Charles Carroll (abt. 1661 - 1720)

Born about 1661 in County Offaly, Ireland

Ancestors

Husband of Martha (Smith) Carroll — married 4 Nov 1689 in Maryland

Husband of Mary (Darnall) Carroll — married about 14 Feb 1693 in Maryland, British America

Descendants

Died 1 Jul 1720 at about age 59 in Maryland

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Biography

Charles Carroll was born in Ireland.

Charles was a Roman Catholic

Charles Carroll was a Maryland colonist.

Charles Carroll is Notable.

Birth

Charles Carroll was born in 1660 or 1661, probably at Aghagurty, near Kinnity, in what is now County Offaly, Ireland.
Charles was the second of four sons born to Daniel Carroll of Aghagurty and Litterluna & Dorothy Kennedy.

Family property in Ireland

Charles' branch of the original O'Carroll clan of the Ely O'Carroll lands, had been in the Litterluna area near Cadamstown, Offaly for centuries.
They settled at Ballymacadam castle in the 13th century, which was seized in the late 16th century when they joined the rebellion of O'Neill, earl of Tyrone against the English.
These events led to the nine years war, 1593 - 1603, in which their kinsmen at Birr castle sided with the crown. Charles' great great grandfather Donell McTeige Oure O'Carroll was pardoned and settled at Sierkieran a few miles from Ballymacadam, where he built Ballymooney castle on a re-grant of 941 acres. Anglicizing his name to Carroll was one of the conditions of the re-grant.
The vast majority of this property was seized by 1662, after his son, Charles' great grandfather Daniel Carroll of Ballymooney joined the Confederate Army, fought the English in the 11 years war, was tried for treason and exiled to Spain. This branch of the Carroll clan then ended up at Aghagurty near Kinnity. Charles' grandfather Anthony Carroll of Aghagurty was killed fighting for Spain in the Stuart army and Charles' father Daniel Carroll was left fatherless and impoverished.
Colonel Richard Grace became the guardian of Daniel and following generations. Grace had been a commander in the Stuart army in Europe and when James II was restored to the throne, Grace was made Governor of Athlone and confiscated Grace property was restored to him, as well as being granted Carroll property near Aghagurty and other benefits. He made Charles' father, Daniel Carroll, the head tenant of the property at Aghagurty, which gave the family a livelihood though their means remained very limited compared to their former status.^[1]
Richard Grace's assistance was later extended to Daniel Carroll's sons and he obtained a leasehold at Lisheenboy in County Tipperary for Charles' elder brother Anthony Carroll. He also sent Charles' to France to be educated in the law.

Education

Charles studied law at the University of Lille as well as at the University of Douai in France and was admitted to the Inner Temple in London, one of the four Inns of Court that admit members to the bar, to practice as barristers.
Charles obtained a position as clerk to William Herbert, the 1st Marquess of Powis who went into exile in France with James II and was one of only two Catholic peers in the court of King James II.^[2]

Migration to Maryland

In October 1688, just a few weeks before the start of the Glorious Revolution in which James II was deposed by his daughter Mary II and Mary's husband William III of Orange; Charles left for the colony of Maryland. His father had died in Ireland some weeks earlier and with anti Catholic riots in England and the imminent overthrow of James II; Charles left England with fees outstanding to the Inner Temple and without having been admitted to the bar.
He is credited with having changed the family motto from 'In fide et in bello fortis' meaning 'Strong in Faith and War', to 'Ubicumque cum Libertate' meaning 'Anywhere, so long as there be freedom'. Charles chose Maryland, which was intended to be a haven for Catholics oppressed in England, Scotland and Ireland. He became known as Charles Carroll The Settler or Charles Carroll The Immigrant.
Title to the colony of Maryland was held by the Calverts, Barons Baltimore. Through recommendation, probably from William Herbert, the Marquess of Powis, Charles was made Attorney General of the colony Maryland by Charles Calvert, 3rd Baron Baltimore.
Charles was also granted land in Maryland in compensation for that taken from his family in Ireland. However, Maryland turned out to not be the haven that Charles had hoped for. In 1689, after the Glorious Revolution, Maryland was declared a crown colony by William and Mary II. The Catholic Charles Calvert lost his properietorship of the colony and and Charles Carroll lost his position as Attorney General. In 1691, William III appointed a Protestant, Sir Lionel Copley as governor of Maryland; Charles Carroll was imprisoned for vociferously refusing to renounce his Catholic faith.

Marriage

In 1689, Charles married a wealthy widow, Martha Ridgely Underwood (née Smith). Martha died during childbirth in 1690, along with their infant son Anthony, who was presumably named for Charles' elder brother. Charles inherited a share of Martha's estate, which increased his wealth considerably and he raised her children from her previous marriage there.

