FAQ

What does the Coat of Arms mean?

Carter Society Coat of ArmsThe Carter Society coat of arms reflects our recognition of the early families joined, one to another, in spirit, if not by blood.

Arms: Azure, a chevron or. voided gules between two boucles in chief and a Catherine-wheel in base of the second.

Mantling: Azure lined.

Crest: A talbot sejeant proper holding in his dexter paw a staff with the flag of the thirteen colonies retiring the Union flag of England and Scotland.

Motto: The Cater Society, established 2001.
 
In order to bring immediate recognition to the Carter Society corporate name, the Board of Directors engaged Margaret Bauer Carter of Lewiston, Idaho, to design a corporate logo, a coat of arms representative of the common bond of the Carters of Colonial Virginia. Her research revealed the common element among all carters, the wheel, was present in the earliest General Livery arms grants to Carters in England and, while a more common wheel design may have been reflected in those archaic applications, it is the Catherine-wheel that was more widely used after the 14th century. The Catherine-wheel, the primary element of the arms displayed by the "Corotoman" Carters of Lancaster County, Virginia, is in contrast to the boucles displayed on the escutcheon of the Carters of "Barford," also of Lancaster County, distinctly different, yet often mistakenly considered interchangeable.
The term 'coat of arms' normally implies a shield, charged with heraldic devices. In its wider sense it also embraces the helm and crest, mantling, motto and other embellishments which make up a full heraldic 'achievement.' A personal Grant may include a device relating to the applicant's profession, whilst institutions and corporations have often designed [their own] devices alluding to their origin and purpose. (From How to Read a Coat of Arms, Peter G. Summers, Harmony Books, NY.)

Notes on some elements of the Carter Society coat of arms:

Chevron a device in the shape of an inverted "V" most often used to indicate the marrying of families.

Catherine-wheel a wheel of usually six to eight spokes with a number of curved blades along the rim, the emblem of the martyrdom of St. Catherine whom the pagans attempted to put to death by a wheel of this kind.

Boucle a buckle of varying designs.

Talbot a long-eared dog.

The flags in the Society crest signify the Union Jack being laid to rest as the American flag representing the thirteen colonies is raised, bringing an end to the tyranny of the Crown of England with the colonists' victory at the Battle of Yorktown in July 1776 that ended the American Revolution.

How can one join the Carter Society?

Membership is extended to all whose descent from their immigrant Carter ancestor has been established. Complete details are available in the Membership Section.

Are there Carter Reunions?

Yes! Since 2001, The Carter Society has held an annual reunion. The multi-day event is moved to various locations in order to explore the impact of the Carter family. Events include tours of homes and historic places, presentations by authorities on their subjects, and opportunities to sample the local fare. Visit the Reunions section for information on past reunions and the next reunion.

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End FAQ

 

Reference

Print or email this list using the  icons to the right.
 
Bergner, Audrey Windsor
Old Plantations and Historic Homes Around Middleburg, Virginia: and the families who lived and loved within their walls. Vol. II. Charlottesville, Virginia: Howell Press, Inc., 2003.

Breen, T. H.
Tobacco Culture: The Mentality of the Great Tidewater Planters on the Eve of Revolution. Princeton University Press, 1985.

Brown, Katharine L. and Nancy T. Sorrells.
Christ Church, Lancaster County, Virginia. Historical Christ Church Heritage Books Series. Staunton, Virginia: Lot's Wife Publishing, 2001.

Brown, Katharine L. and Nancy T. Sorrells.
People in Profile: Christ Church Parish, 1720-1750, Lancaster County, Virginia. Historical Christ Church Heritage Books Series. Staunton, Virginia: Lot's Wife Publishing, 2002.

Brown, Katharine L.
Robert "King" Carter: Builder of Christ Church. Historical Christ Church Heritage Books Series. Staunton, Virginia: Lot's Wife Publishing, 2001.

Carleton, Florence Tyler, compiler.
A Genealogy of the Known Descendants of Robert Carter of Corotoman. Irvington, Virginia: Foundation for Historic Christ Church, Inc., 1983.

Carter, B. Noland, II.
A Goodly Heritage: A History of the Carter Family in Virginia. 2 volumes. Richmond, Virginia: Virginia Genealogical Society, 2003.

Dabney, Virginius.
Virginia: The New Dominion-A history from 1607 to the present. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 1971.

