Timeline
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).
109 events from 1681 to 1930, family and local history together. Later events are left out to protect living people. Quaker dates are written as in the records: “9 10mo 1690” means the 9th day of the 10th month.
| Date | Event | Label | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 Mar 1681 | Charles II grants William Penn the charter for Pennsylvania. | DOCUMENTED | Wikipedia, 'Province of Pennsylvania' |
| 28-29 Oct 1682 (O.S.) | William Penn lands at Upland and renames it Chester; Chester County is one of the three original counties. | DOCUMENTED | Ashmead 1884; Wikipedia 'Chester, Pennsylvania' |
| 1682 | Jeremiah and Mary Carter arrive in Pennsylvania. The 1715 warrant says they “came Servants into this Province in ye year 1682”, that is, with passage paid in return for a term of service. | SUPPORTED | Potts pp.26-27; Ashmead, History of Delaware County (1884) p.426 |
| 27 4mo (June) 1683 | Concord 'liberty' first mentioned at Chester court (John Mendenhall constable). Concord becomes the township of the later Carter graveyard road. | DOCUMENTED | Ashmead, History of Delaware County (1884) ch. XXXIX (Concord), p.482 |
| 10th month (Dec) 1687 | Jeremiah Carter serves as petty juror at the Chester County court. | DOCUMENTED | Court Record p.123 |
| Dec 1687 | A road laid out runs across 'Jeremy Carters land' (neighbors Richard Barnard, John Marten). | DOCUMENTED | Court Record p.117 |
| 1688 | Jeremiah Carter on the petty jury again. | DOCUMENTED | Court Record p.135 |
| 1689 | Jeremiah Carter appointed constable for Chester. | DOCUMENTED | Court Record p.152 |
| 27 6mo (Aug) 1689 | A Mary Carter, taken to be Jeremiah’s wife, sits on a jury of women at Chester court. | DOCUMENTED | Court Record p.166; Ashmead, History of Delaware County (1884) p.426 |
| 9 10mo 1690 | William Woodmansey's deed to 'Jeremy Cartter' for 20 acres (Jeremiah described as 'linning weaver', price £6 6s) is delivered in open court. Ashmead reads the date as 9 Nov 1690. | DOCUMENTED | Court Record p.227; Ashmead, History of Delaware County (1884) p.426; Potts |
| 11 Sep 1694 | Robert and Lydia Wade of Essex House deed 50 acres to Lydia Carter, daughter of Jeremiah and Mary, with her father to use it until she is 21. | DOCUMENTED | Court Record p.330 (the research log said p.331); Ashmead, History of Delaware County (1884) p.426 |
| 9 1mo 1696/7 | Woodmansey roadway deed acknowledged at Chester court. | DOCUMENTED | Court Record p.407 |
| 1 Jul 1700? | Abraham Carter's birth date (query in Potts). | HYPOTHESIS | Potts p.46 |
| 28 Oct 1701 | Penn's Charter of Privileges. | DOCUMENTED | Wikipedia 'Charter of Privileges' |
| 1702-1703 | Jeremiah buys a 180-acre tract that resurveys in 1703 at 215 acres. This is the core of Carterville/Cartertown on the south side of Chester Creek. | SUPPORTED | Ashmead, History of Delaware County (1884) p.426; Potts p.28 |
| 18 Nov 1703 | Chester Twp resurvey plat: Jeremy Carter 215 a. adjoins Caleb Pusey; Lawrence Routh 436 a. adjoins (possible origin of '440') | SUPPORTED | Potts p.29 (plat) |
| 5 9mo 1712 | Prudence Carter (dau. of Robert of Aston) m. Caleb Pusey Jr. — not shown to be Jeremiah's family | SUPPORTED | Potts p.12 |
| 24 3mo 1715 | Warrant for 250 acres in Sadsbury for Jeremiah; surveyed 4 Nov 1715. | SUPPORTED | Potts p.30 |
