Background
His father was Samuel Morrill Carter (1838–1893) and mother was Harriet Layman Hempstead (1836–1898). Alfred Wellington Carter was born April 22, 1862 and named for an uncle Alfred Wellington Carter (1841–1890).
His father was Samuel Morrill Carter (1838–1893) and mother was Harriet Layman Hempstead (1836–1898). Alfred Wellington Carter was born April 22, 1862 and named for an uncle Alfred Wellington Carter (1841–1890).
Carter attended Punahou School and became an officer in the Honolulu Rifles militia in July 1887. In 1893 he graduated cum laude with an Bachelor of Laws degree from Yale Law School.
Since many of his relatives were also named Alfred, he went by his initials "A. West."
By November 1889 he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel. On January 6, 1895 he heard gunfire as the 1895 Counter-Revolution in Hawaii had been discovered nearby. The Carters and neighbor James Bicknell Castle took rifles to the scene of the shooting.
Charles was hit by gunfire and died early the next morning.
On October 12, 1895 Carter married Edith Millicent Hartwell, daughter of American Civil War General and later Hawaii judge Alfred South. Hartwell (1836–1912). They had four children.
Alfred Hartwell Carter was born December 1, 1896. Edith Millicent Carter was born February 17, 1898.
Dorothy Layman Carter was born September 29, 1899.
Barbara Juliette Carter was born June 25, 1901. In 1899 Carter was appointed guardian of Annie Thelma Kahiluonapuaapiilani Parker, heir of half of the vast Parker Ranch founded by her great-grandfather John Palmer Parker (1790–1868). Carter was often at odds with the other half-owner, Samuel Parker, who wanted to use income from the ranch to fund his lifestyle instead of expansion.
Parker sued, claiming he owned the entire ranch, and tried to remove Carter as manager.
The court case dragged on for years. Carter mortgaged the ranch and bought Parker out in 1906.
In 1909 he formed the Hawaii Meat Company as a cooperative with other ranchers (although Parker Ranch was majority owner). In 1937 Carter"s son Alfred Hartwell Carter became manager of the ranch.
Carter died on April 27, 1949.
From 1900 to 1917 Carter was a trustee of Kamehameha Schools, the estate of Bernice Pauahi Bishop set up by Charles Reed Bishop, which was an even larger landowner than the Parker Ranch. Hapuna Beach State Recreation Area was originally named A. West. Carter Park for him, since he helped the territory acquire the land from the ranch. He was inducted into the Paniolo hall of fame in 2003.
