Charles Carroll (September 19, 1737 – November 14, 1832), known as Charles Carroll of Carrollton or Charles Carroll III, was an
Irish-American politician, planter, and
signatory of the
Declaration of Independence
A declaration of independence or declaration of statehood or proclamation of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of ...
. He was the only
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...
signatory and the last surviving signatory of the Declaration of Independence, dying 56 years after signing the document.
Considered one of the
Founding Fathers of the United States
The Founding Fathers of the United States, known simply as the Founding Fathers or Founders, were a group of late-18th-century American revolutionary leaders who united the Thirteen Colonies, oversaw the war for independence from Great Britai ...
, Carroll was known contemporaneously as the "First Citizen" of the American Colonies, a consequence of signing articles in the ''Maryland Gazette'' with that pen name. He served as a delegate to the
Continental Congress
The Continental Congress was a series of legislative bodies, with some executive function, for thirteen of Britain's colonies in North America, and the newly declared United States just before, during, and after the American Revolutionary War. ...
and
Confederation Congress. Carroll later served as the first
United States Senator
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and p ...
for
Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; ...
. Of all of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, Carroll was reputed to be the wealthiest and most formally educated of the group. A product of his 17-year
Jesuit education in France, Carroll spoke five languages fluently.
Born in
Annapolis, Maryland
Annapolis ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Maryland and the county seat of, and only incorporated city in, Anne Arundel County. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east ...
, Carroll inherited vast agricultural estates and was regarded as the wealthiest man in the American colonies when the
American Revolution
The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolu ...
commenced in 1775. His personal fortune at this time was reputed to be 2,100,000 pounds sterling, the (US$375 million). In addition, Carroll presided over his manor in Maryland, a 10,000-acre estate which held approximately 300 slaves.
Though barred from holding office in Maryland because of his religion, Carroll emerged as a leader of the state's movement for independence. He was a delegate to the
Annapolis Convention and was selected as a delegate to the Continental Congress in 1776. He was part of an unsuccessful diplomatic mission, which also included
Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor
An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a m ...
and
Samuel Chase
Samuel Chase (April 17, 1741 – June 19, 1811) was a Founding Father of the United States, a signatory to the Continental Association and United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of Maryland, and an Associate Justice of th ...
, that Congress sent to
Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Government of Canada, Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is ...
in hopes of winning the support of
French Canadians.
Carroll served in the
Maryland Senate
The Maryland Senate, sometimes referred to as the Maryland State Senate, is the upper house of the General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maryland. Composed of 47 senators elected from an equal number of constituent single- ...
from 1781 to 1800. He was elected as one of Maryland's inaugural representatives in the United States Senate but resigned from the United States Senate in 1792 after Maryland passed a law barring individuals from simultaneously serving in state and federal office. After retiring from public office, he helped establish the
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was the first common carrier railroad and the oldest railroad in the United States, with its first section opening in 1830. Merchants from Baltimore, which had benefited to some extent from the construction of ...
.
Ancestry
The
Carroll family were descendants of the Ó Cearbhaill's, who were the rulers of the Irish
petty kingdom
A petty kingdom is a kingdom described as minor or "petty" (from the French 'petit' meaning small) by contrast to an empire or unified kingdom that either preceded or succeeded it (e.g. the numerous kingdoms of Anglo-Saxon England unified into ...
of
Éile in
King's County,
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
. Carroll's grandfather was
Charles Carroll the Settler, an Irishman from
Aghagurty
Aghagurty () is a townland in County Offaly, Ireland. It is approximately in area. Aghagurty was the ancestral home of Charles Carroll of Carrollton, the only Catholic signatory of the American Declaration of Independence, whose grandfather, Char ...
who moved to
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
in 1685 and worked as a clerk for English nobleman
Lord Powis before immigrating to
Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; ...
on October 1688. After arriving in Maryland, he settled in the colonial capital of
St. Mary's City with a commission as an
attorney general
In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general.
