Landon Carter (1751-1811) was a Virginia planter who also served one term in the

Virginia House of Delegates The Virginia House of Delegates is one of the two parts of the Virginia General Assembly, the other being the Senate of Virginia. It has 100 members elected for terms of two years; unlike most states, these elections take place during odd-numbe ...

representing

King George County, Virginia King George County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population sits at 26,723. Its county seat is the town of King George. The county's largest employer is the U.S. Naval Surface Warfare Center ...

, one of three men of the same name who served in the

Virginia General Assembly The Virginia General Assembly is the legislative body of the Commonwealth of Virginia, the oldest continuous law-making body in the Western Hemisphere, the first elected legislative assembly in the New World, and was established on July 30, 161 ...

during the late 18th century.

Early and family life

The son of

Charles Carter (of Cleve) Charles Carter (1707-April 26, 1764) was a Virginia planter and politician, one of four men of the same name who served in the Virginia General Assembly during the late 18th and early 19th century. One historian has distinguished him as "of Cleve", ...

(who represented King George County part-time in the House of Burgesses for three decades) and his second wife, Anne Byrd (daughter of burgess

William Byrd II William Byrd II (March 28, 1674August 26, 1744) was an American planter, lawyer, surveyor, author, and a man of letters. Born in Colonial Virginia, he was educated in London, where he practiced law. Upon his father's death, he returned to Virgi ...

), this Landon Carter was born in 1751 to the

First Families of Virginia First Families of Virginia (FFV) were those families in Colonial Virginia who were socially prominent and wealthy, but not necessarily the earliest settlers. They descended from English colonists who primarily settled at Jamestown, Williamsburg ...

. He had not yet reached legal age to inherit property when his father died in 1762, leaving him and his slightly older brother John Hill Carter orphaned. His surviving uncle,

Landon Carter Col. Landon Carter, I (August 18, 1710 – December 22, 1778) was an American planter and burgess for Richmond County, Virginia. Although one of the most popular patriotic writers and pamphleters of pre-Revolutionary and Revolutionary-era Vir ...

, who had represented Richmond County for decades in the House of Burgesses, was appointed their guardian. omplicating matters, that Landon Carter also had a son named Landon and a grandson by his firstborn son Robert Wormeley Carter also named Landon

Career

His father, Charles Carter of Cleve had attempted to protect his namesake estate by disinheriting his surviving son by his first wife Charles Carter Jr. by his will prepared in 1762, because of the young man's financial extravagance and having already paid many debts incurred by that son. However, after their father's death Charles Jr. successfully challenged the will and inherited property that their father had planned to bequeath to his younger sons and their several sisters. By 1787, Landon Carter of King George held what remained of his father's formerly extensive plantations in King George County. He paid taxes on 47 enslaved laborers and 42 enslaved children, as well as 27 horses and 159 other livestock.

Personal life

This Landon Carter married twice. In 1772 he married Mildred Washington Willis, daughter of Col. Lewis Willis and the former Mary Champe of King George County. Before she died in 1778, she had given birth to three daughters, of whom Mary Champe Carter died as an infant, Mildred Ann Byrd Carter (1774-1837) would marry first Robert Mercer (1764-1800, who represented Stafford County in the House of Delegates), then John Lewis (1747-1824, son of Col.

Fielding Lewis Fielding Lewis (July 7, 1725 – December 7, 1781) was an American merchant, member of the House of Burgesses and a Colonel during the American Revolutionary War. He lived in Fredericksburg, Virginia and also owned a plantation in Spotsylvania ...

and Catherine Washington Lewis), and bear sons by each marriage; and Lucy Landon Carter (1776-1859) who married Gen. John Minor of Hazel Hill (who died in 1816). His second wife and cousin (daughter of

Robert Wormeley Carter Robert Wormeley Carter (June 17, 1734-1797) (sometimes nicknamed "Robin" by his father) was a Virginia planter and patriot who served in the House of Burgesses, all five Virginia Revolutionary Conventions, and briefly in the Virginia House of Dele ...

and sister of Landon Carter (of Sabine Hall) sometimes confused with this man), would bear sons Robert Charles Carter (1783-1849) and St. Leger Landon Carter of Cleve (1785-1850) and daughter Eliza Travers Carter (1787- ) who married William McFarlane.

Death and legacy

This Landon Carter died in 1811 and is buried at Cleve. Although the mansion which was gutted by fire in his lifetime was pulled down a century later after further deterioration, some of the family's papers are held by the University of Virginia library.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carter, Landon 1751 births 1811 deaths Members of the Virginia House of Delegates People from King George County, Virginia Carter family of Virginia American planters Byrd family of Virginia American slave owners