Edward Carroll, a member of the Presbyterian church in Moira, Co.Antrim was married to Elizabeth Murray. They left Ireland for America landing in New York. They then sailed to Philadelphia landing there on 21st May 1801. He first settled in East Liverpool.

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Information available

Correspondence

• 12th October 1878 The Carrolls emigrate to the USA,1801
• 26th December 1882 The homestead in Moira, Ireland.
• 20th March 1883 The Ohio river floods. Children of Edward Carroll and Sarah Bell listed.
• 17th May 1893 The Bell and Greer connections explained.
• 18th July 1893 The Bell connection explained further

Extracts from published and other material

• Edward Murray- sailed to America with the Carrolls
• Obituary notice on Thomas Carroll [unknown newspaper]
• Memories of Doctor Thomas Carroll [by his grandson Eugene Carroll, January 1936]
• O'Carrolls of Litterluna- information about Whinnery and Strong connections

Family tree

Family tree of ancestors of Edward Carroll

Family contacts

Biographies

Land registry

LETTERS FROM Robt.W.CARROLL OF CINCINNATI

My dear Sir

I received your kind letter touching my sister Laura's call on you , and now my young brother-in-law, Courtney Piatt, has returned, bringing with him your photograph and a lively remembrance of your polite attentions to him. I am delighted to see a picture of you, and hope that you will at your convenience, favour me with a copy, as well as with photographs of other members of your family. It is pleasant to know that one has such good looking relations in the old country, and to renew the friendly intercourse which doubtless existed among our for fathers. I shall take pleasure in sending you photographs of other members of the family when I get good ones.

I must especially thank you for your particularly kind attention to Courtney. You took much greater trouble than I expected, and Courtney was greatly pleased. It was a good lesson in politeness to a young man, which will be of benefit to him through life. I believe you people of the old world give more time to the amenities of life than we of the new, who live faster in some ways and do not surrender so much time to social intercourse. Though to matters of genuine good feeling I am not disposed to yield the palm. My sister writes as if she enjoyed her short visit to you to the uttermost, and only regretted it was so brief. I hope before she returns home she may see you again.

It is evident from her accounts that the Cork branch of the Carroll family knew but little about the Americans- which is perfectly natural. In some respects, I believe you do not know as much about our ancestors as we, though we know nothing except by tradition. My grandfather, Edward Carroll, was younger than your grandfather, John Carroll. Your grandfather, left the North a good many years before my grandfather emigrated to this country. The latter came hither in 1801, bringing with him a large family. He had only one child born after he came to this country- a daughter.

His eldest son was named John. He was a man at the time of emigration, and I always understood had partly educated at Cork with his uncles, John and Isaac Carroll. He accompanied my grandfather to the West, and, after the family got settled, he entered upon a mercantile and trading career, which was eventful and romantic. I am not by any means fully advised of its details. But he was connected more or less with Abraham Bell, of New York, a cousin of my and your grandfathers- he was in partnership at Charleston, South Carolina, with his own cousin, John Davis- he went to Spain and France as [supercargo], and ended by getting into the Commissary Department of Bonaparte's army- he was with that army on the Russian campaign , and after the burning of Moscow and the destruction of the army, drifted into Holland, where he worked in a Chandler's factory until he got enough money to bring him back to this country. He afterwards went to South America, engaging in Commercial pursuits at a place called San Pedro, in the Rio Grande of the state of Brazil. There he married a Portuguese lady, and resided til his death, which occurred about 1838 when he was probably 58 years old. He was a successful and respected merchant. He left no children, and I believe his widow is still alive. He lived at different times in France, Spain and Italy, and understood the respective languages of these countries. I have only one letter of his in my possession. It was written in 1821, from San Pedro, to my father, who was then a young physician, just embarking on his professional career. It is very well written, and full of kindly advice to his younger brother.

The next older brother was Joseph Carroll, a mild mannered and kindly man, who followed the occupation of a farmer during his life, and died some twenty years ago, leaving a pretty large family, of whom I know but little. One son, also Joseph, resides but sixty miles from here on a farm, and him I see now and then. I think his other sons are all dead, leaving but few children- though one son left a son, named Moreau, who went through our Civil War as a soldier and now resides in the state of Iowa, where I am told he maintains a good position, having been honoured with the office of Auditor of one of the counties.

Another son of my grandfather was named Edward. He was some twelve or fourteen years old at the time of the emigration, and always retained something of the Irish accent. He grew to be a large and powerful man, quite celebrated throughout the region for his prowess albeit he was a "Friend". He resided nearly all his life in Columbiana county of this state, in which grandfather settled. He was something of a politician and at various times held the office of Magistrate, Auditor, Treasurer and Commissioner in his county. He finally came to Cincinnati when well advanced in life, and thence went to Philadelphia, where he died. He had only two children who lived to be adults- one son, now dead without issue- the other daughter, Mary, married a Mr George Bewley, an Irishman of a Dublin family of "Friends", and now resides in this city, having only two surviving children Anna and Mary, both adults.

My grandfather had five daughters I think- One married Wm Whinery, is now dead, leaving several children. I think her name was Margery- Another named Sallie married James Whinery, is now dead, leaving several children, one of whom is a dentist of Salem, Columbiana county, Ohio, named John Carroll Whinery, a man of reputation and standing in his profession0- another named Deborah married Bayless Randolph, is now dead, leaving two children- another, the youngest child, named Anne, born in this country, married Abel Thomas, and is still living, but I do not know exactly where- and another Eliza, died unmarried. The last is said to have possessed an uncommonly lovely disposition. Personally I knew nothing about any of them, having resided in a different portion of the state.

