Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History
Benson Lossing, Ed.

---

Carroll, John 1735-

Clergyman; born in

John Carroll.

Upper Marlboro, Md., Jan. 8, 1735; was educated at St. Omer's, Liege, and Bruges; ordained a priest in 1769, and entered the order of Jesuits soon afterwards. He travelled through Europe with young Lord Staunton in 1770 as private tutor, and in 1773 became a professor in the college at Bruges. In 1775 he returned to Maryland, and the next year, by desire of Congress, he accompanied a committee of that body on a mission to Canada. That committee was composed of Dr. Franklin, Charles Carroll of Carrollton, and Samuel Chase. He was appointed the papal vicargeneral for the United States in 1786, and made Baltimore his fixed residence. In 1790 he was consecrated the first Roman Catholic bishop in the United States. He founded St. Mary's College in 1791, and in 1804 obtained a charter for Baltimore College. Liberal in his views, he maintained the friendship of all Protestant sects. A few years before his death, in Georgetown, D. C., Dec. 3, 1815, he was made archbishop.