| 2 Jul 1716 | Sadsbury tract conveyed to son Edward. | SUPPORTED | Potts p.31 |
| 18 Apr 1719 | Edward Carter buys 50 acres of Thomas Baldwin. | SUPPORTED | Potts p.40 |
| 1722 | Caleb Pusey first witness at marriage of Thomas Morgan & Hannah Carter, dau. of Jeremiah | SUPPORTED | Potts p.35 |
| 17 3mo 1722 | Hannah Carter marries Thomas Morgan at Chester meeting. | SUPPORTED | Potts p.35 |
| 10 Dec 1722 | Edward sells the Sadsbury tract. | SUPPORTED | Potts p.40 |
| 14 1mo 1722/3 | Sarah Carter marries Thomas Barnard. This is the line that leads to Dr. Elisha Cullen Dick. | SUPPORTED | Potts p.38 |
| 24 12mo 1728/9 | Nineveh Carter received into Chester Monthly Meeting. | SUPPORTED | Potts p.43 |
| 3 4mo 1731 | Nineveh Carter marries Mary Clayton at Chichester meeting. | SUPPORTED | Potts pp.43-44 |
| 4 9mo 1731 | Edward Carter marries Mary Camm at Providence meeting. | SUPPORTED | Potts p.41 |
| 29-30 Nov 1731 | Jeremiah deeds 88 acres (SW part of the homestead) to Nineveh. Ashmead prints '1781', an obvious error for 1731. | SUPPORTED | Potts p.31; Ashmead, History of Delaware County (1884) p.426 (misprint) |
| 27-28 Mar 1733 | Nineveh sells the 88 acres to Joseph Parker. | SUPPORTED | Potts p.45 |
| 17 Jan 1734/5 | Jeremiah Carter signs his will. | SUPPORTED | Potts p.31 (Will Bk B p.17) |
| 13 12mo 1734/5 | Widowed Sarah (Carter) Barnard marries Benjamin Weldon at Chichester. | SUPPORTED | Potts p.39 |
| late 1736 | Jeremiah Carter dies; burial traditionally in the family graveyard on the right side of Concord Road (the 1736 graveyard). | SUPPORTED | Potts p.31; Ashmead, History of Delaware County (1884) p.426 |
| 6 Jan 1736/7 | Jeremiah's will proved, Will Bk B p.17. | SUPPORTED | Potts p.31 |
| 31 10mo 1739 | Abraham Carter's acknowledgment for marrying Lydia (Clayton) Spruce out of meeting. | SUPPORTED | Potts pp.46-47 |
| 5 6mo 1745 | Nineveh's family removes to Buckingham MM, Bucks Co. They return to Chester in 1753. | SUPPORTED | Potts p.45 |
| 22 11mo 1746/7 | Mary Barnard marries John Hewes. | SUPPORTED | Potts p.53 |
| 17 Nov 1749 | Joseph Carter, son of Abraham, born. | SUPPORTED | Potts p.49 |
| 13 Jan 1753 | Daniel Carter, son of Abraham, born. | SUPPORTED | Potts p.49 |
| 12 10mo 1757 | Jeremiah Carter (son of Nineveh) marries Rachel Brown at West Nottingham. | SUPPORTED | Potts p.56 |
| 25 12mo 1758 | Hannah Carter, daughter of Nineveh, disowned for joining the Church of England. | SUPPORTED | Potts p.56 |
| 1 1mo 1759 | Certificate for Nineveh's widow Mary. | SUPPORTED | Potts p.45 |
| c.1760 | Widow Mary (Barnard) Hewes marries Archibald Dick. | SUPPORTED | Potts pp.53-54 |
| 15 Mar 1762 | Elisha Cullen Dick born near Marcus Hook. He descends from Jeremiah through Sarah Carter and Mary Barnard. | DOCUMENTED | Potts p.75; Ashmead, History of Delaware County (1884) p.257 |
| 1764 | Abraham Carter disowned by Friends. | SUPPORTED | Potts p.47 |
| 17 10mo 1765 | William Carter, shoemaker of Philadelphia (son of Abraham), marries Hannah Ashburnham. | SUPPORTED | Potts p.59 |
| 29 6mo 1767 | Deborah Carter (dau. Nineveh), wife of James Day, disowned. | SUPPORTED | Potts p.56 |
| 1771 | Archibald Dick buys an estate near Marcus Hook. | SUPPORTED | Potts p.55; Martin, Chester (1877) |
| 26 Aug 1772 | Marriage license for Agnes Carter and John Evans (her 2nd marriage). | SUPPORTED | Potts p.63 |
