page_title: Dabney Carr (Virginia assemblyman)
section_title: Early life and education
hierarchical_section_title: Dabney Carr (Virginia assemblyman) / Early life and education
caption_attribution_description: English: A view of the Wren Building from the Sunken Garden at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia
context_page_description: Dabney Carr was a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses and was married to Martha Jefferson, the sister of Thomas Jefferson. He introduced the Committee of correspondence in Virginia which was a leading factor in the formation of the Continental Congress in 1774. Carr and Jefferson were good friends and, fulfilling a boyhood promise, was buried in the Monticello graveyard. His sons included politicians Peter and Samuel Carr and Judge Dabney Carr.
context_section_description: Carr was born on October 26, 1743 to John Carr (1706–1778) and his second wife, Barbara Overton Carr (died 1794), daughter of Captain James and Elizabeth Overton. He was born at Bear Castle, a large farm in Louisa County, Virginia. His father John, who attained the title of Colonel, was a justice and sheriff in Louisa County. Carr descended from early settlers and men who performed public service and had large landholdings throughout Virginia. Dabney had an older half-brother, Thomas. His other siblings were Samuel, Overton, Garland, Mary, and Elizabeth.
  He was educated at Rev. James Maury's School, where he met Thomas Jefferson. Maury taught James Madison, James Monroe, Thomas Jefferson, three of the country's presidents, and two other signers of the United States Declaration of Independence. The school was conducted in a log cabin in Albemarle County. They were taught geography, history, mathematics, literature, classics, and manners and morals. Both Jefferson and Carr studied law at College of William & Mary. During his education, he also became friends of John Taylor and James Madison. 
  After he became close friends with Jefferson, he often went home on weekends to Shadwell and also became close friends with two of Jefferson's sisters, Martha and Jane. The young men often rode horses through what they called Tom's mountain, which became Monticello.
caption: Wren Building, College of William & Mary. With a construction history dating back to 1695, it is part of the college's ancient campus.
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