Carroll County, created by an act of the Georgia legislature in December 1826, was named for Charles Carroll of Carrollton. Born in Annapolis, Maryland, in 1737, he attended preparatory schools in this country and completed his education in France and England. At age 28 he returned home, where his father gave him a large estate near Frederick, Maryland, called Carrollton Manor, from which he became known as Charles Carroll of Carrollton. Though extremely wealthy and risking the loss of all his property, he committed himself to Revolutionary activity, served in the Continental Congress from 1776 to 1778, and was appointed with Benjamin Franklin and Samuel Chase to seek Canadian support for the Continental cause, though unsuccessfully. He later became one of Maryland's first United States Senators, serving from 1789 through 1792. Carroll also played an important part in early railroad and canal building in the United States and, in 1828 at age 91, laid the cornerstone of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. He died four years later as the last survivor of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence.