Black and white portrait of Benjamin Franklin, an older man with long, curly hair, wearing a dark coat and white shirt with a high collar.

Carter Braxton

Signature of Carter Braxton in cursive handwriting

BORN - September 10, 1736 at the Newington Plantation on the Mattapony River near the King and Queen County Courthouse, VA.Parents (English ancestry) - George Braxton, II. (b1705-d1749) and Mary Carter Braxton (b1712-d1736).  Two Children – George Braxton III (b1734-d1761), Carter Braxton (b1736-d1797).  Mother Mary died 1736 giving birth to Carter.  Carter was a grandson of Robert “King” Carter, one of the wealthiest landowners and slaveholders in VA at the time.   

DIED - October 10, 1797 (age 61) from a stroke at his townhouse in Richmond, VA.  Religion – Anglican / Episcopalian.  Buried – Braxton Family Cemetery at Chericoke Plantation, VA.      

APPEARANCE – The picture above is the portrait of Carter Braxton painted by Albert Rosenthal in 1901 after a miniature by an unknown artist or Carter or his brother, George.  Agreeable, sensible speaker, and an accomplished gentleman.    

FAMILY – Married - Judith Robinson (b1736-d1757) in 1754 (both age 19).  Two Children – Mary Braxton Page (b1756-d1794), Judith Braxton White (b1757-d1823).  Wife Judith died in 1757 giving birth to daughter Judith.  Married - Elizabeth Corbin (b1747-d1814) in 1761.  Sixteen Children - Elizabeth Corbin Braxton Griffin (b1760-d1798), George Braxton (b1762-d1801), Corbin Braxton (b1764-d1822), Carter Braxton II (b1765-d1809), Ann Corbin Braxton (b1767-d1825), Alicia Corbin Braxton (b1770-d1811), John Tayloe Braxton (b1781-d1809), William Braxton (b1783-___), Tayloe Braxton (___), ___.   

OCCUPATION – PLANTER, MERCHANT, LEGISLATOR.  Graduated from the College of William and Mary and Attended Cambridge University in England.  Member of the Continental Congress representing Virginia from 1775 to 1776.  

AT SIGNING – Age 39 at signing.

AFTER SIGNING – Spent heavily on the war from his personal fortune.  His ships were captured by the British and many of his landholdings were pillaged.  Died in poverty due in part to bad business decisions.

HISTORIC SITES                                                                                                                                     

Elsing Green – Manor House, Elsing Green Plantation, King William County, VA (1720).  Located at 1048 Elsing Green Lane, King William, VA 23086, on the Pamunkey River, 35 miles northeast of Richmond, VA, Phone 804-769-3416, Website www.elsinggreen.com.  Braxton home from 1760 to 1767.  Privately owned.  Open to the public by appointment. 

Chericokeand Gravesite – Chericoke Plantation, King William County, VA (1767 / 1828).  Located on the Pamunkey River in King William County, near Falls, VA.  Braxton home from 1767 to 1786.  The current house was built on the site of the original by his grandson Dr. Corbin Braxton in 1828.  Privately owned.      

West Point, VA – Site of townhouse, West Point, VA.  The roadside historical marker reads – “HOME OF SIGNER – Carter Braxton, Signer of the Declaration of Independence, lived at West Point 1777-1786 after fire destroyed his plantation at Chericoke, upriver on the Pamunkey.  The town house no longer stands.  From West Point Braxton channeled war goods to Patriot troops.”

Birthplace - Newington Plantation Archaeological Site.  Located at 998 Newington Lane, King and Queen Court House, VA. 

Courthouse – King and Queen County Court House, VA (1691 / 1866).  Located at the intersection o Allen’s Circle and Courthouse Landing Road, VA 23085, Phone 804-785-5982, Website www.kingandqueenco.net.  Tavern Museum.  Located at 146 Court House Landing Road, Phone 804-785-9558, Website www.kingandqueenmuseum.org.   Carter Braxton was born at the nearby Newington Plantation.   

Church – Old St. John’s Episcopal Church, West Point, VA (1734).  Located at 103 St. John's Church Lane, West Point, VA 23181, on Route 30 (King William Road), 10 miles northwest of West Point, Phone 804-843-9194.  Website oldstjohn.org.  The roadside historical marker reads – “ST. JOHN’S CHURCH – This was the parish church of St. John’s Parish, formed in 1680.  It was built in 1734.  Earlier churches stood at West Point and about one mile north of this site.  Carter Braxton, Revolutionary statesman, was a vestryman preserved by joint effort.”  

Large red brick historic mansion with multiple chimneys, surrounded by green trees and a gravel driveway in front.

Home of Carter Braxton, Elsing Green Plantation, King William County, VA (1720). 

Located at 1048 Elsing Green Lane, King William County, VA 23086, on the Pamunkey River, 35 miles northeast of Richmond, VA, Phone 804-769-3416, Website www.elsinggreen.com.  Privately owned.  Open to the public by appointment.

Elsing Green is believed to be named for Elsing Hall, a small country manor house in Norfolk, England.  The Queen Anne manor house and nearby kitchen were built by the Dandridge family between 1715 and 1720.  Legend has it that Martha Dandridge Custis Washington, the future wife of George Washington, once rode her horse through the house.  The original structure, a brick Jacobean lodge was built before 1690, and now serves as the east dependency of the manor house.  Carter Braxton bought the property in 1753, and lived there from 1760 to 1767.  He moved to Chericoke Plantation several miles from Elsing Green where he lived from 1767 to 1786.  He then moved to a townhouse in Richmond in 1786, because of mounting debts where he lived until his death in 1797.