The Carrolls were one of the early Irish immigrants to the Windsor/ Windsor Locks area. The earliest “come-over” was Bernard Carroll who arrived in New York aboard the “Isaac Wright” in 1849.
Bernard was born in County Meath, Ireland circa 1820-1830, the son of Bernard and Catherine Carroll. Bernard Carroll came to America and settled in the Rainbow section of Windsor, and married Catherine Fedigan circa 1855. Bernard worked in the papermaking industry in Windsor. Bernard and Catherine had at least five children born between 1856 and 1871: Margaret, Robert, Ellen, Mary, and Lizzie. Bernard Carroll died in 1890 and is buried in St. Joseph’s Cemetery in Windsor. Catherine Fedigan Carroll died in 1905.
Bernard’s brother, Peter Carroll, was born in County Meath, and married Bridget Ann McGinnis in 1838, in Collon, County Louth, Ireland. Bridget was born circa 1815, and emigrated to the United States prior to 1860. In the baptismal record of one of their children, Peter and Bridget are listed as “Paupers”. Bridget and five of her children emigrated to Windsor Locks. Bridget’s children were: Thomas, John, Robert, Richard, Mary Ann and Annie. Bridget died, in Windsor Locks, in 1872.
Richard Carroll went to work for “Uncle Barney” and, in 1861, he enlisted in the First Connecticut Heavy Artillery as a Private. Richard served as for the duration of the War, being discharged in 1865. After the War, Richard married Margaret Mary McGinn, whose father was William McGinn. William was born in Dublin circa 1806, and came to America to work for a distant relative in Windsor. William worked in a grocery store in what would become Windsor Locks, for his cousin, one of the Coogans. The building would later become the Carroll Homestead when Richard purchased the building in 1885. In later years, it would become the site of Carroll’s Pharmacy in 1945.
Three of the sons, Thomas, Robert and John went West to find gold in the Black Hills Gold Rush. The Rush began in 1874 and peaked in 1876-1877. The Carroll Boys never made it to the Gold Fields. They were turned back by the Sioux and returned to Windsor Locks. Thomas married and lived on Water Street, Warehouse Point. John and Robert never married and lived and died in Windsor Locks.
The two girls, Mary Ann and Annie Carroll, ended up in California. Annie married Manuel Castro in 1880. Annie and Manuel had a large family in Santa Clara, California. Mary Ann Carroll stayed in California also, but little is known about her life there. Before leaving for California, Mary Ann Carroll worked as a Domestic at the Thompson Mansion on Enfield Street, in Enfield.
Richard and Margaret would have six children: Mary Jane, James Peter, William, Robert, Elizabeth Ann, and Richard T. Carroll. Mary Jane and James were born in Windsor Locks. William and Robert were born in Balleston Spa, NY, when the family moved to find work in the paper mills, in the 1870s. The family returned to Windsor Locks for the births of Elizabeth Ann and Richard T. Carroll. Mary Jane Carroll died in her Twenties; Richard T. Carroll died in his Thirties; neither married.
James P. Carroll worked at Dexter’s Mill from 1910 until his retirement, at age 80, in 1950. James married Gertrude Elizabeth Carney in 1910, and lived on Suffield St. Windsor Locks. James and Gertrude had only one surviving child, James P. Carroll Jr. James attended Loomis Academy in Windsor, and married Helen Mary Carey in 1939 and opened Carroll’s Pharmacy in the first floor of the Carroll Homestead on Suffield Street, in 1945. James was also a member of the Windsor Locks Fire Department and served as Chief from 1959 until 1964.
Robert Carroll worked at the Bidwell Lumber Company and later for the Worth Tobacco Company in Windsor Locks. Robert married Rose Burke and they resided on Olive Street. Robert and Rose had two children: Robert and Mary Rose. Mary Rose married Fred Kennedy and Robert became a Catholic Priest.
William Carroll worked at his own meat market on Suffield Street, and married Elizabeth McNally of Poquonnoc, Windsor. William and Elizabeth had one child, Margaret. Margaret was a Nurse and married twice.
Elizabeth Ann Carroll “kept house” for her parents, Richard and Margaret Carroll until their deaths. She married Thomas Costello of Warehouse Point and moved to their home on North Main Street across the street from her brother, William Carroll. Thomas and Elizabeth had one child, a daughter named Mary. Mary Costello married Stephan Ricci.
Presently, (2019), there are seven Carroll descendants still living in Windsor Locks, fifteen more living in Connecticut and Texas, and a large number of the descendants of Annie Carroll Castro and Manuel Castro living in California.
Charles H. Carroll May 16, 2019
The Carrolls in Connecticut
