[Pyro7480]

Moreover, if my Maryland history is correct, did not Maryland pass an act of tolerance sometime in the mid 1600s? Finally, is it not the case that Lord Baltimore had a special burden for giving Catholics a place of refuge? (Most Maryland colonizers were still Protestant, of course).

It did, but it was revoked in the late 1680s/early 1690s after the so-called "Glorious Revolution." After that point, Catholics weren't allowed to worship in public.

Also, from http://www.aoc.gov/cc/art/nsh/carroll.cfm

As a Roman Catholic, he was barred from entering politics, practicing law, and voting. However, writing in the Maryland Gazette under the pseudonym "First Citizen," he became a prominent spokesman against the governor's proclamation increasing legal fees to state officers and Protestant clergy. Carroll served on various committees of correspondence.

He was commissioned with Benjamin Franklin and Samuel Chase in February 1774 to seek aid from Canada. He was appointed a delegate to the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, and signed the Declaration of Independence. He resigned in 1778 to serve in the Maryland State Assembly and helped draft the Maryland constitution.

[ConservativeDude]

That is helpful clarification and additional background.

[afraidfortherepublic]

Carroll served on various committees of correspondence.

So did my ggggg grandfather, Col. Thomas Bedford of VA.