Background
Carter was born in Hinderclay, Suffolk, England, and baptized there on 3 July 1608. His father was James Carter, who was buried 3 May 1625.
Carter was born in Hinderclay, Suffolk, England, and baptized there on 3 July 1608. His father was James Carter, who was buried 3 May 1625.
He studied at Street John"s College, Cambridge, receiving his Bachelor of Arts in 1630 and his Master of Arts
He had an older brother, James, baptized 14 June 1603, and an older sister, Mary, baptized 25 March 1605 or 1606. in 1633. Carter was a student at Cambridge at the same time as John Harvard, and the two probably knew each other there. Carter was active in the church, both at Dedham, and at Watertown, Massachusetts, where he served as an elder.
Having demonstrated spiritual gifts during his time as an elder, on November 22, 1642, Carter was ordained at Woburn, Massachusetts and he became the pastor of the Woburn congregation.
Together, they had eight children: Samuel, Judith, Theopilus, Mary, Abigail, Deborah, Timothy, and Thomas. A painting by Albert Thompson depicting the occasion of his ordination is currently displayed at the Woburn Public Library.
His ordination, as the painting suggests, included all of the major ministers of Massachusetts, including John Cotton, Richard Mather, John Eliot, Edward Johnson, John Wilson, with Increase Nowell sitting in the front row.
