His paternal grandparents, Yancey Ligon Carter and Mary Elizabeth Morton, were prominent tobacco farmers in Rockingham County.

[5] After finishing school, Carter worked as a supervisor at Halstead Metal Products in Pine Hall.

[6] Carter, who was suffering from depression, began painting in 1991 after he lost his job at Halstead Metal Products due to a layoff.

[6][7] His later work featured paintings of New York City imagery including skylines, taxi cabs, and the Statue of Liberty.

His work was documented in the books Self-Taught, Outsider, and Folk Art by Betty-Carol Sellen and Cynthia J. Johanson,[13] American Folk Art: A Regional Reference by Kristin G. Congdon and Kara Kelley Hallmark, and Light of the Spirit: Portraits of Southern Outsider Artists by Karekin Goekjian and Robert Peacock.