Charles Hill Carter Jr., owner of Shirley Plantation, dies
To see Charles Hill Carter Jr. entertaining guests on the lawn at historic stately Shirley Plantation on the James River was to see a Tidewater gentleman extending gracious hospitality at home.
However, when there was a lull in the thousands of tourists who thronged through one of Virginia's oldest plantations, the plain-spoken man of Charles City County with one foot in the 18th century and another in the 21st reverted to a hard-working farmer. He was not averse to cutting the grass in the searing sun or dirtying his hands caring for crops, cattle and sheep.
Mr. Carter, who inherited Shirley in 1952 from a cousin and became the 10th generation in the Hill and Carter families to own and operate the 700-acre estate, died at age 90 on Friday after a lengthy illness.
A memorial service will be held Friday at 1 p.m. at Westover Episcopal Church, 6401 John Tyler Memorial Highway, where generations of his family have worshiped and where he once served as senior warden.
Born a stone's throw from Shirley at "High Hills," his father's Charles City County farm, he came with his family to live at Shirley when he was 9.
He was a direct descendant of Robert "King" Carter of "Corotoman," the wealthiest man in 17th-century Virginia. Construction of Shirley began in 1723 when Elizabeth Hill, a great-granddaughter of Col. Edward Hill, who received the original Shirley land grant, married John Carter, eldest son of "King" Carter. The house, completed in 1738, is largely in its original state and has been owned, operated and lived in by direct descendants of Edward Hill.
Mr. Carter attended Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, where he earned a degree in agriculture in 1943.
When he returned to the county after serving in civilian defense during World War II, he went to work for a cousin who owned Shirley.
In 1950, Mr. Carter accepted an offer to serve an uncompleted term on the Charles City Board of Supervisors, which then was a three-person group that met once a month. He left the board in 1991 after 41 years, including a stint as chairman. It was a record tenure for a supervisor in the state at the time.
For years after he inherited Shirley, he balanced between maintaining the house and farming his land, but eventually he leased the land to other farmers in order to concentrate on restoring the house and its outbuildings.
During the 1950s, he and his wife opened the first floor of the house to tourists year-round and began to host events on the grounds, plowing the funds they garnered into running Shirley. Mr. Carter served on numerous boards and committees promoting Virginia tourism.
He teamed with his family in later years in a struggle to ensure that Shirley survived as a family-owned estate.
Survivors include his Danish-born wife of 49 years, Helle Margrethe Klingemann Carter; two sons, Charles Hill Carter III of Charles City and Robert Randolph "Randy" Carter of Henrico; a daughter, Harriet Emily Pittman of Charles City; a sister, Gertrude Macon of Richmond; a brother, Shirley Harrison Carter of Charles City; and one grandson.
Contact Ellen Robertson at (804) 649-6115 or
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Reader Reactions
I first met Mr. Carter at a Virginia Banker’s Convention in 1970 a few months after my graduation from UVA Law School. He had left a message for me at the Registration Desk, and I should have been alerted by the deference everyone showed when they heard that he wished to see me. He had obtained permission to check something in a house in which I was house sitting temporarily for the estate of the former owner. I had no idea who he was. He was one of the most gracious gentlemen I have ever met. He arranged to come over after the morning meeting, and we chatted like old friends. In the course of our conversation, I disclosed that I had grown up on my grandmother’s farm, and he intimated that he had grown up on a farm also. We discussed life on a farm and growing various crops, as if he were just a good old country boy instead of the master of one of the most famous homes in America. At the Banker’s dinner that evening, he came and sat next to me (fortunately the head place was vacant and I invited him to sit there). This was in a Ball Room of tables of hundreds of people, and as I remember, he was titularly the host as Chairman of the convention. I introduced him to everyone at my table individually. I remember that the President of the Bank at which I was then employed (who was seated at the head of the adjacent table) and with whom I had had a slight disagreement about my appearance at that dinner, could not figure out how I came to be acquainted with “Hill Carter”, yet I still did not know who he was. I never figured that out until I picked up the Washington Post magazine some years later and saw a cover photo of him headlining an article about Charles Hill Carter, the ninth generation of his name who had owned Shirley Plantation. By his demeanor and behavior, he was a true aristocrat which is now even more a rarity than it was 40 years ago.
Too bad Mr. Carter could not have delayed his death until 2010 when, I believe, the estate tax will expire. I hope his family
will be able to keep the plantation intact and open to the rest of us to view a wonderful piece of Americana.
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