My grandfather had one son Isaac, who died almost as an infant, soon after arrival in this country and before the family came to the west. This tedious detail leaves my father Thomas, unaccounted for. He was the youngest son, except Isaac, born in 1794 in Co Antrim. When grandfather came to Ohio in the year 1801 it was not yet admitted as a State to the Union. It was part of what was known as the North Western Territory- a region which embraced the present states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Michigan, extending over a territory probably twice as large as Great Britain. Ohio became a state in 1802, so that our family were genuine pioneers. Grandfather settled in Columbiana county, on the Ohio river in the North eastern portion of the state, when the county was a wilderness of almost unbroken forest. He bought a farm and began the terrible task of clearing and cultivating it, and of maintaining his family. It was a hard life of toil and deprivation removed from even the ordinary comforts of civilisation. My grandfather was of a mercurial nature, almost [ ] jolly in his temper, as I have been told. He was calculated to adapt himself to circumstances and make the best of them, enjoying life under almost any condition. My grandmother was grave an saturnine in disposition, dignified in deportment and not quite content with the adverse fate which had made a pioneer of her. She had a great deal to say of her surroundings in Ireland and many regrets. She it was who preserved and communicated what traditions of the Carrolls there were. She took the position in her meetings as a "weighty" Friend and sat among the Elders. My father seemed to have inherited traits from both parents. He had the cheerfulness of his father without having jolly and much of the thoughtfulness of his mother. He was brought up amid the solitude of the deepwoods, inured to the hardships of clearing and farming a wilderness, deprived of any of the luxuries and many of the necessities of civilisation and almost without the benefits of schools. Still he determined to become educated if possible. He had the benefit of some teaching in such four schools as were established during the winter months. He followed it up with application to such few books as it was possible to get hold of- devoting winter evenings to reading by the light of a wood fire, and only studying while his horses rested during the ploughing season. This was a slow way to learn, but what was acquired under such difficulties was retained. He persevered, and finally saved enough money to enable him to take a course of study in the profession of medicine. He began to practice his profession at Richmond, in the state of Indiana, about the year of 1820. The next year he married my mother, Anne Lynch Williams. a Friend, who had been born in the state of Virginia and mainly brought up in the state of North Carolina. They resided at Richmond only a year or two longer, when father's health broke down, and he removed back to Columbiana county, Ohio. There my brother Foster was born in the year 1823. The father went to St.Clarisville, Belmont county, Ohio, where I and my sister, Laura (MM Mrs Taylor) were born. This constituted the whole family.

Father remained at St.Clairsville doing a large [business] until 1841, when he got rid of the hardships of a country practice, he removed to Cincinnati where he resided thirty years until his death in the spring of 1871, achieving a high reputation as a physician. In his earlier life he attended lectures in the Transylvania University, at Lexington, Kentucky, where he took his degree of MD. He afterwards spent a winter at lectures in New York and Philadelphia. Throughout his life he was a student, and he became a man of extensive achievements both in and out of his profession. He was cheerful, kindly hospitable man, full of benevolence and courage, and possessed of more than ordinary intellectual force. He was about six feet high, of a spare frame, ordinarily weighing about 160 pounds. His hair was black- his eyes a mixture of gray and hazel ( a dark gray)- his nose roman- his forehead large. He was a little stooped about the neck and shoulders. My brother Foster also studied medicine and entered upon the practice with high hopes and brilliant prospects. He had scarce begun when he died in the 28th year of his age, leaving a young widow who bore him a daughter a few months after his death. This daughter, Anna Foster Carroll, lost her mother a few months ago and is now an orphan indeed. She will in future live with me or sister Laura, probably. She is a very accomplished musician, as well as an interesting a bright young lady. My sister Laura has been married twice, and has four children by her first husband- three of whom you have seen. The other, Frank, is a graduate of two colleges "Haverford" and "Harvard", and a man of fine promise. Laura probably told you of my family, and Courtney left you photographs of my wife and oldest son. The family consists of Eugene- 17 years old last April- now a cadet Midshipman in the US navy, being educated at the Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland. Laura- 16 years old in August, attending Hughes High School in Cincinnati- Robert De Valcourt, 14 years old in August, attending the Intermediate School in the City- Louis, 12 years old in August, attending our neighbourhood school, and Mary Arabella, 10 years old in June, attending the same school with Louis. We consider them all very good and bright children, and look forward to their careers with hope and confidence.

Sister Laura resides about six miles north east of Cincinnati, and I, on the Ohio river, about 4 miles west of the city. Mr Taylor and I have our respective offices in the city, which is a common meeting ground for us.

My wife's maiden name was Mary Arabella Piatt. her grandfather and great grandfather were pioneers of the portion of the state of Kentucky near this city. Her father was a lawyer of some considerable eminence, who died about twenty years ago. Her mother's maiden name was De Falcourt, her parents being French and she a native of Baltimore. As I combine in my veins Irish, English Scotch and Welsh blood, you can see that my children are a regular conglomerate of nationalities.

To go back- there came over from Ireland, about the time of the immigration of my grandfather, and from the same neighbourhood, Leonard Dobbin and his wife, Elizabeth who first settled in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and afterwards lived at Wheeling, Virginia, a place on the Ohio river about 10 miles east of St. Clairsville, my birthplace. Mrs Dobbin's maiden name was Elizabeth Carroll, and she was either a first or second cousin of my grandfather. The families had been neighbours and friends in Ireland, and the friendly intercourse was kept up. When I was a boy, grandmother Dobbin, as I called her, was a very old woman. She talked a great deal of Ireland and specially of the Carrolls. I was young, and made no items, but the accounts as I recollect them as to the history of the family, agreed with the traditions which I received from my father and from Uncle Edward and from cousin John C Whinery (who passed some of his boyhood at Grandfather's place) and which cousin Mary C Bewley received from Aunt Sallie and Margery Whinery and from her father. Grandmother Dobbin's memory went back to almost 1770. She often told about watching John Paul Jones' vessel, during our war with England for independence off the coast of Ireland, at the time there was a panic lest that celebrated officer should make a landing.