Dobyns, Louise Towles, et al.
Within the Court House at Lancaster. (Booklet to celebrate the bicentennial) Kilmarnock, Lively, Irvington, Virginia: Chesapeake National Bank, no date.

Dowdey, Clifford.
The Virginia Dynasties: The Emergence of "King" Carter and the Golden Age. Little, Brown and Co., 1969.

Greene, Jack P.
Landon Carter: An Inquiry into the Personal Values and Social Imperatives of the Eighteenth-Century Virginia Gentry. Charlottesville: The University Press of Virginia, 1967. (Originally published as the Introduction to The Diary of Colonel Landon Carter of Sabine Hall, 1752-1778. Slightly revised, the Introduction is now issued separately under the present title.)

Greene, Jack P., editor.
The Diary of Colonel Landon Carter of Sabine Hall, 1752-1778. Charlottesville: The University Press of Virginia for the Virginia Historical Society, 1965.

Greene, Jack P. and J. R. Pole, editors.
Colonial British America: Essays in the New History of the Early Modern Era. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1984.

Hagemann, James.
The Heritage of Virginia: The Story of Place Names in the Old Dominion. Norfolk, Virginia: The Donning Company, 1986.

Haynie, Miriam.
The Stronghold: A Story of Historic Northern Neck of Virginia and Its People. Richmond, Virginia: Dietz Press, Inc., 1959.

Isaac, Rhys.
Landon Carter's Uneasy Kingdom: Revolution and Rebellion on a Virginia Plantation. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004.

Jett, Carolyn H.
Lancaster County, Virginia: Where the River Meets the Bay. Lancaster, Virginia: Lancaster County History Book Committee in association with the Mary Ball Washington Museum and Library, 2003.

Jones, Christine Adams.
The Early Thomas Carters of Lancaster County, Virginia. Lancaster, Virginia: Mary Ball Washington Museum & Library, 1982.

Levy, Andrew.
The First Emancipator: The Forgotten Story of Robert Carter, the Founding Father Who Freed His Slaves. New York: Random House, 2005.

Miller, Joseph Lyon, M.D.
The Descendants of Captain Thomas Carter of "Barford" 1652-1912. 1912. Reprint, Harrisonburg, Virginia: C. J. Carrier Company, 1972.

Scott County History Book Committee.
Scott County, Virginia and Its People 1814-1991. Don Mills, Inc. P.O. Box 34 Waynesville, N.C. 28786. 1991.

Simmons, C. Jackson.
Speaking of the Northern Neck of Virginia. Life in Its Long-Untrodden Ways During Three and a Half Centuries. Privately published by the author, 1998.

Sorrells, Nancy T.
Landholders & Landholdings: Christ Church Parish, Lancaster County, Virginia. Historical Christ Church Heritage Books Series. Staunton, Virginia: Lot's Wife Publishing, 2004.

Sutton, Rita (Kennedy).
The Early Carters in Scott County, Virginia. Compiled 1981. (Borrowed from the Virginia State Library class CS71 Book C323)

Tate, Thad W. and David L. Ammerman, editors.
The Chesapeake in the Seventeenth Century: Essays on Anglo-American Society. The University of North Carolina, 1979.

Tupper, Margaret H., transcriber.
Vestry Book, 1739?1786: Christ Church Parish, Lancaster County, Virginia. Irvington, Virginia: Foundation for Historic Christ Church, Inc., 1990.

Warner, Charles Willard Hoskins.
Road to Revolution: Virginia's Rebels from Bacon to Jefferson (1676-1776). Richmond, Virginia: Garrett and Massie, 1961.

Warner, Charles Willard Hoskins.
Thomas Carter II of Corotoman, Lancaster County, Virginia: His ancestry and descendants, and sketches on certain families with whom Carter descendants have married: Garnett, Roy, Hoskins and Byrd. Williamsburg, Virginia: Virginia Gazette, 1958.

Williams, Kimberly Prothro, editor.
A Pride of Place: Rural Residences of Fauquier County, Virginia. University of Virginia Press, 2003.

Membership

Members come from far and wide: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Wisconsin, and the District.

