Edmund Carroll

Edmund (1804) Carroll was born in Effin, Kilmallock, Limerick, Ireland. He married Catherine Quinlan (1794) in Hospital, Limerick on 22 February 1824. Exactly how Edmund and Catherine came to meet, is unknown. Edmund and Catherine emigrated to the United States with his five children and several nieces and nephews in 1849.. The ship, Cato, manifest lists the family and their ages as: Edmund Carroll 45 years, Christine.Carroll  40 years, Patrick Carroll  18 years, John Carroll 17 years, Micheal 13  years, Mary Carroll 8 years and James Carroll 7 years. Also listed among the 263 passengers are Mary Carroll 20 years, J. Carroll (f) 19 years, and A. Carroll (f) 18 years. Their niece, Bridget Coughlin, also made the trip with them. She was a bridesmaid for Edmund and Mary's son Patrick when he marrried Mary Falvey in Madison Vounty, Illinois on 5 October 1851. Bridget went on to St. Paul, Minnesota where she became, Sister Josephine, an Ursuline nun, and opened a convent. Their travel to America during the height of the Great Famine begs one to wonder if their passage was paid by a cash-strapped landowner trying to clear his land of tenants.

Edmund and his faimily landed in New Orleans, Louisianna on 25 June 1849. They met up with their Uncle, Ed Casey who ran a hotel. In 1850, the Illinois Central Railroad offered cheap farm land in Illinois in their expansion west. So, Edmund, his family and Uncle Ed sailed up the Mississippi River and settling in Macoupin County, Illinois. Edmund's family settled on farms near the town of Bunker Hill. It is said that four Carroll families owned farms at a cross-section that was called Carroll Corners. Other cousins and nephews moved to St. Louis Missouri. Edmund and Catrherine also donated land to the Catholic Church in Bunker Hill for a cemetery. Edmund died in Bunker Hill before 1870. Catherine went to live with her daughter and died in 1873.