Carter Family of Russell Co VA

Enoch Carter of Russell Co VA

Enoch Carter, a descendant of Capt. Thomas Carter of Lancaster Co VA, was born in 1767 in Amherst Co VA. Enoch's parents, John Carter and Elizabeth Blackmore Carter, were some of the initial settlers of Ft. Blackmore, the famous Dunsmore War site, in what is now Scott Co VA.

John Carter, a brother of the Dale Carter, who was killed at Blackmore’s Fort in 1774, had settled on a 400 acre tract of land on the northwest side of Clinch River, about 4 miles below Blackmore’s Fort, in Scott Co., in the year 1773. He had married a daughter of Joseph Blackmore and had seven children.

On August 27, 1787, Alexander Barnett, County Lieutenant of Russell Co., VA, wrote the following to the Governor:

That on July 9th last, the Indians had attacked the frontier, this time killing the wife of John Carter and six of his children, and at the same time plundering and setting fire to his house, thus reducing the bodies of his wife and children to ashes.

    Emory L. Hamilton, Dale Carter Killed at Blackmore Fort, Indian Atrocities Along the Clinch, Powell and Holston Rivers, Unpublished Manuscript <http://www.rootsweb.com/~varussel/indian/index.html> 10 May 2005.

Of note, John's cousin Thomas settled Carter's Fort, another famous site from the Dunsmore War, at Rye Cove further south on the Clinch River, and his family suffered similar fates at the hands of the Indians.

Alexander Barnett, County Lieutenant of Russell Co., VA, wrote Governor Edmund Randolph, on May 15, 1788, thusly:

On the 20th of April, a band of Indians came into the Rye Cove settlement and carried off three boys, two of the name of Carter, and a Negro boy belonging to those of the same name, but did not kill anyone in the settlement. Immediately upon this he ordered out men from three companies, under the command of Ensign Blackmore. A man named Henry Hamlin, living in the Cove, and much attached to the crown of Brittain, during the contest, (Revolution) induced the Rangers to go back telling them the people wanted men to be stationed instead of them.

In a letter written by Barnett to the Governor on May 20, 1789, he states that the Carter boys were returned to their father through the friendly offices of Governor Simcoe, of South Carolina, but makes no mention of the Negro boy being released. The Carter boys had evidently been taken by the Cherokees.

The two Carter boys who were taken were Morgan and Elijah, and are said to have been the sons of Thomas Carter, the builder of Carter’s Fort in Rye Cove. (I. C. Coley, Genealogy of the Carters of Scott County.)

    Emory L. Hamilton, Two Carter Boys Taken at Rye Cove, Indian Atrocities Along the Clinch, Powell and Holston Rivers, Unpublished Manuscript <http://www.rootsweb.com/~varussel/indian/index.html> 10 May 2005.

By 1783, Enoch migrated in the company of his family to Greene Co NC (now TN) where his father is found in the tax list. On 2/27/1794 in Greene Co TN, Enoch married Susannah Wilkinson b. c. 1775 Orange Co NC, daughter of Samuel Wilkinson of Caswell Co NC. Enoch is important to this research; as he was named as an heir to the estate of Francis Wilkinson of Russell Co VA.

By 1814, Enoch migrated to Jackson Co TN. He was following in his maternal grandparent's footsteps.

. . .Captain John Blackmore, builder of Blackmore’s Fort, had in the year 1779, left for the area for settlement on the Cumberland in Tennessee. . . .

    Emory L. Hamilton, Killing of Joseph Blackmore's Children, Indian Atrocities Along the Clinch, Powell and Holston Rivers, Unpublished Manuscript <http://www.rootsweb.com/~varussel/indian/index.html> 10 May 2005.

Enoch and Susannah's marriage did not survive. By 1820 Enoch is found living by himself and Susannah is found in an adjacent household along with dependant children. Enoch is last found enumerated in the 1840 Jackson Co TN Census, age 70 to 80.

• Born 1767 Amherst Co VA

• 1772 Migrated with family to Fincastle Co VA

• 3/26/1774 Fincastle Co VA Land Record

• 1777 Fincastle Co extinct: Washington Co established

• 3/18/1778 Washington Co VA Probate Record

• Migrated by 1783 w/ family to Greene Co NC (now TN)

• 1783 Greene Co TN Tax List: John Carter

• 1790 Tennessee Territory established

• Married 2/27/1794 in Greene Co TN to Susannah Wilkinson b. c. 1775 Orange Co NC

• 1796 Tennessee Statehood

• 1798 Greene Co TN Tax List

• 11/30/1798 Russell Co VA Land Transaction

• 1799 Greene Co TN Record

• 1800 Greene Co TN Census: Lost

• 1803 Russell Co VA Land Transaction

• 1810 Greene Co TN Census: Lost

• Migrated by 1814 to Jackson Co TN

• Separated prior to 1817 Jackson Co TN

• 1820 Jackson Co TN Census: Not available

• 1830 Jackson Co TN Census: Enoch Carter (60-70)

• 1840 Jackson Co TN Census: Enoch Carter (70-80)

• Died after 1840 Jackson Co TN