11. Carter

Outline

1. Rev. Thomas Carter (1608?–1684) m. ca. 1639 Mary Parkhurst (1614–1687); Ipswich, Suffolk, Eng.; Woburn, Mass.
2. Rev. Samuel Carter (1640–1693) m. 1672 Eunice Brooks (1655–aft. 1732); Woburn, Groton, Mass.
3. Samuel Carter (1678–1738) m. 1701 Dorothy Wilder (ca. 1685–1755); Lancaster, Mass.
4. Col. Josiah Carter (1727–1812) m. 1745 Tabitha Howe (1729–1810); Leominster, Mass.
5. Capt. James Carter (1768–1850) m. 1795 Betsey Hale (1771–1844); Leominster, Mass.
6. Artemas Carter (1813–1877) m. 1850 Anna Catherine Matchett (1827–1910); Chicago, Ill., Denver, Colo.
7. Horace Waldo Carter (1854–1884) m. 1877 Jean C. Willmarth (1854–1943); Chicago, La Grange, Ill.
8. Lucile Carter (1878–1948) m. 1909 James Edward Dailey (1863–1938); Chicago, Ill.

Sources

The standard work on my branch of the American Carter family is Clara A. Carter and Sarah A. Carter, Carter: A Genealogy of the Descendants of Samuel and Thomas, Sons of Rev. Thomas Carter (Clinton, MA: W. J. Coulter, 1887). Its level of documentation is typical for the era, and short of modern standards, but its statements respecting the family members who remained in the Lancaster area, and were recent ancestors of Lucile, are borne out by the records. Some of the records are collected in Henry S. Nourse, ed., The Birth, Marriage, and Death Register, Church Records and Epitaphs of Lancaster, Mass. (Lancaster, 1890), and Vital Records of Leominster, Massachusetts, to the End of the Year 1849 (Boston: Stanhope Press, F. H. Gilson Co., 1903). See also Frank G. Lesure, Mary³ Carter, First Wife of Nathaniel² Sawyer of Lancaster, Massachusetts, American Genealogist 75 (2000): 51-4, for an addition to the third American generation.

Related surnames

705. Brooks · 5. Dailey · 89. Heald–Hale · 177. Howe · 45. Matchett · 1409, 5961, 6001. Parkhurst · 353. Wilder · 23. Willmarth

Extra

• Willmarth.pdf is extended for one generation to provide chronological information on the Carter family that is not included in standard publications.

Comment 1: Howard Williston Carter, 1904*

Note *568. Carter. Rev. Thomas Carter, first minister of Woburn, Mass., 1642, died Sept. 5, 1684 (Woburn Records), in the seventy-fourth year of his age and forty-second of his ministry. According to the record, Mr. Carter was born about 1610. Most unfortunately for those interested in the genealogy of the Carter family, there seem to have been in and about Boston in the early days not only one several men bearing the name of Thomas Carter, but apparently two or three of them were born about 1610. The present writer has spent considerable time and money within the last few years in trying to locate the English home and parentage of Rev. Thomas Carter, and now proposes to give a few facts which have been discovered in the hope that others interested may be able to throw some further light on the subject.

It seems to be accepted by early genealogists (on what original authority I do not know) that Rev. Thomas Carter was matriculated a sizar at St. John’s College, University of Cambridge, England, April 1, 1626. Had he entered the university less than four years later, Jan. 21, 1629-30, all questions as to his home, parentage, etc. would have been known, for on the above date, the following order was issued by the master of St. John’s College:

That the register of the college should have a booke provided him, wherein he should from time to time write and register the names, parents, country, school, age and tutor of every one to be admitted into the college before their enrolling into the buttery tables; and shall receive of each of them for his pains as the head lecturers and deans do, for their admission.

In accordance with the above order, such entries as the following thereafter appear:

James Parkinson, Son of James Parkinson, rector of Weely, Essex: born at Weely; school, Colchester (Mr. Kemp) for 2 years; admitted sizar, surety Mr. Thurston, 17, Oct. aet. 16. (pd..)

Early investigators not unreasonably assumed that Rev. Thomas Carter was identical with the Thomas Carter who embarked at London April 2, 1635, on the Planter, Captain Trerice, with a number of others from St. Albans, as servant to George Giddings, bound for New England. Later investigations show quite conclusively that the Thomas Carter who came over in the Planter settled in Salisbury, Mass., although his age given in the record of the Planter, twenty-five, corresponds exactly with that of Rev. Thomas Carter of Woburn. It may be noticed here also that in the list of passengers who embarked from London for Virginia in the Safty, Aug. 10, 1635, are the names of John Carter, age twenty-two, and Thomas Carter, aged twenty-five. Another Thomas Carter, born about 1610.

From the fact that the early searchers took it for granted that Rev. Thomas Carter of Woburn was identical with the Thomas Carter of the Planter, 1635, who is said to be of St. Albans, Hertfordshire, some forty or more years ago, Mr. George R. Carter of Leominster, Mass., employed Mr. Pavor, an English genealogist, to search the parish registers of St. Albans and of Watford, Hertfordshire, the latter being the parish in which is situated the manor of Garston, seat of Richard Carter, lord of the manor of Garston, from whom some have supposed that both John Carter of Virginia and Rev. Thomas Carter of Woburn are descended. Mr. Pavor’s search was unsuccessful, and from a discovery made by the writer at Cambridge University in the summer of 1900, it seems certain that Rev. Thomas Carter was not a native of Hertfordshire at all, but of Suffolk.

Through the courtesy of Mr. R. F. Scott, Bursar of St. John’s College, Cambridge, who very kindly made search among the old records of the college, the following entry was discovered. It occurs in a list of students who secured scholarships at the university, and is dated Nov. 5, 1628:

Ego Thomas Carter Suffolciensis admissus sum disculpus hujus collegij pro magistro Spaldinge.

The Spalding scholarship was founded by William Spalding, yeoman, of Tamworth, in Suffolk, who gave £60, and the scholar was to be chosen from Bury St. Edmund’s Grammar School, a school founded by King Edward VI. in 1590.

According to the Bursar, Mr. Scott, the above entry is evidence not only that the holder of the scholarship was a resident of Suffolk at the time, but that he was also a native of the county.

I might here mention the fact that photographic copies of the pages of the Cambridge University Record book showing the signature of Thomas Carter when he took the degree of A. B. in 1629, and of A. M. in 1633, may be seen at the Woburn Public Library, Woburn, Mass. I have also deposited at the Woburn Library photographic copies of manuscript known to be in the handwriting of Rev. Thomas Carter, all of which prove conclusively that the student of St. John’s, Cambridge, and the first minister of Woburn were one and the same individual. With these is also a photograph, among others, of a deposition referred to in the Pioneers of Massachusetts as made by Rev. Thomas Carter, which by comparison is seen conclusively not to be his work. The deposition referred to is dated 17 (10) 1662, and was undoubtedly made by Thomas Carter of Charlestown, son of Thomas Carter, blacksmith, of Charlestown, who died 1652. In the deposition he gives his age as about fifty two, so that we have here a fourth Thomas Carter who was born about 1610. Three in New England and one in Virginia unless, as some believe, the Thomas Carter who embarked for Virginia in the Safty, 1635, came later to Massachusetts and became the first minister of Woburn. Certainly nothing further is heard of this Thomas Carter in Virginia and there are some good reasons for believing the above supposition to be true.

After learning that in all probability Rev. Thomas Carter was a native of Suffolk and a graduate of Bury St. Edmund’s School, I employed Mr. Vincent B. Redstone of Woodbridge, Suffolk, who is secretary of the Suffolk Archæological Institute and a genealogist of wide reputation, to prosecute the search for me in that county.

