Figure of the Week

Jeremiah Carter’s (c.1810-186_) parentage isn’t known with certainty.  He may have been the son of Jeremiah Carter (c.1784-after 1828) of Stafford and was likely descended from Capt. Thomas Carter (c.1630-1700) of Lancaster County.  Jeremiah was a merchant and kept stores in the village of Aquia, at Stafford Courthouse, and in Fredericksburg.  In 1835 he was living at Eastern View, part of which was later utilized for Bowling’s Lumber Mill on Courthouse Road (Route 630) east of the courthouse.  In the 1840s and 1850s he ran an ordinary (tavern) and store near the courthouse.  Jeremiah married Elizabeth Wamsley (c.1818-1886), the daughter of Benjamin Wamsley.  Carter suffered from serious financial problems, largely a result of national economic woes, and finally bankrupted.  Late in 1850 he was charged with killing William Hewitt while trying to break up a fight in which Carter wasn’t involved.  Apparently, the Stafford court found him not guilty.  Jeremiah seems to have died during the War Between the States and no obituary has been found for him.  The Eastern View house survived until sometime in the early 1900s.  Jeremiah and Elizabeth Carter left no children.