SHEBOYGAN HISTORY

John P. Carroll, Page 579

JOHN P. CARROLL, a well-known resident of Random Lake, is a native of the Green Isle of Erin.  He was born in County Tyrone, March 7, 1820, and is a son of John and Sarah (O'Gormen) Carroll.  The family numbered nine children, of whom John is sixth in order of birth.  There is only one other now living, Mrs. Ann McElroy, of Massachusetts.  The mother died when our subject was a lad of six, and the father when he was fifteen years of age.  They lived near the market-town of Clogher, and the father followed farming and stock-raising, making shipments of stock to England.

    Mr. Carroll, when a lad of sixteen, bade adieu to the land of his birth, and came alone to America, crossing the Atlantic in the sailing-vessel "Samuel Hicks," which reached New York May 1, 1836.  From the Eastern metropolis he went to Providence, R. I., where he began working in a printing-office, there remaining until the failure of his employers.  he then worked in the same line of business near Providence until the spring of 1848, when he turned his face toward the setting sun.  He had less than $100 to begin life in the West, but, nothing daunted, he came to Wisconsin, settling in Ozaukee County, where he purchased eighty acres of land in Sherman Township.  He made the trip by canal from Albany to Buffalo, and by way of the Great Lakes to Milwaukee, where he secured a team, with which to continue his journey.  Thee were almost no roads, and he often had to make a way through the timber.  Later he returned to Milwaukee, and engaged as a farm hand for a year in order to secure the funds necessary to improve his own claim.  There was a small log house on the place, but the land was wild.  Deer were very numerous, and wolves used to make the nights hideous with their howls, for this was an unsettled region on the outskirts of civilization.

    In 1850 Mr. Carroll was joined in wedlock with Miss Theresa Mooney, who was born in England, and with her parents came to this country, living just six miles south of her present home.  Eleven children have been born unto them, of whom seven survive:  Sarah, wife of Thomas Fanning, who is employed as a book-keeper in Chicago; Joseph, a street-car conductor of Milwaukee; Mary Ann and Theresa, at home; Esther, wife of Thomas Allcox, a traveling salesman living in Random Lake; John P., a successful and enterprising business man, who is extensively engaged in the manufacture of fine cigars at Random Lake, his annual output being about fifty thousand; and Michael, who is now in poor health, and resides on the home farm.  he married Maggie Weller, and they have two children, Kate and Mary.

    Mr. Carroll cast the only vote for Gen. Taylor in 1848 in Franklin Township, and since that time has supported the Democratic party.  He has been honored with several positions of public trust, having served as Justice of the Peace forty years, Chairman of the Town Board eighteen years, Town Treasurer five years, and Assessor one year.  In 1865, he was elected a member of the State Legislature.  He served as Clerk of School District No. 4 for twelve years, and of District No. 3 for eight years.  In the various positions he has been called upon to fill, he has proved a capable and faithful officer, discharging his duties with promptness and fidelity.  He belongs to St. Mary's Catholic Church.

    Mr. Carroll now owns a farm of forty-two acres, one mile west of Random Lake, and is proprietor of the American House at this place, a fine village hotel, which receives a liberal patronage from the traveling public.  The community has found in him a valued citizen, who manifests a commendable interest in everything pertaining to the welfare of the community and its upbuilding.  His public and private life are alike above reproach, and throughout the community he is highly honored and universally respected.