Julian Carroll - Early Life

Early Life

Julian Carroll was born in West Paducah, McCracken County, Kentucky on April 16, 1931. He was the third of eleven children born to Elvie B. "Buster" and Eva (Heady) Carroll. His father was a tenant farmer, but shortly after the Ohio River flood of 1937, the family moved to Heath, Kentucky where Buster Carroll sold tractor implements and opened a automobile repair shop in 1940. Through his early teenage years, Carroll lived with his grandparents to help care for an ailing grandfather.

In 1949, Carroll was selected to represent Heath High School at Kentucky Boys State, a week-long a civic affairs summer camp for high school seniors-to-be. Participants in the camp create a miniature state government based on their state's actual government. At the camp, Carroll was elected governor of the miniature government. The following year, he graduated as salutatorian and student body president of Heath High School.

Carroll began dating Charlann Harting near the end of 1950. In mid-1951, they parted ways to attend college – Harting, whose family was better off financially, at the University of Kentucky and Carroll at nearby Paducah Junior College. After their first year, Carroll and Harting decided to get married. The ceremony took place on July 22, 1951, and the couple eventually had four children – Kenneth, Patrice, Bradley, and Ellyn. Ellyn, born June 27, 1975, was the first child born to a Kentucky First Family while they were residing in the Governor's Mansion.

Carroll earned an Associate in Arts degree from Paducah Junior College in 1952. That summer, the family moved to Lexington where Carroll matriculated to the University of Kentucky. He funded his further education working for the Fayette County Agriculture Stabilization and Conservation Office. In 1954, he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science, and in 1956, he earned a Bachelor of Laws degree.

While in college, Carroll had received training through the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps. By graduation, he had risen to the rank of Commandant of Cadets, the highest rank of any student at the university. After graduation, he enlisted in the Air Force and was stationed at Carswell Air Force Base in Fort Worth, Texas. For three years, he served as an Air Force attorney, then returned to Paducah and joined the law firm of Reed, Scent, Reed, and Walton. He was active in civic affairs, including membership in the Jaycees and serving as charter president of the Paducah Optimists Club in 1962. He was a frequent lay speaker in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, and from 1966 to 1967, served as moderator for the Kentucky Synod.

In January 1960, a group of local businessmen approached Carroll about leading a campaign to allow the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) to provide electricity to McCracken County. TVA could provide electricity at a much lower cost, but voters would first have to hold a public referendum on buying out Kentucky Utilities, the private power provider in the area. Carroll agreed to lead the campaign, and nine months later, voters approved the buyout by a three-to-one margin.