Ireland during the same era

In that same year of 1690, Charles' brothers Anthony Carroll of Lisheenboy and Thomas Carroll and nephew Daniel (son of his brother Anthony) along with many other Carroll relatives, fought the forces of William III at the Battle of the Boyne near Dublin. The Carrolls served under a relative, Major Francis Carroll with Carroll's Dragoons.
The Jacobites were defeated by William's army which was larger, with superior weapons and professional European soldiers. Although Charles' brother Anthony and his nephew Daniel both surrendered and survived the battle and the ensuing treason trial, Charles' brother Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Carroll died at the Battle of the Boyne.^[3]
Thomas was posthumously attainted in 1692, his property seized and his two young sons, Charles' nephews Thomas (Jr.) and John Carroll; were taken by the English and sent north to be raised as Protestants. Descendants of Thomas' line have been DNA matched to descendants of Charles' line, but John's descendants, if he has any, have not yet been identified.

Occupation

Having lost his position as Attorney General, Charles initially focused on planting on his estate and practicing law. When he was restricted as a Catholic in the practice of law by the new Protestant government; Charles used his inheritance from Martha to establish an import business and purchased a store in the town of Annapolis^[4]
Charles also became a money lender. He performed administrative tasks for other prominent settlers.

Second marriage

In 1693, the widowed Charles married 15 year old Mary Darnall, the daughter of Colonel Henry Darnall, Calvert's chief agent in Maryland.
The Darnalls were a wealthy family and the marriage increased Charles' wealth further. Mary was named in her husband's will.^[5]

Doughoregan Manor

In 1701, Charles purchased land in Annapolis, which had become the new capital of Maryland. In 1702 Charles acquired 7000 additional acres of land where he established a plantation and built a house which he named “Doughoregan Manor”.
In 1706, Charles bought Lots 4 and 5 (on the Stoddert map from 1718) from his stepson Henry Ridgley. In 1717 Charles bought lots 6, 7, and 8 increasing the size of the Doughoregan property to 10 000 acres.^[6]
Charles had a chapel built on his property and hosted private Catholic Mass there. Catholics at that timewere not permitted to worship publicly.

Children

Successful as Charles was in acquiring land and wealth; he experienced many personal losses. Having lost his first wife and firstborn son, five of the ten children with his second wife died within a year of their birth. Then, the year before Charles died, son Henry died aged 22. Henry was educated at the College of St. Omer in France - an expatriate English Catholic educational institution run by Jesuits. He then went to England to complete his legal studies and was accepted at Gray's Inn, London 16th of September 1718. Henry died at sea returning home to Maryland on the 10th of April, 1719. Henry's younger brother Charles known as 'Charley', later being known as Charles Carroll 'of Annapolis', remained on at Gray's Inn to complete his studies.
Charles Carroll of Annapolis & his brother Daniel Carroll of Duddington were Charles Carroll's only surviving sons. Both brothers married and had children of their own^[7]
Charles' two surviving daughters remained unmarried.
Charles Carroll of Annapolis became a wealthy planter; his son, Charles Carroll of Carrollton was a signatory to the United States Declaration of Independence. Charles Carroll of Carrollton is especially notable for having been the only Catholic signatory and for outliving all other signatories.
Daniel Carroll of Duddington inherited a large property, Duddington Manor through marriage to Anne Rozier.
Daniel's grandson Daniel Carroll of Duddington owned the largest parcel of land surrendered to establish Washington, District of Columbia. Daniel owned all of Jenkin's Hill on which the Capitol was built and the land on which John's Hopkins University is now located.

Death and Will

Charles Carroll The Settler died the 1st of July 1720. His son Charles Carroll of Annapolis still known at the time as Charley, was completing his education overseas. When Charles died in 1720 he was the wealthiest person in Maryland, with the largest land holdings.
His will was proven in 1724 and he had four surviving children mentioned in his will, as well as son Henry who had predeceased him by 15 months but had not been removed from his will. Sons Charles Carroll of Annapolis, Daniel Carroll, later of Duddington and daughters Eleanor Carroll and Mary Carroll were heirs.^[8]

• 1720 will of Charles Carroll, starts at the bottom of page 176. Some of it is unreadable.
  