Now the tradition, agreed upon on all hands, was that Colonel O'Carroll, who commanded a cavalry regiment in the army of King James ll. , at the battle of the Boyne, in 1690, was killed; that he left two sons, boys of tender years; that these two sons were sent to the North to be brought up; that one of them was taken by a Presbyterian and the other by an Episcopalian, and brought up in their family, the one as an Episcopalian the other as Presbyterian; that the Presbyterian was our ancestor and the Episcopalian the ancestor of Mrs Dobbin. The tradition further is that the name of the family was O'Carroll, the O being dropped by these boys, thus educated as Protestants, and that the Colonel killed at, or about that time of, the battle of the Boyne, was a Catholic. Further, the tradition is that the family came from kings County.

This tradition has some confirmation in these facts: There was a Colonel O'Carroll in King James' army- who was killed about the period of the battle of the Boyne. The greater portion of the Irish gentry who took an active part against the Prince of Orange were scattered and driven out of the country. Many of them going to France, while their property was confiscated and their families dispersed. The Carrolls of Maryland, in this country came of that Catholic stock and from Kings county. Your and my great-grandfather, Edward Carroll was a Presbyterian- he married Sarah Bell, an English Friend -as your grandfather was born in 1739, it is safe to assume that his father, the said Edward Carroll was born as early as 1712, which takes him back to within 22 years of the battle of the Boyne, so that his father might well have been one of the boys alluded to. This does not leave any great stretch of time or many people to be covered by the tradition. I got it through several sources, from my grandfather and grandmother. My grandfather was born about 1750, his father about- say- 1712- and his grandfather might very easily seen and talked with his grandfather, born say, in 1680, and have got the account directly from him. But that was not necessary to the authenticity of the tradition. If my grandfather got it from his father, his father doubtless got it from his progenitor, and that would easily carry it back to the very time spoken of, and to the events connected with the dispersal of the families and the division of the property of the officers of King James' army. Our great grandfather, Edward Carroll, who married Sarah bell, a Quaker, joined the Society of Friends, and his family were brought up in that denomination. My grandfather came to the wilderness of Ohio- a Friend himself and all his family. They were cut off from their old country relatives- they had no access to Irish history- they were a simple minded plain people, who would not through ostentation or vanity invent such a story. They therefore had a genuine family tradition, confirmed by that of Mrs Elizabeth Dobbin, a cousin, from the same neighbourhood, who was full of family anecdotes, and who was herself only two removes from the original stock. Of course there may be nothing in this; and it is, at best, more curious than important; but it is probably worth telling to you, as from sister Laura's letter, I infer that you have no similar tradition. I can hardly account for the fact that you have not, unless it be that your grandfather left the family roof early in life. However, I give you our understanding of the matter for what it is worth. I have in my possession Keating's History of Ireland, translated by Desmond O'Connor and issued at Dublin in 1809. This edition gives the names of the subscribers to the work when first published in 1723. . I have at my office (Iam writing at home) a statement of the names of my granfather's brothers and sisters and some account of whom the sisters married, furnished me by cousin Mary Bewley from a statement made ten years ago by Uncle Edward. Of the brothers I remember John, Isaac, William and Thomas. Thomas was a minister of some promise among Friends. My father and yours were doubtless named for him. One of the sisters was mother of Isaac English of Dublin- another married a man named Bell- another a man named Davis, whose son, John Davis, was in partnership at Charleston, South Carolina, with my uncle John Carroll, an account of whom I gave you above. I suppose if one had the disposition, that we might trace the families back some distance through the records of the Society of friends and of the Presbyterian church in that part of the country Antrim whence we come; and it is barely possible there may be some official record of the families broken up and dispersed after the battle of the Boyne in 1690, the battle of Aughrim in 1691, and the surrender of Limerick in 1692. For years after this period, as you are aware, the Catholics were persecuted and disposed and their property confiscated following out the policy inaugurated by Cromwell some fifty years before. It is more than likely that but little public account was taken of private families- so that we can only fall back on family tradition and the facts of history which indicate its probable truth.

I enclose photographs of my father and mother. They are not very good as photographs, but very good as likenesses. Father's is copied from an old one. Such as they are, they are the most satisfactory we have.

My brother Foster was named for Wm Forster an English Friend of eminence who visited the country over fifty years ago and staid at my grandfather William's house, at Richmond Indiana some time, and who was on intimate terms with my father, Foster, as he grew up, dropped the Wm from his name and left off an r in spelling it, so that it lost its identity.

I hope you will pardon this very long letter and bear up under its reading. I got started and hardly knew where to stop. A good deal of it will, doubtless, be uninteresting, but I will let it all go for what its worth.

By the way, a John Watson visited here, being on business, some twenty years or so ago, and said he was a relative. I never knew what relation he was. He came from Dublin, and was an original character. And, also, some twenty years ago I new [sic] a Mr Atkins, who came to Cincinnati from Montreal Canada. He said his father had been a correspondence of Thos & Joshua Carroll in a business way, and that he, when a boy, had been sent to Cork to school and knew all the Carrolls of that place. He must have been about your age- possibly a few years younger.

Please present me kindly to your family, and believe me,

Very truly

Your affectionate cousin

Robt.W.Carroll

To: Joseph H Carroll, Esq

Cork, Ireland.

There was a Joseph F Carroll who resided at Pottsville, Penn and , I believe, is now dead. I think he must have been a son of Isaac Carroll. He had one daughter, who married a Presbyterian clergyman. I never happened to see any of them, but they visited my father's house.

[Transcription of the original letter held by David O'Carroll in Leeds, England in April 1997. Words which cannot be deciphered are in square brackets]

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Cincinnati, Dec 26th,1882

J H Carroll Esq, Cork, Ireland

My Dear Cousin,

I have your letter of the 12th with your record of your family. I am much obliged. I can add somewhat to your knowledge of the family though not much. Unfortunately my grandfather's bible was lost on the voyage over in 1801. But there are traditions touching the family which have come down through my father and my uncles and aunts in which all agree. The family homestead was a stone house in Trumera (or Trumry or Trummery) variously spelled, which was a townland between Moira and Lisburn. The Carroll homestead was about one and a half miles North East of Moira and some four miles West-SouthWest of Belfast. Your cousin James Carroll wrote me, some ten years ago, that he had lately passed by and seen the house, yet standing. It is on the old turnpike road from Amargh to Lisburn and Belfast, and my father said, and others have stated that it is in a beautiful country, and handsomely situated. Your grandfather, and my father and grandfather were born in this house, and my family occupied it until they immigrated to this country early in the year 1801. The place was a farm of about one hundred acres, on which were several tenement houses, a blacksmith's shop etc. My grandfather (Edward Carroll) was embarrassed financially by the condition of the country, as left by the rebellion of 1798 and thereabouts, and I believe, by himself being involved by endorsements and possibly by a lack of thrift. I fear this last characteristic has descended to his children and grandchildren- at all events the money making talent has not been developed among us, and we are generally poor.

