Joseph McCarroll who was married to Elvira Ann Ellis, sister to Fannie Williamson Ellis Gowen, served as Christian County Sheriff in 1864, 1865 and 1866. Another brother-in-law, Democrat James O. Ellis who served as John B. H. Gowen's deputy, was elected sheriff in 1868 and county judge in 1870 for a four-year tenure.138


A History of Christian County Kentucky from Oxcart to Airplane
by Charles Mayfield Meacham
printed by Marshall & Bruce co. Nashville, Tennessee 1930

Joe McCarroll was born April 6, 1848, on the old Ellis farm, four miles south of Hopkinsville. His maternal ancestor was Ira Ellis, a pioneer Methodist minister. He was the son of Charles A. and Elvira Anne McCarroll. His paternal grandparents were Dr. John R. McCarroll and Eliza (Kelly) McCarroll. His maternal grandparents were Nicholas Mason Ellis and Mary (Gunn) Ellis. Mr. McCarroll received a legal education, and was accepted as a member of the Hopkinsville bar, and sworn in at the March term of court, 1873. In 1878, Mr. McCaroroll was elected to the office of city judge of Hopkinsville, and held the office for four years. He has been elected by the bar to hold several terms of Circuit Court, as special judge. September 23, 1880, Judge McCarroll was married to Miss Mary Turpin Holloway, of Henderson, Ky. Their children, now living, are Charles, Joe, Jr., Robert H. and William S. McCarroll. Judge McCarroll, at the present time, is the oldest member of the Hopkinsville bar, and hough nearing his eighty-second birthday, is still actively engaged in the practice of his profession. He wields a facile pen, as will be seen from a historical sketch, on another page, of the bar of his younger days. He has long been prominent in the affairs of the Methodist Episcopal Church, a fine example of the faith he inherited from his distinguished grandfather.