John Carter was a resident of Martin County. Several men later claimed that John Carter was an early member of the Gourd Patch Conspiracy and that he, motivated by a fear that the new state government would promote Catholicism and reject Protestantism, recruited new members and had them take oaths of secrecy. Carter also allegedly tried to obtain gunpowder and bullet in Halifax at an unspecified date. Once the plot was uncovered, Carter was listed as being able to provide evidence against his former co-conspirators John Lewellen and William Tyler.