Landon Carter
Landon Carter was an influential Virginian planter in the 18th century, born into a privileged family that included his father, Robert "King" Carter, one of the wealthiest landowners in the Virginia Colony. Educated at home and later in England, Landon returned at seventeen to manage family affairs. Upon inheriting part of his father's estate, he expanded his land holdings significantly, utilizing over four hundred enslaved individuals in his agricultural endeavors. Beyond his economic pursuits, Carter served as a civic leader in various capacities, including as a justice of the peace and a member of the House of Burgesses for eighteen years.
Throughout his life, he experienced personal losses, having married three times, with all his wives dying young, leaving him to raise eight children. Carter was known for his intellectual curiosity, keeping a diary that chronicled his agricultural experiments and reflections on the political landscape of his time. As tensions grew between the American colonies and England, he grappled with his identity as a wealthy landowner in a changing political climate but ultimately became a proponent of colonial rights, playing a role in the push for American independence. His diaries were published in 2004, providing insight into his life and the era's complexities, and are regarded as a significant contribution to the understanding of the American Revolution. Carter passed away in 1778.
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Landon Carter
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- Born: August 18, 1710
- Birthplace: Virginia
- Died: December 22, 1778
- Place of death: Virginia
Biography
Landon Carter, an eighteenth century Virginian planter, was born into one of Virginia’s most privileged families. His father was Robert “King” Carter, the wealthiest landowner in the Virginia Colony. Carter was educated at home by tutors until the age of nine, when he was sent to study in England. He returned home at seventeen to care for his aging father. Upon his father’s death, Carter inherited a portion of his family’s estate. He worked diligently and grew his land holdings to build an empire which expanded over tens of thousands of acres and was worked by over four hundred slaves.
During this time, Carter emerged as one of the region’s most influential civic leaders. He served as a justice of the peace, militia colonel, and parish vestryman. In 1752, he won a seat as a member of the House of Burgesses where he served for eighteen years. Carter married three times into prominent Virginian families. All of his wives died young, leaving him eight children to raise on his own.
Carter was a well-read, learned man who took pride in his knowledge and kept a diary to record his agricultural experiments and entrepreneurial accomplishments. However, by the 1760’s, as tensions between the American colonies and England began to grow, Carter used his diary to record his thoughts on the colonies’ political transformation. Carter struggled with foregoing his privileges as a wealthy landowner and being subjected, in the newly forming democratic government, to the votes of “poor dirt farmers.” However, in his later years, as documented in his diaries, Carter eventually became a supporter of colonial rights and an influential figure in the fight for American independence from England. Landon Carter died in 1778.
In 2004, the Pulitzer Prize winning historian, Rhys Isaac, published Carter’s diaries in a biographical work titled Landon Carter’s Uneasy Kingdom: Revolution and Rebellion in a Virginian Plantation. This award-winning work was considered a major contribution to the study of the American Revolution.