The following information was assembled from numerous sources and cannot be used directly as proof of Qualifying Service or Lineage.
It is considered a research aid and is intended to assist in locating sources that can be used as proof.
William McCarter, Whig militia company Captain commanded by Colonel William Hill and Lieutenant Colonel Peter Horry, South Carolina 4th Regt., Light (Horse) Dragoon, dates not recorded.
Patriot #: P-338480
William McCarter’s parents were Scots-Irish Presbyterian *Abraham McCarter (1738-1798), a native of County Down, Northern Ireland and Elizabeth Carson (1730-1830), a daughter of Samuel Carson and his spouse, Sarah of Chester County, Pennsylvania (PA).
William McCarter was born during 1758 at York Co., SC; source, U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900, William McCarter . Several older siblings of our subject were recorded as Walter McCarter, born (b.) in 1751 within the Carolinas [see: SAR Patriot Research System (PRS) Patriot #: P-336042]; David McCarter b. in 1757 [SAR (PRS) Patriot #: P-338444]; Christopher McCarter b. on 27 Jul 1758 [SAR Patriot #: P-336594]; Samuel; Andrew; John; Abraham and Mary McCarter. William’s latent relatives appear recorded within The Jury Lists of South Carolina, 1778-1779 / Early SC Counties -SC Dept. of Archives and History, Cook’s Map of 1773 with Jury Lists of 1778- 1779 compiled from W.P.A. Maps by Hendrix and Lindsay, 1980 publ., by Genealogical Publ., Co., Inc., Baltimore, pgs 56 and 119, captioned: Petit Jurors for the [New Acquisition (District), SC] -*Abraham McCarter; then pg 58, see: *Walter Carson and *Sam’l. Corry; and, pg 83, Petit Jurors ‘Civil Cases’ for Ninety-Six District, SC-Moses McCarter.
See: https://www.carolana.com/SC/Revolution/patriot_military_sc_captains.htmThe American Revolution in South Carolina / The Captains / McCarter, William, Capt. of a company of Horse Dragoon under command of Col. William (Billy) Hill and later, LieutCol. Peter Horry 4th (SC) State Regt. Whig militia, dates of service not recorded. Note – to readers, SAR Patriot #: P-336042 records a published biography of Walter McCarter for an understanding of the formation of The New Acquisition lands within South Carolina during 1772, and the formation (1785) of York County, SC, as an original county for the state. Writer, Randell Jones, Before They Were Heroes at King’s Mountain, copyright 2011, Index, pg 582 -William Hill (Billy), pgs 3, 265-6, 291-4, 300-6, 423-27 and 431-5 publ., by Daniel Boone Footsteps, inferred The Carolina Piedmont-Upcountry Whig leaders and patriots seldom received enough accolades for the many who survived the Revolutionary War and should be credited for their indelible marks upon establishing America, included Col. William (Billy) Hill. Col. William Hill, an Ulster Scot, born in 1741 was called Billy by his (SC) militia horse dragoon companies. He had moved during 1762 from York Co., Pennsylvania (PA) to resettle in the Catawba River valley, along Allison Creek. He founded an ironworks after open-pit mining his tract and he established an iron ore, furnace upon his patent land along Allison Creek before the 1st shot of the Revolutionary War. The SC Militia accepted William Hill’s commission as LieutCol., raised for SC Regt., for The New Acquisition district.
Before the siege and capture of Charleston, SC, McCarter family kinfolk rallied their independent spirit among Upcountry settlers by joining Billy Hill’s effort to supply cannonballs used during the battle of (May 12, 1780) Charleston; only, 17 days prior to the infamous British (Cavalry), LieutCol. Banastre Tarleton’s brief skirmish near Lancaster, SC, that became a devastating assault with sabers and bayonets made against 350 Virginia Continental soldiers led by LieutCol. Abraham Buford on May 29th. Tarleton earned his Whig patriot nickname: “Bloody Tarleton” and thus, this battle was named the Waxhaw Massacre.
At approximately, age 20 William McCarter married Elizabeth Tomlinson, still very young. Elizabeth’s father was Thomas Tomlinson (1747-1826) born within the Virginia (VA) colony. Thomas, age 32 was recorded (1778) as a private in a company commanded by Capt. Thomas Edmund, (VA) 15th Regt., under Maj. Gustavus B. Wallace; source, ancestry.com, RevWar compiled service for soldiers 1775-1784, publ., NARA, WDC, M881; Muster and Pay Cards, Roll: 1085, Record Group: 93 for Thomas Tomlinson, Pvt., 15th VA Regt. Tomlinson’s dau., Elizabeth apparently before dying in childbirth, had sons, Joseph (1780-1864); James (1782-1815); Henry 1786-1843) and Abel (1790-1850).
At age 33, William McCarter’s 2nd marriage was recorded on 25 Jan 1791 to logically a cousin, Isabella Carson (1771-1846) a dau., of John Daniel Carson (1730-1789). Six children, three daus., Elizabeth G. (1791-1870); Mary (1805-1843); Isabella (1805-1843) and sons, Abraham (1794-1840); William (1795- _?) and Jeremiah (1802-_?) were born.
A Find A Grave Memorial # 32292710 recorded William McCarter’s death, at age 85. He was interred with an upright, inscribed headstone at [Pisgah Associate Reformed Presbyterian (ARP) Church and Cemetery] formerly at Gaston County, North Carolina. A color photograph may be observed online at Find A Grave Memorial #, above.
Send a biographical sketch of your patriot!
Patriot biographies must be the original work of the author, and work submitted must not belong to another person or group, in observance with copyright law. Patriot biographies are to be written in complete sentences, follow the established rules of grammar, syntax and punctuation, be free of typographical errors, and follow a narrative format. The narrative should unfold in a logical manner (e.g. the narrative does not jump from time period to time period) or have repeated digressions, or tell the history of the patriot's line from the patriot ancestor to the author. The thinking here is that this is a patriot biography, not a lineage report or a kinship determination project or other report published in a genealogy journal. The biography should discuss the qualifying service (military, patriotic, civil) of the patriot ancestor, where the service was rendered, whether this was a specific state or Continental service, as well as significant events (as determined by the author) of the patriot's life. This is the entire purpose of a patriot's biography.
Additional guidelines around the Biography writeup can be found here:
Send your submission1, in a Microsoft Word compatible format, to patriotbios@sar.org for inclusion in this space 1Upon submission of a patriot biography, the patriot biography becomes the property of the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, and may be edited to conform to the patriot biography submission standards.