John W. Carroll, son of William and Susan Ann Carroll, was born in Henderson County, Tennessee in 1841. When the Civil War began in 1861, he immediately joined a company organized by Richard Barham. After the war, he returned to the mountains, determined to avoid contact with the newly reinstated Federal government. Carroll taught briefly in Tennessee and Kentucky and entered the mercantile business shortly after marrying Susan Galbraith.

In his Autobiography and Reminiscences of John W. Carroll (1898), Carroll recounts his childhood in Tennessee, gives a detailed account of his activities during the war, and describes its aftermath. He relates that in Kentucky, the end of the war resulted in increased hostilities between neighbors because those who had fought for the North banded together against those who had served in the Confederate armies. Carroll also describes his involvement with the Ku Klux Klan. At the end of his autobiography, Carroll offers advice to his readers, using bible verses and allegoric stories to illustrate his points.

Harris Henderson