King Carter was a man of enormous wealth and power, a Colonial Governor who owned about 1, 000 slaves and more than 300,000 acres of land.  He died in 1732, about three months after Carter III's father, leaving the boy with a fortune.  Carter III was much more wealthier than young George Washington and Thomas Jefferson.  The sprawling Nomini Hall, which is tough to locate on a map today, was just one of his sixteen plantations.  "I have for some time past been convinced that to retain them in slavery is contrary to the true principles of religion and justice and that therefor it was my duty to MANUMIT them.    The manumission was so deeply unpopular - neighbors complained, and one threatened to torch Carter's home.  Many have tried to raise awareness of Carter's counterculture stance on slavery, going back to his children's tuter.  Living at Nomini Hall in 1773, Phillip Vickers Fithian marveled over how the generous but eccentric aristocrat weekly alloted each slave 16 pints of dry corn and one pound of meat.  "I make no doubt at all but he is, by far the most humane to his slaves of any in these parts."    Carter also allowed the free men to choose their last names so they could keep families together and pass down wealth.  He ensured they had salable skills, arranged for them to buy or lease land, and bought their wares.  He also spent a great deal on transporting them from his plantations to the Northumberland Courthouse, and on lawyers to guarantee his heirs.  "Carter's plans look more like a pilot for MASS EMANCIPATION," Andrew Levy, a professor at Butler University said.