Transcribed from Goodspeed’s History of  Tennessee from the Earliest Time to the Present; Together with an Historical and a Biographical Sketches of from Twenty-Five to Thirty Counties of East Tennessee, Besides a Valuable Fund of Notes, Original Observations, Reminiscences, etc., etc. (Chicago and Nashville:  The Goodspeed Publishing Co., 1887), pp. 962-987.  See footnote below for on-line access.

Hon. John G. CARTER, a prominent citizen and farmer of Bradley County, was born April 14, 1823, in Pittsylvania County, Va., of which State his parents were also natives. The father was born in 1786, and immigrated to Jefferson County, Tenn., in 1826. In 1844 he moved to Cleveland, Bradley County. He began life as a farmer, and afterward became a blacksmith. He was a Whig and after the war a Democrat. He died in 1878 at his son’s home, where he had resided since 1869. His wife was born in 1795 and died in 1878. They were married in 1812 in their native State, where they spent the following fifteen years. Both were members of the Methodist Church, and parents of six children, of whom our subject is fifth. He received a common school education in Jefferson County. In 1838, November 10, at the age of fifteen, he went to Cleveland and entered the store of P. G. LEA, as salesman, beginning on a salary of $30 dollars per annum. He remained nine years, the last four of which he received $200 per annum. In August 1847, he went to Charleston, S. C., and engaged as clerk in the mercantile business for nine years with J. S. & L. Bowie & Co. In about seventeen years he lost but two weeks time, and was not required to make that up; the six following years was a partner in the firm, in their wholesale dry goods business in Charleston, S. C. From 1861 to 1863 he traveled in East Tennessee, Alabama and north Georgia in the interest of his house, their trade being extensive. He was in Charleston at the outbreak of the war, and saw the floating battery, which was constructed of railroad iron and palmetto, and which was used in the attack on Fort Sumter. The fall of 1863 he entered the Confederate Army, enlisting in Col. ROWAN’s regiment, under command of Capt. BLAIR. He was in the battle of Chickasaw Bayou, near Vicksburg, after which he procured a substitute, and returned home on account of ill health. In the spring of 1864, he re-entered the army, and remained until May 1865, when he was paroled at Memphis, Tenn. The last year of the service he had a narrow escape from death in an encounter with a party of guerillas in Georgia. At the close of the war his business in Charleston was insolvent, but the debts were compromised and settled in after years. In the fall of 1865, he entered the wholesale boot and shoe house of R. M POMEROY & Co., in Cincinnati, on a salary of $3,000 for the first six months, and after that time of $5,000 per annum. In July 1866, he located his family at Cleveland, Tenn., and went to New York City, engaging as salesman in the wholesale dry goods house of Evans, Gardner & Co., where he remained four years, receiving a salary of $5,000 per annum. In 1874 he returned to Bradley County, and settled at his present place of residence, which he purchased in 1867. He had become tired of traveling and desired to be more with his family. He has been engaged in farming, and has been a successful agriculturist, and now owns about 450 acres. However, he continued to work about five months in the year for the New York company, receiving $1,000 per month while in New York. In 1880 he was elected to State Senate from the Seventh Senatorial District. In 1882 he was re-elected. He is a stanch Democrat. Although not a member of any church he is a firm believer in the Christian faith, and a moral, honest man and worthy citizen. January 13, 1853, he married Miss Darthula A., daughter of James W. INMAN. To this union were born three sons and three daughters, four of whom are living. Mrs. CARTER was a member of the Missionary Baptist Church. She died in 1875. December 25, 1876, our subject wedded his sister-in-law, Miss Myra INMAN. She is a member of the Missionary Baptist Church, and mother of two sons and one daughter.

FamilySearch Tree profile:  https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/LZNT-PT3

This biography was transcribed by Sherry Pollard. We thank her for transcribing all the Goodspeed’s biographical sketches.

Click here to read and download a digitized version of the original volume free at the Internet Archive. A reprint version is available for viewing and downloading free from FamilySearch.  You will require a free FamilySearch login to browse records.

If you have corrections or wish to provide more information about the individual, please contact us (link in menu).