Charles Carroll of Carrollton

This copy of a painting of Charles Carrol of Carrollton belonging to the Archdiocese of
Baltimore hangs in the Carrol Mansion on Baltimore, Maryland.

"Charles Carroll (September 19, 1737 – November 14, 1832), known as Charles Carroll of Carrollton or Charles Carroll III to distinguish him from his similarly named relatives, was a wealthy Maryland planter and an early advocate of independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain. He served as a delegate to the Continental Congress and Confederation Congress and later as first United States Senator for Maryland. He was the only Catholic and the longest-lived (and last surviving) signatory of the Declaration of Independence, dying 56 years after the document was first signed." -- Wikipedia

Benson J. Lossing included this image of Charles Carroll in his 1859 book Biographical Sketches of the Signers of the Declaration of American Independence.

In a footnote he answers the question why Charles Carroll chose to sign his name “of Carrollton.”

The question naturally arises, Why did Mr. Carroll append to his signature the place of his residence, “Carrollton”? It is said that when he wrote his name, a delegate near him suggested, that as he had a cousin of the name of Charles Carroll, in Maryland, the latter might be taken for him, and he (the signer) escape attainder, or any other punishment that might fall upon the heads of the patriots. Mr. Carroll immediately seized the pen, and wrote “of Carrollton” at the end of hls name, exclaiming “They cannot mistake me now”

But Harper's Encyclopædia of United States History, 1905, by Lossing and Woodrow Wilson, sets us straight.

The story that he appended “of Carrollton” to his name defiantly, to enable the British crown to identify him, is a fiction. He was accustomed to sign it so to prevent confusion, as there was another Charles Carroll. He died in Baltimore, Md., Nov. 14, 1832.