Preceded by Hugh Drysdale Preceded by William Randolph Role Political figure | Preceded by Philip Ludwell Name Robert I Children Landon Carter | |
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Died August 4, 1732, Lancaster County, Virginia, United States Succeeded by Sir William Gooch, 1st Baronet Books Letters of Robert Carter, 1720-1727 | ||
Robert "King" Carter (1662/63 – 4 August 1732), of Lancaster County, was an American businessman and colonist in Virginia and became one of the wealthiest men in the colonies.
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As President of the Governor's Council of the Virginia Colony, he was acting Governor of Virginia in 1726-1727 after the death in office of Governor Hugh Drysdale. He acquired the moniker "King" from his wealth, political power, and autocratic business methods.
Biography
Robert Carter was born at Corotoman Plantation in Lancaster County, Virginia, to John Carter (1613–1669) of London, England, and Sarah Ludlow (1635–1668) of Maiden Bradley, Wiltshire. In 1688, he married Judith Armistead of Hesse in Gloucester County, an area which was included in the formation of Mathews County in 1691. After her death in 1699, he married Elizabeth Landon in 1701.
At the age of 28, Robert entered the General Assembly of Virginia as a Burgess from Lancaster County, serving five consecutive years. In 1726, as President of the Governor's Council, he served as acting Governor of Virginia after the death of Governor Hugh Drysdale.
As an agent of Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron – known simply as Lord Fairfax – he served two terms as agent for the Fairfax Proprietary of the Northern Neck of Virginia. During his first term, 1702–1711, he began to acquire large tracts of land for himself in the Rappahannock River region of Virginia. Carter acquired some 20,000 acres (81 km2), a large part of which was the 6,000-acre (24 km2) Nomini Hall Plantation, also spelled “Nomoni” or “Nominy,” which he purchased in 1709 from the heirs of Col. Nicholas Spencer, cousin of the Lords Culpeper, from whom the Fairfaxes had inherited their Virginia holdings.
When he became representative of Fairfax’s interests again in 1722, and served from 1722–32, he succeeded in securing for his children and grandchildren some 110,000 acres (450 km2) in the Northern Neck, as well as additional acquisitions in Virginia west of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Carter died on 4 August 1732, in Lancaster County, Virginia and was buried there at Christ Church. He left behind 300,000 acres (1,200 km²) of land, 1,000 slaves and 10,000 British pounds in cash.
Legacy
When Lord Fairfax saw Carter's obituary in the London monthly The Gentleman's Magazine, he was astonished to read of the immense personal wealth acquired by his resident land agent. Rather than name another Virginian to the position, Fairfax made arrangements to have his cousin, Colonel William Fairfax, move to Virginia to act as land agent, with the paid position of customs inspector (tax collector) for the Potomac River district. Fairfax himself then visited his vast Northern Neck Proprietary from 1735–37, and he moved there permanently in 1747.
Descendants
Carter had five children with his first wife, Judith Armistead:
Carter had ten children with his second wife, Betty Landon:
Other notable descendants include: