The earliest information of this beginning was in Robeson County NC. The census information of 1800 listed a Tebitha Carter on having a small child, no name was given, only that the child was male. From this source of information, which is purely conjecture, I was led to Nelson Carter, The census of 1820 listed a Nelson Carter living in the town of Fayetteville NC., as head of house, having no family at that time. Following the census information of 1820, 1830 and 1840 in the town of Fayetteville NC., Nelson Carter was consistenly listed.
The census of 1840 listed Nelson Carter as having a wife and two sons. Again no names were given. Finally the marriage records were checked for Fayetteville NC. The search yielded the marriage record for Nelson Carter and Rona Smith. Records show they were married August 8, 1832.
Again, seeking the idenity of the two sons of Nelson Carter, the census records of 1850 were searched. No trace of Nelson Carter or Rona Smith Carter was to be found. Deciding that Nelson Carter had moved, a search of surrounding Counties was made, again yielding no results. Finally, going back to the census records of FayettevilleNC. for 1850 two Carter boys were found living with a Jesse Burnette and his wife Elisabeth. The two boys were William Nelson Carter and David Carter. Their ages were listed as William Nelson 16, and David 14.
It was decided at this time to search the Wills to see if Nelson Carter and Rona Smith Carter had died. This search was very fruitfuj, yielding the Will of Nelson Carter. The Will proved to be a bonanaza! It listed his two sons William Nelson Carter and David Carter. The Will showed that Nelson Carter had died somewhere around June of 1842.
The Will of Nelson Carter
In the name of God Amen. I Nelson Carter of town of Fayetteville being
of sound and perfect mind and memory (delected by hand) do this day
of May in the year of our Lord 1842 make and publish this my last Will
and Testament, in manner following that it to say. First I give and
bequesth to my friend Peter Port my home and lot in lower Fayetteville,
also two vacant lots with all my presonal goods in special trust for my
two children William Nelson and David and I request of my friend Peter
Port to take charge of and keep my children and I further authorize
and empower the said Peter Port should be demed it best to sale or
dispose of all or any of my real estate. In witness whereof I the said
Nelson Carter have to this my last Will and Testament set my hand and
seal, this day and year above written.
His
Nelson X Carter Seal
Signed, sealed & Mark
published in presence
of us
John P. Leemont
Patrick Daily x
Filed June 1842
Peter Port qualified
as Excution according to Law
were you see His Mark was how Nelson Carter signed his name
Appernetly, Peter Port died before fulfilling the conditions of the Will. This is probably why William Nelson and David Carter were in the Burnette home.
Again, an assumption will be made about William Nelson and David Carter, that being that in some remote way, the Burnette's maybe the wife, Elisabeth, was related to Nelson Carter.
The tax records for 1860's in Fayetteville aned Cumberland County NC. failed to list William Nelson and David Carter. This Prompted speculation that they had moved away. Further checking of census information for Robeson County showed William Nelson and David Carter living in Robeson County in 1860.
A search of marriage records show that William Nelson Carter married Hellin Revels on November 24, 1855 and that David Carter married Caroline Smith on November 29, 1856.
As a result of this information, new questions began to emerge, why had William Nelson and David Carter left Fayetteville in their middle teens and come to St. Pauls, NC.? Why had they come to the same community that Nelson Smith lived in? To answer these questions it was neccessary to do further research. Lets remember that Nelson Carters wife Rona Smith and if we examine the census information on the Nelson Smith Family we will find that they migrated to Robeson County by way of Cumberland County from Brunswich County NC.
In 1832, the same year that Nelson Carter and Rona Smith were married, Nelson Smith and his family were living in Cumberland County NC. Nelson Smith had a brother Huge Smith, who was born that same year in Cumberland County. This prompted the speculation that Rona Smith and Nelson Smith were brother and sister or related in some way, especially since William Nelson and David Carter went directly to the St. Pauls community where Nelson Smith and his family had located after leaving Cumberland County NC.
Again, we return to Tebitha Carter,could Tebitha Carter have been Nelson Carter's mother. If not why was Nelson Carter given two lots of land in the town of Fayetteville NC. in 1829? Could she have been a sister? Remember the census in Robeson County of 1800 showing Tebitha Carter with a small boy child. We may never know for sure, but one thing we can be fairly certain of is that the life of Nelson Carter and Rona Smith Carter is a fact and no conjecture is needed from their generation on: Their marriage is recorded and the death of Nelson Carter is recorded.
So let's begin from this point, to try and determine how many offsprings emerged from the union of Nelson Carter and Rona Smith.
One more point should be noted: little attempt has been made to record all the Family of William Nelson and hellin Revels Carter, only the first generation of their family is recorded in this paper. It would prove too time consumming to go on.
Angus Carter
Another puzzling relationship was that of Angus Carter and Nelson Carter. Angus Carter and Nelson Carter owned property jointly in Cumberland County NC.
On July 29, 1836 Angus Carter and Nelson Carter sold a two acre track to James w. Carter. There is an amazing similarity in the names of Angus Carter's children to those of William Nelson and David Carter.
This is a list of the Angus Carter Family as listed in the 1850's. Angus Carter 45, Dexdz 38, Nelson 16, Angus 15, John 13, margaret 12, Betsy 10, David 8, Alonzo 2, and Alva 2 months. David Carter's children, Margaret, serenah, Nelson, Isabella, Alonzo, William H. Fannie, Floyd, Sarah Elisa, Alvin, and Daniel.
David Carter
David Carter was mustarded into the Confederate Army on May 19, 1862 at age of 30. He was assigned to Company C, 54th Regiment of NC. He apparently engaged in battle during the Cicil War.
On September 21, 1866, David Carter was listed as abscent without leave. However, on November 7, 1863 he was officially listed as missing in action. Later Millitary records show that he was wounded and captured on the Rappahanneck River near Pertersburg Virginia on March 25, 1865 by the Union Army. He was held as a Prisoner of War at Point Lookout Maryland. On March 16, 1864 David Carter was transfered to City Point Virginia for an exchange of Prisoners of War. The exchange took place on November 17, 1864. David Carter was discharged from the Confederate Army on June 26, 1865. Next Page