Charles Carroll of Carrolton: MD Signer of the Declaration

Charles Carroll, the only child of Charles and Elizabeth (Brooke) Carroll, was born on September 19, 1737, in Annapolis, Maryland. His family ancestry can be traced back to Ireland through his paternal grandfather, Charles the Settler, who was a friend of Lord Baltimore. Charles the Settler had immigrated to Maryland in 1659 due to religious persecution. It is said his paternal family can be traced to Ó’Cearbhaill chiefs of Éile, the early Irish Kings. The family name in Ireland appears to be O’Carroll, but that is based on sketchy genealogical records.

            Carroll was a small and sickly child who was privately tutored at home due to being a Roman Catholic. During this time period, the rights of Catholics in Maryland were severely restricted as they were not considered full citizens. He was eventually sent to a Jesuit school at Bohemia Manoracross but this school was an illegal operation because of the restrictions on Catholics in the colony. In 1748, he was sent to the College of St. Omer in France, where he continued to study under the Jesuits. Here, he wrote a poem in Latin, which was discovered at an English high school in the early 2000s. The poem was written as a letter to St. Cecilia by Almachius, who had ordered her execution.

The Latin title is Almachius Tyrannus ad S Caeciliam:

“This letter which now meets your astonished eyes, Maiden,

You must believe has been written by a friendly hand.

Nor should you rashly spurn – it would be ill- once you deemed an enemy –

Betimes salvation is from foe to foe brought,

Yet I was not such an enemy, though I seemed to be,

And this breast could not have chosen to hate you.

My heart is not so playful, nor does it dwell

In the breast of a savage beast.

That I am not moved by your nobility, by the unspoilt flower of your age,

By you beauty, the envy of the Gods….”

While at the College of St. Omer, he studied philosophy, poetry, and Roman law, as well as the works of Locke, Montesquieu, and Voltaire.

            In 1753, he transferred to another Jesuit seminary before entering the College of Louis de Grand and graduating at 17 in 1754 or 55.  He then studied law at Bourges in 1756 and moved to Paris. By 1757, he had entered the Inner Temple to study law and stayed there until 1765. He studied law because his father wanted him to, but found the subject to be dry and a waste of time. Carroll’s studies were once again limited because he was catholic and could not actually practice, but he learned a great deal through observation. While in London, he sent his father a copy of the American Act, which included the Stamp Act and other literature the British were using to restrict the rights of Catholics in the colonies.

            Upon his return to Maryland in 1765, Carroll was gifted 10,000 acres of land at the mouth of the Monocacy River in Frederick County by his father, where he built Carrollton Manor. It was developed into an efficient property with orchards, livestock, a mill, and a small clothing factory. He also owned 300 slaves, but was not comfortable with the practice, and it appears he treated them well and even manumitted some of his slaves. He also had white tenants on his properties. Carrolton Manor was eventually sold by the Carroll family in 1923 after it had fallen into disrepair. Pieces of the property had previously been sold or rented out, with some tenants even using the home as a barn to raise animals. He does not use this property as his full-time residence and spends most of his time at Doughoregan Manor or at his Annapolis property, sometimes called Carrollton Manor.

Sometime in 1765, he was engaged to Rachel Cook, who died before they could be married. They were to be married in July of 1766, but he fell ill, and the wedding was postponed. Then she fell ill in the fall of 1766 and died within 3 weeks. Unfortunately, this was not the only bad news he received during this time period. He learns that he cannot practice law because he is Catholic. Neither this nor the tragedy of losing his fiancée stops him from getting involved in the patriot cause. He aligns himself with other colonists against the Stamp Act and urges resistance to British oppression.

            It was not all bad news and politics for Carroll, though. On June 5, 1768, he marries his first cousin, Mary Darnell, and they have seven children, but only three would live beyond infancy. Their first child, Elizabeth, was born on April 3, 1769, and passed on August 7, 1769. Their next child, Mary, was born on April 3, 1769, and passed away in 1846. She marries Richard Caton, and they have four daughters, of whom three would marry titled men in Europe. Their fourth daughter was Carroll’s favorite grandchild. Ann Brook, another daughter, was born in 1776, but her death date is unknown. Their first son, Charles, was born in 1775, and he died in 1825. He would become Charles Carroll of Homewood, and his father would give him $10,000 to build this home, but the construction of it would eventually cost $40,000. Charles Jr. was not a businessman and liked to drink up to two quarts of brandy per day. This, along with his lack of financial responsibility, would cause problems between father and son. His home is now a museum on the campus of Johns Hopkins University. He married Harriet Chew, and they had seven children, but two would die in infancy. Another daughter, Catherine, who lived to adulthood, was born on December 18, 1788, and died on February 2, 1861. She married Robert Goodlow Harper and had six children. Catherine’s nickname was Kitty. The final two children, both girls, Louisa Rachel and Elizabeth, were born in 1772 and 1780. Elizabeth died in 1783, and Louisa’s death is unknown. Carroll and his wife would live together in Annapolis most of the time. Before her marriage to Carroll, Mary gave up her dower rights and instead took a £200 a year settlement in the event that he died before she did. This protected his property and ensured that only his heirs would inherit the bulk of the estate. She passed in 1782 after the simultaneous deaths of her mother and father-in-law. She had also taken laudanum, which was prescribed after the births of her children and for different illnesses. When her father-in-law died from a fall in which he broke his neck, she retreated to her room and did not emerge again. She died three weeks after he had passed away.