In the course of these investigations Mr. Redstone made careful search at Cambridge University, at Bury St. Edmund’s and among the records of the county found at London as well as among the files and parish registers found in various parts of Suffolk County itself. Nothing further of particular value was found at Cambridge or at Bury or in London, and the results of the search in Suffolk were not conclusive, but facts were brought to light which may be of value in reaching a definite conclusion later on.

By the will of James Carter of Hinderclay, County Suffolk, Yeoman (see Register vol. xxxix., page 335), at Somerset House, London: “Memorandum that James Carter late whilst hee lived of Hinderclay in the County of Cuffolk yeoman deceased uppon Saterday the Eight day of September one thousand six hundred fifty and five beinge by misfortune wounded in Body of which he afterwards died but in goode and perfect minde and memory with full intention to settle and dispose of his Estate did make his last will and Testament nuncupative in manner and forme following or of the very same or like effect. That is to say I give unto the children of my brother Thos. Carter who now is in the New England to every one of them Ten pounds a peece as conveyniently as the same may be raysed out of my parsonall Estate I give unto the two sonnes of my brother William Stubbs of Harleston by his late wife who was my sister Twenty pounds And to his two daughters which he had by her Ten pounds a peece I give unto Frances Edwards my wives kinswoman and now my servant the sum of Five pounds and I give my wife her dwellinge in the Parlor of my dwellinge house dureing her life And one hundred of wood yearely for her fryeinge which words or the like effect he so did speake in good memory In the presence and heareinge of severall witnesses whose names are hereunto subscribed:

“Witnes Thomas Whitwood Joane Whitwood her mark Admon. granted 24 October 1655 to Mary, relict.

“P. C. C. Aylett. fol. 391.”

What Thomas Carter was this whose children were in New England in 1655? What a pity he did not mention their names.

The Registers of Hinderclay show the following entries:

1584. Gregory Carter and Alice Cordy married 12 July.

1586. Nicholas Carter and Alice Spurgeon married 15 November.

1603. James son of James Carter baptized 14 June.

1604. Thomas son of Gregory Carter baptized 11 December.

1606. Mary daughter of James Carter baptized 25 March.

1607. Nicholas Carter son of Gregory baptized 12 April.

1607. Gregory Carter, senior, buried 22 January.

1608. Alice wife of Gregory Carter buried 6 May.

1608. Thomas Carter son of James Carter bap. July 3.

1608. Dorothy Dau. of Gregory Carter bap. 4 December.

1610. Jonathan son of Gregory carter bap. 26 June.

1610. Alice wife of Robert Carter buried 3 March.

1611. Thomas Carter son of Thomas bap. 17 December.

1611. Edmund Carter son of Gregory bap. 2 February.

1613. John Carter son of Gregory bap. 8 September.

1614. Robert Carter buried 27 November.

1615. Umfrye Carter son of Thomas bap. 20 August.

1615. Anne dau. of Gregory Carter, bap. 14 September.

1617. Thomas Carter, tayller, buried 24 February.

1617. Mereable Carter dau. of Gregory bap. 10 August.

1618. Margaret Carter dau. of Thomas bap. 12 April.

1619. John Denny & Elizabeth Carter married 29 November.

1619. Bridget Carter daughter of Gregory bap. 23 June.

1620. John son of John Carter born 7 March 1619—bur. 3 April.

1623. Margaret wife of Thomas Carter bur 10 February.

1625. James Carter, senior, buried 3 May 1625.

1627. Thomas Carter & Alice Day married 31 May.

1628. Elizabeth dau. of Thomas Carter bap. 12 Nov.

1631. William Carter son of Thomas bap. 2 December.

1634. Mary Carter dau. of Thomas bap. 25 June.

1637. Charity dau. of Thomas & Elizabeth bap. 25 Nov.

1642. John Carter son of Edmund & Susan bap. 30 Sept.

1642. Anne dau. of Jonathan Carter bap- 16 Oct.

1645. Susan dau. of Edmund & Susan bap.

1649. Jonathan son of Jonathan Carter bap. 28 May.

1655. James Carter buried 11 September.

1656. Thomas Carter son of Jonathan bap. 7 Sept.

1657. Bridget Carter buried 27 May.

1663. Jonathan Carter buried 7 April.

In addition to the above entries, there are on file at Bury St. Edmund’s the wills of Thomas Carter of Hinderclay, 1558; Nicholas Carter of Hinderclay, 1600; George Carter of Hinderclay, 1606; James Carter of Hinderclay, 1625; George Carter of Hinderclay, 1648, and Jonathan Carter of Hinderclay, 1663.

