THREE GENERATIONS OF CARROLLS
"ANYWHERE SO LONG AS THERE BE FREEDOM"
(1706-1832)

Charles Carroll of Carrollton was one of four Marylanders to sign the Declaration of Independence. Carroll was the only Roman Catholic and the last survivor of all 56 signers dying in 1832 in his 96th year. Charles Carroll and his family played a major role in the framing of the governance of Maryland and the emerging United States. Carroll¹s accomplishments and persistent efforts to promote and establish the concept of religious toleration were embodied in the founding documents and laws of our country still used today for "all men who are created equal."

CHARLES CARROLL THE SETTLER - 1660 - 1720
CHARLES CARROLL OF ANNAPOLIS - 1702- 1782
CHARLES CARROLL OF CARROLLTON - 1737- 1832
CHARLES CARROLL HOUSE CHRONOLOGY

 

CHARLES CARROLL THE SETTLER 1660 - 1720

Charles¹ grandfather, Charles Carroll the Settler, left his native Ireland (Kings County) because of English discrimination against his faith. Hoping to find a freer existence in the New World. Carroll arrived in St. Mary¹s City, capitol of the colony of Maryland, in 1689. He carried Lord Baltimore¹s commission appointing him Attorney General of Maryland and a new family motto: "Anywhere So Long As There Be Freedom." Within months of Carroll¹s arrival, the edicts of the Glorious Revolution jeopardized the position of Catholics in Maryland and threatened the power of their benefactor, the Lord Proprietor. This haven for English Catholics envisioned by the first and second Lords Baltimore (Calverts) never materialized in Maryland. In 1691, William III removed Maryland from control of the Proprietor and appointed Sir Lionel Copley, a Protestant, governor. Carroll was stripped of his public position and imprisoned for refusing to renounce his faith.

In 1693, Carroll married wealthy Mary Darnall. He made his first purchase of land within the confines of Annapolis, Maryland¹s new capitol (having moved from St. Mary¹s City in 1694) on the Severn River in 1701. By 1706, Carroll bought Lots 4 and 5 (on the Stoddert map of 1718) from Henry Ridgley, representing the current site of the Annapolis house. Of equal importance would be the acquisition in 1702 of a 7000 acre tract called "Doughoregan Manor" (now in Howard County) which, along with the urban house site in Annapolis, would become the focal point of Carroll family life for the next two generations. Lots 6, 7, and 8 were acquired in 1717 and would develop into the site of the famous Carroll gardens of the latter half of the 18th century. When the Settler died in 1720, he was considered Maryland¹s wealthiest and largest land owner. His personal home and property sat with great advantage on the water, off Duke of Gloucester Street, and featured a family chapel, since Catholics were allowed by law to only worship in private.

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CHARLES CARROLL OF ANNAPOLIS 1702- 1782

Charles Carroll of Annapolis (1702-1782) returned home from his European studies in 1722 to become the legal heir of the Settler. Like his father, he never gave up hope of overcoming the religious intolerance of Maryland penal laws which kept Catholics from publicly holding public office, practicing law, voting and providing education for their children. In defense of their beliefs, Catholics zealously guarded their fortunes by marrying into other Catholic families and sending their children abroad to study. It is likely that at the same time he was forming an alliance with Elizabeth Brooke in 1726-1727, Carroll had possibly begun construction of his monumental brick house adjacent to that of his widowed mother and sisters. Later, a passage (or hyphen) would connect the two homes.

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CHARLES CARROLL OF CARROLLTON 1737- 1832

THE GENTLEMAN - Charles Carroll of Carrollton was born on September 19, 1737 at the Annapolis home of his parents, Charles Carroll of Annapolis and Elizabeth Brooke. As the only son, Charles was heir not only to the largest fortune in colonial Maryland but to the ancestral legacy and traditions of Œdefending family and faith¹ passed on by the Carroll generations. Young Charles Carroll, known as "Charley" to his parents, was sent in 1747, at the age of ten, to Maryland¹s eastern shore, along with his cousin John Carroll, to study secretly at the Jesuit school at Bohemia Manor in Cecil County. By 1749, Charley and John, who would later become the first American Catholic Bishop, were sent to study at St. Omers in French Flanders. Charles was instructed in classical studies in Paris and by 1760 was studying English law at the Inner Temple in London. At the death of his mother, a refined and well-educated Carroll returned home after 16 years abroad.

 

On his return to Maryland in 1765, Charles Carroll was given a 10,000 acre land tract called Carrollton, located in Frederick County. Although he would never live there, Carroll added the word "Carrollton" to his signature to distinguish himself from other Charles Carrolls. In 1768, he married his cousin, Mary "Molly" Darnall and began major improvements to his family urban home and gardens in Annapolis. They had seven children, only three of whom lived to adulthood. Charles, their only son, would later live at Homewood, now located on the Baltimore campus of Johns Hopkins University. The Carrolls were busy and gracious hosts to such dignitaries and governmental leaders as George Washington and the Marquis de Lafayette. The house and grounds were the scene for many social events, "humble feasts" and after-the-races dinners. Politics kept the family busy through the Revolutionary War and in 1783, the Annapolis house and grounds were the site of the Official State Celebration for Peace and Independence:

"Elegant and plentiful dinner provided for the celebration of Peace on Carroll¹s Green; ..sheep, calves, and whole ox were roasted, liquor in proportion...A convenient, extensive Building was erected sufficient for the Accommodations of many Hundreds. Patriotic toasts were drunk, each attended with thirteen cannon...After dinner at night, the State house, a superb building was beautifully and magnificently illuminated and an elegant entertainment given to the ladies at the ball-room..." April 24, 1783 Maryland Gazette