In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...
from the colony's
proprietor,
Lord Baltimore.
Carroll's father was
Charles Carroll of Annapolis, who was born in
Annapolis, Maryland
Annapolis ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Maryland and the county seat of, and only incorporated city in, Anne Arundel County. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east ...
in 1702. Though he inherited the
plantation of
Doughoregan Manor
Doughoregan Manor () is a plantation house and estate located on Manor Lane west of Ellicott City, Maryland, United States. Established in the early 18th century as the seat of Maryland's prominent Carroll family, it was home to Founding Fath ...
from his father, as a Roman Catholic he was forbidden from participating in the political affairs of the colony.
Early life
Carroll was born on September 19, 1737, in Annapolis, Maryland, the only child of Charles Carroll of Annapolis and his wife Elizabeth Brooke. He was born an illegitimate child, as his parents were not married at the time of his birth, for technical reasons to do with the inheritance of the Carroll family estates. They eventually married in 1757.
The young Carroll was educated at a
Jesuit preparatory school known as Bohemia Manor in
Cecil County
Cecil County () is a county located in the U.S. state of Maryland at the northeastern corner of the state, bordering both Pennsylvania and Delaware. As of the 2020 census, the population was 103,725. The county seat is Elkton. The county was n ...
on Maryland's
Eastern Shore Eastern Shore may refer to:
* Eastern Shore (Nova Scotia), a region
* Eastern Shore (electoral district), a provincial electoral district in Nova Scotia
* Eastern Shore of Maryland, a region
* Eastern Shore of Virginia, a region
* Eastern Shore (Al ...
.
At age 11, he was sent to France, where he continued in Jesuit schools, first at the
College of St. Omer in Northern France and later the
Lycée Louis-le-Grand in Paris, graduating in 1755. He continued his studies in Europe and
read law in London before returning to Annapolis in 1765.
[Maier, Pauline. ''The Old Revolutionaries'' (1980), />]
Charles Carroll of Annapolis granted
Carrollton Manor to his son, Charles Carroll of Carrollton. It is from this tract of land that he took his title "Charles Carroll of Carrollton." Like his father, Carroll was a Catholic and as a consequence was barred by Maryland statute from entering politics, practicing law and voting.
This did not prevent him from becoming one of the wealthiest men in Maryland (or indeed anywhere in the Colonies),
[McClanahan, Brion T., p.199, ''The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Founding Fathers''](_blank)
Retrieved November 2010. owning extensive agricultural estates, most notably the large manor at
Doughoregan
Doughoregan Manor () is a plantation house and estate located on Manor Lane west of Ellicott City, Maryland, United States. Established in the early 18th century as the seat of Maryland's prominent Carroll family, it was home to Founding Fath ...
,
Hockley Forge and Mill, and providing capital to finance new enterprises on the Western Shore.
American Revolution
Voice for independence
Carroll was not initially interested in politics,
and in any event Catholics had been barred from holding office in Maryland since the 1704 act seeking "to prevent the growth of Popery in this Province".
[Roark, Elisabeth Louise, p.78, Artists of colonial America](_blank)
Retrieved August 2012 But as the dispute between
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...
and her
American colonies
The Thirteen Colonies, also known as the Thirteen British Colonies, the Thirteen American Colonies, or later as the United Colonies, were a group of British colonies on the Atlantic coast of North America. Founded in the 17th and 18th centur ...
intensified in the early 1770s, Carroll became a powerful voice for independence. In 1772, he engaged in a debate, conducted through anonymous newspaper letters, maintaining the right of the colonies to control their own taxation. Writing in the ''
Maryland Gazette'' under the pseudonym "First Citizen," he became a prominent spokesman against the governor's proclamation increasing legal fees to state officers and Protestant clergy. Opposing Carroll in these written debates and writing as "Antillon" was
Daniel Dulany the Younger, a noted lawyer and
loyalist politician.