Will of Gregory Carter of Hinderclay, senior, July 26, 1606. Wife, Alice. Sons, Robert, Humphrey, James, Thomas, Edmund. Daughters, Anne, Margaret, Elizabeth. Grandchildren, Thomas, son of Humphrey, two sons (or children) of James; the children of Thomas, viz., Thomas and Elizabeth. Also to his wife’s four children, Richard, Nicholas, Anne and Margaret. Executors, Giles Browninge and son Robert. His son, Thomas, supervisor.

Proved April 4, 1608.

James Carter of Hinderclay, yeoman, by will dated August, 1625. To wife, Mary—Parlor, parlor chamber and little chamber at east end of parlor. To son, Thomas—Wood and grove in Thelvetham and lands purchased of Gregory Carter. To daughter Mary—lands in Thelvetham. To eldest son, James—Lands to pay his brother Thomas every year until said Thomas shall attain his twenty-first year, an annuity from lands at Hinderclay.

Sole executor, Richard Williamson of North Lapham.

Proved Oct. 1, 1625.

Comparing the three wills above noted, there seems to be no reasonable doubt that the Gregory Carter who made the will in 1606 was the father of James Carter who died 1625, and that the latter was the father of the James Carter whose will is dated Sept. 8, 1665 [sic], in which he refers to his brother Thomas Carter in New England.

Gregory Carter, in his will of 1606, speaks of two children of his son James, while James in 1655 mentions a sister and a brother, Thomas, making three children, because Thomas was not born at the time the will of the elder James was drawn, or at his death, January, 1607.

Another will found at Bury St. Edmund’s is that of Nicholas Carter of Hinderclay, dated 1600; wife, Alice, son, Gregory; daughter Alice, sister, Mary, late wife of Bearte of Garboldsham. Lands in Hopton, Wattlysfield and Barningham. Witnesses, Thomas and James Carter.

This was in all probability the Nicholas Carter who married Alice Spurgeon in 1586, and it also seems probable that he was brother of Gregory Carter, who died 1607, but this cannot be affirmed from the records given. Several points make the construction of a pedigree difficult. Gregory Carter, senior, who died January, 1607, has children of the same name as Gregory Carter, junior. And besides the oft-repeated names of children, we have Alice and Mary as wives’ names for several; and as the register only gives the father’s name, the entries are confusing.

We come now to the question as to which of the Thomas Carters who emigrated to New England in the early days is referred to in the will of James Carter, 1655. And in the first place we note that the names of the children of all the early Carters about Boston are remarkably unlike the names of the Carters of Hinderclay, Gregory, Nicholas, James, Edmund, Robert, Humphrey, Jonathan, Jacob, Dorothy, scarcely occur among the children of the first Carters, while we have instead Thomas, Mary, Samuel, John, Martha, Joseph, and in the case of Rev. Thomas Carter of Woburn, Judith, Abigail, Theophilus, Deborah and Timothy. In fact the children of Rev. Thomas seem to have almost purely Bible names; the oldest son is Samuel; the oldest daughter, Judith; the third child and second son, Theophilus, while not until the fourth son and seventh child is born a son named for his father, Thomas.

Coming now to the question of which Thomas Carter was brother of James of Hinderclay, we note first, that the Thomas Carter who came over in the Planter, 1635, and afterwards settled in Salisbury, was from St. Albans, Hertfordshire, according to the ship’s entry; was twenty-five, hence born in 1610 and, so far as known, had no connection with the Carters of Hinderclay or of Suffolk at all. It will be noticed from the Register of Hinderclay that Thomas Carter, brother of James, was baptized July 3, 1608, and there really seems no probability whatever that Thomas Carter of Salisbury was the brother James of Hinderclay.