CHARLES CARROLL OF CARROLLTON THE PATRIOT Carroll¹s position in the emerging revolutionary politics became clear in 1773 as a result of a series of letters published in the Maryland Gazette. Signing himself "First Citizen," he publicly debated "Antilon," the powerful province official Daniel Dulaney, on freedom of conscience and the rights of the elected assembly versus the powers of appointed government. Carroll gained public acclaim for embracing the principle that the people are the true foundation of government and emerged as the citizens¹ "patriot." He was then appointed to the Annapolis Committee of Correspondence and Council of Safety. Charles Carroll was soon elected to the 2nd Maryland Convention in 1774, his first elected office. In effect, the ban on Catholics serving in Maryland politics ended with Carroll¹s election to the 2nd Convention in November, 1774. In 1775 he became a member of the Mary-land Committee of Correspondence and Council of Safety.

Early in 1776, Carroll, Samuel Chase, Benjamin Franklin were appointed as commissioners to Canada. Along with Carroll's cousin John Carroll, they were challenged to enlist Canadian support and alliance in the growing conflict with Great Britain. Although, this delegation returned unsuccessful, Carroll, with growing prestige, was given credit along with Sam Chase for their successful efforts to persuade Maryland to instruct its delegates to vote in favor of Independence. He was elected as a Maryland representative and joined the other delegates, from a now unified thirteen colonies, at the 2nd Continental Congress,to sign the Declaration of Independence document in Philadelphia on August 2, 1776.

CHARLES CARROLL THE POLITICIAN and BUSINESSMAN Charles Carroll became active in the formation of the new government for Maryland. He was appointed as a delegate to the convention to write Maryland¹s first State Constitution and Declaration of Rights (adopted in November 1776) and became a member of the first Maryland Senate. Carroll was appointed a delegate to Congress in 1777. Carroll was elected President of the Senate in 1783 and would continuously serve in the Maryland Senate (1776 until 1800). His cousin, Daniel Carroll, was instrumental in the framing of the United States Constitution, specifically authoring the 10th Amendment. Charles As a wealthy citizen of a new emerging Republic, Carroll was interested in financial stability and served as Alderman and Councilman in the city of Annapolis. In 1789, he became one of Maryland¹s first two U.S. Senators. Carroll continued to improve and enlarge his Annapolis home and gardens and Doughoregan Manor (Carroll family country seat in Howard County).

By 1800, Carroll had retired from politics to concentrate on his business affairs. Considered the largest slaveholder at the time of the Revolution, and owning nearly 400-500 blacks, he became president of the American Colonization Society (1828-1831) seeking to solve America¹s slave problem by resettling them in Africa. Carroll became one of the founders of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company and invested in the Bank of Maryland, the Bank of Baltimore and the First and Second Bank of the United States. He held many shares in canal, turnpike, bridge and water companies in the Washington-Baltimore regional area. He purchased $40,000 of state-backed securities to build the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, serving on its first board of directors.

CHARLES CARROLL THE LAST SURVIVING PATRIOT Charles Carroll leased his Annapolis house in 1821 and moved to his daughter (Mary Caton) and son-in-law¹s home on Lombard Street in Baltimore (now known as the Carroll Mansion of the Baltimore City Life Museums). By 1822, the first Catholic Church in Annapolis, St. Mary¹s, was erected and built on the Carroll property. In 1826, Charles Carroll of Carrollton became the last surviving signer of the Declaration of Independence with the deaths of Thomas Jefferson and John Adams on July 4th. On July 4th, in 1828, at the age of 91, Carroll laid the cornerstone for the B&O Railroad and on November 14, 1832, Carroll died in his 96th year at the Caton home. Following a national day of mourning, he was interred at the family country seat, Doughoregan Manor.

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CHARLES CARROLL HOUSE CHRONOLOGY

1706 - Charles Carroll the Settler buys the Annapolis Lots, and existing buildings

1725 - Charles Carroll of Annapolis begins building his house next to his mother¹s (father dies 1720)

1732 - Passage between houses is erected

1770¹s - Charles Carroll of Carrollton expands passageway to include a library or "a little room for my Books," designs front porch with pillars, designs a ramp and terrace garden, builds sea wall, stable, a coach house, wash, ice, and smoke houses.

1783 - Carroll House and grounds (Squire Carroll¹s Point) is site of the Official MD State Celebration for Peace and Independence

1790 - Roof raised to include 3rd floor and community chapel space

1852 - Redemptorists (order of Catholic priests) buy Carroll property for $6,000 from Carroll¹s Caton granddaughters

1853 - Redemptorists establish St. Mary¹s Parish

1856 - West wing added, "improvements" to Carroll House and site to become operable as a novitiate for student priests; grounds planted in vineyards, wine cellar and press reconstructed for production of wine for diocese

1897 - East wall , the Settler¹s frame house end wall reconstructed

1910 - West porch built, wine press building razed

1977 - Exterior restoration begins

1987 - Archaeology finds foundations of the Settler¹s Frame House, shovel divots of original terrace for uncovered plan of 1770¹s 3-4-5-right-triangle designed terrace and ramp garden; over 200,000 artifacts recovered from 17th, 18th, 19th, 20th centuries

1993 - With state, local, and private support, 20% restoration completed for first and ground floors including ADA handicapped access and elevator, code-approved fire resistive stairways, fire sprinkler and security systems; Carroll House opens to the public for tours and events

1996 - Vision 2006 developed and efforts to complete restoration and development of educational programming begun

1997 - "Restoration-in-Progress" research and development continues.

 

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