Educated at Cambridge, he left England and emigrated to the American colonies during the Puritan Great Migration.

Carter was ordained as a Puritan minister in 1642, becoming the first person in the American colonies to receive a Christian ordination.

A prominent religious figure in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, Carter was one signers of the Dedham Covenant and one of the founders of Woburn.

[4][5] Carter preached in Woburn for the first time on December 4, 1641, which was the second service of public worship ever held in the new town.

A painting by Albert Thompson depicting the occasion of his ordination is currently displayed at the Woburn Public Library.