page_title: Charles Carroll of Carrollton
section_title: Later life and legacy
hierarchical_section_title: Charles Carroll of Carrollton / Later life and legacy
caption_attribution_description: English: Cornerstone of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, laid on 4 July 1828 by Charles Carroll of Carrollton, last surviving signer of the Declaration of Independence. Displayed at the B&amp;O Railroad Museum in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
context_page_description: Charles Carroll, known as Charles Carroll of Carrollton or Charles Carroll III to distinguish him from his similarly-named relatives, was an American statesman, a wealthy Maryland planter, an early advocate of independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain and one of the signers of the American Declaration of Independence. The sole Catholic signer of the Declaration, he is one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. Carroll was known contemporaneously as the "First Citizen" of the American Colonies, a consequence of his editorials in the Maryland Gazette. He served as a delegate to the Continental Congress and Confederation Congress. Although he was not involved in framing the United States Constitution, it is believed that Freedom of Religion in the Constitution's First Amendment was included to show gratitude to Carroll because Carroll gave financial support from his personal funds for the American Revolutionary War. Carroll later served as the first United States Senator for Maryland. Carroll was the wealthiest and possessed the highest formal education of all of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.
context_section_description: Carroll retired from public life in 1801. After Thomas Jefferson became president, he had great anxiety about political activity, and was not sympathetic to the War of 1812. He was elected a member of the American Antiquarian Society in 1815.  Carroll came out of retirement to help create the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in 1827. In 1828 he commissioned the Phoenix Shot Tower and laid its corner stone, which was then the tallest building in the United States until the Washington Monument. His last public act, on July 4, 1828, was the laying of the "first stone" (cornerstone) of the railroad.
  In May 1832, he was asked to appear at the first-ever Democratic Party Convention but did not attend on account of poor health. Carroll died on November 14, 1832, of an apparent heart attack at the age of 95, in Baltimore. He holds the distinction of being the oldest lived founding father. He had outlived four of the first five U.S. presidents. His funeral took place at the Baltimore Cathedral (now known as the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary), and he is buried in his Doughoregan Manor Chapel at Ellicott City, Maryland.
  The home of Carroll's son-in-law Richard Caton, Brooklandwood in Baltimore County, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.
  Carroll is remembered in the third stanza of the state song Maryland, My Maryland.
  Thou wilt not cower in the dust,
  Maryland! My Maryland!
  Thy beaming sword shall never rust,
  Maryland! My Maryland!
  Remember Carroll's sacred trust,
  Remember Howard's warlike thrust –
  And all thy slumberers with the just,
  Maryland! My Maryland!
  Named in his honor are counties in Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, Ohio, and Virginia as well as two Louisiana parishes, East and West Carroll. Carroll County, Missouri and its county seat, Carrollton, are both named for him. Carroll County, Kentucky and its county seat, Carrollton, are both named for him.  Also named for him are the Carroll Gardens neighborhood in Brooklyn and the Greater Carrollwood neighborhoods of Tampa; as well as the city of New Carrollton, Maryland, home to Charles Carroll Middle School, and the town of Carroll, New York. Carroll University in Waukesha, Wisconsin, is named in his honor.  In addition, Charles Carroll High School in the Port Richmond neighborhood of Philadelphia is named for Charles Carroll.
  In 1876, the Centennial Exhibition held to commemorate the birth of the United States was held in Philadelphia. The Catholic Abstinence Union of America commissioned the Catholic Total Abstinence Union Fountain for the Centennial Exhibition which includes a statue of Charles Carroll.  The fountain was commissioned and created by sculptor Herman Kim to promote American morality and the centerpiece of the fountain was a statue of Moses.  The statue of Moses is the center of the fountain and there are four other statues that surround it. The other four statues, that make up the points of the Maltese Cross, are statues of Charles Carroll of Carrollton, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, Father Matthew, the Great Apostle of temperance, Commodore John Barry, a distinguished officer of the American Revolution and father of the American Navy, and Archbishop John Carroll, the patriot priest of the American Revolution. The fountain is currently located in West Fairmount Park, Philadelphia at the intersection of Avenue of the Republic and States Drive.
  In 1903, the state of Maryland added a bronze statue of Charles Carroll of Carrollton to the United States Capitol's National Statuary Hall Collection. It is located in the Crypt.
  In 1906 the University of Notre Dame constructed what is now known as Carroll Hall, a residence hall named after Charles Carroll.
  Paca-Carroll House at St. John's College is named for Carroll and his fellow signer of the Declaration of Independence, William Paca.
  The World War II Liberty Ship SS Charles Carroll was named in his honor.
caption: "First Stone" (cornerstone) of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad laid by Carroll on July 4, 1828, now displayed at the B&O Railroad Museum
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