 View of the Carter pew looking down from the top level of the pulpit. Notice how the Carter pew, as well as those to the south (right) and west (left) of it, have raised paneling both on the interior and exterior, whereas those smaller pews north of the Carter pew have raised paneling only on the exterior. |
The Carter pew stands in the northeast corner of the crossing. Though Robert Carter died in 1732, three years before his sons completed the church, the pew no doubt served many of his descendants over the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
Carter's will, first composed in August 1726, directed that funds be provided to finance construction of a brick church for Christ Church Parish. In leaving 200 pounds sterling for the project, Carter stipulated “that there be preserved to my family a commodious pew in the new Chancel." In 1730, when he formally proposed to the vestry to build this church himself, Carter determined the specific location of his family pew: A letter written by Joseph Ball in 1835, citing the now-lost vestry book, states Carter “made a proposal for a new brick Church at his own cost & charges, reserving the north end & a large pew opposite the pulpit to him & his family and their heirs…” |
