The following is my genealogy to my ancestor James Alexander McCarter:

Jack McCarter, Jr. – (1926-1989) Texas businessman who moved from Waxahachie to Dallas, experiencing its rise to modern cosmopolitan city along with the spiritual challenges that presented for himself and others – my father

Jack McCarter, Sr. – (1898-1963) Texas businessman in Waxahachie who paid off the debts his father left behind, with a nice store for his posterity

Henry Clay McCarter – (1871-1931) Texas businessman transplanted from Mississippi who committed suicide following a business failure associated with a catastrophic fire to his cotton gin business outside El Paso, in a place called Deming, New Mexico that people at the time thought was to be the “Chicago of the South”

James Henderson McCarter – (1832- 1917) Mississippi farmer whose first wife died, leaving him seven young children and a servant in the household

Alexander McCarter – (1789-1860) large plantation and hat factory owner (inherited from his father) in Georgia in the ante-bellum South

James Alexander McCarter – (c 1756-1830) large plantation and hat factory owner in Franklin County, Georgia who donated property to start historic Hebron Presbyterian Church of Georgia.  Franklin County, Georgia lies on the border of South Carolina, not too far from Abbeville, South Carolina where likely relatives (the Moses McCarter family) resided.

Information about Hebron Presbyterian Church can be found at: http://hrcga.org/hebron-presbyterian-banks/  and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebron_Church,_Cemetery,_and_Academy .  Information about the church as well as James Alexander McCarter and his family can be found at: https://books.google.com/books/about/Hebron_Presbyterian_Church_God_s_Pilgrim.html?id=YcxMtTlvsV4C .

Circumstantial evidence suggests James Alexander McCarter was the son of John McCarter, brother of Moses McCarter and son of Thomas McArthur.  Moses McCarter and his family lived not far from James Alexander McCarter, in Abbeville, South Carolina.  Thomas McArthur’s sons included Thomas McCarter (born 1719), John McCarter (born 1720), Alexander McCarter (born 1725),  Abraham McCarter (born 1730), and Moses McCarter (born 1731).  These siblings, along with others, were born in Scotland, of Thomas McArthur and his wife Janet, as can be read at https://www.geni.com/people/Thomas-McCarter/6000000009487516058 .  The Thomas McArthur family emigrated to America, and were likely in Bart, Pennsylvania by 1740 (see http://genealogytrails.com/scar/abbeville/mccarterMoses_bio.htm )  Brothers John and Moses show on the Bart, Pennsylvania inhabitant roll between 1751 to 1758:

(They likely had a cousin John also in Bart, PA at the same time, who is the second John McCarter shown, albeit shown separately from Moses and his brother John.  This other John McCarter likely later moved to New Jersey, whereas Thomas McArthur’s sons moved south.)

It would seem that Moses McCarter had his oldest son John (born c 1755) while in Pennsylvania or Virginia.  For information about Moses McCarter, see http://www.everhartgarnergenealogy.org/genealogy/getperson.php?personID=I14116&tree=everhartgarner  and http://ebmfamily.tripod.com/id18.html  .  Moses’ oldest son was named John, and Moses later had another son named James. Moses’ family moved to Virginia in the latter 1750s, and later moved to North Carolina. “Moses’ son James McCarter was born in the Waxhaw Settlement of North Carolina on 5/28/1765.  Moses purchased his first tract of land in what was then Mecklenburg County, North Carolina in the 1760’s.  Abraham McCarter, believed to be a close relation to Moses, purchased 200 acres on Crowders Creek in North Carolina in 1772.” – https://www.ancestry.com/boards/thread.aspx?mv=flat&m=166&p=surnames.mccarter .

Moses’ brother John McCarter had son James Alexander McCarter while in Pennsylvania or Virginia.  While still in Pennsylvania, this John McCarter had various parcels of land in Bart, including Green Tree Inn, which he sold before 1763 (see http://genealogytrails.com/scar/abbeville/mccarterMoses_bio.htm ).  This John McCarter, father of James Alexander McCarter, seems to have followed a similar path south from Pennsylvania with his family as Moses McCarter followed.  It would appear they were first in Virginia, and then moved to North Carolina. The North Carolina land grant register for Mecklenburg County at http://nclandgrants.com:8081/index/?ix=M&cty=M shows the following:

McCarter, Alexander	5 grants; 1200 acres, 1767-1768
McCarter, John	2 grants; 600 acres, 1768
McCarter, Moses	4 grants; 1157 acres, 1766-1769

So it would appear three sons of Thomas McArthur received grants of land in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina about the same time.  Not long afterwards in 1772 their brother Abraham purchased 200 acres (referred to above) in North Carolina.

Moses McCarter’s family seems to have moved further south to South Carolina in the early 1770s, and in 1780 served with Marion’s Rangers of South Carolina in the Revolutionary War.  Moses McCarter died in Abbeville, SC in 1787.  See https://www.myheritage.com/FP/newsItem.php?s=74393331&newsID=2&sourceList=home .

James Alexander McCarter also served in the Revolutionary War, and moved to Georgia by 1786.  Having served in the Revolutionary War like Moses McCarter and his sons John and James, James Alexander McCarter likely received a land grant for his service.  James Alexander McCarter’s two oldest sons (both born before 1780 in Virginia) were John and James Jr.  This strengthens the case that James Alexander McCarter’s father was John McCarter, given typical Scottish naming conventions.  It is hard to know exactly when and where James Alexander McCarter’s father John died, but it was likely in the 1770s in North Carolina.  His father John was a decade older than John’s brother Moses.

