My Heroes... Mary Darnell Carroll

What an odd twist of fate. The Carrolls had six daughters and one son, and four of the daughters didn't survive infancy or childhood. Of the two surviving daughters, one married Richard Caton, an English gentleman. One of the Miss Catons became Mrs. Robert Patterson, who attracted the attention of none other than Sir Arthur Wellesley, yes of Waterloo. He followed her all over Europe, stirring quite the scandal.

Mr. Carroll had written his friends about his bride-to-be, in one lamenting her youth and his less than stellar health. As it turned out, she died at thirty-five, while he was the last of the Signers to pass, at ninety-five. A lesson to not second guess God or His timing.