Landon Carter

Col. Landon Carter, I (August 18, 1710 – December 22, 1778) was an American planter from Lancaster County, Virginia, best known for his account of colonial life leading up the American War of Independence, The Diary of Colonel Landon Carter.

Early life and schooling

Landon Carter was the son of Robert "King" Carter, a Virginia-born merchant planter and uncle of Robert Carter III. In 1719, at the age of nine, Carter was sent to England to be schooled under the early linguist, Solomon Lowe. He returned to Virginia in 1727.

Family connections

"King" Carter died in 1732, and Landon inherited a portion of his father's estate. Shortly thereafter, Carter married Elizabeth Wormeley, daughter of John Wormeley. She died in 1740. In 1742, Landon married Maria Byrd, daughter of William Byrd II, who died two years later. Carter married his third wife, Elizabeth Beale, in 1746.

Shortly after his first marriage, Carter settled on lands he had inherited in Richmond County. His mansion house, Sabine Hall, which he built about 1734, stood at the heart of his plantation there.

Carter's daughter, Maria, married Robert Beverley, son of Colonel William Beverley and Elizabeth Bland and named after his paternal grandfather. The Beverleys are related to Pocahontas through their marriage to the Randolphs.

Carter's grave is in the Lower Lunenburg Parish Church cemetery in Warsaw, Virginia. He left his heirs 50,000 acres (200 km²) of land and as many as 500 slaves. The Special Collections Research Center at the College of William and Mary holds papers relating to Landon Carter and many other descendants of King Carter.