Peter Jacob Carter

WY-11-a

Born enslaved on 29 May 1845 near Eastville, Northampton County, Peter Jacob Carter served in the 10th United States Colored Troops during the Civil War and afterward attended Hampton Institute. He represented Northampton in the House of Delegates from 1871 to 1879, was conspicuous in First Congressional District politics, chaired Republican state conventions and African American mass meetings, and attended the party's national conventions. A prominent Eastern Shore politician, in the 1880s he joined the Readjuster Party, led by former Confederate general William Mahone. Carter died 19 July 1886 and was buried in the family cemetery near Franktown.

Department of Historic Resources, 2009

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References/Bibliographic Citation:

Dictionary of Virginia Biography. (Library of Virginia, 2006) 3:81-84 Letter, Taylor to Mahone, 29 September 1881, Quote, Mahone Papers, Duke University Archives. Luther Porter Jackson, Negro Office Holders in Virginia, 1865-1895. (Quality Press, 1945).