| 8 Jun 1776 | Edward Carter (son of Jeremiah) writes his will, witnessed by Archibald Dick. Proved 27 May 1777, Bk F p.255. | SUPPORTED | Potts p.42 |
| 4 Jul 1776 | Declaration of Independence. | DOCUMENTED | Wikipedia |
| 11 Sep 1777 | Battle of Brandywine. Howe's army flanks Washington at Chadds Ford; the British then occupy the Concord–Aston–Chester area. | DOCUMENTED | Wikipedia 'Battle of Brandywine'; USGenWeb text Ashmead pp.280-292 |
| 13 Sep 1777 | Cornwallis marches toward Chester and camps from Mount Hope to Village Green (Aston), with an outpost three-quarters of a mile west of Chester 'near the present Cartertown'. | DOCUMENTED | Ashmead, History of Delaware County (1884) p.291-292 (citing Montresor's journal) |
| 13 Sep 1777 | Cornwallis with grenadiers & light infantry reaches 'Ashton within 4 miles of Chester' | DOCUMENTED | Montresor Journals (NYHS 1882) p.451 |
| night of 14 Sep 1777 | Three soldiers plunder Jonathan Martin’s house in Middletown. Mary Martin, 18, rebukes them and is slightly wounded with a bayonet. After a court-martial two of the soldiers are hanged from an apple tree in Aston on 15 Sep. Mary later married William Sharpless and had no children; a link to the Carters has not been shown. | SUPPORTED | Smith, History of Delaware County (1862) p.314; Ashmead, History of Delaware County (1884) pp.291-292; Cope, Genealogy of the Sharpless Family (1887) no.122 |
| 15 Sep 1777 | Two British-army plunderers hanged in Aston (per Montresor); Cornwallis leaves that night for the Lancaster road. | DOCUMENTED | Ashmead, History of Delaware County (1884) p.292 |
| 15 Sep 1777 | Montresor’s journal records two soldiers executed, a grenadier and a light infantryman: British, not Hessian. | SUPPORTED | Montresor Journals p.452; Smith 1862 p.314; Ashmead 1884 pp.291-292 |
| n.d. | A story that the soldiers were hanged at Concordville. Smith (1862) and Ashmead (1884) both place the hanging in Aston. | DISPROVEN-CORRECTED | Smith, History of Delaware County (1862) p.314; Ashmead, History of Delaware County (1884) p.292 |
| 1777 (occupation) | Martin Carter of Chester twp (identified by Potts as 'not positive' son of Nineveh) files for losses to British depredations: £1 1s. | SUPPORTED | Potts p.57; Ashmead, History of Delaware County (1884) p.426 list; Smith, History of Delaware County (1862) Appendix Note J; register at |
| 21 Aug 1778 | Robert Carter born in Chester twp. He later builds the Cecil Paper Mills. | SUPPORTED | Potts p.89 |
| 1779 | Archibald Dick serves as Assistant Deputy Quartermaster General for the Continental Army. | SUPPORTED | Potts p.55 |
| 5 Apr 1780 | Archibald Dick appointed Assistant Forage Master for Chester County, rank of Major. | SUPPORTED | Potts p.55 |
| 1780-1782 | Elisha Cullen Dick studies under Benjamin Rush (1780) and William Shippen (1781); MD from the University of Pennsylvania 21 Mar 1782. | DOCUMENTED | Potts pp.75-76 |
| 9 (or 23) Mar 1782 | Archibald Dick dies; his will frees his slaves. Martin's history gives 3,9,1782. | SUPPORTED | Potts p.55; Martin, Chester (1877) |
| Oct 1783 | Elisha C. Dick marries Hannah Harman of Darby and settles in Alexandria, Va. | DOCUMENTED | Ashmead, History of Delaware County (1884) p.257; Potts p.76 |
| 1784 | Joseph Carter taxed on 100 acres. | SUPPORTED | Potts p.64 |
