The ravages of time prevent us from certain knowledge of much ancestral history in the Virginia Colony, but the Thomas Carter who arrived on the Safety in 1635 was, in all probability, the brother of John Carter who had shared the same voyage. (See John Carter I of Lancaster County.) Thomas Carter lived and transacted business in Nansemond County for several years before he first appeared in Lancaster County records in 1653.

Over the next hundred years the court records are rife with entries denoting Thomas Carter, but careful study revealed the lives of four men of this name: Thomas Carter I, a Major in the county militia, is unproved but popularly believed to be the brother of John Carter of "Corotoman," and the father of Capt. Thomas Carter of "Barford," whose son, Capt. Thomas Carter, Jr., is closely connected with his cousin, Robert "King" Carter, in surviving records. The fourth Thomas, mentioned only twice, in 1670/1 became an indentured servant of Mr. Robert Griggs, but there is no further record of this individual.

Major Thomas Carter was the progenitor of innumerable Carters across the USA, including the incorporators of The Carter Society, who proudly proclaim their heritage through this lineage.