“We’re here today to celebrate his vision and cunning,” said educator and author Daisy Howard-Douglas. “The manumission is a luminous moment in Virginia history.”

Carter was the grandson of Robert “King” Carter, a colonist and one of the wealthiest men in America. As principal heir, Carter III inherited his grandfather’s 16 plantations across the Northern Neck and northern Virginia and chose to live at Nomini Hall Plantation in Westmoreland County, said Peggy Evans Garland, author and attorney.

“Slaves went with the land,” said Garland. Carter did not buy them, but acquired them by inheritance, with their numbers increasing by procreation. Carter left the Anglican Church, choosing to follow the teachings of Lewis Lundsford, the first paster of Morattico Baptist Church. He came to believe “slavery was contrary to the principles of religious justice,” Garland reported.

On September 5, 1791, he filed the Deed of Manumission in the Northumberland County Court, thus becoming the first emancipator. He freed 15 slaves each year, beginning January 2, 1792, she noted.

“It took him over 20 years to free all of his slaves because he wanted to train and educate them” in trades such as blacksmiths, watermen, carpenters, artisans and educators, according to Howard-Douglas. “He created the largest population of freed men. This was unheard of and caused conflict and quite a stir.”

Howard-Douglas said Carter’s neighbors were unhappy with his action, believing it would cause an uprising of slaves and result in a decrease in the value of their property. “Everyone was angry...including his children...especially when he gave away some of his land to his slaves,” she said.

Carter chose to abandon the plantation life and move to Baltimore, leaving his lands to his son, George, who began buying more slaves. After Carter’s death in 1804, George tried to overturn the manumission in court, but when that failed, he continued to free the remaining slaves up to 1820, said Garland.

According to the Rev. Craig Smith, pastor of Morattico Baptist Church, the church was founded in 1778 and it became known as the mother church of Baptists in the Northern Neck. Carter was a member and supporter who traveled from Nomini to Northumberland to attend services.

“Carter was searching,” said Rev. Smith. “He was a great man who had a vision of how things should be. Everyone now knows, looking back, he was right.”