[Warfield, J. D., p. 215, ''The Founders of Anne Arundel and Howard Counties, Maryland''](_blank)
Retrieved November 2010. In these debates, Carroll argued that the government of Maryland had long been the monopoly of four families, the Ogles, the Taskers, the Bladens and the Dulanys, with Dulany taking the contrary view.
Eventually word spread of the true identity of the two combatants, and Carroll's fame and notoriety began to grow.
[McClanahan, Brion T., p.203, ''The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Founding Fathers''](_blank)
Retrieved November 2010. Dulany soon resorted to highly personal ad hominem attacks on "First Citizen", and Carroll responded, in statesmanlike fashion, with considerable restraint, arguing that when "Antillon" engaged in "virulent invective and illiberal abuse, we may fairly presume, that arguments are either wanting, or that ignorance or incapacity know not how to apply them".
Following these written debates, Carroll became a leading opponent of British rule and served on various committees of correspondence.
In the early 1770s Carroll appears to have embraced the idea that only violence could break the impasse with Great Britain. According to legend, Carroll and
Samuel Chase
Samuel Chase (April 17, 1741 – June 19, 1811) was a Founding Father of the United States, a signatory to the Continental Association and United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of Maryland, and an Associate Justice of th ...
(who would also later sign the Declaration of Independence on Maryland's behalf) had the following exchange:
:Chase: "We have the better of our opponents; we have completely written them down."
:Carroll: "And do you think that writing will settle the question between us?"
:Chase: "To be sure, what else can we resort to?"
:Carroll: "The bayonet. Our arguments will only raise the feelings of the people to that pitch, when open war will be looked to as the arbiter of the dispute."
[McClanahan, Brion T., p.204, ''The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Founding Fathers''](_blank)
Retrieved November 2010.
Continental Congress
Beginning with his election to Maryland's
committee of correspondence in 1774, Carroll represented the colony in most of the pre-revolutionary groups. He became a member of Annapolis' first
committee of safety in 1775. Carroll was a delegate to the
Annapolis Convention, which functioned as Maryland's revolutionary government before the Declaration of Independence. In early 1776, the Congress sent him on a four-man diplomatic mission to the
Province of Quebec, in order to seek assistance from French Canadians in the coming confrontation with Great Britain. Carroll was an excellent choice for such a mission, being fluent in French and a Catholic and therefore well suited to negotiations with the French-speaking Catholics of Quebec.
He was joined in the commission by
Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor
An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a m ...
,
Samuel Chase
Samuel Chase (April 17, 1741 – June 19, 1811) was a Founding Father of the United States, a signatory to the Continental Association and United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of Maryland, and an Associate Justice of th ...
, and his cousin
John Carroll.
The commission did not accomplish its mission.
Carroll was elected to the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, and remained a delegate until 1778. He arrived too late to vote in favor of the
Declaration of Independence
A declaration of independence or declaration of statehood or proclamation of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of ...
but was present to sign the official document that survives today. After both
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was previously the nati ...
and
John Adams
John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, attorney, diplomat, writer, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Befor ...
died on July 4, 1826, Carroll became the last living signatory of the Declaration of Independence. His signature reads "Charles Carroll of Carrollton" to distinguish him from his father, "
Charles Carroll of Annapolis," who was still living at that time, and several other
Charles Carrolls in Maryland, such as Charles Carroll, Barrister, and his son Charles Carroll, Jr., also known as "Charles Carroll of Homewood." He is usually referred to this way by historians. At the time, he was the richest man in America and had much to lose by identifying himself on the document. Throughout his term in the
Second Continental Congress
The Second Continental Congress was a late-18th-century meeting of delegates from the Thirteen Colonies that united in support of the American Revolutionary War. The Congress was creating a new country it first named " United Colonies" and in ...
, he served on the board of war. Carroll also gave considerable financial support to the
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of ...
.
