Charles Carroll of Annapolis
Charles Carroll of Annapolis | |
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 A portrait of Charles Carroll of Annapolis | |
| Born | 1702 |
| Died | 1782 |
| Occupation | Planter |
Charles Carroll of Annapolis (1702-1782) was a wealthy Maryland planter and the father of Charles Carroll of Carrollton (1737-1832), who was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.
Early life
Carroll was born in Annapolis, Maryland, in 1702, the son of Charles Carroll the Settler and Mary Darnall. His father had come to the colony in 1688 with a commission as Attorney General from the colony's Catholic proprietor, Charles Calvert, 3rd Baron Baltimore, but after only a year had lost that position as a result of a rebellion of Protestant settlers associated with the Glorious Revolution. The royal government that took over the colony banned Catholics from holding office, bearing arms, serving on juries, and eventually from voting. Barred from a political career, Carroll the Settler turned his attention to business, an amassed a fortune so large that he was the wealthiest man in Maryland at the time of his death in 1720. Thus, while the younger Carroll was born into a religious minority with few rights, he would have all the advantages that wealth could provide.
Religion and Family Life
Like his father, Charles Carroll of Annapolis never gave up hope of overcoming Maryland's religious intolerance. In ? he married Elizabeth Brooke, the daughter of Clement Brooke and Jane Sewall. Their son, Charles Carroll of Carrollton, eventually secured his family¹s vision of personal, political and religious freedoms for all citizens when he became the only Roman Catholic to sign the Declaration of Independence in 1776.
The Carrolls were enthusiastic horse breeders and raced thoroughbreds, competing with other well-to-do families at annual racing events, which also formed an important part of the social and political life of the colony. Charles Carroll of Annapolis's horse was beaten in 1743 by George Hume Steuart's "Dungannon" in the Annapolis Subscription Plate, the first recorded formal horse race in Maryland. The plate itself (actually more of a bowl than a plate) now forms part of the collection of the Baltimore Museum of Art.
The Carroll family's substantial Eighteenth century home can still be visited in Annapolis today.