Charles Carroll

BORN - September 19, 1737, in the Charles Carroll House in Annapolis, MD.  Parents (Irish ancestry) - Charles Carroll of Annapolis (b1702–d1782) and Elizabeth Brooke Carroll (b1709–d1761).  One Child - Charles Fremont Carroll III (b1737-d1832). 

DIED – November 14, 1832 (age 95), a this city mansion in the Baltimore, MD neighborhood of Jonestown on East Lombard and South Front Streets, by Jones Falls.  Religion – Catholic.  Buried -  Doughoregan Manor Chapel near Ellicott City, MD.  Was the last of the Signers to die.   

APPEARANCE – The picture above is the portrait of Charles Carroll painted by Michael Laty in 1846.  Slight build, frail and sickly as a youth but lived to age 95. 

FAMILY – Married - Mary (Molly) Darnall (b1749-d1782) in 1768.  Seven Children (three surviving to adulthood) – Elizabeth Carroll (b1769-d1769, as infant), Mary (Polly) Carroll Caton (b1770-d1846), Louisa Rachel Carroll (b1772-d1772, as infant), Charles Carroll IV (b1775-d1825, of Homewood), Anne Brooke Carroll (b1776-d1776, as infant), Catherine (Kitty) Carroll (b1778-d1861), Elizabeth (Eliza) Carroll (b1780-d1783, age 3).  

OCCUPATION – PLANTER, LAWYER, LEGISLATOR, U.S. SENATOR.  Graduated from the Lycée Louis-le-Grand (Louis the Great College) in Paris in 1755.  Member of the Continental Congress representing Maryland from 1776 to 1778.  U.S. Senator from Maryland from 1789 to 1792.  Was one of the wealthiest men in America at the time, possibly the wealthiest.      

AT SIGNING – Age 38 at signing.  Was the only Catholic Signer of the Declaration.  His signature reads “Charles Carroll of Carrollton”, to distinguish him from his father “Charles Carroll of Annapolis”, who was still living at that time, and several other Charles Carrolls in Maryland.     

AFTER SIGNING  – Continued to serve in Congress in Philadelphia until 1778.  Spent heavily on the war from his personal fortune. 

HISTORIC SITES                                                                                                                                                 

Ellicott City, MD Home & Gravesite – Doughoregan Manor Plantation, Ellicott City (1720’s).  Located 3500 Manor Lane, Howard County, Ellicott City, MD 21042.                                                                                                                                                  

Frederick, MD Home – Carrollton Manor Estate, Frederick (1820), 5809 Manor Woods Road, Frederick County, MD 21701.  The roadside historical marker reads – “CARROLLTON – Patented for 10,000 acres to Charles and Daniel Carroll 1st April 1724.  It was from this tract that Charles Carroll assumed the title of  “Charles Carroll of Carrollton” when signing the Declaration of Independence.”                                                                               

Annapolis Home – Charles Carroll House, Annapolis, MD (1720’s).  Located at 107 Duke of Gloucester Street, Annapolis, MD 21401, on Spa Creek, Phone 410-269-1737, Website charlescarrollhouse.org.  Birthplace and Annapolis home of Charles Carroll.  

Daughter’s Home – Carroll Mansion Museum, Baltimore (1811).  Located at 800 East Lombard Street, Baltimore, MD 21218.  Charles Carroll spent winters in the Baltimore townhouse of his daughter and son-in-law during the last 12 years of his life.

Son’s Home – Homewood House, Baltimore (1808).  Located at 3400 North Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21218, on the Johns Hopkins University Campus, MD.  Construction was paid for by John Carroll as a wedding gift for his son.

Inn – 1840’s Carrollton Inn, Baltimore, MD.  Located at 50 Albemarle Street, Baltimore, MD 21202, Phone 410-385-1840, Website www.1840scarrolltoninn.com.

Home of Charles Carroll (of Carrollton), Doughoregan Manor, Ellicott City, MD (1720’s). 

Located at 3500 Manor Lane, Howard County, Ellicott City, MD 21042.

Charles Carroll III of Carrollton preferred this home, the Carroll family ancestral home.  He lived in it for most of the period 1766 to 1832 rather than at Carrollton Manor in Frederick, MD or his home on Spa Creek in Annapolis, MD.  Charles Carroll I acquired the 10,000 acres that originally comprised the estate in 1717.  His son Charles II built the main section of the house in the 1720’s.  Charles III inherited the estate in the 1760’s.  After his death in 1832, the house was greatly enlarged by Charles V.  It is still owned and occupied by the Carroll family and is not open to the public.