California Biographies 

Source:
History of Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Ventura Counties, California
by: C M Gidney - Santa Barbara. Benjamin Brooks - San Luis Obispo. 
Edwin M Sheridan - Ventura
Volumes II - Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago, ILL., 1917

This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm

THOMAS H. CARROLL, There are few men in Ventura County better deserving of credit for 
what they have accomplished in the world that is Thomas H. Carroll. By sheer pluck and 
perseverance, united with integrity and determination to succeed, he has worked his way to 
prominence and independence, and in his own profession, that of a contractor and builder, he 
has few equals.
Mr. Carroll was born in Nova Scotia, in November, 1852, and is a son of Richard and Alice 
(Dulentry) Carroll. He attended the graded and high schools of his native place until he was 
fourteen years of age, at which time he began serving his apprenticeship to the carpenter's 
trade. At the end of four years he went to Saint Johns, Newfoundland. where he became 
mechanical superintendent for the Betz Cove Copper Mines, and remained in that capacity for 
nine years, then going to Boston. Massachusetts, and following his trade for two years. At this 
time Mr. Carroll decided a better future was awaiting him in the West, and he accordingly 
made his way to Los Angeles, California. where he first became a carpenter and later a 
stairbuilder in the Griffiths Planing Mill. In 1901 he came to Oxnard as superintendent of the 
Parrish & Gurley Planing Mill, but after eighteen months turned his attention to contracting and 
building, a field in which he has since won eminence and marked material success. A recent 
review of the achievements of Mr. Carroll in the contracting and building field spoke as follows: 
"In the great building era which has wrought so marked an improvement in the character of 
Oxnard's architecture, the building contractor has been perforce, an important factor, and in 
looking about over this city, noting the many fine business and public buildings and beautiful 
private homes which grace its streets, then making inquiries as to who built them, one forms 
the conclusion that Contractor T. H. Carroll has been, and is, a decidedly active factor in 
Oxnard's business circles. To attempt an enumeration of all his structures would be tedious, so 
we shall briefly touch upon a few of the more important contracts which he has handled 
promptly, efficiently and satisfactorily. Notable among these is the magnificent Saint John's 
Hospital, completed last year, costing in the neighborhood of $100,000. The finest church 
edifice in the city, the Santa Clara Catholic Church, is another of Mr. Carroll's contracts, and he 
also handled the interior work on the magnificent $100,000 memorial chapel built at Camarillo, 
as he did likewise the parsonage of the Santa Clara Church. The Oxnard Public Library, the 
Knights of Columbus Hall, the Ventura County Power Company's office and power station, the 
McGrath Dairy, near Oxnard, and numerous other important public and business structures 
stand as monuments to Mr. Carroll's ability, enterprise and trustworthiness as a contractor, 
while the fine residences which he has erected at and around Oxnard are numerous, including 
those of R. L. Peacock, Rudolph Beck, Dr. H. M. Staire, Dr. Livingston, Samuel Weill, Guy 
Stinson, J. J. Krouser, Jack Milligan and Henry Levy. The last named, built for the well-known 
banker and bean broker, when completed cost in the neighborhood of $12,000. and represents 
the last word in modernity, convenience and luxury in both its exterior and interior 
appointments. 'Nothing succeeds like success' is an old axiom, and Mr. Carroll's successful 
record of building achievements here at Oxnard and in Ventura County covering a number of 
years tells its own story of clean, clear-cut, business-like methods ; of first caliber ability, 
integrity of the highest order, and of full and complete satisfaction to his customers, hence 
those points require no particular embellishment here, as it may be safely assumed that if he 
did not 'deliver the goods' and live up fairly and squarely to the letter and spirit of the contract 
in each and every case, no such record as the one briefly outlined above could have been 
made."
Mr. Carroll is a charter member of the Knights of Columbus, at Oxnard. He is independent in 
his political views. With his family, he belongs to the Catholic Church. On January 15, 1886, at 
Los Angeles, he was married to Lenora Horan, and they are the parents of three children: Ethel, 
who is public librarian at Oxnard ; Russel, who is teller of the banking house of A. Levy, at this 
place ; and Evangeline, a teacher of vocal music.