Dabney Carr

Who was Dabney Carr?

Dabney Carr was a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses and brother-in-law of Thomas Jefferson.

Carr was born on October 26, 1743 to John and Barbara Carr at Bear Castle, a large farm in Louisa County, Virginia. He studied law at The College of William & Mary at the same time as his friend, Thomas Jefferson. Carr married Jefferson's younger sister, Martha, in 1765.

In 1771, Carr was elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses and again in 1772. In March 1773, he proposed the creation of a Committee of correspondence to help coordinate communication between Virginia and other colonies. He died of ill health soon after, on May 16, 1773, a few weeks after the birth of his son, Dabney Carr, and was buried on the grounds of Monticello, by his best friend Jefferson.