But, to go back to Ireland. Your and my grandfather's father was named Edward, and he it was, who built or first occupied the old stone house in Trumera. As his oldest son (your grandfather) was born in 1740; it is fair to calculate that he was born twenty five years earlier, taking his birth back to 1715, which corresponds with our traditions.

This Edward Carroll was bred, if not born, a Presbyterian, and married- say about 1739- a Quaker, named Sarah Bell, who was said to be of English origin. Their children, a list of whom I have, were brought up Quakers, and the father united with the Society of Friends before he died.

Forty years ago (or nearly) a then old lady, Mrs Elizabeth Dobbin, nee Carroll ( a relative, but exactly how near I never knew), told me that my great grandfather (Edward) got sick once on a ??????? and sent for his pastor, who failed to respond- which neglect made him angry and was the turning point of his conversion to be a Quaker. I dare say he was well on the way already, and merely used the incident as an excuse.

I am not certain, but I have reason to believe that our great grandmother, Sarah Bell, belonged to the colony of English Quakers who settled a Mooiallan some ten miles south southeast of Moira, in County Down. There is a branch of our relatives, named Bell living in this country sonce now in Indiana and at one time in Cincinnati, who are related to and intermarried with people of the name of Thakfield - a prominent name in the early history of Moiallan. So, without knowing certainly I have assumed that Sarah Bell was Moriallan. When our family came over in 1801 Abram Bell was established as a merchant in New York. He was my grandfather's cousin and an Irishman. He is dead and his family lost sight of. There is a Mr Wakefield, an Episcopal Clergyman at Richmond, Indiana, who married first his cousin, a daughter of W??? Bell, from Ireland and afterwards another daughter his second wife.

I think I once wrote you what we in this country know by tradition, about the Carrolls that preceded our great grandfather Edward Carroll. We know nothing definitely about names or dates- but we are informed that our ancestor was a Colonel of a Regiment of Dragoons at the battle of the Boyne on the side of James II and was killed, and that two of his sons were captured and as was the custom then, were transplanted by the authorities to the North- one of them being brought up a Presbyterian and one an Episcopalian. Now at the Boyne, on the side of James was a Dragoon commanded by Col Francis Carroll, who was not killed at that battle. His name appears afterwards in the war between James and Wm,and he was among those who voluntarily entered the service of France after the treaty of Limmerick in 1691, in which service he was a Colonel in the celebrated Irish Brigade. He was killed at the Battle of Marsaglia, in Italy in 1693. But under him, at the Boyne, his first lieu Colonel was Thomas Carroll, according to D'Alton in his "Army List of King James" edition of 1862. Now Thomas Carroll's name no longer appears in the subsequent history in the war after the Boyne- but it does appear from D'Alton, that a Thomas Carroll, of Kings co, was attainted in 1692 and his property confiscated. Dead men were attainted as well as live ones. The chief object being to get at their property. Kin, in his work entitled "The state of the Protestants in Ireland" gives a list of James's Army, in which he puts down Terrence Carroll as Lieu.Col. in Col Francis Carroll's Regiment and leaves the rank of Major vacant. but D'Alton, assisted by O'Callaghan, author of the History of the Irish Brigade, puts Terrance Carroll down as Major, and Thomas Carroll down as first Lieu Col, and one Boismoral as second Lieu.Col. It is most likely that the Major Terence Carroll was made Lieu.Col. after the Boyne, at which battle Thomas Carroll probably perished. From the names of officers in Col.Francis' Reg it is evident the Regiment was mainly recruited in Kings Co the original home of the Carrolls.

Assuming this Thos Carroll to have been killed at the Boyne, that he was Lieu Col- was a Catholic was from Kings Co was of the ancient sept of O'Carroll- and was a man of standing and importance in his day his name and surrounding exactly fit into the tradition- a tradition handed down through a simple minded, plain honest people, who could not have invented it, and who knew nothing of the matter from books. In fact, I don't think even father, who was a reading man, ever gave the least attention to the matter. It was the ladies of the family who especially talked about and transmitted this tradition in this country. Not one of them I presume, ever read a word upon the battle of the Boyne or regarding the family of O'Carroll of King's county- and yet they had the matter pat and that matter works into the historical situation.

The fact that Thomas is so particularly a family name among us adds great force to the inference that this Lieu.Col. was our ancestor, while the circumstance that my grandfather was born about 1750- only 60 years after the Boyne- and that his father Edward was born 1715- only 20 after the Boyne takes the living testimony far back towards the time of the enquiry. The presumption is that our greatgrandfather (Edward) was son of one of one of the boys transplanted after the Boyne, and that his information was direct and accurate, and transmitted to my grandfather and his family. Even I knew an old lady- Mrs Dobbin- who recollected incidents about the Carrolls as far back as 1778- over one hundred years ago- which proves how few people it takes to transmit a knowledge of what happened less than two hundred years ago. This same Mrs Dobbin could easily have known and conversed with persons born as far back as 1690- she having been born about 1760.

Again, we know here that Charles Carroll of Carrollton, who signed our Declaration of Independence, was descended from the Carrolls of Kings Co, his grandfather having come hither about 1689- Charles Carroll had a brother Bishop Carroll and afterwards Archbishop in the Catholic Church. ???? I have a letter from Mrs Ellen Forsyth- whose mother was Mrs Dobbin, nee Carroll alluded to the above- in which she says she came to this country in 1805, being then seven years old, that she visited my grandfather's house, having been neighbours in Ireland, and that it was understood then that my grandfather was a relative of Bishop Carroll. I simply cite this to show that the tradition of the family having come from King's Co was an accepted one nearly eighty years ago. This Mrs Forsyth, whom I have often visited, was still living in Iowa a year or so ago, aged about 87.

