Charles Carroll House

Charles Carroll , known as Charles Carroll of Carrollton or Charles Carroll III to distinguish him from his similarly named relatives, was a wealthy Maryland planter and an early advocate of independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain and one of the signers of the American Declaration of Independence. He is sometimes referred to as one of the Founding Fathers of the United States of America, although he was not involved in framing the United States Constitution. He served as a delegate to the Continental Congress and Confederation Congress and later as first United States Senator for Maryland. He was the sole Catholic signer of the Declaration of Independence.Carroll was known contemporaneously as the First Citizen of the American Colonies, a consequence of his editorials in the Maryland Gazette[citation needed]. Carroll was the wealthiest, the longest-lived survivor, and possessed the highest formal education of all of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. A product of his 17-year Jesuit education in France, Carroll spoke five languages fluently. Born in Annapolis, Maryland, Carroll inherited vast agricultural estates and was regarded as the wealthiest man in the American colonies when the American Revolution commenced in 1775. His personal fortune at this time was reputed to be 2,100,000 pounds sterling; the equivalent of $465,000,000 in USD in 2018. In addition, Carroll presided over his manor in Maryland; a 10,000 acre estate that included approximately 1,000 African slaves whom he later freed. Though barred from holding office in Maryland due to his religion, Carroll emerged as a leader of the state's movement for independence. He was a delegate to the Annapolis Convention and was selected as a delegate to the Continental Congress in 1776. He was part of an unsuccessful diplomatic mission that Congress sent to Canada in hopes of winning the support of French Canadians. Carroll served in the Maryland Senate from 1781 to 1800. He was elected as one of Maryland's inaugural representatives in the United States Senate, but resigned from the United States Senate in 1792 after Maryland passed a law barring individuals from simultaneously serving in state and federal office. After retiring from public office, he helped establish the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. He was the longest-lived and last surviving signatory of the Declaration of Independence, dying 56 years after the document was signed.
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