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. Carrollıs
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
Charlesı
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. Maryıs City, capitol
of the colony of Maryland, in 1689. He carried Lord Baltimoreıs
commission appointing him Attorney General of Maryland
and a new family motto: "Anywhere So Long As There Be
Freedom." Within months of Carrollıs 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,
Marylandıs new capitol (having moved from St. Maryıs 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
Marylandıs 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 defending family and faithı 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 Marylandıs 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 Carrollıs 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 Carrollıs 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 citizensı "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 Carrollıs 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 Marylandıs 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 Marylandıs 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 Americaıs 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-lawıs 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. Maryıs, 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 motherıs (father dies 1720)
1732
- Passage between houses is erected
1770ıs
- 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 Carrollıs 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 Carrollıs Caton granddaughters
1853
- Redemptorists establish St. Maryıs 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 Settlerıs frame house end wall reconstructed
1910
- West porch built, wine press building razed
1977
- Exterior restoration begins
1987
- Archaeology finds foundations of the Settlerıs Frame
House, shovel divots of original terrace for uncovered
plan of 1770ıs 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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