Charles Carroll of Carrollton

Charles Carroll of Carrollton was born in 1737 in Annapolis, educated in France and England, and returned to Maryland as heir to one of the greatest fortunes in the colonies. Because he was a Catholic, he was long barred from holding office in Maryland; the revolutionary crisis opened a public career to him. He was seated in the Continental Congress in July 1776, after the vote on independence, and signed the Declaration—the only Catholic among the fifty-six. He added 'of Carrollton' to his name, identifying the family seat. He later served as a United States senator from Maryland. Carroll held a very large number of people in slavery on his estates, and that fact stands beside his long defense of civil and religious liberty. He lived to the age of ninety-five, the last surviving signer, and in old age helped launch the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. He died in 1832, fifty-six years after the Declaration.

See also: Signers of the Declaration · Samuel Chase · William Paca · Thomas Stone