Biography

Charles Holker Carroll was a prominent politician from the Finger Lakes region of New York. After graduating from St. Mary's College in Baltimore, Carroll was initially a farmer in Groveland, NY. Carroll served as a county judge from 1823-1829, before being elected to the New York State Senate in 1827, serving two years, until 1828. In 1836, Carroll was elected to the New York State Assembly in 1836. Carroll served as a Whig representative in the 28th and 29th Congresses, from 1843-1847, after which he moved back to Groveland to manage his estate, called "the Hermitage."

Carroll was a part of multiple prominent families. A descendant of Charles Carroll of Carrollton, a wealthy Maryland landowner and a signer of the Declaration of Independence, Carroll also married into the Van Rensselaer family, a powerful Dutch family in New York State.