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Photographer: William Pfingsten
Taken: March 8, 2008
Caption: Residence 1804 - 1846 Interior marker in Carroll Mansion
Additional Description: Before Mr. Carroll Lived Here
Contrary to a story which gained credence around 1914, this house was not a wedding gift from Charles Carroll to his son-in-law and daughter, Richard and Mary Carroll Caton. The land was originally purchased in 1804 by Robert Lawson, a constable and land speculator.
By 1808, a small structure stood on the southwest corner of King George and Stillhouse streets. Later owners, Henry Wilson and Christopher Deshon, expanded the house to its present dimensions, about 50 feet square. In 1818, Mr. Caton bought it as a winter residence.
The Carroll Mansion is a federal-era "merchant's townhouse," one of the finest still standing in Baltimore. The proportions of its rooms, its main staircase and other architectural details tells the visitor that it was built to impress.
At Home With Charles Carroll
In Mr. Carroll's day, the mansion's grounds extended to the Jones Falls. Here were contained terraced gardens with shrubs, flowers, and fruit trees, a cistern, carriage house, stable, and servant's quarters.
During the 1820s and 1830s, the home was renowned for the gracious hospitality of its mistress and because the last surviving signer of the Declaration of Independence lived here. With Mr. Carroll and the Catons also lived Emily Caton MacTavish, her husband, John, and their four children. About twenty servants and slaves served the family.
Following the deaths of Mr. and Mrs. Caton in 1845 and 1846, the house apparently went into disuse. In 1855 Mrs. MacTavish sold the house to the Sisters of Mercy.
Insert
In 1827, Mrs. Basil Hall, a visitor to the mansion, remarked of Charles Carroll: "...I cannot say that I discovered one single mark of old age either in his manner, appearance or faculties, although he is now in the ninety-second year of his age..."
Submitted: March 10, 2008, by Bill Pfingsten of Bel Air, Maryland.
Database Locator Identification Number: p18265
File Size: 0.772 Megabytes

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