Isaac Carter

Son of John, Jr.

Grandson of John Sr.

Great-Grandson of Robert

Great-Great-Grandson of Edward Carter

Isaac Carter was the only known surviving child of John and Barbara (Routh) Carter. He was born 1752 in Chester County Pennsylvania and died 16 Apr 1802 in Surry County, North Carolina. He apparently spent his early life in the home of his grandfather John Carter, Sr. When John died in 1760 he left Isaac half of his property not otherwise bequeathed and his copy of John Fox's Book of Martyrs, one of the most popular volumes in colonial America. After John Carter, Sr.'s death, it appears that Isaac was taken into the home of his uncle Samuel Carter and moved south with him to what is now Chatham County, North Carolina, in the 1760s.

According to records, he married Mary Bray about 1770 in Chatman County, North Carolina.

  1. Joseph Carter born ca. 1773, died in Surry Co., NC in 1841. He was married ca. 1795 to Margaret Hinshaw.
  2. Isaac Carter, born ca. 1776, died in Surry Co., NC Dec 20, 1820. He was married Dec. 4, 1797 to Jane Brown.
  3. Hannah Carter born ca. 1778, died in Surry Co., NC 1801. She was married Dec. 28, 1797 to Moses Brown.
  4. Joshua Carter, born ca. 1780 died in Surry Co., NC in 1846. His wife's name is unknown.
  5. Mary Carter, born Dec. 19, 1782, died in Liberty Township, Henry, Indiana, Marcy 19, 1832. She was married April 19, 1894 to Ralph Shaw.
  6. John Carter, born ca. 1784, died in Surry Co., NC, in 1846. He was married Dec. 6, 1808 to Nancy Williams.
  7. Solomon Carter, born July 17, 1787, died in Grant Co., Indiana in 1833. He married Jane Reynolds.
  8. Henry Carter, born ca. 1790, still living in 1802. Nothing else known.
  9. Ruth Carter, born Dec. 19, 1792, died in Yadkin Co., NC., March 20, 1882. She was married Oct. 9, 1814 to Benjamin Hinshaw.
  10. Rachel Carter, born ca. 1794, died in Surry Co., NC, June 1, 1831. She was married Sept. 29, 1818 to Linsey Carlton.
  11. Edward Carter, born ca. 1796, died probably in Missouri. He was married Feb. 1, 1818 to Sarah Hutchins.

Mary Bray was the daughter of Edward and Sarah (Mayner) Bray. She was born in Prince George's County, Maryland, about 1754. Her father's family, the Brays, were not Quakers, but her mother came from a strict Quaker family. Her grandfather Henry Mayner had been one of the founders of the Cane Creek Quaker Settlements in Orange County, North Carolina.

Sarah Maynor was allegedly born about 1720 in Virginia and died 15 Mar 1803 in Surry Co, NC Deep Creek. She was reported to be half-Indian, which I think is a mistake because her mother was reported to be half-Indian and thus she would have been one-quarter Indian. Her father was Henry Maynard, born about 1695 and her mother was Susanna Coales, born 1695 in Leaky Springs, Virginia, allegedly half-Indian. They were married 1742 in Fairfax Friends, Waterford, Fairfax, Va. The information that Susanna Coales was half Indian was provided by Noralee Bray Kimbel, descendant of Edward and Susanna Bray, a descendant from the same Edward and Sarah as our ancestors.

Edward and Sarah Bray went from Fairfax co. VA to Orange co. NC near Chatham co. about 1760. Edward is not listed in the Quaker records, except as the father of Henry, but Sarah Bray (Maynard) asked for reinstatement in the Quaker community, was reinstated and given a certificate to Cane Creek Monthly Meetings NC (now Alamance co) , in 1799, from Fairfax co. Va

Soon after his marriage, Isaac Carter settled down on a farm on Rocky River in Chatham County, near the land of his uncle Samuel Carter. When the Revolutionary War broke out, the Carter family remained true to Quaker principle and refused to take part in any military actions. This caused a charge of British sympathies to be brought against them by the Chatham County Court. They were found guilty and ordered to leave the state within sixty days. Apparently, Isaac made peace with the authorities, since there is no evidence that he ever left the area.

In 1795, Isaac and Mary (Bray) Carter joined emigration of Friends from Orange and Chatham Counties west into what was then Surry but is now Yadkin County. Early that year Isaac bought a two-hundred acre tract of land on the waters of North Deep Creek, not far from Deep Creek Friends meetinghouses. It was here that he died April 16, 1802. Mary (Bray) Carter survived him many years. She died on Deep Creek Jan 5, 1839. Both Isaac and Mary were buried in the Deep Creek Friends Cemetery, where their tombstones can still be seen.

Source: Thomas D. Hamm, Joyce R. Bratswell, Yadkin County Heritage Book Vol. 1., Surry and Yadkin County Court Records

Compiled by Irene H. Basey Nov 27, 1989.

Pleaced online by her daughter, Linda J. Dunn, 2004