"King" Carter attends Christ Church.
The six matched horses which drew the coach were being held in check by the driver and the outriders. A chaise may have been waiting behind the coach for the older daughters and guests. The sons of the house, if they were old enough, were mounted and attended by servants on horseback, one for each gentleman. Other mounted servants with led horses may have brought up the rear, but it is doubtful, as the distance to be traveled was only three miles.
There must have been a great rumbling of wheels, creaking of saddle leather and clatter of hoofs when the cavalcade swung onto the road which led from Corotoman to Christ Church. The master had built the road high, drained by deep ditches, and bordered on both sides by closely set cedars. It was like a long formal alley.
When the churchyard came into view people could be seen waiting there. The procession came to a halt with noise and "a great to-do." The family alighted and the master led the way. At the church door he halted and drew a key from his vest pocket with which he unlocked the door. It was customary for gentlemen to remove their swords at the church door and place them in a rack provided for the purpose, but whether or not the head of the Carter family did so is not known.
The Carters entered the church and proceeded to their high boxed pews, where curtains on gilt rods screened them from the gaze of the congregation.
According to tradition, this bit of pageantry was put on by Robert (King) Carter every Sabbath, and the congregation, it was said, waited rain or shine in the churchyard until he came to unlock the door. If he chose to take a Sunday off, services were held in the churchyard, it was said.
Though it was the custom for the rector to sign the vestry minute book first and then the members in order of their rank, in Christ Church the Carters always signed first, tradition says.