The Muster of 1624 lists the colonists who survived the massive 1622 Indian attack, and William Carter, a servant, was reported as unmarried and living on Jamestowne Island. Fourteen years after his arrival in Virginia, land patents in what is now Surry County were granted to William Carter for "his personal adventure" and the passage of his three named wives and numerous servants. His first two wives apparently died within a short time after arriving in the Colony and his eldest son, William, Jr., may have been born to one of the earlier wives. The younger William died about the same time as his father and apparently left no descendants. It is through third wife Alice Croxon and their son, George, that the descendants of William Carter I claim their lineage.

William Carter I had strong ties to some noted early Virginians, including John Carter I of Lancaster County. It has been plausibly speculated that they were brothers, and therefore, he would also have been brother to Thomas Carter I of Lancaster. The William Carter plantation was on the south side of the James River, just east of where the Jamestown Ferry now crosses.