Robert King Carter's Correspondence and Diary

   A Collection Transcribed
        and Digitized
   by Edmund Berkeley, Jr.

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Electronic Text Center , University of Virginia Library

Summary



Indenture among Robert Carter, Robert Carter, Junior, Charles Carter, John Carter, and Judith Page, November 4, 1731

     Indenture among Robert Carter, Robert Carter, Junior, Charles Carter, John Carter (as executor of and guardian for Mann Page''s children), and Judith Page, November 4, 1731, summarizing the financial arranngements among the partners (and successors) in the Frying Pan copper mine, and establishing arrangements for the division of the lands into 4 parts and payment of costs and disbursement of assets of the company.


Indenture among Robert Carter, Robert Carter, Junior, Charles Carter, John Carter, and Judith Page, November 4, 1731

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[Rappahannock, Lancaster County, Virginia]
the fourth day of November . . . MDCCXXI [1731]


     This Indenture Quinquepartite made the fourth day of November
in the fifth year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord George the second by the
grace of God of Great Britain France and Ireland King defender of the faith &c,
Anno Domini MDCCXXI. Between Robert Carter of Corotoman in the County
of Lancaster esquire of the first part Robert Carter the younger of Nominii in the County
of Westmoreland of the second part, Charles Carter of Urbanna in the County of Middlesex,
Gent. of the third part, John Carter of Shirley in the County of Charles City esquire
As Guardian and for and on behalf of all the Sons of Mann Page late of Rosewell
in the County of Gloucester esquire deceased of the fourth part, and Judith Page widow
and relict of the said Mann Page of the fifth part. WHEREAS certain Articles
of Agreement indented bearing date the seventeenth day of March in the
year of our Lord MDCCXXVIII were made and concluded between the said Robert
Carter the elder, Mann Page; Robert Carter the younger, & Charles Carter whereby
reciting That Whereas there was a certain Tract or parcel of Land situate
lying and being in the County of Stafford near and adjoining to a Run called
frying pan run containing seven hundred and sixty two Acres granted to the said
Robert Carter the younger and the said Charles Carter by a proprietors Deed bearing
date the fourteenth day of October in the year MDCCXXIII upon which Tract of Land
there was supposed to be a mine of Copper or other rich Ore and that several Warrants
had issued in the name of the said Robert the younger and the said Charles for the
surveying and taking up sundry other Tracts of Land for the carrying on improving
or working the Mine or Mines that should be found upon the said Lands. It was
agreed that all and every the said Tract and Tracts of Land should be held & enjoyed
equally between the said parties to the said Articles and that equal proportions or parts
of the same by good and Authentic Instruments in the Law should be made over by
the said Robert Carter the younger and the said Charles unto the said Robert Carter
the elder and the said Mann Page their Heirs and Assigns forever as soon as Deeds
should be obtained from the proprietors Office for the said respective Lands then
to be conveyed and taken up and that all and every the said Lands as well the
Tract then taken up as those to be taken up should be settled in fee simple upon
                                                                                                the

