DISCLAIMER: I have not independently verified all the facts in this post. The information comes from several different sources. While I cannot guarantee their accuracy, the sources are fairly consistent, and I feel confident in their overall reliability. This post is a compilation of these sources.
The first Carter in America arrived in 1652. His name was Nicholas—not to be confused with our Kentucky Nicholas, but one of his, and our, ancestors. To avoid confusion, I’ll refer to him as Nicholas I.
Nicholas I was the son of Roger and Emma (Rayles) Carter of Helperby, County of York, England. He was baptized on June 4, 1629, making him approximately 23 years old when he crossed the Atlantic to America. The earliest record of him places him in Stamford, Connecticut, although he stayed there only briefly.
In 1656, Nicholas I and several others purchased land from local Native Americans and founded a town called Middleburg, now known as Newtown, located in present-day Queens, Long Island, New York. Records indicate he was one of the leading men of the community, frequently mentioned in court documents of the time.
Around 1666, efforts began to colonize New Jersey. Nicholas joined these efforts, and by February 16, 1666, he signed an oath of allegiance in the newly founded town of Elizabethtown, New Jersey.
Nicholas I and his unnamed wife had four children:
- John, a carpenter by trade
- Samuel
- Nicholas II, born 1659 in Newtown, NY
- Elizabeth, who married John Radby in 1681
Nicholas I died in Elizabethtown around 1681.
Unfortunately, not much is known about John or Samuel, and very little about Nicholas II. According to tradition, Barnabas I (not to be confused with the Kentucky Barnabas) was the son of Nicholas II. Barnabas I was born in 1680 and died in October 1748 in Hanover, New Jersey, not far from Elizabethtown and Morristown.
The Carter family eventually helped build a church in nearby Madison, NJ—The Presbyterian Church of East Hanover, located on Carter land. Before his death, Barnabas I willed this land to the church congregation. His gift included space for a cemetery, where many Carters, including Barnabas I himself, were buried. That cemetery, now known as Hillside Cemetery, still exists in downtown Madison. Barnabas’s son Luke is also buried there and has a marked tombstone.
After this period, the Carters began leaving Morristown. Some moved to the North Carolina and Tennessee region, while others—like our Nicholas and Barnabas—migrated westward through Pennsylvania and into Kentucky.
Of note: some famous Carters from North Carolina and Tennessee may be distant relatives of ours. Among them are President Jimmy Carter and June Carter Cash, the wife of Johnny Cash. So, we may be distantly related to both a president and country music royalty!
In my next post, we’ll return to life in Nelson County during the 1830s.