As to the Carrolls of Kings Co- you doubtless know that they were of Moileian origin, were descended from Oliol Ollium and thence back- that they occupied a region of Country known as Ely O'Carroll, partly Tipperary and partly in kings Co- They were inter married with all the leading families of the region among others those of Kildare and Desmond. All of which is stated in nearly all the old Histories of Ireland. By the way, speaking of histories, I have lately read " A Short History of the Kingdom of Ireland" by Halpole an Englishman, which is very interesting and instructive; and being by an Englishman can not be supposed to be partial to the "mere Irish". I advise you to read it.

As to the matter of the forefathers of the Carrolls back of Edward Carroll, born 1715 or thereabouts I suppose nothing beyond tradition will be learned though if one had the leisure to search the records of the Presbyterian Church in and about Moira something might be discovered.

As I understand it, your grandfather and his brother Isaac left the family roof [????] early in life while my grandfather staid there til he was fifty years of age. Doubtless the old father during his life [?????] with my grandfather- so that [????? ?????] would have been more likely to get familiar with any family traditions than yours.

As to the Olliffe family- I have searched the city directories of occasional dates back to 1820 when the first was published, but have failed to find the name. I have quite a complete collection of the older directories and at present I do not know where else to turn. Possibly the m??? line may have died out and the family have changed their name by marriage. If I can get a clue, I shall take great pleasure in tracing the matter up for Cousin Theodore.

I greatly fear I have "bored" you by writing for your family record, as well as by dwelling so long on family matters. The investigations I have made have grown upon me as I have gone on, but I presume I know about all I shall ever learn, as I have no hope of making any personal search in Ireland- even were there anything to be found.

My grandfather was a strongly built man, of some five feet ten inches high- a bright and cheerful disposition- and a character above approach: so I have been told by those who knew him. He died about 82 years of age, of apoplexy- when I was a child. I never saw him.

I have not heard from Nannie lately, but presume that she has got as far as Ireland on her way home.

My wife sends her affectionate sympathy to you as the recipient of this long and tiresome letter.

Our son, Eugine, will probably resign next summer- as Congress has passed a law which will cut off promotion for several years. It will hardly pay to have him remain a Midshipman eight or ten years.

With the compliments of the season from all to all. I remain your affectionate cousin.

Robt.W.Carroll

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R.W.CARROLL & CO.,

PUBLISHERS

Cincinnati, Ohio

March 20th 1883

My dear Cousin

I am reminded that I have not answered your letter of Feby 3rd, rec'd Mch 1st.

Nannie got home without accident, and is full of the very kind reception she had at the hands of the Carrolls of Cork.. We are all grateful and hope you may sometime come to America and give us all an opportunity to reciprocate. Nannie is very well and is at present with her aunt Laura Taylor at College Hill, a suburb of Cincinnati.

I am much obliged for "New Ireland" which I am now reading. It interests me very much.

When Annie arrived a great flood in the Ohio river was just subsiding. It washed over all the bottom land in front of our house, rising as high as ten feet above the surface. Many of our neighbours had six feet of water in the living rooms of their houses. All those these overflowed abandoned their homes and were taken into the houses of those on the side hill. We had a family of 23 for two weeks. The care of such a household and the exposure incident to the flood used up my wife- so that she is only now getting about again. The rest of us came up out of the water in good health. The Ohio was never before so high in the memory of civilised man. The flood of 1832, which has been the traditional great flood- was some four feet lower than this. There is a [?] of a flood in 1774 which is believed to have equalled that of 1832 but it was only seen by a few pioneer hunters and the Indians. The first permanent settlement of Ohio was made in 1787 at Marietta. My grandfather came to Ohio in 1801 with his family. This was whilst it was a part of the North West territory, one year before its admission to the union as a state.

I have the original draft of a letter from your father to Isaac English, giving some account of the coming of the family to Ohio and their surroundings which I shall someday copy and send to you. It may interest you.

I am glad to get the tracings of Isaac and Edward Carroll's names. That of Edward does not correspond with his name in the book because the latter is pointed with the [perm?] a tracing of which I enclose. But, as a blank leafing the book is a memorandum in pencil of the date of birth and death of Ruth, the author, in which the memorandum I find a lower case "d" that almost exactly corresponds the the word Edward as sent by you, fully satisfying me that the same hand wrote both. This Edward Carroll, son of Isaac Carroll, according to a settlement made by my uncle Edward- some fourteen years old when he was brought to this country- was a silk merchant (draper, I believe you say) in Liverpool. I am entirely sure the old book I have belonged to him.

His father was Isaac Carroll who was your grandfather John Carroll's brother and not his cousin as you have it.

From Uncle Edward's memorandum I can give you the names of the children of Edward Carroll and Sarah Bell, our great grand-parents as follows: 1st. Thomas- who died at about the age of 21- but after he had become a minister among Friends. 2nd John- who went to Cork and left children Samuel, who died young, Joshua and Thomas. 3rd Edward- who came to America in 1801 and brought a large family. All of his children were born in Ireland except a daughter Ann. 4th William- who married Ellen Morrow and had three daughters. 5th Isaac Carroll, who went to Cork, and had three sons Edward, James and Joseph and possibly two or three daughters. 6th Elizabeth- who married Jared Davis and had children, Thomas, John and Deborah. 7th Isabella- who married Robert Williams- no children 8th Deborah- who married Wm English and had children Thomas, John Isaac Wm, Isaac, Lucy, Belle, Deborah and Abby. 9th Sarah- who married Richard bell and had children Isaac, Richard, Edward, Fanny, Dorcas and Deborah. 10th Nancy- who married Same Johnston, and had children, John, Wm, Saul? Ann, Sarah, Lucy and Deborah.