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the parties to the said Articles to be held in Common and not in Joint Tenancy so as no
right should be claimed by survivorship and by the said Articles it was further agreed
that whatever charge the said Charles had been or should be at in surveying and
taking up the said Lands and whatsoever should be due from the said Charles and the
said Robert Carter the younger for the composition of the said Lands & othe [r] incident
charges and fees should be equally borne by the said Robert the elder the said Mann
Page and the said Robert the younger And that all the Charges Costs and expences
for the carrying on and working the said Mine for providing Servants and Slaves
finding Tools and Utensils necessary Horses, Carriages building convenient
Houses, c [r] eating plantations, clearing roads, finding provision and other incident
charges that should be found necessary should be equally borne and defrayed by
the said Robert the elder, the said Mann and the said Robert the younger from the
beginning of the said Work until it should be so far improved that the said Charles
should be enabled out of the profits thereof to reimburse the said other parties until equal
share of the charge and expence they should have been at and that then and not
before the said Charles should repay his part of the expences unto the said other
parties And it was further agreed that all bargains contracts and agreements
relating to the work and for improving and carrying on the said Mine should
be managed in concert and with the consent of all the said parties or the major
part of them and in case of an equal division the difference should be determined by
Lot or Ballot and that neither of the said parties should lease or sell out his part
of the said Estate to any stranger for the Term of three years next to come without
the consent and approbation of the other parties nor then if the parties themselves
would give as much as any other bidder and in case of the death of any of the said
parties the said Work should be carryed on and pursued by the survivors in manner
aforesaid until the Heir or devisee of the deceased party should enter into contract to
be conformable to the aforesaid Articles or to such other as the said parties should
find it convenient thereafter to enter into And lastly it was agreed that all and
every of the above Articles and Agreements should be in full force and binding to the
said parties until such other Covenants and Agreements should be entered into by
the said parties as should be requisite and necessary for the completing and
perfecting the said Copper Work as by the said Articles more fully and at large
                                                                                                may
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may appear And whereas certain other Articles were drawn up and signed by the
said Robert Carter the elder and the said Mann Page the twenty fifth day of February
in the year of our Lord MDCCXXIX to the effect following (vizt. ) That all the Lands then
lately surveyed by John Warner for the use of the said Company as well that which
adjoining to the frying pan Tract as that at Occoquan Landing or else where should be
granted to the said Robert Carter junior And that his Bond should be taken
recovering the same to the said Company as fee simple as Counsel learned in the Law
should advise for the use and benefit of the said Company which Land so surveyed do
contain as follows (Vizt. ) A Tract adjoining to Frying pan containing eight thousand
one hundred and forty one Acres, Piney Ridge also adjoyning to Frying pan containing
seven thousand two hundred and sixty nine Acres a Tract about halfway between the
Mine and the Landing containing eight hundred and seventy five Acres and one
Tract at the Landing containing three thousand five hundred Acres amounting
in the whole to nineteen thousand seven hundred and eighty five Acres And it was
further agreed that one hundred Barrels of Corn more than what they there had
would be sufficient to bring the year about to feed the People, Horses & Oxen & --
And the said Mann Page agreed to find fifty barrels of the said Corn and ten Hogs
salted up and that a post should be settled between the House of the said Robert
Carter and Frying pan (as follows) from the said Robert Carter to his Forest
Quarter from thence next Day to Nanzatico: the next Day to Poplar Quarter or
the Lodge and the next day to Frying pan and that the said Robert Carter should
keep a Horse for that purpose at each of his Quarters And the said Mann Page one
at his And that a purchase should be made of two or three Negro Carpenters and
Coopers out of Mr. Pages Estate when these Negroes should be sold and in the mean time
shoh [sic ] buildings should be carried on as the said Robert Carter should think
proper either at the Mine the Halfway Tract or at the Landing and that Terence
Ryleys Land should be bought and it was also agreed that the said Robert Carter
should pay the several persons employed in the said Work their Salaries and defray
all the contingent charges which had or should accrue and be reimbursed by
the rest of the Company according to their respective proportions pursuant