Senator
Carroll returned to Maryland in 1778 to assist in the formation of a state government. Carroll was re-elected to the Continental Congress in 1780, but he declined. He was elected to the
Maryland Senate
The Maryland Senate, sometimes referred to as the Maryland State Senate, is the upper house of the General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maryland. Composed of 47 senators elected from an equal number of constituent single- ...
in 1781 and served there until 1800. In November 1779, The
Maryland House of Delegates moved to pass a bill confiscating the property of those who had sided with the Crown during the Revolution. Carroll opposed this measure, questioning the motives of those who pressed for confiscation and arguing that the measure was unjust. However, such moves to confiscate
Tory
A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. The ...
property had much popular support and eventually, in 1780, the measure passed.
When the United States government was created, the Maryland legislature elected him to the first
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and ...
. In 1792, Maryland passed a law that prohibited any man from serving in the state and national legislatures at the same time. Since he preferred to be in the Maryland Senate, he resigned from the U.S. Senate on November 30, 1792.
Attitude toward slavery
The Carroll family were
slaveholders, and Carroll was reputedly the largest single slave-owner at the time of the American Revolution. Carroll was opposed in principle to slavery, asking rhetorically: "Why keep alive the question of slavery? It is admitted by all to be a great evil." However, although he supported its gradual abolition, he did not free his own slaves. Carroll introduced a bill for the gradual abolition of slavery in the Maryland Senate, but it did not pass. In 1828, aged 91, he served as president of the
Auxiliary State Colonization Society of Maryland, the Maryland branch of the
American Colonization Society, an organization dedicated to returning black Americans to lead free lives in African states such as
Liberia
Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean to its south and southwest. It ...
.
Later life and legacy
Carroll retired from public life in 1801. After Thomas Jefferson became president, he had great anxiety about political activity and was not sympathetic to the
War of 1812
The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It ...
. He was elected a member of the
American Antiquarian Society in 1815. Carroll came out of retirement to help create the
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was the first common carrier railroad and the oldest railroad in the United States, with its first section opening in 1830. Merchants from Baltimore, which had benefited to some extent from the construction of ...
in 1827. In 1828, he commissioned the
Phoenix Shot Tower and laid its cornerstone, which was the tallest building in the United States until the
Washington Monument
The Washington Monument is an obelisk shaped building within the National Mall in Washington, D.C., built to commemorate George Washington, once commander-in-chief of the Continental Army (1775–1784) in the American Revolutionary War and ...
was constructed. His last public act, on July 4, 1828, was the laying of the "first stone" (cornerstone) of the railroad at almost 91 years of age.
He was admitted as an honorary member of The
Society of the Cincinnati
The Society of the Cincinnati is a fraternal, hereditary society founded in 1783 to commemorate the American Revolutionary War that saw the creation of the United States. Membership is largely restricted to descendants of military officers wh ...
in the state of Maryland in 1828. Unlike hereditary members, honorary members are not eligible to be represented by a living descendant. In May 1832, he was asked to appear at the first
Democratic Party Convention but did not attend on account of poor health. Carroll died on November 14, 1832, at age 95, in
Baltimore
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
. He holds the distinction of being the oldest lived Founding Father. He had outlived four of the first six U.S. presidents. His funeral took place at the Baltimore Cathedral (now known as the
Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary), and he is buried in his Doughoregan Manor Chapel at
Ellicott City, Maryland
Ellicott City is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in, and the county seat of, Howard County, Maryland, Howard County, Maryland, United States. Part of the Baltimore metropolitan area, its population was 65,834 at the United ...
.
Carroll is remembered in the third stanza of the former state song ''
Maryland, My Maryland''.
:Thou wilt not cower in the dust,
:Maryland! My Maryland!
:Thy beaming sword shall never rust,
:Maryland! My Maryland!
:Remember Carroll's sacred trust,
:Remember Howard's warlike thrust –
:And all thy slumberers with the just,
:Maryland! My Maryland!
