8.4 Carroll Family, 1714 - 1721
Scope and Contents
This subseries consists of a financial records book of James Carroll, a wealthy Catholic planter, merchant, and slave owner in Maryland. Known as the “James Carroll Daybook” - though not technically a daybook, as it is not arranged strictly chronologically - this folio-sized volume of nearly 300 pages is a record of the commercial accounts maintained by the innovative planter-merchant James Carroll, including financial transactions related to enslaved individuals.
James Carroll was born in Ireland around 1680; emigrated to Maryland in approximately 1703; and died in 1729. A devout Catholic, he worked as a factor for London merchants, lent money to his Catholic neighbors, and ultimately owned three plantations, amassing a total of 5,000 acres. Carroll was also a slave owner, and he managed the sale of enslaved people for for London merchant Samuel Bonham. For Bonham, he facilitated the transportation of 105 Africans from Sierra Leone on the ship Margaret, which landed in Annapolis on August 23, 1718. Like many planters of early eighteenth-century Maryland, James Carroll transitioned from a labor force that included some indentured servants to a force composed entirely of enslaved labor. By the time of his death in 1729, he owned approximately 35 enslaved people (most of whom were not born in Africa).
In his records book, Carroll recorded the purchases of at least some of his enslaved property. He also documented the accounts of his overseers, and tracked the costs of provisions for enslaved people. Upon his death in 1729, he bequeathed most of the enslaved people he owned - as well as approximately 2,000 acres of land that straddled the boundaries of Anne Arundel and Prince George's County - to his nephews, Anthony Carroll and James Carroll. His nephews later entered the Society of Jesus; they then transferred their property (both land and the enslaved individuals who lived and labored on it) to the Maryland Mission of the Society of Jesus. This land became known as White Marsh.
For more information on James Carroll and the Carroll family, see Background on the Carroll Family.
**Please note: the finding aid contains Scope and Contents notes for each folder. This folder-level description has been imported from an older finding aid. Researchers may encounter outdated or potentially offensive terminology and occasional inaccuracies. If you would like to notify Special Collections of any issues that need correcting, please contact us.**
Some materials in this subseries contain references to slavery, slaveholding, and enslaved individuals. Relevant folders are noted in the finding aid.
This subseries consists of a single item, and is part of the original collection placed on deposit at Georgetown in the 1970s.
Dates
- 1714 - 1721
Conditions Governing Access
The Maryland Province Archives is on deposit at Georgetown University and is the property of the USA East Province of the Society of Jesus. As stewards of the Archives, the Georgetown University Library’s Booth Family Center for Special Collections is responsible for managing access to the material based on policies set forth by the USA East Province. Researchers may view these materials in the Reading Room of the Booth Family Center for Special Collections. General policies for using Special Collections can be found here.
Access to the Archives is governed by the USA East Province and is subject to all Library and Special Collections policies and procedures in addition to the specific guidelines below. These guidelines are a summary of access policies; the Archives may include materials that fall outside the scope of these general guidelines. For information on access to specific materials, please contact the Special Collections staff.
Guidelines:
1. All Archives materials dated or bearing solely on events occurring before January 1, 1940, shall be open for review unless otherwise restricted, subject to Library policies and procedures.
2. All unpublished Archives materials dated or bearing solely on events occurring on or after January 1, 1940, shall be open for review upon request subject to a decision by the Provincial or someone designated by the Provincial.
3. Researchers may quote from the materials.
4. Researchers may take their own photographs of the material for scholarly and research purposes. Allowing photographs is not an authorization to publish or to deposit the material in another library or archive.
5. Written permission from the USA East Province is required for the publication of substantive portions of any material or publication-quality reproductions of any material.
6. Material not yet processed is not available to researchers; permission will not be granted to access any unprocessed material.
7. Audiovisual, microfilm and other material in the Archives, the original of which is held in another archive, may be consulted and transcribed only. Written permission from the archive holding the original material is required for any duplication, reproduction, or publication of that material.
8. Use the Permission Request Form to request permission (i) to access any restricted processed material or (ii) to publish reproductions or quote substantive portions of the material. Send the completed form by email to the Booth Family Center for Special Collections (speccoll@georgetown.edu).
Extent
From the Collection: 308 boxes (212 regular boxes, 25 oversized boxes, 58 restricted regular boxes, 13 restricted oversized boxes, plus 14 card catalog drawers )
Language of Materials
From the Collection: Multiple languages
Creator
- From the Collection: Jesuits. Maryland Province (Organization)
Repository Details
Part of the Georgetown University Manuscripts Repository
Lauinger Library, 5th Floor
37th and O Streets, N.W.
Washington DC 20057
speccoll@georgetown.edu