Next consider Thomas Carter, blacksmith, of Charlestown, who died in 1652. He had children, mentioned in will, Thomas, eldest son, Samuel, Joseph, John; daughters, Hannah, Mary.

Now the eldest son, Thomas, deposed in 1662, that he was about fifty-two years old, so he must have been born about 1610, and his father (deceased 1652) must have been born before 1600, and therefore could not have been the brother of James, and of course the son, Thomas of Carhlestown, although born at nearly the right date, 1610, cannot possibly be the man, for his father’s name was Thomas.

We come then to the only man who seems at all likely to be the Thomas of the will, and that is Rev. Thomas Carter, first minister of Woburn, and so far as I now see, only two circumstances appear to oppose the theory. First his age at death, 1684, is given as seventy-four. If this is correct, he must have been born in 1610.

But as is well known, age at death is very often incorrectly given. A case in point is that of Thomas Carter, grandson of Reverend Thomas, who is buried in Warren, Conn., died Nov. 18, 1772, Æ. 88 (tombstone). He was son of Thomas and Margery Whittemore Carter, and according to Woburn Records, was born June 13, 1686. Especially frequent were errors of this kind the early days. So that this objection is not serious.

The other objection to the theory is the fact that the names of Rev. Thomas Carter’s children are so very unlike the names of the Hinderclay Carters. But as we have seen, this is found to be true of all other Carters of early New England, and so cannot be said to forbid the supposition. I might here remark that that statement made in the Pioneers of Massachusetts about Rev. Thomas Carter of Woburn, born about 1608, as he deposed 17 (10) 1662, is an error of subtraction as well as of fact. The deposition has already been referred to above, and was made by Thomas Carter of Charlestown, son of the blacksmith. Other circumstances which seem to point to the truth of the theory that Thomas Carter, brother of James, was also the first minister of Woburn, are that his father’s will, 1625, indicates a man of moderate means, such as a sizar at Cambridge often was; again Hinderclay is near Cambridge University, at which place Rev. Thomas Carter was graduated; the grandfather and other relatives were certainly people of more than ordinary means and such would be likely to favor a college training.

However, I do not consider the evidence conclusive, and it is to be hoped that further investigations may be carried out, and the question as to which Thomas Carter is referred to in the will of James Carter, 1655, may be definitely settled.

I will add that Mr. Redstone, who made the search for me, has already examined a large number of records in various parts of Suffolk, but there are still other sources of information which have as yet not been examined, and which might yield the facts desired.

If anyone knows of facts which add to the information here given concerning the questions raised about the early Carters, it is much to be desired that they be made public, and the writer would be happy to coöperate with anyone interested, and give all the facts in his possession.

H. W. C. C.

Comment 2: Genealogical Summary of the Carter Family of Hinderclay

Three of Howard Williston Carter’s findings are widely accepted today as pertaining to Rev. Thomas Carter of Woburn, even though Carter himself pleaded that the evidence was inconclusive. First, the orthographical evidence that Carter describes clearly identifies Thomas as a student at Cambridge.^[1] Secondly, James Carter of Hinderclay is widely identified as Thomas’s brother. It seems that this conclusion was assumed from prior research and served as a starting point for Carter.^[2] Third, on the basis of that finding, Thomas is held to be the son of James, baptized in 1608.^[3]

As Carter might have complained, Thomas’s identification as the brother of James, the testator of 1655, is not completely secure. Thomas must have originated in the same county in order to have held the Spalding scholarship, but James’s brother is not firmly identified as a university graduate or an ordained clergyman. In addition, as Carter noted, there were two other immigrants to Massachusetts, one of whom immigrated on the Planter in 1635 and ultimately resided in Salisbury.^[4]

