Hannibal C. Carter – Against All Odds

Hannibal C. Carter (Warren County)

Secretary of State: 1873
State House: 1872-1873, 1876-1877

Born: February 1835 in New Albany, IN
Died: June 1, 1904 in Chicago, IL

See below for published descriptions of his early life and military service, and see this biography written by Kelly Navies, a descendant of his brother Edward, at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Carter was the son of George Washington “Wash” Carter (1801-1878), a free man of color living in New Albany, IN, and recorded on the 1830, 1840, and 1850 census there. A successful businessman, he was active on the Underground Railroad. According to census records over the years, Carter and his wife, Ann, had more than ten children, two of whom were born while the Carters were in Canada.

Hannibal C. Carter was first listed on the census by name in 1850 with his family in New Albany. After fighting for the United States in Louisiana during the Civil War, Carter moved to Vicksburg and became prominent in Mississippi politics. The 1880 census of Vicksburg lists him as Hamilton C. Carter, “retired merchant.”

Though Edward Carter remained in Mississippi and stayed active in politics in Tunica County, Hannibal Carter moved to the midwest about 1881 for more safety and opportunity. He was last documented by the census in 1900, living with his sister, Emma, and her husband in Chicago.

“Ham Carter” was a common nickname used for him in newspapers. I don’t know if it was derogatory or a nickname he used for himself. His middle name is given as Caesar in one newspaper article, but a descendant who was named for him had the middle name Cleveland.

“Hannibal C. Carter was born at New Albany, Ind., February 1835, but his early childhood was spent at Toronto, Canada. He received a common school education at New Albany, and then when old enough learned the barber trade and was also a tobacconist.”
(The St. Paul Appeal, July 25, 1891)

“Two prominent New Albany African Americans deserve special attention for their contribution to the Civil War effort: Hannibal Carter and his brother Edward. Despite restrictions placed on African Americans, these men had a certain amount of mobility and were able to cross state lines. They were among some of the first blacks in the United States to muster into service during the Civil War. The two Carter brothers became a part of the Louisiana Native Guards formed in New Orleans initially to protect interests of native New Orleans citizens. Although the exact date is unclear, some time in the spring of 1861, George Washington Carter and sons Hannibal and Edward took the steamer Vicksburgh, which ran on the lower Mississippi, down to New Orleans. According to the New Albany Ledger, they were there on April 12, 1861, when Fort Sumter fell and the Civil War began. The Appeal, which published a biography of Hannibal in 1891, also reported that the men were ‘on the Mississippi Steamer, ‘Vicksburgh,’ when the war broke out.’ Their presence in New Orleans at the start of the war is also confirmed by the fact that the names of Hannibal and Edward Carter appear on the roster of the Louisiana Native Guards in 1861. Edward was a captain in the First Regiment of Louisiana Native Guards, and Hannibal was a captain in the Second Regiment of Louisiana Native Guards.

[…]

During the Reconstruction period, many of the officers of the Native Guard became leaders in the Republican Party. Hannibal assisted in the reconstruction of Tennessee in 1867. In 1868 he was elected as representative from the Eighth Congressional District. In that same year he moved to Mississippi and became involved in the politics of reconstruction there, also. He represented Warren County, Mississippi, in the State Legislature three times and was twice appointed Secretary of State. He was active in getting the Gray-Carter Civil Rights Bill passed in June of 1873.”
(Pamela R. Peters, The Underground Railroad in Floyd County, Indiana, 2001)