to the Articles of Agreement first above mentioned as by the said Articles
signed by the said Robert Carter and Mann Page relation being thereunto
                                                                                                had
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had among other things more fully and at large may appear And whereas
pursuant to the said last mentioned Articles the several Tracts of Land therein
mentioned amounting in the whole to nineteen thousand seven hundred and
eighty five Acres by several grants of the proprietors of the northern neck bearing
date the twenty seventh day of February, the twenty eighth day of February the
first day of March and the second day of March in the year of our Lord MDCC
XXIX were granted to the said Robert Carter the younger in fee simple as by the
said several Grants relation being thereunto had may [sic ] fully and at large appear
And whereas also two hundred and seventeen Acres of Land the Land in the
said Articles mentioned to be the Land of Terence Ryley was found to Escheat to
the said Proprietors and by their Grant bearing date the sixteenth day of May in
the year of our Lord MDCCXXI was granted to the said Robert Carter te younger
And the said Robert Carter the younger has likewise purchased for the use of the said
Company of one William Berkeley four hundred and thirty six Acres of Land which
the said William conveyed to the said Robert in fee by Deeds of lease and Release bearing
date the eleventh and twelfth days of November in the year of our Lrd MDCCXXIX
which are recorded in the Stafford County Court And whereas the said Mann Page by
a certain Codicil to his last Will and Testament bearing date the twenty fourth day of
January MDCCXXX did devise his interest in the said Adventure equally between
his wife and all his Sons as by the said Codicil at large may appear which the said
Judith has renounced Now this Indenture witnesseth And is hereby declared
and agreed between all the said parties to these presents that the said Robert Carter
the younger and the said Charles Carter are and stand seized and of and in the said Tract
or parcel of Land containing seven hundred and sixty two Acres called Frying pan
to them granted as is above mentioned and that they and their Heirs shall hold the
same upon the several Tracts hereafter mentioned (that is to say) as to one fourth
part thereof in Trust for the said Robert Carter the elder his Heirs and Assigns forever
and as to one other fourth part thereof in Trust for the said Judith Page and all the sons
of the said Mann Page esquire deceased according to the several Estates and Interests to the sons
of the said Mann Page given or intended to be given by his Codicil aforesaid & According
to the Estate and Interest which by Law is vested in the said Judith Page And that
the said Robert Carter the younger is and stands seized of all the residue of the Lands
before mentioned so as aforesaid vested in him and that he and his heirs shall and
--                                                     --                                                will
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will hold the same upon the several Trusts hereafter mentioned (that is to say) as to one fourth
part thereof in Trust for the said Robert Carter the elder his Heirs and Assigns forever &
as to one other fourth part thereof in trust for the said Charles Carter his Heirs & assigns
forever And as to one other fourth part thereof in Trust for the said Judith Page and all
the Sons of the said Mann Page esquire deceased according to the several Estates & interests
to the sons of the said Mann Page given or intended to be given by his Codicil aforesaid
and according to the Estate and Interest which by Law is vested in the said Judith Page
And it is hereby further declared and agreed that all the Lands before mentioned with
their and every of their Appurtenances shall be held occupied and enjoyed by the said
Robert Carter the elder Robert Carter the younger Charles Carter Judith Page and all
the sons of the said Mann Page esquire deceased and their several and respective Heirs and Assigns
to the purposes in the Articles of Agreement before mentioned And that the Wives of the said
Robert Carter the elder and Charles Carter have no right of dower nor shall claim
any right of dower in any of the premises before mentioned (except in the shares and
proportions of their and Husbands respectively) And that no benefit of survivorship
upon the death of any of the parties aforesaid shall accrue to the survivor or survivors
of them And in case of a disappointment in bringing the said undertaking to perfection
to is also declared and agreed that whenever the said Parties their heirs or assigns
respectively shall think fit to give over the undertaking aforesaid that then it shall &
may be lawful for the said Robert Carter, Charles Carter, Robert Carter the younger the
said Judith Page and all the Sons of the said Mann Page esqr deceased their Heirs and
assigns respectively to hold their several parts and proportions of the said Lands in severally
and to have partition thereof made accordingly And in case of such disappointment
that the several Negroes and other Slaves by the said Copartners respectively furnished
