Carter family.

The Carter family was an African-American slave family from Virginia that survived the Civil War and went on to build a life in and around Richmond. Polly Carter (d.1872) originally lived on "Master Warner 's" plantation in Gloucester County, Virginia, with her husband and two children, Albert and Alexander . Another son, Hamilton Carter , resided in nearby Richmond and was either a bondsman or a free man. During the Civil War, Hamilton was employed as dining room servant to Henry C. Beuce , the proprietor of Irving Mills . In October of 1866, Hamilton was hired by Dr. George Ross, a prominent Richmond physician.

In 1871 Hamilton married an African-American woman, Martha Glenn , who was originally also from Richmond. They had 6 children: Cassie , Alize , Pierce , Hamilton, Jr. , Mattie , and one child who died in 1881. The family lived for many years in a home they owned on the corner of 9th and Abigail Streets in the Madison Ward section of Richmond.

See internal file for additional information regarding the family.

From the guide to the Carter family papers, 1858-1924., (Houghton Library, Harvard College Library, Harvard University)