On 9 Dec 1730 when Sarah was 20, she married
Thomas Carter (24004) , son of
Thomas Carter (12036) (8 Jun 1655-aft 21 Sep 1722) &
Margery Whitmore (9168) (9 Sep 1668-5 Oct 1734), in Hebron, CT.
Born on 13 Jun 1686 in Woburn, MA.124 Thomas died in Warren, CT, on 18 Nov 1772; he was 86.481 Buried in Warren Cemetery.
Thomas Carter moved from Reading to Weston ca 1718, then to Hebron, CT in 1726, then in 1750 to Kent, Litchfield Co., CT.
From The Descendants of Thomas Carter:481
Thomas Carter was born in Woburn June 13, 1668. In 1710 his father conveyed land to him on “Reading Line,” the deed being signed also by his mother, “Margaret Carter.” In a deed dated 1611 he is called “Thomas Carter of Reading, Wheelwright.”
He married (i) at Reading, Feb. 19, 1713, Abigail Locke of Woburn. Feb. 19, 1720/21, Thomas Carter “owned ye covenant” in Weston, Mass., and his three children, Thomas, Abigail and Elizabeth, were baptized. Two other children, Anna and Benjamin, were also baptized in Weston later.
Oct. 20, 1726, William Smith of Weston sells to Thomas Career of Weston, land in Hebron, Ct., and Dec. 12, 1726, Thomas Carter and wife Abigail “of Hebron” convey land and house in Weston, Mass. From the above and other records, it would appear that Thomas Carter removed from Reading to Weston about 1718 or 1719, where he remained until 1726, when he removed to Hebron, Ct. (Middlesex, Mass., Co. Records, vol. 44, p. 140; Hebron, Ct., Land Records, vol. 2, p. 48.)
April 10, 1729, Abigail (Locke) Carter died leaving five children, and Dec. 9, 1730, Thomas3 Carter married (2) Sarah Gilbert, dau. of Samuel Gilbert (Samuel, Jonathan) and Mercy, dau. of Isaac and Sarah (Boltwood) Warner.
Jonathan Gilbert, great-grandfather of Sarah (Gilbert) Carter, was the well-known Jonathan Gilbert who was so prominent in the affairs of the Colony of Connecticut from 1645 until his death in 1682. He was collector of customs at Hartford, deputy to the General Court, marshal of the colony, and often engaged in negotiations of importance with the Indians, with whose languages he was well acquainted. He was also chief inn-holder of Hartford,and in his house the General Court usually met when they did not sit at the meetinghouse.
He was a man of large wealth for the day and acquired extensive tracts of land in different settlements, some by government grant for important service rendered, which lands he subsequently divided among his children.
Remarried (1) Mary, daughter of Elder John White, and (2) Mary, daughter of Hugh Welles, brother of Gov. Thomas Welles, and one of the founders of Hartford.
After a residence of some 25 or more years in Hebron, Thomas Carter, with nearly all his numerous family, some of them already married, together with several related families from Hebron and vicinity, migrated soon after 1750 to what was then the northeastern part of the town of Kent, in Litchfield county, and took up a large part of what later became the town of Warren. Rough, wild and mountainous much of it is now and always has been, and to these early pioneers it must have presented difficulties which only stout hearts and strong arms could overcome. But it is doubtless to these very obstacles which faced these and other pioneers of New England towns, that the world is indebted for those splendid specimens of manhood and sturdy character which is typified by the stern and rugged aspect of the lands which they subdued, and in many cases made to “blossom as the rose.”
There is a tradition that one of the early Carters came first to Warren, then practically a wilderness without paths or roads, and selected a spot for a clearing. He then returned to Hebron and came back with the family, but so wild was the country that for some time they were unable to find the site which had been selected. The Carters settled in the north part of the town and never lived to any extent in the southern part, and there was always considerable rivalry between the north and the south. When the church was built each section tried to see which could bring the biggest corner stone. It is said that the " south " won in the contest.
The church of the “Society of East Greenwich (now Warren) in the town of Kent” was formally organized Sept. 22, 1756, and as the name of Thomas Carter is first on the list of those who “owned the Covenant” on that occasion, it is believed that a copy of that first covenant will be of interest to many, and it is given herewith:
“We whose Names are underwritten being united in the Belief of the Christian Religion as taught in the Holy Scriptures, an excellent summary whereof is contained in the Westminster Shorter Chatechism, And being united in Love and Charity towards one another, Do now give up ourselves to God through Jesus Christ to be forever the Lord's, to love him and walk in his ways, keep his Commandments, seeking his glory---. And do mutually covenant and engage from this day and forward untill regularly dismissed, to live together as a Church of Christ according to the rules of the Gospel, to attend publick worship and sealing ordinances together, to walk in the same faith, to maintain brotherly love, to be in subjection to the Government and Discipline Christ has established in his Church.
In the Presence of God the Searcher of hearts we do now make this covenant, hoping in his mercy thro Jesus Christ to keep it in perpetual remembrance, we have hereunto set our names and do now before all this Congregation publickly ratify and confirm the same.
Thomas Carter
Jonathn. Sackett
Nathel. Swift and Abiah his wife
Nathel. Fuller and Mary his wife
Joseph Smalley and Jemima his wife
Abel Comstock
Nathel. Tupper and Elizabeth his wife
Benjamen Hutchens
Jonathn. Sackett Jun.
Daniel Mack
Oliver Finney
Justus Sacket
Jerusha Bliss
Elizabeth Finney
East Greenwich Sept. 22 A. D. 1756
Then the above named Persons publickly Covenanted as above and were declared to be a Church of Christ
Test Joseph Bellamy, Daniel Brinsmade