for the carrying on the undertaking aforesaid shall remain the distinct and separate
property of the party who furnished the same his heirs or assigns but that all & every [one of]
the Negroes and other Slaves, Utensils, Implements and other Goods and Chattels
which have been from time to time or shall be furnished by the said Copartners jointly
and shall be continued in the account kept of the Charges of the said Company shall
be divided in equal third parts between the said Robert Carter the elder Robert Carter
the younger and the Widow and devisees of the said Mann Page exclusive of the
said Charles Carter the said Charles not contributing any thing to the General expenses
of the said Company as by the said Articles of Agreement aforesaid does appear.
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Provided nevertheless that when the said Company shall be reimbursed out
of the profits their expenses aforesaid or any part thereof the said Charles Carter shall be
entitled to such part & proportion of the said Negroes, Utensils and other Goods and
Chattels aforesaid last mentioned as shall remain clear of the said expences. Provided
always that the said Judith Page and the sons of the said Mann Page aforesaid shall
contribute their proportionable parts of all charges and expenses which the surviving
Parties aforesaid have or shall be at in the carrying on and completing the work
aforesaid pursuant to the Articles of Agreement first above mentioned and in Case
of the nonpayment or such proportionable part of the expences aforesaid by the said
Devisees or some persons on their behalf their respective slaves and interest in the
said Adventure shall remain in the Hands of the said surviving parties as a
security for reimbursing them such sums and sums of money as shall be --
chargeable upon the share and Interest of the said Devisees And whereas the
said Robert Carter the elder has already expended and laid out considerable
sums of money for the carrying on the said Work whereof no satisfaction has been
made to the said Robert Carter for what exceeds his proportionable part of the said
Expenses and to prevent all future disputes and controversies that may arise
touching the Account the said Robert Carter the elder, Robert Carter the younger
and the said Judith Page by and with the consent and approbation of the said John
Carter testified by his being made a party to these presents have before the sealing
and delivery of these presents dated and settled a particular account of all and
every the sum and sums of money from time to time paid and contributed towards
the carrying on the said Work by the several Copartners aforesaid respectively and
of all other sum and sums of money laid out and disbursed by the said Robert
Carter the elder over and above his own share and proportion of the said expenses which
said Amount is contained in a Book and is signed by the said Robert Carter the elder
Robert Carter the younger Charles Carter and John Carter And it is hereby --
covenanted and agreed by and between the said Robert Carter the elder, Robert
Carter the younger Charles Carter, Judith Page and John Carter for and in behalf
of the other Devisees of the said Mann Page that the Debt appearing to be due to
the said Robert Carter by the said amount shall be chargeable upon the several
Shares and Interests of the Copartners in the said Adventure respectively & the
same shall remain as a security to the said Robert Carter for the payment
                                                                                                thereof
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thereof with interest And the said Robert Carter the younger for himself his
Heirs Executors & Administrators does covenant and agree with the said
Robert Carter the elder his Executors & Administrators that he or they shall and will
well and truely pay or cause to be paid unto the said Robert Carter the elder his --
Executors & Administrators his proportionable share of the expenses aforesaid which are
chargeable upon him pursuant to the Articles of Agreement aforesaid And the said John
Carter as Executor of the last Will and Testament of the said Mann Page and Guardian
of his said Sons for and in behalf of his said Sons does agree with the said Robert Carter
the elder his Heirs and Assigns that the proportionable part of the expences aforesaid
shall be paid out of the Estate of the said Mann Page or the Estate of the said Sons
as the same is or shall be chargeable respectively And the said Charles Carter for --
himself his Heirs Executors & Administrators does likewise agree with the said Robert
Carter the elder his Executors & Administrators that such share and proportion as shall
be chargeable upon him pursuant to the Articles of Agreement aforesaid shall be deducted
out of his share of the profits of the said Adventure as the same shall arrise and accrue
and that neither he nor His Heirs Executors or Administrators shall be entitled to
receive any art of the said Profits until the expenses aforesaid shall be fully satisfied
and discharged In Witness whereof the said parties to these presents hereunto have set
their Hands and Seals the day and year first above written

