68, quoting the will
- Daniel (#21), 1753–1833: Farmer on his share (about 80 acres) in Chester Township; married Martha Boon, of Swedish descent. Will at Media, Will Book C p.287. DOCUMENTED Potts, Bi-Centenary Memorial of Jeremiah Carter (1883) pp.68–70, quoting the will
- Agnes (#19): Married (1) her cousin Thomas Barnard, (2) John Evans of Uwchlan Township (licence 26 Aug 1772). SUPPORTED Potts, Bi-Centenary Memorial of Jeremiah Carter (1883) pp.63–64; Pa. Archives 2nd ser. II p.96
Nineveh Carter (#6), the travelling Carter line
Weaver. Married Mary Clayton at Concord MM, 3 4mo 1731. Removed to Concord MM 1732 and to Buckingham MM, Bucks County, 1745; came back to Chester 1753; died 1755–57.
- Jeremiah (#13): Certificate to New Garden MM 1755; married Rachel Brown at West Nottingham 1757; moved to Wilmington MM, Delaware, about 1761–62. His children named by Potts died young; last mentioned 1769. SUPPORTED Potts, Bi-Centenary Memorial of Jeremiah Carter (1883) p.56 (from Quaker minutes)
- Deborah: Disowned 1767 for marrying James Day of Middletown; died 1799 (Media Will Book B p.65). SUPPORTED Potts, Bi-Centenary Memorial of Jeremiah Carter (1883) p.56
- Martin (#16): Of Chester town; claimed losses to British troops in 1777; died 1808 (Media Will Book A p.356). Potts says his parentage is 'not positive'. HYPOTHESIS Potts, Bi-Centenary Memorial of Jeremiah Carter (1883) pp.56–58
Sarah Carter (#4), the Barnard and Dick line
Married Thomas Barnard of Aston, carpenter, 1722/3; then Benjamin Weldon 1734/5. This daughter's line produced most of the family's public figures.
- Jacob, Isaac, Thomas and Mary Barnard: Jacob, a wheelwright in Douglass Township, Berks County, died unmarried in 1754. Isaac, a millwright, stayed in Aston. Thomas was a tanner in Berks County. Mary married John Hewes, then Major Archibald Dick of Marcus Hook. SUPPORTED Potts, Bi-Centenary Memorial of Jeremiah Carter (1883) pp.36–40, 53–55
- James Barnard (1755–1806): Sheriff of Delaware County 1792–95; Register, Recorder, Prothonotary and Clerk of the Courts 1800–06. SUPPORTED Potts, Bi-Centenary Memorial of Jeremiah Carter (1883) ch. V
Edward Carter (#5)
Weaver of Chester Township. Held 250 acres in Sadsbury Township 1716–22. Married Mary Camm 1731. No children are named; his will (Will Book F p.255, proved 1777) left his land to his brother Abraham.
Lydia (#2) and Hannah (#3)
Lydia died before 1735 and her land went to Edward. Hannah married Thomas Morgan in 1722 and died before 1731 with no children.
Notable descendants
| Person | Line and why notable | Label | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dr. Elisha Cullen Dick (1762–1825) | Sarah → Mary Barnard → Elisha. Physician in Alexandria, Virginia. One of the consulting physicians at George Washington's deathbed in 1799. Master of Alexandria Lodge No. 22 at the 1793 laying of the Capitol cornerstone. Mayor of Alexandria. | DOCUMENTED | Potts, Bi-Centenary Memorial of Jeremiah Carter (1883) pp.77–79; Wikipedia 'Elisha C. Dick' |
| Hon. Isaac Dutton Barnard (1791–1834) | Sarah → Isaac → James → Isaac D. War of 1812 officer; Pennsylvania state senator 1820–26; Secretary of the Commonwealth; U.S. Senator for Pennsylvania 1827–31. | DOCUMENTED | Potts, Bi-Centenary Memorial of Jeremiah Carter (1883) pp.100–101; Futhey & Cope p.475; Wikipedia 'Isaac D. Barnard' |
| Hon. James Alfred Pearce (1805–1862) | Sarah → Mary → Elisha C. Dick → Julia Dick → James. U.S. Representative for Maryland and U.S. Senator 1843–62. Declined the post of Secretary of the Interior in 1850. | DOCUMENTED | Potts, Bi-Centenary Memorial of Jeremiah Carter (1883) c. pp.153–155; Wikipedia 'James Pearce (American politician)' (names him a grandson of Elisha C. Dick) |
| Thomas B. Dick (1766–1811) | Brother of Elisha. Lawyer at Chester and Easton; Clerk of the Court. | SUPPORTED | Potts, Bi-Centenary Memorial of Jeremiah Carter (1883) pp.80–81 |
| Col. Franklin A. Dick (b. 1823) | Grandson of Thomas B. Dick. St. Louis lawyer; Provost Marshal General of the Department of the Missouri 1862–63; law partner of Montgomery Blair. | SUPPORTED | Potts, Bi-Centenary Memorial of Jeremiah Carter (1883) pp.159–160; Martin, History of Chester pp.397–404 |
| Robert Carter (1778–1851) | Abraham → Joseph → Robert. Built the Cecil Paper Mills near Elkton, Maryland, about 1815; Potts believed it was the first paper mill in Cecil County. | SUPPORTED | Potts, Bi-Centenary Memorial of Jeremiah Carter (1883) pp.89–90 |
| Dr. Edward L. Carter (1817–c.1869) | Son of Robert. Graduate of the University of Pennsylvania; physician in Philadelphia. | SUPPORTED | Potts, Bi-Centenary Memorial of Jeremiah Carter (1883) pp.125–126 |
The Clayton branch
The Claytons are an ancestral line that married in, not a line that went out.
