Family oral tradition is that Richard Carr was born in Ireland but no evidence of this has been found. From DNA testing, it is known that his family line was related to a line of Carr's living in Yorkshire England.

Jim Carr has suggested that Richard was born in Virginia http://boards.ancestry.com/thread.aspx?mv=flat&m=3283&p=surnames.carr and that his grandfather immigrated from Bearfaulds, Scotland.