Charles Carroll (1737 - 1832)

Born 19 Sep 1737 in Annapolis, Anne Arundel, Province of Maryland

Ancestors

Husband of Mary (Darnall) Carroll — married 5 Jun 1768 in Annapolis, Maryland

Descendants

Died 14 Nov 1832 at age 95 in Baltimore, Maryland, United States

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Preceded by US Constitution Ratified March 4, 1789

Charles Carroll US Senator (Class 1) from Maryland[1] 1789—1792

Succeeded by Richard Potts

Charles Carroll participated in the American Revolution. Join: 1776 Project Discuss: 1776

Biography

Charles Carroll is Notable.

Charles Carroll was a Founding Father in the American Revolution.

Charles Carroll is a DAR Patriot Ancestor, A019753.

Charles was born in 1737. Charles Carroll referred to himself as Charles Carroll of Carrollton, to distinguish himself from his father and other relatives. He was an illegitimate child, although his parents did marry after he was born.

As a young child, he studied at a Jesuit school in Maryland and when he was eleven, he was sent to France to continue his Catholic education at the Jesuit run College of St Omer. He was a student there from 1748 - 1754, then studied law in London.

As a Catholic, he was banned from practicing law, entering politics and voting in Maryland. It seems his original interest in politics may have been intellectual. Using the pen name, 'First Citizen', Carroll argued for the right of the colonies to control their own taxation.

Taking the other side of the debate, was a character named Antillon. It was discovered that Antillon was a member of one of the four prominent political families in Maryland, and that 'First Citizen' was none other then the very wealthy, yet disenfranchised, Charles Carroll.

In 1774, Carroll was elected to the Committee of Correspondence^[2]

He did not have the opportunity to vote in favor of the Declaration of Independence but he did sign it, becoming the only Catholic signatory. He also outlived all the other signatories.

He was re-elected to the Continental Congress in 1780 but declined. He was elected to the Maryland State Senate in 1781 and served there until 1800. He served as a United States Senator at the same time he was a member of the Maryland Senate, as did John Henry.

Charles Carroll was a Federalist. With the death of George Washington in 1800, the anti-Federalists (Thomas Jefferson) were in power and Charles Carroll of Carrollton left politics.

Along with his political actions, he was a wealthy man. He helped created the Baltimore and Ohio railroad and laid the cornerstone for it.

Carroll gained public acclaim for the principle that the people are the true foundation of government and emerged as the citizens’ “patriot.”

Considered the largest slaveholder at the time of the Revolution, and owning 400-500 slaves, he became president of the American Colonization Society (1828-1831) seeking to solve America’s slave problem by resettling them in Africa.

Charles Carroll leased his Annapolis house in 1821 and moved to the home of his daughter (Mary Caton) and son-in-law on Lombard Street in Baltimore (now known as the Carroll Mansion of the Baltimore City Life Museums).

By 1822, the first sanctioned Catholic Church in Annapolis, St. Mary’s, was erected and built on the Carroll property. In 1826, Charles Carroll of Carrollton became the last surviving signatory of the Declaration of Independence, with the deaths of Thomas Jefferson and John Adams on July 4th. Two years later at the age of 91, Carroll laid the cornerstone for the B&O Railroad.

He died on November 14, 1832, at the Caton home. Following a national day of mourning, he was interred at the family country seat, Doughoregan Manor in Howard County Maryland.

Needs to be integrated:

"first 4 children died at birth"

"Charles Carroll of Carrollton last living signatory of the Declaration of Independence"

"First cousin to his mother-in-law"^[3]

Birth

Date: 19/20 Sep 1737

Place: Annapolis, Maryland^[4]

Parents:

Father: Charles Carroll Of Annapolis

Mother: Elizabeth Brooke

Child: Charles Carroll Of Carrollton

Marriage Date: 1757^[4][5]

Marriage

Husband: Charles Carroll Of Carrollton

Wife: Mary\Molly Darnall

Child: Charles Carroll Of Homwood

Marriage Date: 5 JUN 1768

Marriage Place: Annapolis, Maryland<^[4][6]

Death and burial

He passed away in 1832 at Doughoregan Manor^[4] Charles Carroll's will was written with a number of codicils. It was proven in 1834, Baltimore, MD.^[7]

Legacy

• Twelve U.S. states have named counties in Carroll's honor. They are: Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, and Ohio.