| Topic | Finding | Label | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| Where the Claytons join the Carters | Two of Jeremiah's sons married Clayton sisters, daughters of William Clayton Jr. and Mary (Marten). Nineveh married Mary Clayton (b. 1710) at Concord MM, 3 4mo 1731. Abraham married the widow Lydia (Clayton) Spruce (1716–1796) about 1739. Every descendant of Abraham, the home line, therefore descends from the immigrant William Clayton. He is Lydia's great-grandfather, four generations above Abraham's children. | SUPPORTED | Potts 1883 pp.43, 46; Clayton typescript (Putman 2009) |
| William Clayton the immigrant (bapt. 1632, d. 1689) | A Quaker carpenter of Chichester, Sussex. Came in the ship Kent in 1677. Bought Hans Oelson's share of Marcus Hook in 1678/9 and settled in Chichester. Sat on Deputy Governor Markham's council in 1681 and on Penn's Council in 1683. Justice of the Upland and Chester County courts. | DOCUMENTED | Smith 1862 pp.131, 140, 453 (quoting the court and Council records) |
| Correction: 'presided over the first Chester County court' | The typescript says this. Smith names John Simcock as president of the first Chester County court and lists Clayton as a justice. Smith does say Clayton presided at the first court held under the Proprietary government (Upland, 1681). | DISPROVEN-CORRECTED | Smith 1862 pp.140, 453 |
| William Clayton Jr. and Elizabeth Bezer | Their 1682/3 declaration of intention to marry is 'the earliest on record in Pennsylvania'. | SUPPORTED | Smith 1862 p.453 |
| Early English Clayton and Charlemagne lines | Putman himself says the Lancashire and Yorkshire lines (and the Charlemagne and Thornhill descents) are not firmly connected to the Sussex Claytons. | HYPOTHESIS | Putman 2009 typescript |
| Clayton-name notables (cousins, not Carter descendants) | Powell Clayton (governor of Arkansas), his brothers John M. Clayton, Thomas J. Clayton (judge in Delaware County) and W. H. H. Clayton (federal judge), and the orator Henry Armitt Brown. Wikipedia lists them as descendants of William Clayton. If that is right they are cousins of the Carter line through other Clayton children. The descent has not been traced here. | HYPOTHESIS | Wikipedia 'William Clayton (colonist)' |
Daniel Carter and Winchester, Virginia
| Question | Finding | Label | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daniel Carter (#21, 1753–1833), Abraham's son | Lived his whole life on his share of the Chester Township land. Died there 7 Oct 1833; will at Media, Will Book C p.287. He did not settle in Winchester. | DISPROVEN-CORRECTED | Potts 1883 pp.68–70 |
| Other Daniel Carters of the line | Daniel (#59, 1785–1851) died in Cecil County, Maryland. Daniel (#192, 1820–1865) lived near Brick Meeting House, Cecil County; his widow went to Cove, Oregon. Daniel (#530) was at Cherry Hill, Maryland. Potts mentions no Winchester or Frederick County, Virginia. | SUPPORTED | Potts 1883 (full-text search) |
| The 1777 Quaker exiles to Winchester | Seventeen or more Philadelphia Friends were exiled to Winchester in 1777. Gilpin's Exiles in Virginia (1848) names no Carter. | DOCUMENTED | Futhey & Cope 1881; Gilpin 1848 (full-text search) |
| A Carter of our line at Winchester / Hopewell MM | Not found. Hopewell Friends History 1734–1934 is only a login-restricted loan copy online, so it has not been checked. Hopewell had Carters of other families. Do not merge them with ours. | HYPOTHESIS | Next record: Hopewell Friends History; Hinshaw vol. VI; Frederick Co. deed and will abstracts |
Full notes, open questions and next records to check: documents/CARTER-BRANCHES.md in the research files.