| 29 Dec 1787 | Abraham Carter signs his will; proved 27 Apr 1789 (Bk H). | SUPPORTED | Potts p.48 |
| 26 Sep 1789 | Delaware County erected from the eastern part of Chester County, with Chester as county seat. Carterville is now in Delaware County. | DOCUMENTED | Wikipedia 'Delaware County, Pennsylvania'; Ashmead |
| 15 Apr 1792 | Cloud Carter born at Carterville (d. 24 Apr 1863, Cherry Hill MD). | SUPPORTED | Potts p.92 |
| 1792 | Daniel Carter marries Martha Boon of Calcoon Hook (Boon line from the Swede Anders Bonde, 1639). | SUPPORTED | Potts p.69 |
| 1793 | Joseph and Daniel Carter divide their father's land. | SUPPORTED | Potts p.64 |
| 18 Sep 1793 | Dr. Elisha C. Dick, Worshipful Master of Alexandria Lodge No. 22, takes part in the U.S. Capitol cornerstone ceremony with George Washington. | DOCUMENTED | Potts p.77 |
| 27 Oct 1796 | Ann Dod writes from Boughton near Chester, England, to her long-lost daughter Eleanor (Dod) Carter. Eleanor had married Edward son of Abraham c.1770 after, by family story, being carried off to America by a sea captain. | SUPPORTED | Potts pp.60-61; Ashmead, History of Delaware County (1884) p.426 |
| 14 Dec 1799 | Dr. Elisha Cullen Dick is the consulting physician at George Washington's deathbed at Mount Vernon. He opposed further bleeding and proposed a tracheotomy, and was overruled. | DOCUMENTED | Tobias Lear's account, Founders Online NLM Potts pp.77-79; Ashmead, History of Delaware County (1884) p.257 |
| before 1800 | Joseph Carter builds a pottery at Cartertown, alongside his saw-mill and copper shafts. His son Abraham learns potting and moves to Bridgeton NJ in 1810. Edward Carter runs the Carterville pottery from 1813. | SUPPORTED | Ashmead, History of Delaware County (1884) p.426; Potts pp.64-67 |
| 22 Feb 1800 | Dr. Dick delivers a Masonic oration on Washington. | SUPPORTED | Potts p.79 |
| 14 Dec 1805 | James Alfred Pearce, Dr. Dick's grandson, born. He later serves as U.S. Senator from Maryland, 1843-62. | DOCUMENTED | Potts p.155 |
| 21 Apr 1811 | Thomas B. Dick drowns. | SUPPORTED | Potts pp.80-81 |
| c.1815 | Robert Carter builds the Cecil Paper Mills north of Elkton, Md. He adds a cylinder machine in 1834; fire in 1836. | SUPPORTED | Potts p.89 |
| 9 May 1821 | Will of Edward Carter (c.1743–1821), who died 3 5mo 1821, is proved; his plantation of about 50 acres goes to his daughter Ann Roberts. | SUPPORTED | Potts p.62 |
| 2 May 1823 | Franklin A. Dick born. He later serves as Union Provost Marshal in Missouri, 1862-63. | SUPPORTED | Potts p.160 |
| 1825 | Dr. Elisha Cullen Dick dies at Alexandria. | DOCUMENTED | Potts p.80 |
| 2 Feb 1830 | Joseph Carter dies; buried at Mt Hope M.E., Aston. His will mentions a saw-mill, quarry, fishing place at the Lazaretto, and copper mine. | SUPPORTED | Potts pp.65-67 |
| May 1832 | Hazard's Register describes the copper-mine shafts on Joseph Carter's land on Chester Creek. | DOCUMENTED | Hazard's Register vol. IX p.334, via Potts p.64 and Ashmead, History of Delaware County (1884) p.426 |
| 7 Oct 1833 | Daniel Carter dies. | SUPPORTED | Potts p.49 |
| 17 Feb 1846 | Mary Eliza Carter (b. 19 Apr 1828, dau. of Robert) marries Dr. Richard Brookings. | SUPPORTED | Potts p.128 |