Named in his honor are counties in
Arkansas
Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the ...
,
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to t ...
,
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Roc ...
,
Indiana
Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th ...
,
Iowa
Iowa () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wiscon ...
,
Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; ...
,
Mississippi
Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Mis ...
,
Missouri
Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...
,
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the nor ...
,
Ohio
Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...
, and
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the East Coast of the United States, Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography an ...
as well as two Louisiana parishes,
East and
West Carroll. Cities and towns named for him are in
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to t ...
,
Kentucky
Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virgini ...
,
Iowa
Iowa () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wiscon ...
,
Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; ...
,
Missouri
Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...
, and
New York, as well as neighborhoods in
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Kings County is the most populous Administrative divisions of New York (state)#County, county in the State of New York, ...
and
Tampa
Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the seat of Hillsborough Co ...
.
Charles Carroll Middle School in New Carrollton, Maryland; Charles Carroll High School in the
Port Richmond neighborhood of
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
; and
Carroll University in
Waukesha, Wisconsin, are named in his honor.
In 1876, the Centennial Exhibition held to commemorate the birth of the United States was held in Philadelphia. The Catholic Abstinence Union of America commissioned the
Catholic Total Abstinence Union Fountain
''The Catholic Total Abstinence Union Fountain'' (1874–1877) – also known as ''The Catholic Total Abstinence Centennial Fountain'' or ''The Centennial Fountain'' – is a now defunct ornamental fountain and drinking fountain located in ...
for the Centennial Exhibition. The fountain was commissioned and created by sculptor Herman Kim to promote American morality, and the centerpiece of the fountain is a statue of
Moses. There are four other statues that surround it, making up the points of the
Maltese cross
The Maltese cross is a cross symbol, consisting of four " V" or arrowhead shaped concave quadrilaterals converging at a central vertex at right angles, two tips pointing outward symmetrically.
It is a heraldic cross variant which develop ...
: Carroll,
Father Mathew,
Commodore John Barry
John Barry (March 25, 1745 – September 13, 1803) was an Irish-American officer in the Continental Navy during the American Revolutionary War and later in the United States Navy. He has been credited as "The Father of the American Navy" (and ...
, and Archbishop
John Carroll. The fountain is located in West Fairmount Park.
In 1903, the state of Maryland added a
bronze statue Carroll to the
United States Capitol
The United States Capitol, often called The Capitol or the Capitol Building, is the Seat of government, seat of the Legislature, legislative branch of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, which is form ...
's
National Statuary Hall Collection
The National Statuary Hall Collection in the United States Capitol is composed of statues donated by individual states to honor persons notable in their history. Limited to two statues per state, the collection was originally set up in the old ...
. Sculpted by
Richard E. Brooks, it is located in the Crypt.
In 1906, the
University of Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic university, Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend, Indiana, South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin fo ...
constructed a residence hall known as
Carroll Hall
Carroll Hall is one of the 33 Residence Halls on the campus of the University of Notre Dame and one of the 16 male dorms. Carroll is located on the shores of St. Mary's Lake, and is the smallest of the residence halls, housing around 100 undergr ...
. Paca-Carroll House at
St. John's College is named for Carroll and his fellow signer of the Declaration of Independence,
William Paca. The
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
Liberty Ship
Liberty ships were a ship class, class of cargo ship built in the United States during World War II under the Emergency Shipbuilding Program. Though British in concept, the design was adopted by the United States for its simple, low-cost constr ...
was named in his honor.
Family
Carroll married Mary Darnall (1749–1782), known as Molly, on June 5, 1768. She was a granddaughter of
Henry Darnall (Carroll was a great grandson of Darnall). They had seven children before Molly died in 1782, but only three survived infancy:
* Mary Carroll (1770–1846), who married
Richard Caton (1763–1845), an
English immigrant who became a
Baltimore
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
merchant. From 1820 to 1832, Carroll would winter with the Catons in Baltimore. Their daughters were:
**
Marianne Caton (1788–1853), who married Robert Patterson (brother of
Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte
Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte (February 6, 1785 – April 4, 1879) was an American socialite. She was the daughter of a Baltimore merchant and the first wife of Jérôme Bonaparte, Napoleon's youngest brother.
