The Remarkable Story of John Carroll and his Mountain House
October 29th, 2024
October 29th, 2024
BY LISA HORSCH CLARK
The mere fact that John Carroll survived his early years long enough to establish a family and homestead is a miracle. He faced dangerous ocean crossings, false arrests, and multiple near-death experiences as a young man.
John Carroll was born in Borrisoleigh, County Tipperary, Ireland on October 8, 1790. In an act of protest against taxes, he was charged with treason against the king and relocated to St. John’s, Newfoundland where he had extended family and a prospect of work. He would never return to Ireland or see his immediate family again.
An early job John worked—seal hunting—was dangerous and, on one occasion, he and several companions found themselves stranded for four days on an ice floe. A changing wind came to their rescue, pushing them back to the safety of their boat. Once safe, John vowed to never seal hunt again.
John Carroll and Viola Tracy Carroll
Instead, he and friend Michael Bulger sailed south in 1820 towards Washington D.C. which needed rebuilding after its burning in 1814.
On the sail south their two ships stopped on Great Cranberry Island to unload supplies, where John and Michael were wrongly accused of stealing one of the ships.
They were shipped to Portland, the capital of the newly formed state of Maine, to stand trial. After an investigation and acquittal, the men returned to their ship on Great Cranberry but found it was too late in
the fall to travel south due to hurricane season.
When the nearby and growing town of Southwest Harbor heard there were men skilled in masonry (John) and carpentry (Michael), the two were quickly recruited to build that fall. As winter approached, they shifted work to timber harvesting for building projects in the spring.
While cutting wood at the base of Beech Mountain, John’s saw slipped, cutting him gravely.
One of the local men working the woods with him—Enoch Lurvey—quickly brought him to his nearby family home on what is now Lurvey Spring Road to wait for Dr. Kendall Kittridge to come from Somesville. While waiting for the doctor, Enoch’s sister Rachel cared for John.
Carroll Homestead
John Viola and children 1905
On doctor’s orders, John stayed on at the Lurvey home for several weeks to recuperate from his injury with Rachel at his side. They quickly fell in love, married, and agreed to make their home in Southwest Harbor, abandoning his plans to move to and build in Washington. John and Rachel found 50 plus acres of land, two miles north of Southwest Harbor at the base of Dog Mountain (now known as St. Sauveur Mountain) to build their home.
They picked the land not because it was close to town, had access roads, had fit grazing or growing fields, or was close to family. It had none of those features. What it did have was a water view of the rocky coast that reminded John of his childhood years in Ireland.
This is the start of what we today know as Carroll Homestead, affectionately called Mountain House by the family, housing four generations of Carroll descendants.
The Homestead exists as a way to preserve and educate others about the memory of a New England pioneer family. (Photo Emily Moses /Friends of Acadia)
John and his family cleared the land by hand and with oxen, cut nearby trees, and harvested rock to lay a foundation for a house that would provide a home for the family for the next 92 years.
On their subsistence farm, the Carroll family kept chickens, cows, and sheep, which provided eggs, milk, butter, and wool. They also grew an array of crops, including potatoes, beans, peas, cucumbers, tomatoes, lettuce, rhubarb, apples, and hay.
Everyone in the family had jobs and the farm provided almost all that was needed. What they couldn’t grow, build, or make, they either purchased in town or did without.
The original 63 acres would grow to more than 100 acres, providing a year-round home to more than 30 family members over the years, well past John’s death in 1867. In 1917, the last of the Carroll descendants moved to a more modern home in Southwest Harbor.
Joan Jordan Grant, a direct descendant of John Carroll and Rachel Lurvey Carroll and author of “Lydia Stories.” (Photo by Julia Walker Thomas/Friends of Acadia)
The Carroll Homestead. (Photo by Emma Forthofer)
The rustic Mountain House never had indoor plumbing or electricity but remained furnished and stocked to serve as a gathering place for family celebrations and out-of-town family to stay for summer visits.
Mountain House would stay in Carroll family ownership until 1982 when it was donated to Acadia National Park for permanent protection.
Today, 43 acres of the original farm are open to the public for touring. The house has interpreters, including Joan Jordan Grant, a descendant of John Carroll, who narrate the story of the Carroll family and teach about 19th century subsistence farming along the coast of Maine. Carroll Homestead offers a look back to one part of Mount Desert Island’s nuanced history.
To learn more about Carroll Homestead, visit www.nsp.gov/places/carroll-homestead.htm or read “Lydia’s Stories” (2023) by Joan Jordan Grant or “Four Generations in Maine” (1993) by Henry Raup.
LISA HORSCH CLARK is Friends of Acadia’s Vice President of Development and Donor Relations.
Cover of “Lydia Stories”
“Lydia Stories” is a unique and compelling narrative that spans six generations of the Carroll family, tracing their journey from Ireland to the United States. Authored by Joan Jordan Grant, a direct descendant of John Carroll and Rachel Lurvey Carroll, the book skillfully blends historical fact and creative storytelling, guided by Lydia, a cloth doll, who narrates their rich history. Drawing from diaries, letters, and recorded memories, Grant vividly captures the family’s legacy of courage and resilience as they establish and live at their Mountain House at base of Dog Mountain on Mount Desert Island. This unique presentation makes the book both informative and deeply engaging for history lovers.
Available for purchase at the Southwest Harbor Public Library, Carroll’s Drug Store, and from the author. $60 hardcover/$35 softcover.