            In Early 1773, several fees and regulations were set to expire, but the Governor of Maryland extended them. This would bring together several prominent citizens to protest, such as William Paca and Samuel Chase. Since Carroll would not hold office at this time for religious reasons, he began to write a series of articles under the pseudonym First Citizen for the Maryland Gazette. He would end up in a war of words with Tory lawyer Charles Dulaney, but the colonists supported Carroll and his arguments. Carroll opposed these fees and wrote that he believed they had illegally imposed taxes on the colony’s citizens. It was well known who the First Citizen was, and Dulaney used this as an opportunity to attack Carroll for his Catholicism.

            Then in 1774, when a ship full of tea tries to land in Maryland, the friends of the captain ask Carroll to intercede on his behalf. Carroll states, “Gentlemen set fire to the vessel and burn, with her cargo, to the water’s edge,”[1] because he knew there was no way the crowd could be settled. The crowd sets the ship on fire. Then, in the same year, a law barring Catholics from holding political office expires, and Carroll becomes a member of the Committee of Correspondence and the Committee of Safety. By 1775, he was a delegate from Arundel County to the Maryland Revolutionary Convention, which met in Annapolis, and then, in 1776, was appointed to the convention that framed the new Maryland state constitution. He would be chosen as a member of the Senate after the state constitution was adopted.

            In February of 1776, the Continental Congress chose him to go on a mission to Canada with Chase, Franklin, and his cousin, the Right Reverend John Carroll (later the first Archbishop of Baltimore), to persuade the Canadians to join the mission. It was most likely that Carroll was chosen because he was Catholic and could speak French fluently. The mission was a failure, and on the way back, they advised General Phillip Schuyler that more men and supplies would be needed for his campaign.

            Carroll was chosen as a delegate to the Second Continental Congress on July 19, 1776. He signed the Declaration on August 2 and, legend has it, when Carroll signed the engrossed document, another member of the delegation quipped, “There go millions.” This references the fact that he could lose most of his money, whether the Revolution was a success or not. Another legend has it that he signed Charles Carroll of Carrollton because his name was so common that John Hancock pointed out he could escape harm, thereby challenging his investment in the cause. Other historical references state that he added the name “of Carrollton” to avoid being confused with his father and a cousin.

            During his tenure in Congress, he served on the Board of War. He was also part of a committee that investigated complaints against General Washington. This could be called the Conway Cabal, a group of officers trying to oust General Washington and replace him with General Gates. Carroll was a staunch supporter of General Washington during this incident and beyond. He would retire from Congress in 1778 because he was against the confiscation of loyalist property.

            From 1777 through 1801, he would serve in the Maryland Senate and functioned as Senate President, as well. He played a big role in the ratification of the state constitution. His big concern was religious freedom because of the persecution he and other Catholics had suffered. In addition to serving in the Senate, he hosted the Maryland Celebration for Peace and Independence at his Annapolis home in 1783. Then, in 1787, he was appointed to the Constitutional Convention but declined the honor. He would support the Constitution when it came before the legislature and was a committed Federalist for the rest of his life.

            In 1788, he was elected to the U.S. Senate, but would give up the office when it became illegal to hold both a state and a federal office. While in office, he notes, “We murder time, and chat it away in idle impertinent talk…fond of talking and not much addicted to thinking.”[2] He also participates in the Joint Committee, which approved the final draft of the Bill of Rights. In 1793, he returned to Maryland and served one more term in the State Senate. He then retired from political life in 1801 and never held office again.

            Even though he has retired from political life, he is a very busy man, as he has to manage properties totaling 80,000 acres across three states. He had investments in the Patowmack Company, which developed canal systems and eventually morphed into the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company, of which he was a member of the board in 1823. He was also a member of the first Board of Directors for the B&O Railroad lines.

