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Doughoregan Manor, Near Ellicott City, Maryland: Carroll

Doughoregan Manor, which was named for one of the O'Carroll estates in Ireland, is one of the most ancient family seats in Maryland. In 1688 Charles Carroll, I, came over from England. He became a large landed proprietor, in part as a result of his appeal to the king of England for a part in the estate of the O'Carrolls of King's County, Ireland. The king satisfied the claim by offering him 60,000 acres of land in the Colonies. His heir was Charles Carroll, II, who OVER THE MASON AND DIXON LINE 217 was born in 1702. Fifteen years later Doughoregan Manor was built, and twenty-seven years later Charles Carroll, II, and his brother Daniel sold sixty acres of land which became the site of old Baltimore.

Charles Carroll, II, divided his time between Doughoregan Manor and the Carroll Mansion in Annapolis, his town house. Here was born, in 1737, Charles Carroll, III, the Signer. Most of the education of this heir to the vast estate of Charles Carroll, II, was secured in France. He was in Paris when his father wrote to him, in 1764, telling him of the large property that was to come to him. After speaking of this in detail, he concluded: "On my death I am willing to add my Manor of Doughoregan, 10,000 acres, and also 1,425 Acres called Chance adjacent thereto, on the bulk of which my negroes are settled. As you are my only child, you will, of course, have all the residue of my estate at my death." When the estate of his father finally came into his hands, Charles Carroll, III, was the richest man in Maryland. That he knew how to handle such a large property he showed by a letter which he wrote to his son, Charles Carroll, IV, on July 10, 1801: "He who postpones till to-morrow what can and ought to be done to-day, will never thrive in this world. It was not by procrastination this estate was acquired, but by activity, thought, perseverance, and economy, and by the same means it must be preserved and prevented from melting away."

But while the owner of Doughoregan Manor was careful, he was not penurious. He kept open house to his numerous friends, of whom George Washington was one. In one of the rooms of the Manor Washington sat to Gilbert Stuart for his portrait.