Please turn your device to landscape view for wide tables like those below.
Peter Jacob Carter
Member From: 1871 - 1879
- Birth Date: May 29, 1845 Birth Place:Eastville, Northampton County, Virginia
- Death Date: July 19, 1886
- Gender: Male Race: African American
- Spouse: Georgianna Mapp (m. 1873; d. 1882); Maggie Treherne (m. 1884)
- Children: 4+
- Religion:
- Education: Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute (Hampton University)
- Military Service: Escaped from slavery during the American Civil War and enlisted on October 30, 1863, in Company B of the 10th Regiment United States Colored Infantry. He mustered out on May 17, 1866.
- Occupation/Profession: Merchant and Justice of the Peace
-
Additional Info Links:
Bio from Encyclopedia Virginia
Bio from Virginia's Martin Luther King Jr. Commission
- Bio: the son of Jacob and Peggie Carter, was born in 1845 in the town of Eastville in Northampton County. He worked as a house servant while in slavery; however, he ran away during the American Civil War and enlisted on October 30, 1863, in Company B of the 10th Regiment United States Colored Infantry. He mustered out on May 17, 1866. After the war, Carter was educated at Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute, now Hampton University. He became an important figure in Republican politics on Virginia's Eastern Shore and served in the Virginia House of Delegates from Northampton County from 1871 to 1879, one of the longest tenures among the 19th century African American members of the General Assembly. He introduced measures concerning taxes on oysters, the boundaries of election precincts, correcting prisoner abuse, improving the care of black deaf-mutes, and providing housing for the elderly and poor in Richmond. A large landowner, he also introduced bills to combat the exclusion of African Americans from jury service and to improve the treatment of prisoners and abolish the whipping post as a punishment for crime. He was in the delegation from the General Assembly that met with President Ulysses S. Grant to support what became the Civil Rights Act of 1875. He served on the following House Committees: Agriculture and Mining, Retrenchment and Economy, Claims, and Militia and Police. Later, Mr. Carter was a doorkeeper of the Senate of Virginia from 1881 to 1882. He was appointed by the General Assembly to the Board of Visitors of Virginia Normal and Collegiate Institute, now Virginia State University. His son studied medicine at Howard University and became a physician at the veterans' hospital in Tuskegee, Alabama. Peter Jacob Carter died in 1886.
- Other Notable Service and/or Elected Offices:
Doorkeeper of the Senate of Virginia - 1881 - 1882
Rector - Virginia Normal and Collegiate Institute (Virginia State University)
| Session | District | District Number | Party | Leadership | Committees |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1871-1873 | Northampton | Republican | Agriculture and Mining Claims Committee (Dates Unknown) Militia and Police Committee (Dates Unknown) Retrenchment and Economy |
||
| 1874-1875 | Northampton | Republican | Agriculture and Mining Claims Committee (Dates Unknown) Militia and Police Committee (Dates Unknown) Retrenchment and Economy |
||
| 1875-1877 | Northampton | Republican | Agriculture and Mining Claims Committee (Dates Unknown) Militia and Police Committee (Dates Unknown) Retrenchment and Economy Committee |
||
| 1877-1879 | Northampton | Republican | Agriculture and Mining Committee (Dates Unknown) Claims Militia and Police Committee Retrenchment and Economy Committee (Dates Unknown) |
*The information within this interactive and searchable application has been researched extensively by the House Clerk’s Office. As with any historical records of this age and breadth, there may be discrepancies and/or inconsistencies within records obtained from a variety of credible sources. Any feedback is encouraged at history@house.virginia.gov.