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Faith
at Folly Quarter
| The
Carrolls
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It
was into this tense atmosphere that Charles Calvert, governor of the
colony and third
Lord Baltimore, invited his stepson, Charles Carroll of Kings County,
Ireland, to come to Annapolis to serve as his Attorney General in
1688. But life was hardly peaceful in the New World. One year later,
a Protestant rebellion overthrew the Catholic government in Maryland.
Although his stepfather refused to renounce his Catholic faith in
order to keep the title and jurisdiction of proprietor and governor,
the strict laws against Catholics in the colony relaxed to such an
extent that in 1700 the Proprietary granted Charles Carroll Sr. 10,000
acres “of the finest farmland in Maryland,” in what is
presently Howard County. In 1717, Carroll began the construction
of Doughoregan Manor, a modest country estate which was to become
the ancestral home of the family. Two years earlier the proprietorship
of Maryland was restored to the Calvert family when the son of Charles
(and stepbrother to Carroll), Benedict Leonard, fourth Lord Baltimore,
renounced his Catholic Faith. |
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A
descendent of the Lords Baltimore, Carroll was a confident
adventurer. He tirelessly worked for the birth of a new nation
free from foreign interference in religious and civil affairs.
Representing the colony of Maryland, he was able to confirm
his convictions in 1776 by signing the Declaration of Independence.
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cousin of Charles Carroll was named the first bishop of the
United States in 1789. A genius for organization and a personal
friend to the first Presidents of the young nation, Archbishop
Carroll set a precedent for cordial relations between the
Church and State. He was a promoter of culture and the founder
of several colleges for men and women.
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Through
the next several decades religious and political tensions continued
to flare. The establishment of the Church of England as the official
church of the colony was followed by arbitrary unjust and unChristian
laws against Roman Catholics. In order to offer his son a classical
education in a healthy Catholic environment, Charles Carroll II
(of Annapolis) sent his eldest, Charles Carroll III, then twelve
years of age, to study abroad at some of the finest schools on the
continent.
His close friend,
companion and fellow student was
his first cousin, John Carroll, who
was eventually ordained a Jesuit priest and in 1789 became the first
bishop of the United States. Among other accomplishments, Bishop
Carroll founded Georgetown University, Mount Saint Mary’s
College in Emmitsburg and the American founding of the Daughters
of Charity in collaboration with Elizabeth Ann Seton. |
In
1765, upon the completion of his studies, Charles Carroll III returned
to his native Maryland where he was given a house by his father
in Frederick, which he named Carrollton. Carroll III, always the
cool adventurer, together with his cousin Daniel, soon immersed
themselves in the danger of the fomenting discontent of their fellow
Marylanders with the Crown. In 1773, since he could not hold political
office, Carroll expressed his opinions of the Royal Governor and
the British Parliament in a series of articles in the Maryland Gazette
which he signed anonymously as “First Citizen.” He clearly
made his point known and a wide body of people came to recognize
Carroll’s style and held him in high esteem for his courage.
With a tactful
and diplomatic personality, as well as an unlimited purse (Carroll
was known to be the wealthiest man in the colony), “Charley”
was able to move smoothly between Catholic and Protestant circles
and be fully accepted by both. By this time Carroll had inherited
Doughoregan Manor. It was customary for the wealthier and respected
Catholic gentry to provide a haven for local Catholics to worship
undisturbed. Carroll was now brazen enough and respected enough
to have a chapel built attached to his home expressly for the purpose
of the celebration of Mass. On occasion Mass is still celebrated
in the Doughoregan chapel. |
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