In 1849, when he was 17 years old, he and his brother David Carll apprenticed under James and Lloyd Bayles shipbuilders of Port Jefferson, New York.

In 1854, he and his brother David Carll, began shipbuilding in Northport under the firm name D & J. Carl.

[1] David Carll built his shipyard in City Island and continued with the business until he retired in 1885.

[6] Carll died on October 24, 1902, in Northport, New York, at 72 years old as was one of the prominent shipbuilders of Long Island.

During World War I, the shipyard was leased to a company that constructed flat-bottomed scows for the United States Navy.