Washington, D. C., October 3, 1863.
To Hon. Isaac Hazlehurst, of Philadelphia.
My Dear Sir: I have just received a note from Miss Anna Ella Carroll, of Maryland, informing me she is going to Philadelphia, where she is a comparative stranger, and desiring an introduction to some of the eminent publicists of your famous city.
I venture to present her to you, sir, first, as an unquestionable lady of the highest personal standing and family connection; second, as a person of superior mind, highly cultivated, especially in the solids of American literature, political history, and constitutional law; third, of strong will, indomitable courage, and patient labor. Guided by the light of her own understanding, she seeks truth among the mixed materials of other minds, and having found it, maintains it against all obstacles; fourth and last, a writer fluent, cogent, and abounding with evidence of patient investigation and original thought.
I commend her to your courtesy, less for the delicate attentions proper for the drawing room than for the higher communion of congenial students, alike devoted to the good of the Commonwealth.
With the greatest respect, I remain, sir, your friend and servant.
Edward Bates.
As time went on, Thomas King Carroll, now advanced in years, many of his children married and scattered, began to find his estate and great group of dependents a burdensome and unprofitable possession.
Under a humane master, unwilling to sell his slaves, they were apt to increase beyond the resources of the plantation to sustain them. Ready-money payment was not the general rule upon plantations. Abundance of food was produced, but money was not very plentiful when markets were distant and trade very limited.
It was not unusual for debts to accumulate and even to be handed down from father to son. The creditors rather favored this state of things, as the debt drew interest. As long as there were plenty of slaves, their ultimate payment was secure whenever they chose to press for it. If the money was not then forthcoming, their redress was certain—a descent followed of that brutal intermediary, "the nigger dealer," loathed and dreaded alike by master and servant. A sufficient amount of the human property was speedily secured and driven off for sale to satisfy the creditor. To the slave, torn from his home and his life-long ties, it was despair. To the master's family, often a bitter grief. They might shut themselves up and weep at the outrage, but they were powerless in the face of an inexorable system. To the master, therefore, as the slaves increased, there could often be no alternative between ruthless sale and financial ruin. Thomas King Carroll, honorable, humane, unwilling to sell his slaves, immersed during the best years of his life in political affairs, found in later years his burdens increasing, and his kindness of heart had involved him also in some especial difficulties. He had on several occasions allowed his name to be used as security for friends in difficulty. Two or three of these debts remained unpaid and the responsibility came upon him. One especially, of an unusually large amount, involved him in embarrassment which led him to determine on the sale of his plantation. A neighbor and intimate friend, Mr. Dennis, was desirous to purchase, and very sorrowfully Thomas King Carroll came to the resolution to give up his ancestral home. As he was accustomed to say, he loved every corner and every stone upon the place, but the burden had become too great for his declining strength.
The sale was effected and Mr. Carroll removed to Dorchester county, on the eastern side of the Chesapeake, with his unmarried children, and here he died, in 1873, in his 80th year.