If the Woburn family’s connection to Hinderclay is sustained, however, the line seems to be valid for two generations in England, with Gregory, testator of 1606, potentially to be identified as the grandfather of Rev. Thomas. The entire family might be represented as follows:

1. ____ Carter, possibly Thomas Carter of Hinderclay, testator of 1558. Children:

1. Gregory Carter [2], bur. 22 Jan. 1607/8, m. (1) ____; m. (2) Alice (____) Cordy.
2. (poss.) Nicholas Carter [3], will dated 1600; m. Alice Spurgeon.
3. (poss.) Marion Carter, m. ____ Bearte, of Garboldsham, Norfolk. Either Marion or her husband d. before 1600.

2. Gregory Carter was buried 22 January 1607/8 at Hinderclay, Suffolk. He appears to be the Gregory Carter who married, on 12 July 1584 at Hinderclay, Alice (____) Cordy. In view of the slim likelihood that any man born after 1584 could have had children as early as 1603, however, Alice was probably not the mother of James, or of any of the sons listed before James in Gregory’s will. Moreover, because the testator listed all of his sons, and then all his daughters, and because the testator’s children are not listed in the Hinderclay parish register, none of them can be assigned to Alice with confidence. Finally, the will names his wife’s four children—albeit without identifying information other than their forenames: Richard, Nicholas, Anne, and Margaret. Consequently, it seems very probable that Alice married Gregory as a later husband. She survived him in any case, and was probably the Alice, “wife” of Gregory Carter, who was buried 6 May 1608 at Hinderclay. There was another Gregory having children in Hinderclay at this time (no. 3, i.), but the child born to him next after Alice died was baptized on 4 December 1608. This entry does not allow enough time for the younger Gregory to conceive this child with a second wife; this typically would have taken a whole year.

In his will, dated 26 July 1606, he named his wife Alice; sons Robert, Humphrey, James, Thomas, and Edmund; and daughters Anne, Margaret, and Elizabeth. Also mentioned are grandchildren Thomas, son of Humphrey Carter; two sons (or children) of his son James Carter; and Thomas and Elizabeth, sons of his son Thomas Carter. His will also names his wife’s children Richard, Nicholas, Anne, and Margaret (no surnames). It was proved 4 April 1608.

Children, order uncertain, by an unidentified wife:

1. Robert Carter, bur. Hinderclay 27 Nov. 1614, m. Alice ____, who was bur. there 3 March 1610. No known issue.
2. Humphrey Carter, m. ____. Child:
1. Thomas Carter, named in his grandfather’s will, m. by 1615 ____.
3. James Carter [4], b. say 1577, bur. 3 May 1625, m. Mary ____.
4. Thomas Carter, bur. Hinderclay 24 Feb. 1617/8, poss. m. Margaret ____, bur. Hinderclay 10 Feb. 1623/4 as “wife” of Thomas. Children, named in grandfather’s will:
1. Thomas Carter.
2. Elizabeth Carter.
5. Anne Carter, named in father’s will.
6. Margaret Carter, named in father’s will.
7. Elizabeth Carter, named in father’s will.

3. Nicholas Carter married, on 15 November 1586 at Hinderclay, Alice Spurgeon. He died leaving a will of 1600 which mentions his wife Alice, son Gregory, daughter Alice, and sister Marion, late wife of Bearte of Garboldsham. Children:

1. Gregory Carter, b. say 1586, m. ____. Children, bp. Hinderclay:
1. Thomas Carter, bp. 11 Dec. 1604, prob. m. Hinderclay 31 May 1627 Alice Day.
2. Nicholas Carter, bp. 12 April 1607.
3. Dorothy Carter, bp. 4 Dec. 1608.
4. Jonathan Carter, bp. 26 June 1610, bur. Hinderclay 7 April 1668, m. by 1642 ____.
5. Edmund Carter, bp. 2 Feb. 1611/2, m. by 1642 Susan ____.
6. John Carter, bp. 8 Sept. 1613.
7. Anne Carter, bp. 14 Sept. 1615.
8. Mereable Carter, bp. 10 Aug. 1617
9. Bridget Carter, bp. 23 June 1619, bur. Hinderclay 27 May 1657.
2. Alice Carter, b. say 1588, living 1600.

