Charles Carroll of Carrollton - Early Life

Early Life

Carroll was born on September 19, 1737, in Annapolis, Maryland, the only child of Charles Carroll of Annapolis (1702–1782) and Elizabeth Brooke (1709–1761). He was born illegitimate, as his parents were not married at the time of his birth, for technical reasons to do with the inheritance of the Carroll family estates. They eventually married in 1757.

The young Carroll was educated at a Jesuit preparatory school known as Bohemia Manor in Cecil County on Maryland's Eastern Shore. At the age of eleven, he was sent to France where he continued in Jesuit schools; first at the College of St. Omer, and later the Lycée Louis-le-Grand (Louis the Great College) in Paris, graduating in 1755. He continued his studies in Europe, and read for the law in London before returning to Annapolis in 1765.

Charles Carroll of Annapolis granted Carrollton Manor to his son, Charles Carroll of Carrollton. It is from this tract of land that he took his title, "Charles Carroll of Carrollton". Like his father, Carroll was a Roman Catholic, and as a consequence was barred by Maryland statute from entering politics, practicing law and voting. This did not prevent him from becoming one of the wealthiest men in Maryland (or indeed anywhere in the Colonies), owning extensive agricultural estates, most notably the large manor at Doughoregan, and providing capital to finance new enterprises on the Western Shore.