Early life
Patterson was born in Ba ...
). After his death, she married
Anglo-Irish statesman
Richard Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley
Richard Colley Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley, (20 June 1760 – 26 September 1842) was an Anglo-Irish politician and colonial administrator. He was styled as Viscount Wellesley until 1781, when he succeeded his father as 2nd Earl of ...
(1760–1842), who was the brother of the legendary military commander
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, (1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was an Anglo-Irish people, Anglo-Irish soldier and Tories (British political party), Tory statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures of Uni ...
, who was believed to have been previously Marianne's
paramour.
** Elizabeth Caton (1790–1862), who married
Sir George Strafford, 8th Baron Strafford.
** Louisa Caton (1793–1874), who married Col.
Sir Felton Bathurst-Hervey, 1st Baronet. After his death, she married
Francis D'Arcy-Osborne (later the
7th Duke of Leeds).
** Emily Caton (1794/5-1867), who married
John McTavish (1788–1852), who served as British Consul to Baltimore. They were parents of four children including Mary Wellesley McTavish (1826–1915), The Hon. Mrs
Henry George Howard
Henry may refer to:
People
*Henry (given name)
*Henry (surname)
* Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry
Royalty
* Portuguese royalty
** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal
** Henry, Count of Portugal, ...
(of the
Earls of Carlisle).
* Charles Carroll Jr. (1775–1825) (sometimes known as Charles Carroll of
Homewood because he oversaw its design and construction), married Harriet Chew (1775–1861) from Philadelphia. Harriet was the daughter of
Benjamin Chew, the chief justice of
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; (Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Ma ...
, and her sister married
John Eager Howard, who had served in the Senate with Charles Carroll of Carrollton. Charles Jr. reportedly consumed up to two quarts of brandy a day. This led to erratic behavior that resulted in his separation from Harriet.
* Catherine ("Kitty") Carroll (1778–1861), who married
Robert Goodloe Harper (1765–1826), a lawyer and U.S. senator.
Today, Carroll's descendants continue to own Doughoregan Manor, the largest parcel of land in Howard County, Maryland, with over 1,000 acres (4 km
2) of valuable but historically preserved land in Ellicott City, Maryland.
Anne Marie Becraft's grandmother, a free Black, worked as a housekeeper for Carroll and was likely his
concubine
Concubinage is an interpersonal and sexual relationship between a man and a woman in which the couple does not want, or cannot enter into a full marriage. Concubinage and marriage are often regarded as similar but mutually exclusive.
Concubi ...
; Carroll presented Anne Marie's father with several of the Carroll family's prized relics, paintings, and other keepsakes just before Carroll's death in 1832.
Carroll's signature
In the 1940s, newspaper journalist John Hix's syndicated comic ''
Strange as It Seems'' published an apocryphal explanation for Charles Carroll's distinctive signature on the Declaration of Independence. Every member of the Continental Congress who signed this document automatically became a criminal, guilty of sedition against King
George III
George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...
. Carroll, because of his wealth, had more to lose than most of his companions. Some of the signators, such as
Caesar Rodney and
Button Gwinnett, had unusual and distinctive names which would clearly identify them to the King; other signators, with more commonplace names, might hope to sign the Declaration without incriminating themselves.
According to Hix, when it was Carroll's turn to sign the Declaration of Independence, he rose, went to
John Hancock's desk where the document rested, signed his name "Charles Carroll" and returned to his seat. At this point another member of the Continental Congress, who was prejudiced against Carroll because of his Catholicism, commented that Carroll risked nothing in signing the document, as there must be many men named Charles Carroll in the colonies, and so the King would be unlikely to order Carroll's arrest without clear proof that he was the same Charles Carroll who had signed the Declaration. Carroll immediately returned to Hancock's desk, seized the pen again, and added "of Carrollton" to his name.
