The genesis of our esteemed Society actually came to pass fifty years ago as I came to know the love and strong family spirit that bound my Carter relatives one to another. The kind, genteel nature of my grandfather Carter and his siblings was only overshadowed by their extraordinary inner strength and courage in the daunting rigors of life. From my very early years I remember such a sense of belonging that I came to know only through my Carter heritage.

As fate would have it, years passed before I began my genealogical research, and I was astounded to find hundreds of distant "cousins" who spoke of the very same inherent family traits. My path was set early on: the pursuit of a Carter gathering came to pass in 1996 and, with many hands helping, it was an outstanding success.

Since 1998 we have held annual reunions, each greatly surpassing the prior year. It was surprising to me, however, that I could find no other lines of our Carter family, nor any of the other known early Virginia Carter families, seeking to overcome the distance in time and place to establish a connection with their Carter kin.

At the fifth annual Carter Family Reunion held in Lancaster County in 2001, it was my great honor to announce that eight of my Carter cousins had agreed to help organize and incorporate The Carter Society. This elite group, all descendants of Capt. Thomas Carter of Lancaster County, Virginia, had the wisdom to expand their vision of an organized heritage society to include descendants of all the known Carter immigrants to Virginia.

Aware that many of those early Carters had familial connections in their English ancestry, we also knew that the early generations in the colony, even those not related by blood, were bound by the many hardships and struggles they endured while seeking to build a better religious, political, and social life for themselves and their fellow man.

Our forefathers, the Carters of early Virginia and their progeny, helped forge this nation based upon freedom and liberty for all men, and it is a heritage worthy of honor. The Carter Society has emerged slowly but with an extreme sense of purpose. May no man sway us from the path we have set.

Fay Parrish Wade


Richmond, VA