So you see the family was reasonably prolific. The children of my grandfather were Joseph (who left a large family, mostly extinct); John (who died in Brazil, SA leaving a widow- a Portuguese woman and no children) Edward (who left only one daughter, Mary A Bewley, surviving him; Thomas, my father; Deborah married to Wm B Randolph); Marjory, married to WmWhinnery; Sarah, married to Das[James] Whinnery; Eliza, who died unmarried; Ann, who married Abel Thomas. One of the Whinnery Aunts had 14 children and the other 12.

You affectionate cousin

Robt.W Carroll

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Cincinnati, May 17th 1893

My Dear Cousin,

I received your kind letter sending me a copy of father's letter to Isaac English, written in 1852. About that time there appeared in Cincinnati one John [Watson], who, I think, had a letter from Isaac English. He was a queer fellow. I never understood his relationship to the Carrolls. Can you tell? He was from Dublin.

I send you herewith various letters and memoranda touching the Carrolls and Bells. Some of these you may keep or destroy; others I shall be obliged if you will return. Those I desire returned, I have marked "please return"!

I have two other papers which I will copy for you if I have not already done so and forward: one is a copy of the will of our great grandfather Edward Carroll and the other a letter from my uncle John Carroll to my father written in 1822, from Rio Grande, Brazil. It is possible I may have heretofore sent these. I shall wait to hear.

As to the Bells, I send you some references. I think I have some where, but I cannot put my hands on them. Some papers indicating that the Bells originate in Scotland (Dumphrieshire probably, if there be such a county). Thence went to Cumberland and thence to Ireland. From the extract from Mrs Edminston's [?] journal which I enclose it appears that Archibald Bell, whose wife's name was Jane, was an old and feeble man in 1707; so that it is not likely that Sarah Bell, who married Edward Carroll twenty one years later (1738) [1728?] was his daughter. From a paper I have from Thomas Greer, it appears that Elizabeth Bell, daughter of Archibald and Jane Bell married one Thos Greer; the date of the wedding is not given, but the fourth child Sarah Greer, in 1746 married another Thos Greer so that it is fair to assume that this Sarah Greer, a granddaughter of Archibald Bell, was born certainly as early as 1726 and her mother, the daughter of Archibald Bell, as early as 1700, probably earlier. Sarah Bell, who married Edward Carroll in 1738 may be assume to have been born as early as 1720 and so to have been a co-temporary of her cousin Sarah Greer, but too late to have been the daughter of Archibald Bell who also was old and feeble in 1707. What was her father's name I have not found out but I presume he was one of the three who Isaac Bell says came from Cumberland two settling in Trummery (Trumera) and one at Lurgan. It is possible Archibald may have been one of these brothers the oldest of the three- and the other one that settled in Trummery may have been the father of Sarah Bell. But it looks more plausible that the old man should have been the father of the three brothers who came to Ireland. We may find out some day.

As to Abram Bell, who emigrated to New York, he must have come pretty early in the century- possibly before 1810. One of my letters - I think from James Carroll of Cork, son of Isaac, says he was first cousin of my and your Grandfather. He must then have been a son of Sarah Bell Carroll's brother, though the present Isaac Bell of Trummery thinks he belonged to the Bells of Lurgan. He is probably mistaken, for relations of my grand-father and his family with Abram Bell were very close. Uncle John seems to have been engaged with him in business relations. In 1822 a letter from Uncle John to father came from South America in care of Abram Bell of NY and was forwarded. Abram Bell died many years ago- certainly before 1850. He was succeeded by his sons, as Abram Bell's sons who finally broke up and disappeared from New York. I once called at their office in Park Place and saw one of them, who treated me as if I had come in to solicit a favour or to bore him. I took my departure and never went back. I think one of the sons was named Isaac. According to the present Isaac Bell of Trummary another Isaac Bell , probably a brother or cousin of Abrams, went to New York at an early day, but I never knew of him. Aunt Sallie, I am told, used to talk of a cousin Isaac Bell. She was intimate with in Ireland, and this was probably he. She was 19 in 1801. I suspect it was Abram Bell, not Isaac, who was [contemporary your father's house. Isaac may have been the son of "Abram Bell & Co".].

Isaac Bell of Trummery who is alive now must be 75 years of age, says his grandfather Bell married a sister of our grandfathers- who was his first cousin, and also named Sarah. He does not give me his fathers and grandfather's names, thought I have a memorandum that the name of his grandfather who married Sarah Carroll was Richard- where I got that fact I can not recall, but I suppose it is a fact. When I was a boy, one William Bell- a more or less near cousin or ours- came to Cincinnati and finally settled at Richmond, Indiana. I think he was of the Lurgan Bells. He had a son who went to California, and a daughter Isabella- a rather brilliant girl- who married an Episcopal preacher, and also went to California and died there. I believe is about all I can now tell you about the Bells.

Now for another branch, to wit, the Greers. I have a genealogical chart, prepared by Thos. Greer, granduncle of Thos of Sea Park and dated Aug 1st 1855 originally compiled in 1824, from authentic documents in the hands of his grandfather and father. His grandfather was Thomas of Rhonehill, born 1724, and married to Sarah Greer in 1746, who was the daughter of Thos Greer of Redford and Elizabeth Bell of Trummery, daughter of Archibald and Jane Bell. The Bells and the Greers seems to have bred in and in to a great extent.