Note

‘The three Commissioners, Benjamin Franklin, Samuel Chase and Charles Carroll of Carrollton, sent by Congress to Canada, accompanied by John Carroll, a Jesuit priest and afterwards the first Roman Catholic Archbishop in the United States, in their passage through the lake, stopped at Ti and Crown Point to examine the works, and at Ferris’ (now Arnold’s Bay) where they spent the night. This Ferris was an ancestor of Hiram Ferris, pilot on the first “ Vermont.”’ ^[8]

• Fact: Also Known As Charles Carroll III
• Fact: Also Known As Charley Carroll
• Fact: Education (about 1749) St Omers School St Omer, Pas-de-Calais, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, France
• Fact: Residence (from 1749 to 1764) Europe
• Fact: Signed Declaration of Independence (2 August 1776) Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
• Fact: Burial (17 Nov 1832) Doughoregan Manor Chapel, Anne Arundel, Maryland
• Fact: http://familysearch.org/v1/TitleOfNobility of Carrollton
• Fact: http://familysearch.org/v1/LifeSketch Charles Carroll of Carrollton attended the Jesuits' College of Bohemia at Herman’s Manor, Maryland, and the College of St. Omer in France; studied civil law at the College of Louis le Grand in Rheims, and common law in London; returned to Annapolis, Maryland, in 1765; delegate to the revolutionary convention of Maryland in 1775; Continental commissioner to Canada in 1776; member of the Board of War 1776-1777; Delegate to the Continental Congress 1776-1778; again elected to the Continental Congress in 1780, but declined to serve; was a signer of the Declaration of Independence; member, State senate 1777-1800; elected to the United States Senate in 1789; reelected in 1791 and served from March 4, 1789, to November 30, 1792, when, preferring to remain a State senator, he resigned because of a law passed by the Maryland legislature disqualifying the members of the State senate who held seats in Congress; retired to private life in 1801; involved in establishing the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company in 1828; died in Baltimore, Maryland, November 14, 1832; at the time of his death was the last surviving signer of the Declaration of Independence; interment in the chapel of Doughoregan Manor, near Ellicott City, Howard County, Md.

From the Charles Carroll House of Annapolis: “Charles Carroll of Carrollton - The Signer” and the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress

Sources

1. ↑ Resigned to remain in the Maryland Senate, vacant November 30, 1792 – January 10, 1793 when successor elected.
2. ↑ :Wikipedia: Committee of Correspondence
3. ↑ The Darnall Family, Vol. 1, pg 64, 17 - 22 3. notes from Lee Richards research
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3} GEDCOM file submitted by Joanie's Family Tree. Imported on 25 September 2012.
5. ↑ Source: #S151
6. ↑ Source: #S148 TMPLT FIELD Name: Page
7. ↑ Wills, 1666-1851: "Maryland Register of Wills Records, 1629-1999"
   Catalog: Wills, 1666-1851 Book 15 1834-1836 Book 16 1836-1838
   Image path: Maryland Register of Wills Records, 1629-1999 > Baltimore > Wills 1834-1836 vol 15 > image 17 of 566
   FamilySearch Image: 33SQ-GTR9-9JHL (accessed 9 May 2022)
   • 1834, will of Charles Carroll, Baltimore, MD, Libr DMP No. 15, p.1-28
8. ↑ Tuttle, Mrs. George Fuller. Three Centuries in the Champlain Valley: A Collection of Historical Facts and Incidents. Saranac Chapter D.A.R. Plattsburgh, NY. 1909:114

• "Family Tree," database, FamilySearch (http://familysearch.org : modified 02 August 2021, 21:03), entry for Charles Carroll of Carrollton (PID https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/4:1:LK2K-8YK ); contributed by various users.
• Find A Grave Memorial# 2785
• Charles Carroll of Carrollton on Wikipedia
• Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Charlescarrollhouse
• The Life of Charles Carroll of Carrollton
• Maryland Records, Vol. II Revolutionary War Pensions, Kilty's Laws, Some Original Commissions
• https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/48204/MDRecordsII-003111-314?backurl=https%3a%2f%2fsearch.ancestry.com%2fsearch%2fdb.aspx%3fdbid%3d48204%26path%3d&ssrc=&backlabel=ReturnBrowsing#?imageId=MDRecordsII-003124-327
• Information from Clive Thompson and David Knight, archivists for Stonyhurst College (formerly St Omer)
• Princes of Ireland, Planters of Maryland, a Carroll Saga 1500 - 1782 by Ronald Hoffman, UNC Press, 2000.
• Irish Who Signed the Declaration of Independence - Irish Amarica

Acknowledgments

• Thank you to Maureen Henigan for creating Carroll-2077 on 3 Oct 13.