Carter in Massachusetts

Earliest Thomas Carters of Massachusetts

There were several Thomas Carters, contemporary to each other (although of various generations), in the early years of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. This section attempts to help researchers distinguish them:

1. The oldest appears to be Thomas Carter Sr (Blacksmith of Charlestown), married Mary Unknown. He died in 1652; she died by 1658. This Thomas Carter probably immigrated in 1636, as he was admitted to the Charlestown church on 8 Jan 1636/7 and became a freeman on 9 Mar 1636/7. His children were old enough to marry by the 1640s. His children included a son:
2. Thomas Carter Jr (of Charlestown), son of #1 above, born about 1609 before coming to America. He died after 1682, probably in Charlestown or Woburn.
3. Next door in Woburn, and ordained as its first minister in 1642 was Rev. Thomas Carter (of Woburn); he was married to another Mary (Parkhurst, apparently). He was baptized at Hinderclay, Suffolk in 1608, and graduated from Cambridge. He died in 1684.
4. Thomas Carter (of Salisbury) who came over in 1635 on the Planter, was married to another Mary, and died in 1669. His children Mary, Thomas, Martha, Elizabeth, John, Abigail, Samuel and Sarah were born in Salisbury between 1641 and 1656. His son, Thomas Jr., was born in 1643 and d. apparently unmarried in 1669.