Thomas Greer of Rhonehill, who married Sarah Greer in 1746 she a daughter of Elisabeth Bell of Trummery had a cousin [?] Greer of Lurgan born 1681, who had a daughter Sarah, born 1711. This daughter was doubtless marriageable, say, in 1730 when she was 19. When or after she became marriageable she wedded, date not given, one John Carroll. Collate this with the fact that Edward Carroll, in 1738, married one Sarah Bell, and consider the intimate relationship and their natural association as members of the society of friends of the Bells and the Greers and the fact that Lurgan and Trummery are probably not over 12 miles apart; and we are driven to the conclusion that it is more than probable that John Carroll and Edward Carroll were very nearly related, probably were brothers. When John Carroll married into the Greer and Bell connection, it was in the natural order of events that his younger brother should have been introduced into the same circle and marry in it. We have no further account of John Carroll or of his descendants; but there was a branch of the Carroll family settled at Amargh, not far as you know, from Lurgan, and these Carrolls were related to Elisabeth Carroll, who married John Dobbin and who was a relation of ours. About 1830 or early in the reign of William IV, in fixing a borough from a member of Parliament the description begins: "From Mr Carroll's windmill on the west of the city in a straight line in the direction of the spire of [Grange Enmore?]" and finally back "to Mr Carroll's windmill." See Lewis's typographical Dictionary of Ireland- Appendix. There were several of the Greers who lived at [ Grange] near Amargh as I suppose.

I once got the address of one of these Carrolls of Amargh and wrote him. The reply indicated that John was the prominent name in the family, being given to the eldest son, and Thomas next in importance- which peculiarity applies as well to our branch.

My own conclusion is that John Carroll and Edward Carroll were elder and younger brothers and married into the same circle of society. The Carrolls of Trummery except the first Edward became Quakers whilst those of Amargh, including John Dobbin were members of the Church of England.

Something might be learned of the family from the land records, if there are such in Ireland, as we have here. For instance, in the farm in Trummery, apparently owned by Edward Carroll as far back as 1729, when your grandfather was born, was held under a lease. It may still be preserved and if they could be found would probably throw some light on the subject.

The "Trumra House" in which Isaac Bell now resides, is a two story stone building of ancient date. Lewis's Typographical Dic. mentions it as the seat of the Spencer family. Thos. Greer is under the impression that the Bells held it in the time of our great grandfather. There is a place near at hand called "Belltown", which I suppose took its name from our family; whilst the Carroll homestead is possibly 3/4 the of a mile south east just west of "Brown Hedge" . Please forgive interlincations and the tedious length of this, and believe me

Your affec. cousin

Robt.W Carroll

addressed to Jos.Hatton Carroll Esq, Cork, Ireland

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Cincinnati,O., July 18th 1893

My Dear Cousin,

I have yours of the 8th. There is no hurry about those papers. Cousin Mary C Bewley, wife of George Bewley, lives here. She is the only living child of my uncle Edward Carroll, deceased, who was some five years older than my father. The statement she made as to the family in Ireland , she had from her father , who was about twelve when the family came over. Grandfather settled in 1801 , on the Ohio river, in what is now Columbiana County, this state. New Lisbon, mentioned by you is the county town. Grandfather removed from the Ohio river to a Quaker settlement called New Garden, not far from New Lisbon. He and grandmother are buried at New Garden.

I have just received from cousin Isaac Bell, of Trumera House, an old deed, executed in September 1800, of my grandfather, Edward Carroll, to his father, Isaac Bell, conveying a leasehold property for the some (sic) £200-I suppose grandfather was selling out his property with a view to the move he made during the next winter and spring he sailed from Cork.

The Bell family

You asked me in one of your letters about the Bells. I find I had among my papers some data which I think I did not give you. Thomas Greer furnished a part and Isaac Bell of Trummery, the remainder.

The first of the name, accounted for, was Archibald Bell, of Arkin,Laugholen, Dumfries, Scotland, born about 1600.

He had a son Archibald, born 1620, Aug, at Arkin, who married Anna Purvis of Laugholm, 1648. He died either 1708 or 1718 at Tannaghmore, Co. Armagh, leaving children as follows: Archibald, born Sept 1651, at Arkin; removed to Brampton, Cumberland, Eng and thence to Trummery, Co.Antrim. He married Jane....... Jane, born July 1649 at Arkin (should be numbered 1) John, born January 1653, at Brampton, Cumberland. Mary, born June, 1655, at Market Hill, Co.Armagh. Richard, born Sept.1657, at Ballyard, Co. Armagh. George, born April, 1662, m-d Abigail Atkinson of Sigo[?] Co.Armagh, 1692 Elizabeth, born April 1665, at Ballycullan, Co.Armagh.

Archibald and Jane had a daughter Elizabeth Bell, who, about 1720, married Thomas Greer, son of Robert and Mary Greer, of Redfor, Co.Tyrone; from whom is descended the present Thomas greer, of Sea Island, near Belfast. This Thomas Greer is of the opinion that Sarah Bell, who m-d Edward Carroll in 1738, was a sister of Elizabeth Bell Greer; but I am of the opinion that Archibald and Jane Bell were too old to have had a child as late as 1715-20, when Sarah Bell was probably born. If of the blood of Archibald and Jane Bell, she must have been a granddaughter.

The next generation of Bells I have any account of, consisted of Sarah Bell, born probably 1715-1720, who married Edward Carroll, 1738, and was our ancestress. Jacob Bell, a witness to Edward Carroll's will, 1769 John Bell, executor of Edward Carroll's will and therein described as his brother-in-law,1769.

I have nothing to show that Jacob Bell was a brother of Sarah Bell Carroll, except that it was natural a brother-in-law should have been present at the making of Edward Carroll's will, and that the present Isaac Bell's greatgrandfather was named Jacob, and his grandfather, Richard, married Sarah carroll, his first cousin, daughter of Edward and Sarah, his first cousin and sister of John Carroll and Edward Carroll, our respective grandfathers.

Who was the father of Jacob, John and Sarah does not appear. They must have been born back as far as 1715-1730, in all proberbility. If so they could hardly have been the children of either the sonsof Archibald Bell and Anne Purvis, the last of whom was born in 1662. I incline to the belief that they were grandchildren of either Archibald and Jane or Richard- probably Archibald. Sarah Bell born 1720 (say) m-d 1738 Edward Carroll, and had 10 children, one of whom was Thomas, was a Quaker preacher and died young. The others are named in grandfather's will and in Mary Bewley's account. John, your grandfather was the eldest. edward, my grandfather, was some 12 years younger. Jacob Bell, had a son, Richard Bell, who married Sarah Carroll, his first cousin and had a son, Isaac bell, who had a son Isaac Bell who now resides at Trumra House, Trummery. The present Isaac Bell is probably 75 years of age. Jacob also had a son Abram, who had a son Samuel A now living at Lurgan. John Bell. I have no account of his descendants.