            During his retirement, he struck up a friendship with Dr. James McHenry, a fellow Baltimorean, with whom he would exchange rhyming letters. By 1812, Dr. McHenry had retired to the mountains, and Carroll was still in the thick of things in Baltimore, although not in political office. He continues to urge Dr. McHenry to return to the city and engage in the issues of the day. In one such letter, he wrote:

Dear is the lay unstudied & undrest,

That breathes the comfort of a hermit blest,

From philosophick lore, who knows to reach

The summit of content & wisely teach

By sound reflection after arduous toil,

The well earned laurels that his merit claimed,

Boon of our Country! Now by knaves defamed.

If such the fate of Man! Tis more than even

Nine rogues in ten are damned where one’s forgiven:

Then quit the Statesman be the Scholar Friend,

Nor heave a sigh how politiks may end.

Yet for the time when Science needs thine aid,

Leave meditations lonely mountain shade,

TO bears & wolves, their gloomy forest give

And learn that life was given us – to live.

Unfortunately, he was unable to persuade Dr. McHenry to return and get involved.

  In 1826, Adams and Jefferson died, leaving Charles Carroll of Carrollton the last living Declaration signer. Though the Federalist Party had disintegrated, Americans of the time cast away their political divisions and embraced him because he represented a period that was soon to close its chapter. Before his death, every 4^th of July, while living in Baltimore, he would stand out on the balcony of his home and wave to the people as they paraded down the street. The parade routes were altered to go down his street because he could not actively participate in the events due to his health and age.

One particular event was the Centennial of George Washington’s birth. He understood it was not necessarily him; the people were coming to see what he represented – an entire generation of men who had fought for the freedom America now possessed. Carrol would write, “To General Washington mainly belongs, under protection of Providence, these blessings: and I shall in unison with my fellow countrymen, offer up my prayers to that Providence, which sustained us and my gratitude to the memory of the man, whose virtues so ably maintained the struggle that created us into a nation and by whose wisdom, it was fostered and now flourishes.”[3]  He was venerated because his death would represent the end of an era, the closing of one chapter in American history, and the opening of a new one.  Those who gave their lives for the cause of freedom would not be viewed in the same way as these men. Even as some revolutionary soldiers and members of that generation still lived, like Andrew Jackson and James Madison. However, they were not the signers of the Declaration of Independence, and that made all the difference to the American people.

On November 14, 1832, Charles Carroll passed away in Baltimore, Maryland, while living in his daughter’s home. His death would be a national event and mourning would occur across the country. He is buried on his father’s property, Doughoregan Manor, which his father built in 1727. His tomb is in the chapel on the property. At his death, it was quoted, “The only remaining link which connected this generation with the past, with that illustrious race of statesmen, philanthropist and patriots, the founders of American Independence, and the benefactors of the world, now and for all time hereafter – is broken.”[4] Some of the headlines in the newspapers of the day were “Last of that Sacred Band…Is no more”, “THE LAST OF THE SIGNERS IS DEAD”, and “The venerable Patriarch of the Revolution, CHARLES CARROLL of CARROLLTON, is no more.”[5] 

We are very lucky in terms of correspondence and descendants of Charles Carroll. He saved all of his correspondence, speeches, and other personal items. Because none of his homes were damaged during the revolution, we have a wealth of information about the man, who has become relatively unknown compared to other signers. Today, about 800 original acres of Doughoregan Manor remain, which the Carroll family still owns. They closely guard their privacy and, in the late 20^th century, asked that the public road, which went in front of their property, be closed for privacy. This request was granted.[6]

Tidbits

One of the wealthiest men in America during the Revolution and the only Roman Catholic signer

He had been a sickly child, small in stature, standing 5’3” tall and weighing 135 pounds. He was fairly healthy as he grew older, would rise at 5 am and “walk half a mile daily to a spring bathhouse for an icy before-breakfast dip,” and continued to ride horseback into his 80’s.

14 counties across America are named for him

His Annapolis home was bought by the Catholic Church in 1852. You can still visit his original home, but the front entrance is in a different area today.

He did not like Thomas Jefferson as he was a Republican, and Carroll would openly encourage his employees to vote Federalist.80s

[1] Barthelmas, Della Gray. The Signers of The Declaration of Independence: A Biographical and Genealogical Reference, (Jefferson, NC, London, McFarland, 2003) 38

[2] Gilmour, Peter. “There go millions.” U.S. Catholic 67, no. 8 (August 2002): 6.

[3] Hay, Robert P. “Charles Carroll and The Passing of the Revolutionary Generation” Maryland Historical Magazine 67, no. 1 (Spring 1972) 56

[4] Hay, Robert P. “Charles Carroll and The Passing of the Revolutionary Generation” 61

[5] Hay, Robert P. “Charles Carroll and The Passing of the Revolutionary Generation” 59

[6] Cadwalader, Mary H. “Charles Carroll of Carrollton Risked His Fortune to Attend The Birth of The United States and Lived Long Enough to Watch His Country Move Toward Maturity.” Smithsonian 6, no. 9, 65