Per http://genealogytrails.com/scar/abbeville/mccarterMoses_bio.htm , here is the ancestry of Moses McCarter (and his brother John McCarter, father of James Alexander McCarter:

“Donald McKinlay – Scotland  m. Margaret Leckie – Scotland

Daughter – Agnes McKinlay b. June 12, 1620 Gargunnock, Sterlingshire, Scotland
m. Donald McArthur b. abt. 1615

Son – John McArthur b. Oct, 2, 1654 Gargunnock, Sterlingshoire, Scotland
m. Agnes McCullie

Son – Thomas McArthur b. Jan 1683/84 Kilmadock, Perthshire, Scotland
m. Janet Chalmers b. July 21, 1694 Glasgow, Lanark, Scotland”

So it would appear that Thomas McArthur’s children changed their name to McCarter from McArthur after coming to America.  These other McCarters in the nearby vicinity of South Carolina descended from Donald McArthur (aka Donald MacArthur)  (died circa 1684), the Earl of Glencare, whose estates were confiscated and his title broken by Cromwell. Donald McArthur was husband of Agnes McKinlay (1620-1690). Donald McArthur was born and died in Gargunnock, Stirlingshire, Scotland.

So here would be the closer ancestry of James Alexander McCarter to Donald McArthur:

James Alexander McCarter – (c 1756-1830)

John McCarter – (1720-?)

Thomas McArthur – (1683/84 – ?)

John McArthur – (1654 -?)

Donald McArthur (1615-?)

Donald McArthur’s closer ancestors were:

1. Fingin Riabach MacArthur (married Lady Elena Mac Arthur) – (1571-1624) Earl of Glencare.  His wife, Lady Elena Mac Arthur, lived 1588-1640.
2. Donal Mac Arthur, Earl of Glencare  – (1518 – 1596)
3. Donal an Dumin Mac Arthur – (1481 – 1531)

For information on the above, see https://www.myheritage.com/names/fingin_macarthur .

The above were all part of the MacArthur clan, described at: http://www.scotclans.com/scottish-clans/clan-macarthur/macarthur-history/ .  As noted there:

“The legends of King Arthur are well known and historically contradictory. From the Welsh-speaking areas of Strathclyde (in which Glasgow now lies), Rheged and Gododdin (in which Edinburgh now lies), the earliest surviving Scottish poem tells of the resistance leader Arthur fighting against the English of Northumbria when they defeated Gododdin. When Scotland’s Welsh-speaking Kingdoms were wiped out the language returned to Wales and Cornwall.  Arthurian legend was taken with it to be transplanted and developed all over these areas. Arthur’s Seat, however, remains solidly beside Edinburgh. An ancient Celtic couplet ran, ‘the hills and streams and MacAlpine but whence came forth MacArthur?’ so old is the name.  The MacArthurs fought beside Robert the Bruce for Scotland’s independence and gained mid-Argyll lands from the King’s opposers as a reward. From here the MacArthurs prospered and spread, growing into two successful houses – the MacArthurs of Loch Awe and the MacArthur Campbells of Strachur.  In the thirteenth century a MacArthur married the heiress of Duncan mac Duibhne. Later the Clanh Ua Duihne carried the nickname Cam beul. So through the MacArthurs came the Campbells. When James I returned from his English imprisonment his wrath fell upon the MacArthurs among others. Through a wave of executions and estate seizures the MacArthurs were stunted and the Campbells became the predominant race north of Glasgow.”

So as explained above, clan MacArthur and clan Campbell are really two branches of the same family.  That intersection is interesting because through my father’s side I am descended from the MacArthurs of Scotland and through my mother’s side I am descended from the Campbells of Scotland (see http://www.puritans.net/my-genealogy-back-to-archibald-campbell-iii-earl-of-argyle/  ).

There is good reason to believe these McArthurs are descended from the legendary King Arthur, despite many detractors (see http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/king-macarthur-scots-lay-claim-to-the-legend-of-the-round-table-552854.html ): “Hugh McArthur, 42, a historian from Glasgow, claims Arthur was Artur MacAeden, a Welsh-speaking prince of the Britons that ruled the region of Strathclyde between the 4th and 11th centuries and fought Saxon invaders in the 6th century…According to the Clan Arthur historian, Govan used to be the traditional burial ground for the castle at Dumbarton – which means fortress of the Britons – and was called Castello Artutius, or Arthur’s Castle in the 11th century.”

Here is what I would understand the genealogy is from Donal an Dumin Mac Arthur back to King Arthur, utilizing information at http://paleoferrosaurus.com/Children_of_Arthur.pdf :

Donal an Dumin Mac Arthur – (1481 – 1531)

Cormac Ladhrach Mac Arthur

Teigh Laith Mac Arthur

Donal an Daimh Mac Arthur – (1373 – 1420)

Teigh Na Ministreach Mac Arthur

Donal Mac Arthur

Cormac Mac Arthur

Donal Og Mac Arthur

Cormac Fionn Mac Arthur

Dormal Mor Na Curra Mac Arthur

Diarmuid Mor Na Gill Bagham Mac Arthur

Cormac Magh-Tamnagh Mac Arthur

Muirecach Mac Arthur

Cathach Mac Arthur

Artha

Saorbhreathach

Doncha

Ceallachan Cashal

Bouchan

Lachna

Artgal

Sneidh

Daologach

Nathfraoch

Colgan

Fallobhe Flan

Arthur – famous British king based in the Strathclyde region of northwest Britain who unsuccessfully sought to hold back and reverse the Anglo Saxon invasion (It was from the Strathclyde that the Briton Patrick took the Christian gospel to Ireland around this same time in history.)

 

I hope to provide more of that evidence and my lineage back to King Arthur as time permits.