Charles Carroll (1865-1921)

Carroll was born on January 12, 1865 in Baltimore, Maryland. He was the son of Governor of Maryland John Lee Carroll and Anita Phelps Carroll.[4] His brother Royal Phelps Carroll, was married to Marion Langdon, a descendant of John Jacob Astor and the stepdaughter of Philip Schuyler.[4]

His maternal grandfather was Royal Phelps. His paternal grandfather was Charles Carroll of Doughoregan Manor was himself the grandson of Charles Carroll of Carrollton, the last surviving signor of the Declaration of Independence. They were descended from the prominent Carroll family.[5]

He was educated at Georgetown College, which his family helped to found.[6]

1936 photograph of Carroll's Doughoregan Manor in Ellicott City, Maryland

Despite spending most of his life in Paris,[2] Carroll and his wife were considered prominent in New York and Newport society. In 1892, they were included in Ward McAllister's "Four Hundred", purported to be an index of New York's best families, published in The New York Times.[7] Conveniently, 400 was the number of people that could fit into Mrs. Astor's ballroom.[8]

Following his father's death in 1911, Carroll bought out his other family members interest in the Carroll family estate, Doughoregan Manor in Ellicott City, Maryland, in 1912.[6]

On November 15, 1887, Carroll was married to Suzanne Bancroft, the daughter of George Dwight Bancroft and Louise Tailandier who resided in France.[10] Suzanne, who was described by The New York Times as being "certainly not more than 30, with a bright but not handsome countenance",[10] was the granddaughter of George Bancroft, who served as the U.S. Minister to the United Kingdom and the Kingdom of Prussia, as well as the U.S. Secretary of the Navy where he established the United States Naval Academy. The unannounced wedding was a surprise to society and was held Washington.[11] Before their marriage, she was rumored to be engaged to Vicomte Albert de Channac Lauzac.[10] Together Charles and Suzanne were the parents of:

• Charles Bancroft Carroll, a graduate of the Naval Academy who was an officer in the United States Navy. He married Anita Hack (1891–1972), the daughter of Frederick Home Hack, in April 1914.[12] They divorced in 1923.

In 1921, Suzanne inherited part of the Bancroft estate left by her brother, George Bancroft, upon his death.[13]

Carroll died suddenly in the garden at Villa Himalaya, his home in Menton near Nice, France on October 6, 1921.[2][14] He was honored by the French government during his funeral.[6] In 1923 his widow donated a Tapestry Canopy and Louis XV chair to Maryland Institute in his honor.[9]

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