4. James Carter, born in say 1577, was buried 3 May 1625 at Hinderclay. He married by 1603 Mary ____, who survived him. The will of Gregory Carter of Hinderclay, dated 26 July 1606 and proved 4 April 1608, mentions two children of his son James Carter. James’s own will, dated August 1625, proved 1 October 1625, names wife Mary, son Thomas, daughter Mary, and eldest son James. As Howard Williston Carter points out, Thomas was baptized after the probate of Gregory’s estate, leaving Gregory’s will consistent with the record of James Carter’s family in the Hinderclay parish registers. From the likelihood that all three of children of James Carter were grandchildren of Gregory, it follows that their father was probably Gregory’s son.

Children, baptized at Hinderclay:

1. James Carter, bp. 14 June 1603, bur. Hinderclay 11 Sept. 1655, m. Mary ____. His nuncupative will, dated 8 Sept. 1655, named his wife Mary; the children of my brother Thos. Carter who now is in the New England; the two sons and two daughters of William Stubbs by his late wife who was James’s sister; and Frances Edwards, his wife’s kinswoman and servant. Administration was granted to Mary Carter, the widow, on 24 Oct. 1655.
2. Mary Carter, bp. 25 March 1606, apparently d. before 1655, having m. William Stubbs; both mentioned in her brother’s will; issue, two sons and two daughters.
3. Thomas Carter, bp. 3 July 1608, m. by 1655 ____ and had issue.

Footnotes

* Boston Transcript, 31 May 1904. The authorship of this article is established by Howard Williston Carter, Carter: A Genealogy of the Descendants of Thomas Carter of Reading and Weston, Mass., and of Hebron and Warren, Ct., Also Some Account of the Descendants of His Brothers Eleazer, Daniel, Ebenezer and Ezra, Sons of Thomas² Carter and Grandsons of Rev. Thomas Carter, First Minister of Woburn, Massachusetts 1642 (Norfolk, Conn.: author, 1909), 9, 270-6, with a complete reprint.

¹ The signatures are reproduced in Carter, Descendants of Thomas Carter of Reading and Weston, Mass., 278, 279.

² New England Historical and Genealogical Register 39 (1885): 335, reprinted in Henry F. Waters, Genealogical Gleanings in England: Abstracts of Wills Relating to Early American Families, with Genealogical Notes and Pedigrees Constructed from the Wills and Other Documents, 2 vols. (1907; reprint, Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1981), 1:142.

³ See e. g. Frederick Lewis Weis, ed., The Colonial Clergy and the Colonial Churches of New England (Lancaster, Mass., 1936; reprint, Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1977), 50; Mary Lovering Holman, Ancestry of Colonel John Harrington Stevens and His Wife Frances Helen Miller, 2 vols. (Concord, N. H.: Rumford Press, 1948–52), 1:112. Robert Charles Anderson, George F. Sanborn Jr., and Melinde Lutz Sanborn, The Great Migration: Immigrants to New England, 1634–1635, 7 vols. (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1999–2011), 2:30, follows Holman on this identification. Anderson also, in The Great Migration Directory: Immigrants to New England, 1620–1640: A Concise Compendium (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2015), 58, places his last English residence as Cambridge, where he had studied, and refers to Carter, Descendants of Thomas Carter of Reading and Weston, Mass. (relevant passages, not cited by Anderson, at 9, 270-9), and Holman, Ancestry of John Harrington Stevens and Frances Helen Miller, 1:112, as sources for Thomas’s immigration. This indicates that Anderson’s view of the matter has not changed since 2001.

⁴ Anderson, Sanborn, and Sanborn, Great Migration, 1634–1635, 2:29-30, reconsiders these three immigrants and comes to the same conclusion on the Planter immigrant.