Sealed and delivered by the within named }              Robert Carter -- (Ls)
Robert Carter the elder Robert Carter the }              John Carter -- (Ls)
younger John Carter & Charles Carter in the}           Robert Carter junior (Ls)
presence of -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- }                 Charles Carter -- -- (Ls)
     Matt Hubard
      George Holden
      Augustine Graham
     John Randolph
Sealed and delivered by the within named
Judith Page in the presence of -- -- --

Virginia Teste    At a General Court held at the Capitol the 4th day of November 1731.
This Indenture was this day in open Court acknowledged by the within named Robert
Carter, Robert Carter the younger, Charles Carter and John Carter to be their Act & Deed
and Priscilla the wife of the said Robert the younger and Mary the wife of the said Charles
being first privit [l] y [sic] examined came into Court and severally relinquished their right of --
Dower in the Lands within mentioned according to the true interest and meaning of this
Indenture and the same was by the Court Ordered to be recorded & is recorded.
                                                            Test Matt Kemp Clerk Gen Curt:
     A Copy from the record
                         Teste JBrown Clerk General Court





NOTES



Source copy consulted: Carter of ["Shirley"] v. Carter [of "Nomini"], 1795, District Chancery Court Records, office of the Clerk of the Circuit Court, City of Fredericksburg, Fredericksburg, Virginia. This document was one of many filed in a lawsuit among Robert Carter descendants which, according to Louis Morton, involved "a dispute about the payment of the income and the division of the land . . ." that had originally formed part of the Frying Pan tracts. The suit last many years; the decision of the Court of Appeals is dated March 20, 1816. (Morton. Robert Carter of Nomini Hall. p. 67, fn. 8.)

The wrapper around this document as filed among the Chancery Court Papers for the Carter v. Carter suit bears the following text: # No. 1 | { Carter } | Inter { &} Agreemet | { Carter &al } | Extract No. To be filed with | the bill | Memo -- when I communad with | R.C. in the year 1778 I am pretty | certain he had the two original Con -- | tracts referred to in this last Contract | and I obtained Copies of them -- when | with all other papers I then obtained | I delivered to Mr Page of Mannsfield | but they are said to be lost -- |I have searched the Records but | can not now find them -- tho' they | are immaterial as this Deed recites | them & admits them between the par: | :ties -- -- | Costs of this Copy 90 lbs Tobacco. | At 1216 Per hundred. | Received payment | $4.50 JBrown.

Bold type has been used in the transcription to represent the larger lettering of certain section headings in the document.

[1] An indenture is a contract between two or more parties. It is so named because copies of such a contract in early times were often written at the top and the bottom of a sheet which was then cut apart in a jagged or indented manner. The copies could then be fitted together to prove autheiticity. "The contract by which an apprentice is bound to the master . . . by which a person binds himself to service in the colonies, etc." ( Oxford English Dictionary Online . Oxford University Press. )

[2] Quinquepartite means that the indenture was "divided into, or consisting of, five parts, pieces, etc." ( Oxford English Dictionary Online . Oxford University Press. )

[3] A relict is "the widow of a man." ( Oxford English Dictionary Online . Oxford University Press. )

[4] Vizt. is the abbreviation for the Latin word "videlicet"; it means "that is to say; namely; to wit: used to introduce an amplification, or more precise or explicit explanation, of a previous statement or word." ( Oxford English Dictionary online. )

[5] John Warner was the surveyor of King George County in 1727; he laid off the town of Falmouth in 1728. Later he worked for Lord Fairfax, and prepared an important map of his holdings. (Harrison, Landmarks of Old Prince William , 626-628. )

[6] In 1728, Carter, his sons Robert and Charles, and his son-in-law Mann Page, organized a company to mine for copper on a tract of some 27,000 acres that Louis Morton describes as lying "near the present boundary of Fairfax and Loudoun counties." Fairfax Harrison wrote that the tract was "on the Horsepen of Broad." Today, there is a Frying Pan Park just east of the border of the Dulles Airport reservation, and there are other things with the name in the area. The company was not successful. (Morton. Robert Robert Carter of Nomini Hall. pp. 18-19; and Harrison. Landmarks. . . . p. 342. )

[7] The Occaquan River is a major tributary of the Potomac River that lay in Stafford County in Carter's day. Much of the river today is known as the Bull Run, and forms the boundary between Fairfax and Prince William counties, and to the west, between Loudoun and Prince William counties. ( Alexandria Drafting Company. Regional Northern Virginia. [Alexandria, VA: Alexandria Drafting Company, 2002.] Coverage of Fairfax, Fauquier, Loudoun, and Prince William counties.)

