Family Caretaker
Emily Caton McTavish grew up in central Maryland, including on Doughoregan Manor in what is now Ellicott City, MD. A well-educated woman, Emily played a large role in overseeing and managing the family’s estate as the patriarch, Charles Carroll of Carrollton, aged and declined in health.
Emily and her mother, Mary Carroll Caton, helped run the network of households and assisted with the elder Carroll’s correspondence and hospitality for his network of family, friends, and political connections. In addition to his prominent place in the American political scene, Carroll was one of the wealthiest landowners in the newly formed nation of the United States in the early 1800s.
Prior to Carroll’s death, he deeded Emily 1,000 acres of land in 1831 and gave her 20,000 dollars to build a house there, probably in recognition of her exceptional caretaking and management responsibilities. The location of a new home at Folly Quarter Farm would provide easy access to Doughoregan Manor, giving Emily a private space within reach of her family home (which her cousin, Charles Carroll of Doughoregan would inherit).
Building Carrollton Hall
Emily and her husband John McTavish commissioned American-born architect William Small to design their new family home. A protégée of Benjamin Latrobe, the architect of the United States Capital and the Baltimore Basilica, Small drew plans with neoclassical and Greek revival elements reminiscent of the young nation’s finest buildings. Architectural drawings indicate the final plans, which included wings on either side of the house, were never completed.
When Carroll died in 1832, he left Emily a significant inheritance – the farm and house at Folly Quarter, approximately one-third of the people enslaved by Carroll, and an additional 10,000 dollars. Carroll’s will was contested by Emily’s cousins in 1833, and legal battles ensued for almost a decade. The ultimate compromise left Emily with the Folly Quarter property and the house, as well as a significant number of enslaved individuals working on the farm. She did not receive the 10,000 dollars intended for the expansion of Carrollton Hall and it remained incomplete.
While we continue research how much of Emily’s adult life she spent in Carrollton Hall with her husband and family, we do not believe Carrollton Hall was ever her primary residence. She listed the property for sale in 1842, though ultimately it was not sold at that time. Her son, Charles Carroll McTavish purchased the property in 1850. He attempted to sell it twice more, succeeding in 1864.