He was born in 1869 in Otonabee Township, Peterborough County, Ontario, Canada, the son of James Julian Carter (of Irish descent) and Sarah Jane Fife (of Scottish descent).
He was in San Francisco, California, when news of the Klondike gold strike arrived, and he headed north to Skagway, Alaska in 1897.
Outside politics, he owned and operated a funeral home, the Charles W. Carter Mortuary, which he founded in 1916.
[4] According to the December 2, 1949 DAILY ALASKA EMPIRE, page 8, “Carter founded the [mortuary] firm in October, 1926, after 16 years’ employment for the C.W.
Young Company, which maintained undertaking parlors in connection with its hardware business.” Article title is, CHAS.