[8] Among the papers in the Carter v. Carter suit is a copy of a Northern Neck patent February 28, 1729, for 7,269 acres in Stafford (later Prince William) County to Robert Carter, Junior, "at a place called the piney Ridge . . . South side of a branch of Horsepen Run. . . ." (Notes taken by editor, April 7, 1987.)

[9] Post here means "a person who travels express with letters, dispatches, etc., esp. along a fixed route; a courier, a post-rider (now hist.)" established to facilitate communications. ( Oxford English Dictionary Online . Oxford University Press. )

[10] Forest Quarter was located in Westmoreland County. In Carter's 1733 inventory, Jeremiah Bryan was the overseer in charge of 12 slave; there were 36 hogs and and 31 cattle. (Carter Papers: An Inventory. . . ." )

[11] Nansatico may be the Nanzatico Indian Path in "Westmoreland County near the King George County line. . . ." (Miller, Place-Names of the Northern Neck. . . . , p. 19. )

[12] "In 1724, Robert Carter took out patents for, among others: the Licking Run tract of 10,227 acres which lay along and east of Licking Run above Germantown and across Owl and Turkey Runs, to what was then supposed to be the western boundary of the vast Brent Town Tract. Here Carter seated the Lodge Quarter mentioned in his will." Timothy Dargan was its overseer in 1732. ( Carl F. Cannon, Jr., "Robert ("King") Carter of "Corotoman." Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Duke University, 1956, p. 274; and Carter Papers: An Inventory. . . ." )

[13] A cooper is "a craftsman who makes and repairs wooden vessels formed of staves and hoops, as casks, buckets, tubs." ( Oxford English Dictionary Online . Oxford University Press. )

[14] Among the papers in the Carter v. Carter suit is a copy of a Northern Neck patent May 16, 1731, for 217 acres in Stafford (later Prince William) County to Robert Carter, Junior, "on the branches of Pepe's head . . . North Side of Occoquan. . . ." It was an escheat from Terence Ryley of Stafford. Robert Carter, Junior, also had received a patent March 3, 1729, for 875 acres in Stafford adjacent to Ryley's lands. (Notes taken by editor, April 7, 1987.)

[15] Among the papers in the Carter v. Carter suit is a copy of a letter January 26, 1778, from Robert Carter of Nomini Hall to Mann Page of Mannsfield proposing a division of a number of tracts of land including the escheat of 346 acres of land from William Berkeley. (Notes taken by editor, April 7, 1987.)

[16] Lease and release was an old method "(until 1841)" "of conveying property in two stages, through a lease . . . to the intended transferee, followed shortly afterwards by a release . . . of the transferor's remaining interest. . . ." ( Oxford English Dictionary Online . Oxford University Press. )

[17] Dower is "the portion of a deceased husband's estate which the law allows to his widow for her life." ( Oxford English Dictionary Online . Oxford University Press. )

[18] Chattels are "property; goods; money." ( Oxford English Dictionary Online . Oxford University Press. )

[19] Covenanted mens "agreed upon, established, or secured by covenant." ( Oxford English Dictionary Online . Oxford University Press. )

[20] Teste is a Latin word "used in the authenticating clause of a wrote . . . before the name of a person cited as witness or authority. (So and so) being witness, on the authority or evidence of (So and so). . . ." ( Oxford English Dictionary Online . Oxford University Press. )


This text, originally posted in 2006, was revised March 29, 2016, to add footnotes and strengthen the modern language version text.