Complete information on membership is provided below:

Criteria

Privilege of membership is extended to all whose descent from their immigrant Carter ancestor has been established, or whose ancestry in Virginia prior to 1776 is known. Further, the By-Laws state that to be eligible for membership in the Society, an individual must be able to establish, to the satisfaction of the Society, his or her lineage as a descendant of:

John Carter I (of "Corotoman") of Lancaster County, or

Thomas Carter I (of "Barford") of Lancaster County, or

William Carter of Surry County, or

Thomas Carter of Isle of Wight County, or

Giles Carter of Henrico County, or
 
Landon Carter of Carolina County, or

Other Carters of Colonial Virginia


Friends of the Society - Part One Membership

“Friends” has been established to recognize those who bring honour to their Carter heritage by their significant contributions in furtherance of the mission of The Carter Society, or by their extraordinary accomplishments in society at-large; individuals, organizations or corporate interests who provide notable financial or material support of the goals of The Carter Society.

This is the first step in for members with Carter descendants who have not as yet established their Virginia heritage in the Colonial period prior to 1776.

It is also a category for non-descendants, such as spouses of members and other interested parties who wish to participate and benefit from Society.

Children of the Society

Children or other descendants of members who are under eighteen years of age will receive special recognition at events they may attend with the Society member. Upon request by any Society member, a special invitation to membership will be extended to their child, grandchild, or other descendant upon reaching their eighteenth.

 

Application

Membership in the Carter Society is by formal application to the address below and accompanied by the $100.00 application fee and it includes 1st year’s annual dues.

The new membership fee for Friends is now only $35.00 and it includes 1st year’s annual dues.

Download the membership applications as fillable PDF documents below:

Part 1 - Friends Application

Part 2 - Full Membership Application

A Membership application into The Carter Society, including documentation received for proof of lineage to a Carter Patriot, is reviewed and verified by the membership chairman. Upon approval of an application, with the payment of fees, the applicant will receive a confirmation letter and a membership certificate will be issued at the next Annual Meeting and Reunion. If you are not able to attend the Annual Meeting, your membership certificate will be mailed to you after the Annual Meeting.

Contact our membership chairman at the address below or use the e-mail form for assistance, questions about documentation, and to request paper copies of the forms:

Mrs. Nancy Carter Billings
The Carter Society
Membership Chairman
705 Heath Dr
Huntsville, AL 35803-1918

Pay Dues Online

Please mail dues payments to:

Carter Society, Inc.
c/o Ben Kemplin, Treasurer
12345 Bowling Green Rd
Auburn, KY 42206

The Carter Society DNA Project

Family Tree DNA

Mike Terry - Chairman, Y-DNA Project
Mike Terry was a presenter at the 2016 Carter Reunion.

The Carter Society promotes and encourages the Carter Y-DNA Project to establish, maintain, and defend the Y-DNA of our Colonial Virginia Carter patriots: Thomas Carter of Lancaster County, John Carter of Lancaster County, William Carter of Surry County, Thomas Carter of Isle of Wight County and Giles Carter of Henrico County.

The Y-DNA of Carter males may be used to validate documented family pedigrees to the above listed Colonial Virginia Carter Patriots.  A category has been established  in The Carter Society for other Carter families who were found in Colonial Virginia using Y-DNA  to validate those lines as well.

Family Tree DNASince 2010, Family Tree DNA has marketed an autosomal DNA test called Family Finder which may be used to validate documented Carter lines and this test can be taken by males or females. Autosomal tests will locate Carter cousins 5 or 6 generations back in time.

For more information please click on this link: https://www.familytreedna.com/login.aspx or click on the Family Tree DNA logo to the right and type in the word Carter in the project search box just above the word search.

 
 

About DNA Testing

At the 2016 Carter Reunion, Mike Terry made a presentation on DNA Testing. Click on one of the images below to review the slides from Mike's presentation in a popup window. Use the navigation button on the popup windows to control the presentation. 

 

Prospective Members

Dear Prospective Members,

The Carter Society has made some recent changes in our By-Laws to make our membership a lot easier and streamlined the process to join and participate in our meetings and annual reunion.

We have instituted a two-part process for membership. The first step is to fill out the “Friends of the Carter Society” part one which can be filled out or download off our website and emailed to the Society. The $75.00 membership for your first year’s dues and application fee can be made on our PayPal link or mail your check to:

The Carter Society
C/O Treasurer
221 Lindsay Lane
Russellville, KY 42276

Once your Part 1 application has been received and dues paid- Our Membership Committee Chair will forward to you by email the Part-2 application which is for you to document your Carter family tree and provide the necessary supporting documentation.

Read more: Prospective Members