Charles H. Carroll

Charles Holker Carroll (May 4, 1794 – July 22, 1865) was an American farmer and politician from New York<ref name="CHCbioguide">Template:Cite web</ref> who was a descendant of the Carrolls of Carrollton and married into the Van Rensselaer family.<ref name="Bergen1915"/>

Early life

Carroll was born on May 4, 1794, in Hagerstown, Maryland.<ref name="Rowland1898">Template:Cite book</ref> He was the son of Charles Carroll of Bellevue (1767–1823) and Anne Sprigg (1769–1837).<ref name="McNamara1985">Template:Cite journal</ref> His siblings included William Thomas Carroll and Elizabeth Barbara Carroll (1806–1866), who was married to Henry Fitzhugh (1801–1866), an Erie Canal Commissioner and member of the New York State Assembly and the sister of Ann Carroll Fitzhugh, wife of Gerrit Smith.<ref name="Rowland1898"/>

Carroll's paternal grandfather was Charles Carroll of Duddington (1729–1773), himself the grandson of Charles Carroll (1661-1720), a native of Ireland who emigrated to Maryland in 1689.<ref name="Rowland1898"/><ref name="Hess2015">Template:Cite book</ref> His grandfather was the nephew of Charles Carroll of Annapolis and a cousin of Charles Carroll of Carrollton, a signor of the Declaration of Independence.<ref name="Rowland1898"/>

Along with his parents, the Carroll family left Maryland for Genesee County, New York, in 1811.<ref name="Rowland1898"/> Carroll graduated from St. Mary's College in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1813.<ref name="CHCbioguide"/>

Career

He was a member of the New York State Senate (8th D.) from 1827 to 1828, sitting in the 50th and 51st New York State Legislatures. He resigned his seat in March 1828.<ref name="CHCbioguide"/>

He was a member of the New York State Assembly (Livingston Co.) in 1836. He was Chairman of the Whig state convention of 1842.<ref name="CHCbioguide"/> Carroll was known as an admirer of Henry Clay.<ref name="Biographical1895"/>

He was elected as a Whig to the 28th and 29th United States Congresses, holding office from March 4, 1843, to March 3, 1847. Caroll was not a candidate for renomination in 1846.<ref name="CHCbioguide"/>

Later life

After retiring from Congress, Carroll returned to Groveland and managed his large landed estate, "The Hermitage". He was presidential elector on the American Party ticket in 1856.<ref name="CHCbioguide"/>

Personal life

Carroll was married to Alida Maria Van Rensselaer (1801–1832) the daughter of Jeremiah Van Rensselaer (1769–1829).<ref name="Reynolds1914">Template:Cite book</ref> Alida was the niece of Jacob Rutsen Van Rensselaer and the granddaughter of Robert Van Rensselaer (1740–1802). Her older sister, Cornelia Rutsen Van Rensselaer (b. 1798), was married to Rep. Francis Granger.<ref name="Bergen1915"/> They lived at a homestead known as "The Hermitage" in Groveland, New York. Together, they were the parents of six children, only two of which survived to maturity:<ref name="Bergen1915">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Americana1920">Template:Cite book</ref>

• Henry Carroll (1821–1828), who died young.<ref name="Bergen1915"/>
• Charles Carroll (1823–1830), who died young.<ref name="Bergen1915"/>
• Cornelia Granger Carroll (1826–1909), who married Edward Philo Fuller (1820–1866), son of Congressman Philo C. Fuller, in 1850.<ref name="Bergen1915"/>
• Anne Elizabeth Carroll (1828–1905), who married William Dana Fitzhugh (1824–1889), son of Dr. Daniel H. Fitzhugh and nephew of Henry Fitzhugh, in 1849.<ref name="Bergen1915"/><ref name="Biographical1895">Template:Cite book</ref>
• Adeline V. Carroll (1830–1860), who died unmarried.<ref name="Biographical1895"/>
• Alida Carroll (1831–1831), who died young.<ref name="Bergen1915"/>

After his wife's early death in 1832, her sister, Catharine Schuyler Van Rensselaer (1802–1873), who never married, lived at "The Hermitage" and acted as a second mother to the Carroll girls.<ref name="Bergen1915"/>

Carroll died in Groveland on July 22, 1865. He was buried at the Williamsburg Cemetery in Groveland.<ref name="CHCbioguide"/><ref>Template:Cite newsTemplate:Open access</ref>

Descendants

Through his daughter Cornelia, he was the grandfather of Sophia Fuller (b. 1854) who married Edwin Forrest Sweet (1847–1935),<ref name="EFSObit1935">Template:Cite news</ref> a Congressman and Mayor of Grand Rapids, Michigan (from 1904 to 1905) and Philo Carroll Fuller (1857–1931),<ref name="Bergen1915"/> who also served as Mayor of Grand Rapids in 1917.<ref name="PCFObit1931">Template:Cite news</ref> The Sweets were the parents of Carroll Fuller Sweet (b. 1877), George Sweet (b. 1881), Sidney Edward Sweet (b. 1883), Cornelia Van Rensselaer Sweet (b. 1886), Sophia Fuller Sweet (b. 1892).<ref name="Bergen1915"/>

Through his daughter Anne, he was the grandfather of Anne Fitzhugh (b. 1850), Alida Catharine Fitzhugh, who died in Texas, Carroll Fitzhugh (d. 1880), Cornelia F. Fitzhugh, who married Richard Field Conover (1858–1930), Edward F. Fitzhugh, a chemist.<ref name="Bergen1915"/>

See also

• Carroll family

External links

• [1] Transcriptions from Gravestones, at RootsWeb