FOUNDING FATHER CHARLES CARROLL SIGNED DOCUMENT

Partly printed document signed by Charles Carroll of Carrollton. Baltimore, 4 May 1830. 2 pages, 6 1/4 x 2 3/4 in. Docketing to verso. 

A bank check from the Baltimore branch of the Office of Discount and Deposit signed by Charles Carroll of Carrollton, one of the Declaration of Independence's signers. The check is made out to J.H.B. Latrobe, esquire, for $25. 

Son of Charles Carroll of Annapolis, a wealthy planter and lawyer, and grandson of Irish-born Charles Carroll the Settler, Carroll of Carrollton (1737-1832) was a well-educated politician and planter, a product of 17 years of Jesuit schooling in France in his youth. When he returned to America in 1765, Carroll inherited his father's estates, becoming the wealthiest man in the colonies when the American Revolution commenced; his personal fortune was reputed to equate to $375 million today, in addition to his 10,000-acre estate and around 300 enslaved individuals. 

As a Catholic, Carroll was barred from holding office in Maryland; however, leading up to the Revolution, he became a powerful voice for independence. He was a member of Maryland's committees of correspondence and safety, and was a delegate to the Annapolis Convention. On 4 July 1776, Carroll was elected as a Maryland representative to the Continental Congress and signed the Declaration of Independence on 2 August 1776, the only Catholic to do so. He remained a delegate until 1778, when he returned to Maryland to assist in forming the state's government. Carrol was re-elected to the Continental Congress in 1780 but declined his seat and opted instead to accept election to the Maryland Senate in 1781, serving until 1800. 

After his political career, Carroll retired from public life from 1801-1827, coming out to help create the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, which is likely where he worked with J.H.B. Latrobe, the B&O Railroad's lawyer. Carroll's last public act took place on 4 July 1828, where he laid the "first stone" of the B&O Railroad. He would eventually pass away four years later, becoming the oldest-living founding father and the last surviving signatory of the Declaration of Independence. 

[American Revolutionary War, American Revolution, Founding Fathers, Declaration of Independence, Colonial America, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, James Monroe] [Manuscripts, Documents, Letters, Ephemera, Signatures, Autographs]

Cuts made to middle of document.