Major & Sarah Carroll

my great-great-grandparents

Major Carroll

Sarah Elizabeth (Branch) Carroll

above scans by Judy Faye West (married to Sam Carroll West, Jr.)

When Major Carroll was born on April 25, 1851, in Ozark, Alabama, his father, "Major" James Carroll Jr., was 45 and his mother, Penelope, was 40. He married Sarah Elizabeth "Sallie" on January 11, 1872, in Echo, Alabama. They had 11 children in 25 years. He died on August 14, 1917, in his hometown, at the age of 66. 

                                                                   - Cousin Charles Loeffler, Carroll Family Historian

MAJOR CARROLL, of Ozark, Ala. was born near Ozark, Dale County, Ala. April 25, 1851, and is the son of James and Penny Elizabeth (Kennedy) Carroll, and the grandson of James and Rhodie (Stevenson) Carroll, of Johnston County, N.C. and of Benjamin Kennedy and his wife of Leonora County, N.C.  James Carroll, Sr. came from Scotland first to Ireland, thence to America. His name there was James McCarroll, being the son of Duncan McCarroll.  The Mc was left off when James Carroll came to this country.  He first stopped on the Virginia coast, then moved to Johnston County, N.C. where he became a large planter and slave holder. James Carroll, Jr. was born in Johnston County, N.C.  He lived at Smithfield in that County until 1837, when he moved to Dale County, Ala.  He served in the Indian War.  Major Carroll was educated in  the schools in and near Ozark, Ala.  He has been a farmer since 1869, and is the President of the M.O. Carroll Grocery Company.  He was a Director of the Alabama Midland and Plant System of Railroads until they were sold to Atlantic Coast Line.  He has served several times on the Board of Aldermen.  He is an active Democrat, and Methodist, a Mason, an Odd Fellow, and a Knight of Pythias.  He was married Jan 11, 1872 near Echo, in Dale County to Sarah Elizabeth Branch, the daughter of John W. and Emma (Hook) Branch, of Echo.  Mrs. Branch's father served in the Mexican War and the War of Succession.

Source:  Alabama Official and Statistical Register, 1911, page 108-109

Legislative Department, Dale County 

 From Memorial Records of Alabama – Personal Memoirs – Dale County pgs 809-810

Major Carroll was brought up in Dale County, devoting most of his time to labor on the farm.  At the age of nineteen he engaged in business for himself, and afterward, in company with his brother, opened up a small store in Ozark, in which he was not successful, and at the expiation of four months he closed his store and engaged once more in farming.  In this business he has ever since been engaged.  He was exclusively occupied with farming until 1881, when he bought 40 acres of choice land located within the city limits of Ozark.  This property he immediately began to improve, opening an avenue through it, building several tenant houses and making other improvements.  This proved to be a good investment.  In the meantime he erected a substantial brick cotton warehouse.  100x150 in size, with a commodious warehouse, and other first class shipping facilities.  This building with improvements he sold to the Farmer’s Alliance in 1880.  He then erected a substantial brick block with commodious storerooms below and offices above.  He now owns in his own right over 2,800 acres of land and cultivates a portion of it each year.  He also owns much valuable city property, all his business having been conducted according to strict business methods, and all his transaction having been straightforward and honest.

Member of the following organizations:

Municipal Board of Ozark, is junior warden of Ozark Lodge No. 349 A.F.&A.M.  He has always been a Democrat and takes an active interest in public affairs.  One time member of the Farmer’s Alliance, member of the Board of Directors and stock holder of the Alabama Midland Railroad Company, member of the Methodist Episcopal Church and holds office of steward in church.

In 1897 the Ozark Methodist Church bought a little 100' by 100' lot from church-member Major Carroll, at the corner of East Avenue and Broad Street-the site of the church sanctuary today. By 1900 the church had built on the new site a small but charming brick building, graced by many Gothic-arched, stained-glass windows.   - Source unknown

Major Carroll Funeral

Sarah, seated.  Surrounded by her children.

For a history of the name Major, click here.
To learn of Major Carroll's stint in the Alabama Legislature, go here.
Click here for Major Carroll's funeral and the burial places for Major & Sarah.

This blog post is a work in progress.  If anybody has more info and photos on Major and Sarah, especially Sarah, please email me at majorespy@yahoo.com.