Hugh Carter

Born in Plains, Georgia, Carter served in World War II as a United States Army lieutenant seeing combat in Europe. After the war, Carter remained in the reserves and retired as a lieutenant colonel in 1964. Carter graduated from Georgia Southwestern State University, during a time when it was a two-year college, then from the Georgia Institute of Technology with a BS in industrial engineering, and followed by an MBA from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.{{cite web | url=https://issuu.com/gtalumni/docs/1978_54_2/8 | title=Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Vol. 54, No. 02 1978 by Georgia Tech Alumni Association - Issuu | date=October 8, 2013 }}

Carter served seven terms (14 years) in the Georgia State Senate, from 1967 until 1981 and was a Democrat.{{cite web|title=Members of the Georgia General Assembly - 135th Session - Term 1979-1980|publisher=State of Georgia|url=http://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/cgi-bin/govdimag.cgi?path=dbs/1980/ga/s700/_ps1/g4/1979_h80/sess_p2.con/&user=galileo&sessionid=637f8586-1586164702-1315&serverid=DU&instcode=afpl&return=ggpd%3fuserid%3dgalileo%26dbs%3dggpd%26action%3dretrieve%26recno%3d44%26numrecs%3d100%26__rtype%3drecno%26key%3dy-ga-bs700-b-ps1-bg4-b1979-h80-bsess-p2|date=January 1980|access-date=May 6, 2018}} He represented District 14, and succeeded his cousin future-President Jimmy Carter in that post.'Sen. Hugh Carter Retiring', Rome News-Tribune (Georgia), March 10, 1980, pg. 2 He represented eight Georgia rural counties, and served as chairman of the Senate Education Committee and was a senior member of the Appropriations, Rules and Fiscal Affairs Committees.

Carter owned a bait shop and a general (later antique) store.{{cite web|title=Obituary: Hugh Carter|publisher=Independent|author=Rupert Cornwell|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/obituary-hugh-carter-1103127.html|date=June 28, 1999|access-date=May 6, 2018}} In 1949, Carter started a third business growing fish bait. Originally limited to crickets, he later expanded into worms. By the mid-1950s, Carter was selling worms nationwide and laying claim to the title of "the world's largest worm farmer", producing more than 60 million a year. Carter wrote six pamphlets on worm and cricket farming, the best seller in 1958 was 18 Secrets of Successful Worm Raising {{cite book |last=Carter |first=Hugh |date=1958 |title=18 Secrets of Successful Worm Raising|publisher=H. Carter |url=https://www.amazon.com/18-secrets-successful-worm-raising/dp/B0006RZ0OS |asin=B0006RZ0OS}}{{cite book|title=Over 300 Questions and Answers on Worm Raising|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k2ZCswEACAAJ|year=1978|publisher=Carter Worm Farm}} The pamphlet originally sold for $1.00. When Carter raised the price to $2.95 sales grew even faster. In 1978, he wrote a book: Cousin Beedie and Cousin Hot: My life with the Carter Family from Plains, Georgia.{{cite book|author1=Hugh Alton Carter|author2=Frances Spatz Leighton|title=Cousin Beedie and Cousin Hot: My Life with the Carter Family of Plains, Georgia|url=https://archive.org/details/cousinbeediecous0000cart|url-access=registration|date=January 1, 1978|publisher=Prentice-Hall|isbn=978-0-13-185470-3}} The book drew the wrath of aunt Lillian Carter and cousin Billy Carter. In the book, he had referred to the President's mother as "domineering", while offering his opinion of Presidential brother, Billy: "He's not a redneck, but can make money as a redneck". Shortly after the book's publication, Carter drew a political opponent. Peanut farmer Malcolm "Chicken" Wishard, was backed by Hugh Carter's aggrieved aunt Lillian and cousin Billy. However, Wishard's campaign slogan "Help the Chicken take the Worm", failed to inspire voters, and Carter was re-elected to another term in the State Senate.

Carter retired from the State Senate in 1981. His bait growing business suffered declining sales in the 1990s, and he closed it in 1996.

At the age of 78, Carter died in Americus, Georgia, on June 24, 1999.{{cite web|title=Hugh Carter Sr., 78, Bait-seller and aide to his cousin Jimmy|work=New York Times|author=Wolfgang Saxon|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/06/28/us/hugh-carter-sr-78-bait-seller-and-aide-to-his-cousin-jimmy.html|date=June 28, 1999|access-date= May 6, 2018}}[http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/carter4.html Political Graveyard]

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• {{Find a Grave|9357030}}
• [https://www.amazon.com/How-where-sell-fishworms-crickets/dp/B0007FVRU0 How and Where to Sell Fishworms and Crickets (1957) - Hugh A. Carter]
• [https://www.amazon.com/Raising-gray-cricket-hybrid-redworm/dp/B0006XUNFS Raising the Gray Cricket (1978) - Hugh A. Carter]
• [https://www.amazon.co.uk/raise-African-redworm-Alton-Carter/dp/B0007H1ELK How to Raise the African Redworm (1959) - Hugh A. Carter]
• [https://www.amazon.com/What-feed-how-hybrid-wiggler/dp/B0006RZ0O8/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1525675430&sr=1-2&refinements=p_27%3AHugh+Alton+Carter How to Feed the Hybrid Red Wiggler (1965) - Hugh A. Carter]

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Category:People from Plains, Georgia

Category:Military personnel from Georgia (U.S. state)

Category:Georgia Southwestern State University alumni

Category:University of Georgia alumni

Category:Businesspeople from Georgia (U.S. state)

Category:Democratic Party Georgia (U.S. state) state senators

Category:Writers from Georgia (U.S. state)

Hugh

Category:1920 births

Category:1999 deaths

Category:20th-century American businesspeople

Category:United States Army personnel of World War II

Category:20th-century members of the Georgia General Assembly