Thomas Carter (1608 – 5 September 1684) was an American colonist and

Puritan The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to rid the Church of England of what they considered to be Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should b ...

minister. Educated at

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

, he left England and emigrated to the American colonies during the Puritan Great Migration. Carter was ordained as a Puritan minister in 1642, becoming the first person in the American colonies to receive a Christian ordination. He served as a church elder and minister in Dedham, Watertown, and Woburn. A prominent religious figure in the

Massachusetts Bay Colony The Massachusetts Bay Colony (1628–1691), more formally the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, was an English settlement on the east coast of North America around Massachusetts Bay, one of the several colonies later reorganized as the Province of M ...

, Carter was one signers of the

Dedham Covenant The Dedham Covenant was a covenant that governed the early settlement of Dedham, Massachusetts. It mandated that only those with similar, Puritan, community values could live in the town and set about a method for mediating disputes. It also requ ...

and one of the founders of Woburn.

Early life and family

Carter was born in

Hinderclay, Suffolk Hinderclay is a village and civil parish in the Mid Suffolk district of Suffolk in eastern England. The village is located around - from Bury St Edmunds in an area of rolling arable land to the south of the Little Ouse river valley. Neighbourin ...

, England, and baptized there on 3 July 1608. His father, James Carter, was a

yeoman Yeoman is a noun originally referring either to one who owns and cultivates land or to the middle ranks of Serfdom, servants in an Peerage of England, English royal or noble household. The term was first documented in Kingdom of England, mid-1 ...

. He had an older brother, James, baptized 14 June 1603, and an older sister, Mary, baptized 25 March 1605 or 1606. He studied at

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College, formally the College of St John the Evangelist in the University of Cambridge, is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge, founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch L ...

, receiving his

B.A. A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

in 1630 and his M.A. in 1633. Carter was a student at Cambridge at the same time as John Harvard. Like Harvard and many other Puritans, Carter emigrated to

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

as part of the Great Migration.

Life in the colonies

Carter was recognized as a

freeman Freeman, free men, Freeman's or Freemans may refer to: Places United States * Freeman, Georgia, an unincorporated community * Freeman, Illinois, an unincorporated community * Freeman, Indiana, an unincorporated community * Freeman, South Dako ...

Dedham, Massachusetts Dedham ( ) is a New England town, town in, and the county seat of, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. Located on Boston's southwestern border, the population was 25,364 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. First settled by E ...

in 1637. He was active in the church, both at Dedham, and at

Watertown, Massachusetts Watertown is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, part of Greater Boston. The population was 35,329 in the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Its neighborhoods include Bemis, Coolidge Square, East Watertown, Watertown Sq ...

, where he served as an elder. Carter, who signed the

, was considered for the post of the initial minister of the

First Church and Parish in Dedham The First Church and Parish in Dedham is a Unitarian Universalist congregation in Dedham, Massachusetts. It was the 14th church established in Massachusetts. The current minister, Rev. Rali M. Weaver, was called in March 2007, settled in July, and ...

. Carter preached in Woburn for the first time on December 4, 1641, which was the second service of public worship ever held in the new town. Having demonstrated spiritual gifts during his time as an elder, on November 22, 1642, Carter was ordained at

Woburn, Massachusetts Woburn ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 40,876 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Woburn is located north of Boston. Woburn uses Massachusetts' ...

, becoming the first

pastor A pastor (abbreviated to "Ps","Pr", "Pstr.", "Ptr." or "Psa" (both singular), or "Ps" (plural)) is the leader of a Christianity, Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutherani ...

of the Woburn congregation and the first religious ordination in the Americas. In 1638, Carter married Mary Parkhurst (1614–1687), daughter of George Parkhurst and Phoebe Leete, whose cousin

William Leete William Leete (1612 or 1613 – 16 April 1683) was Governor of the Colony of New Haven from 1661 to 1665 and Governor of the Colony of Connecticut from 1676 to 1683. Biography Leete was born about 1612 or 1613 at Keyston, Huntingdonshire, Engla ...

became Governor of the Colony of Connecticut. Together, they had eight children: Samuel, Judith, Theopilus, Mary, Abigail, Deborah, Timothy, and Thomas.

Legacy

A painting by Albert Thompson depicting the occasion of his ordination is currently displayed at the Woburn Public Library. His ordination, as the painting suggests, included all of the major ministers of Massachusetts, including John Cotton,

Richard Mather Richard Mather (1596 – 22 April 1669) was a New England Puritan minister in colonial Boston. He was father to Increase Mather and grandfather to Cotton Mather, both celebrated Boston theologians. Biography Mather was born to Thomas Mather ...

, John Eliot, Edward Johnson, John Wilson, with

Increase Nowell Increase Nowell, (1590–1655), was a British colonial administrator, original patentee of the Massachusetts Bay Company, founder of Charlestown, Massachusetts, and first ruling elder of the First Church in Charlestown. He was baptized in 1593 ...

sitting in the front row.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carter, Thomas 1608 births 1684 deaths People from Mid Suffolk District Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge 17th-century American people Clergy from colonial Massachusetts 17th-century New England Puritan ministers People from Watertown, Massachusetts People from Woburn, Massachusetts Clergy from Dedham, Massachusetts English emigrants to Massachusetts Bay Colony Signers of the Dedham Covenant People from colonial Dedham, Massachusetts Thomas Carter family