Abram Bell, who came to New York early in this century, I have supposed to have been a cousin of grandfather Carroll. If so, he must have been a son of either Jacob or John Bell, or of some other brother of Sarah (Bell) CArroll. There was also an Isaac Bell came over to New York about the same time- possibly a brother or cousin of Abram's. I am pretty well satisfied that Abram Bell of New York was a son of this John Bell, brother-in-law of Edward Carroll, and if so he, Abram, was first cousin of your and my grandfather.

Samuel A Bell, of Lurgan, writes that his father was named Abram and that Abram Bell of N.Y. was his father's cousin, and that his (Samuel's) father's father was Jacob Bell. So Abram of N.Y. must have been a son of a brother of Jacob- probably of John- though possibly of some other brother. These points cannot now be absolutely determined.

I should like to be able to to settle whether our great-grandmother, Sarah Bell Carroll, was a granddaughter of Archibald and Jane or of Richard, and who her father was.

The Bells have scattered far and wide and those left behind seem to know but little. Saml.A.Bell of Lurgan, says Abram Bell of New York, left a family, and they lived at Conewango, New York some 150 miles from New York city, no doubt in Cattarangus County. I know Abram Bell had a son Isaac, as I often heard John Watson refer to him. The house was "Abram Bell's Sons"- so I suppose he had more than one son.

I shall not be surprised if it turns out that the father of Sarah Bell Carroll and of Jacob and John Bell was named Isaac. The name of Isaac seems to have been so persistently used in this line of the family, that it is reasonable to guess that some common ancestor's name was Isaac. Possibly we may yet find out. The records of the Society of Friends ought to show.

I have a letter before me from Archibald Bell, of Sandringham Villas, Sydenham, Belfast whose father's name was Archibald, and his grandfather was William. William was born in 1751, and so was exactly contemporary with my grandfather Edward Carroll. he owned a farm at Broomhedge, just below the Halfpenny gate. This was not over half a mile or so from the birth place of our grandfathers. But this Archibald does not know anything more. There was a Wiliam Bell came out here some 40 to 50 years ago, whom I have seen. he must have been born about 1790, and may have been a grandson of the above named William or possibly a nephew. He is dead and his family dead or scattered. He was recognised as a cousin, more or less remote. This is all at present about the Bells.

The old deed referred to above, describes Edward Carroll as of "Crenogh, in the parish of Maghermesk, in the county of Antrim". I suppose grandfather lived, til he emigrated, in the Townland of Trummery; and I do not know where Crenogh is. The land is described as in the Townland of Crenogh.

I enclose a copy of our great-grand father's will.

With kind regards to all, I remain

Your affectionate cousin

Robt.W.Carroll.

to: Joseph Hatton Carroll, Esq

[note: alas, the copy of the will is not in my possession. David O'Carroll, Leeds, UK-October 1998]

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Ancestors

The Genealogy of the Carroll family as related by my father Edward Carroll Esq of New Lisbon in the winter of AD 1843.

My Grand Father Edward Carroll was a member of the Presbyterian Church in Moira Country Antrim Ireland. It is a tradition that we were originally Roman Catholick, & that the name was O'Carroll; that 2 brothers captured by William King of Orange's men at the Battle of the Boyne (12 July 1690) were placed with or under the guardianship of Protestants as the law then was & made to abjure their religion; & also that their father who was a cavalry officer in King James IInds army was killed in the battle.

Grandfather married a Friend Sarah Bell, and the family were all ready in her faith.

His residence was in the lower line of the ???? of Massa, some one and a half miles East of Moira on the Lisburn road. He was a farmer and linen-draper.

Our grandfather had ten children:

1st Thomas who died aged about 21 years: he appeared in the ministry at the age of 18 years; a very devout man.

2nd John Carroll who married a lady called Sarah Corfield they lived in the city of Cork and had 3 children. Joshua & Thomas, both of whom were in the firm of "Joshua & Thomas Carroll" leading merchants in the city of Cork from about 1817 when they succeeded to their father's business (timber trade). In 1831 when Joshua died, Thomas surviving but one short year.

3rd Edward Carroll my father who lived in the homestead where my grandfather had been born & died continued in the same occupation until he came to America in 1798 [correct date 21 May 1801] He married Elizabeth Murray daughter of Joseph Murray. Marjory Hogg was her mother's name. I think her grandmother's name was Hunter: they were all Scotch.

4th William Carroll who married a friend Ellen Marrow they had three daughters: Sarah; Elizabeth married a Mr Webb, lived at Cork; Silvia[?] married James Sloane settled in Nova Scotia, now a widower no children.

5th Isaac Carroll married a lady ? Fisher, a Friend. They also lived in Cork. Had 3 sons Edward, James & Joseph & I think 2 or 3 daughters.

6th Elizabeth Carroll married Jared [?] Davies a Friend. He owned a large farm & had an impressive linen factory. Their children were...

7th Isabella Carroll married Robert Williams; lived adjoining my father's farm. He was not a Friend occupation farming & linen draper; no children

8th Deborah Carroll married William English a malt dealer between Lisburn & Moira. [They had 4 children]

9th Sarah Carroll married Richard Bell a Friend. They lived at Trummery on the verge of Ballinderry meeting.

10th Nancy Carroll

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On 21 May 1801 we landed in Philadelphia- my father & 8 children. In the year 1803 my brother- John Carroll went to New Orleans trading thence to New York & from there to [ ] (S.Carolina) whence he was sent as consul to Leghorn by the US government. His property being threatened with confiscation he joined Napoleon's army as commissary officer; was at the taking of Moscow; & after the defeat of Napoleon he went to Brazil....He died in 1836, no children.

My mother had 10 children

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Descendants of Edward Carroll

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