A summary of his will appears here at the bottom of the page:

Carroll, Charles, A. A. County, 1st Dec., 1718; 29th July, 1720, To the poor, 5000 lbs. tobacco. To the poor of this town., £10. To Exs., 10,000 lbs. tob. and 220 to be disposed of to charitable purposes. To 2 daus., Mary and Eleanor, a share of 20,000 A. on Potomac R., 5000 A. to each; shd. either die without issue., survivor to inherit portion of dec'd; Sd. both. die without issue, or enter into religion, remainder to descend to hrs. at law. (Mss. defaced.) Also £1000 each at age of 16 or marriage. 2 sons., Charles and Daniel, all real estate in Baltimore Co. except that herein expressed. To 4 kinswen, Elinor Boyd, Margaret Macknamara, Joyce Bradford and ----- Maccoy, "Uncle's Goodwill in Baltimore County, equally. To Kinswoman Johanna Crocksdelll, £5 and to cousin Maj. John Bradford, £6. To wife Mary, personalty at house in Annapolis (excepting plate, which is to be divided among 3 sons., equally, as they come of age, excepting altar plate, which is bequeathed to son Henry); 1600 A. "Enfield Chase," Pr. Geo. County, and dwelling house in Annapolis, during life; £1000 absolutely; the rents of houses and lots in Annapolis, during widowhood; except lot bou. of Mr. Wornell Hunt, which is bequeathed to son Charles; market-house lot to son Daniel; lot bou. of Wm. Taylord to dau. Mary, and lot whereon Edward Smith lives to dau. Eleanor. To kinsmen Thos. Macnemera, James Carroll., William FitzRedmond,, Charles and Dominick Carroll, Michael Taylor and Daniel Carroll, £6 each. Overseers: Bros.-in-law Henry Darnall, and Benj. Hall, kinsmen James and Daniel Carroll. Test: Luke Gardner, Rev. Jacob Henderson, D. Dulany, Jno. Gresham., Thos. Stewart. 16.176.

Property

Charles Carroll named the following properties in his will:
Enfield Chase in Prince George's County

• His dwelling house at Annapolis
• His "Old Plantation"

Slaves

Charles Carroll The Settler was a slaveholder. Though his will did not name any slaves it did state that he had some (p.178 and 181)^[9]

Research Notes

A duplicate profile, merged 8th of November 2023, had slightly different birth/death info: born 27 April 1660, Litterluna, Ireland and died in Annapolis, Anne Arundel County, Maryland. Apparently from a Find a Grave (citation did not include a memorial number)^[10]

Sources

1. ↑ Hoffman, Ronald; Princes of Ireland, Planters of Maryland: A Carroll Saga, 1500–1782. (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2000) ISBN: 0-8078-2556-5 p.34-35
2. ↑ wikipedia.org
3. ↑ libraryireland.com
4. ↑ Hoffman, Ronald; Princes of Ireland, Planters of Maryland: A Carroll Saga, 1500–1782. (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2000) ISBN: 0-8078-2556-5 p.64-65
5. ↑ familysearch.org (Will books) Wills v.14-16 1714-1721 Film number: 007737518 image 656 of 841FamilySearch Image: 3Q9M-C914-F9DZ-8 (accessed 7 April 2023)
6. ↑ wikipedia.org
7. ↑ Hoffman, Ronald; Princes of Ireland, Planters of Maryland: A Carroll Saga, 1500–1782. (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2000) ISBN: 0-8078-2556-5 Appendix B, Genealogy Charts
8. ↑ familysearch.org (Will books) Wills v.14-16 1714-1721, Film number: 007737518, image 656 of 841FamilySearch Image: 3Q9M-C914-F9DZ-8 (accessed 7 April 2023)
9. ↑ familysearch.org (Will books) Wills v.14-16 1714-1721, Film number: 007737518, image 656 of 841FamilySearch Image: 3Q9M-C914-F9DZ-8 (accessed 7 April 2023)
10. ↑ Ancestry.com. U.S., Find a Grave Index, 1600s-Current Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012. Original data: Find a Grave

See Also

• Hoffman, Ronald; Princes of Ireland, Planters of Maryland: A Carroll Saga, 1500–1782. (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2000) ISBN: 0-8078-2556-5 p.34-35
  
• Self Guided Tour Book of the Winter Home of Charles Carroll of Carrollton : CHARLES CARROLL OF CARROLLTON : A MARYLAND PATRIOT AT HOME EXHIBIT SCRIPT written by Barry Kessler, Decorative Arts Curator, Baltimore City Life Museums, MD 21202
  
• www.wikipedia.org^[11]
• www.archive.org US Descendants of Carroll of Ely of Litterluna by D.S. O'Carroll, UK, 1997 edited 2013 (dead link replaced 8 November 2023 by Wayback Machine capture)^[12]
  
• www.charlescarrollhouse.org^[13]
  
• How the Irish Won the American Revolution; Tucker, Phillip Thomas; (New York: Skyhorse, 2015)
  
• Colonial Families of the USA 1607 - 1775, Volume IV, The Carroll Family; (Maryland: Gateway Press, 1999)