| 22 Jan 1850 | Robert Somers Brookings born in Cecil Co., MD. He is Jeremiah's descendant through Abraham → Joseph → Robert → Mary Eliza, and later founds the Brookings Institution. | DOCUMENTED | Potts p.189 |
| 1850-51 | Delaware County seat moves from Chester to the new town of Media. | DOCUMENTED | Wikipedia 'Media, Pennsylvania' |
| 1851 | Samuel Phillips (son of Samuel & Harriet) m. Margery-Ann Coppock; children William-H., Emma-L., Lavinia | SUPPORTED | Potts p.169 |
| 23 Oct 1851 | Robert Carter of the Cecil Paper Mills dies. | SUPPORTED | Potts p.89 |
| 12 Apr 1861 | Civil War begins. James Carter enlists in the 11th Indiana, 1861. | SUPPORTED | Potts p.121 |
| 14 Aug 1862 | A Carter descendant named by Potts enlists in Collis’ Zouaves (114th Pennsylvania). | SUPPORTED | Potts p.212 |
| 17 Sep 1862 | Battle of Antietam. The 118th PA ('Corn Exchange') is in the V Corps reserve. | DOCUMENTED | Wikipedia 'Battle of Antietam' |
| 20 Sep 1862 | Samuel Phillips of the 118th Pennsylvania Volunteers, husband of Margery-Ann Coppock, dies at Shepherdstown (date given as 17 or 20 September; company A or B still to be confirmed). He is buried in Antietam National Cemetery, grave 3590. The family story that he fell in the Cornfield at Antietam is corrected. | SUPPORTED | Potts p.169 (djvu OCR); Bates, Hist. Pa. Volunteers vol. III (118th roster) |
| 20 Dec 1862 | Sen. James A. Pearce dies. | DOCUMENTED | Potts p.155 |
| 1 Apr 1863 | Edwin C. Gibson dies of disease in Union service. | SUPPORTED | Potts p.193 |
| 1863 | Recompense Carter killed at Vicksburg. | SUPPORTED | Potts p.121 |
| 1864 | Widow Margery Ann (Coppock) Phillips marries William Curry. | SUPPORTED | Potts p.169 |
| Sep 1864 | Jeremiah Carter killed at Petersburg. | SUPPORTED | Potts p.133 |
| 1871 | John Roach buys the Chester shipyard, starting Chester's heavy-industry era. | DOCUMENTED | Wikipedia 'Chester, Pennsylvania' |
| Aug 1872 | Edward Carter (1787-1875) makes will dividing land among children, excluding Paul B. Carter | DOCUMENTED | Delaware County Daily Times 15 Apr 1879 p.3 |
| 13 Jun 1877 | P. B. Carter's letter on 'The Carter Will Case' v. Williams, Steeling, Roberts, McClintock, Rachel Carter & minor sons of Edward Jr. | DOCUMENTED | Delaware County Daily Times 13 Jun 1877 p.4 |
| 26 Sep 1877 | Burial in Carterville Cemetery of Edward Carter (husband of Rachel Flemming). | SUPPORTED | Potts p.95 |
| 14 Apr 1879 | Third trial: P. B. Carter v. Carrigan & v. Ramsey (ejectment, 1/10 of Carterville land S of Concord Ave) before Judge Ludlow | DOCUMENTED | Delaware County Daily Times 15 Apr 1879 p.3; 22 Apr 1879 p.3 |
| 1883 | Thomas Maxwell Potts publishes the Bi-Centenary Memorial of Jeremiah Carter. | DOCUMENTED | archive.org bicentenarymemor1883pott |
| 6 May 1884 | Bessie Mae Phillips born, Trainer, dau. of William-H. Phillips & Josephine Johnson | SUPPORTED | family tree @P17@ (census citations) |
| 10 May 1884 | Howard Edward Phillips born, Chester, son of Edward W. Phillips & Lavinia Phillips | SUPPORTED | family tree @P18@ |
| before 1912 | Howard E. Phillips m. his first cousin Bessie M. Phillips (first child b. Apr 1912) | SUPPORTED | Potts p.169 + GEDCOM @F3@ |
| 29 Jan 1915 | Alice Virginia Phillips born, Chester. | SUPPORTED | family tree @P11@ |
| 1916-1927 | Robert S. Brookings's Institute for Government Research (1916) and related schools merge to form the Brookings Institution (1927). | DOCUMENTED |