In fact, Carroll had been appending "of Carrollton" to his signature for over a decade, the earliest surviving example appearing at the end of a September 15, 1765, letter to his English friend William Gibson. Carrollton Manor was the name of a tract of more than twelve thousand acres in Frederick County, Maryland, which the Carroll family leased to tenant farmers.
[Hoffman, Ronald, Sally D. Mason and Eleanor S. Darcy, Eds. Dear Papa, Dear Charley: Vol. I, pp. 344, n. 2, 378, and 378, n. 9. Chapel Hill, NC. The University of North Carolina Press, 2001.]
See also
*
1840s Carrollton Inn
The 1840s Carrollton Inn and Plaza, located in Baltimore, Maryland, consists of two historic buildings and their complementary 1980 additions built to resemble the previous federal style buildings. The oldest of the row house buildings dates back t ...
*
Annapolis Convention (1774–1776)
*
Memorial to the 56 Signers of the Declaration of Independence
*
Carrollton Manor
*
Maryland in the American Revolution
*
O'Carroll
References
Further reading
* Birzer, Bradley J. (2010). ''American Cicero: The Life of Charles Carroll,''
Intercollegiate Studies Institute
The Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI) is a nonprofit educational organization that promotes conservative thought on college campuses.
It was founded in 1953 by Frank Chodorov with William F. Buckley Jr. as its first president. It sponsors ...
.
* Breidenbach, Michael D. (2013). 'Conciliarism and American Religious Liberty, 1632–1835' (Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Cambridge).
* Carroll, Charles
''Unpublished Letters of Charles Carroll of Carrollton and of his Father, Charles Carroll of Doughoregan,''United States Catholic Historical Society, 1902.
* Gleeson, John. 1913 'History of the Ely O'Carroll Territory'
*
*
* Leonard, Lewis A
''Life of Charles Carroll of Carrollton,''Moffat, Yard and Company, 1918.
*
* Rowland, Kate Mason
''The Life of Charles Carroll of Carrollton, 1737–1832,''Vol. 2
G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1898.
* Sergeant, John
''Eulogy on Charles Carroll of Carrollton: Delivered at the Request of the Select and Common Councils of the City of Philadelphia, December 31, 1832,''
L.R. Bailey, 1833.
* Smith, Ellen Hart. ''Charles Carroll of Carrollton''. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1942.
External links
. Retrieved November 2010.
Quotes by Charles Carroll Retrieved November 2010.
"Charles Carroll of Carrollton and Revolutionary Religious Toleration: The Making of a Founder" Article by Matthew Wigler in the Journal of the American Revolution. Retrieved February 2017.
A Moment in Time Archives: Charles Carroll of Carrollton Retrieved November 2010.
Homewood House Museum Retrieved November 2010.
Retrieved November 2010.
Biography by Rev. Charles A. Goodrich, 1856. Retrieved November 2010.
ZENIT: How Charles Carroll Influenced U.S. Founding Fathers (Part 1)an
(Part 2)(interview with Scott McDermott; McDermott mentions various facts about Carroll). Retrieved November 2010.
* Catholic Encyclopedia
*
Charles Carroll of Carrolltonhistorical marker
The Society of the Cincinnati
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carroll, Charles, Of Carrollton
1737 births
1832 deaths
Politicians from Annapolis, Maryland
People of colonial Maryland
Charles
Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was ...
American people of Irish descent
American Roman Catholics
Continental Congressmen from Maryland
Signers of the United States Declaration of Independence
Pro-Administration Party United States senators from Maryland
Maryland Federalists
Presidents of the Maryland State Senate
American people in rail transportation
American slave owners
American colonization movement
Members of the American Antiquarian Society
Burials in Maryland
United States senators who owned slaves