John R. Carter

John Ridgeley Carter (November 28, 1864 – June 4, 1944) was an American attorney, diplomat, and banker.

Early life Carter was born on November 28, 1864, in Baltimore, Maryland. He was one of fourteen children born to Mary Buckner (née Ridgely) Carter and Bernard Carter, a prominent lawyer and professor.

Carter received his undergraduate degree in 1883 from Trinity College in Hartford, followed by an M.A. degree there in 1885. After graduate work at the University of Leipzig, a law degree from Maryland University in 1887, and another from Harvard Law School in 1888, Joseph Hodges Choate until 1905, when he was appointed Secretary of the American Embassy in London under Ambassador Whitelaw Reid, remaining in that role until 1909.

On September 25, 1909, he was appointed as U.S. Minister at Bucharest, Romania. He presented his credentials on November 14, 1909, and served until October 24, 1911. While Minister to Romania, he concurrently served as the U.S. Minister to Serbia and Bulgaria (appointed as diplomatic agent on September 25, 1909, followed by U.S. Minister on June 24, 1910, although he never presented his credentials).

In 1911, he was offered the post of U.S. Minister to Argentina, but refused it because it came without a house to live in. Carter felt that without such accommodation, the post would be too expensive for him on his annual salary of $12,000. Alice, one of seven children born to Carolyn (née Fellowes) Morgan and banker David Pierce Morgan, was the sister of William Fellowes Morgan Sr. Together, they were the parents of:

Caroline Mildred Carter (1888–1965), who married Archibald, Viscount Acheson (later the 5th Earl of Gosford), in 1910. Bernard Shirley Carter (1893–1961),

He was a member of both the Knickerbocker Club in New York and the Metropolitan Club in Washington, D.C. Carter died on June 4, 1944, at the Knickerbocker Club, his residence in New York City. His funeral was held at St. Bartholomew's Church on Park Avenue.

Legacy Carter was painted by prominent American artist John Singer Sargent in 1901. In 2007, the portrait of John R. Carter sold at Sotheby's for $1,833,000.