Randolph family of Virginia

Coat of Arms of William Randolph

The Randolph family is a prominent Virginia political family, whose members contributed to the politics of Colonial Virginia and Virginia after it gained its statehood. They are descended from the Randolphs of Morton Morrell, Warwickshire, England. The first Randolph to come to America was Henry Randolph in 1643.^[1] His nephew, William Randolph, later came to Virginia as an orphan in 1669. He made his home at Turkey Island along the James River. Because of their numerous progeny, William Randolph and his wife, Mary Isham Randolph, have been referred to as "the Adam and Eve of Virginia." The Randolph family was the wealthiest and most powerful family in 18th-century Virginia.

History[]

Colonial Virginia[]

Map showing Bermuda Hundred and other early settlements along the James River

Henry Randolph I, born in 1623 in Little Houghton, Northamptonshire, England,^[2][3] immigrated to the colony of Virginia in 1642,^[4] protege of Sir William Berkeley.^[5] He acquired title to land on the north side of Swift Creek in Bermuda Hundred in 1655 and he built Swift Creek Mill, considered one of the first grist mills in the United States, about 1663.^[2][6] The mill was located alongside Randolph's plantation.^[7] Henry married Judith, the daughter of speaker of the House of Burgesses Henry Soane, with whom they had a son, Captain Henry Randolph. Henry Randolph I was the uncle of William Randolph of Turkey Island in Colonial Virginia, whom Henry sponsored to emigrate to Colonial Virginia^[5] following a visit to England and Ireland in 1669 or 1670.^[3][8] He was also the half brother of Thomas Randolph, the poet of England.^[4][8] Henry died in Henrico County, Virginia in 1673.^[3][8]

William Randolph, nephew of Henry Randolph I, resided in Colonial Virginia by 1672.^[3] William was a transatlantic merchant and ran a tobacco plantation.^[3] He represented Henrico County, Virginia at the Virginia House of Burgesses and later was Speaker of the Virginia House of Burgesses.^[3] He was a founding trustee of the College of William and Mary.

Thomas Randolph of Tuckahoe and William Randolph II, sons of William Randolph, were Virginia Burgesses for Henrico County in 1720 and 1722.^[9] Sir John Randolph, son of William Randolph, was a Speaker of the House of Burgesses, and later Deputy Attorney General for Charles City, Prince George, and Henrico Counties.^[10]

Revolutionary War era[]

Peyton Randolph (1721–1775), 1st and 3rd President of the Continental Congress.

Peyton Randolph, son of Sir John Randolph, was a speaker of the Virginia House of Burgesses, chairman of the Virginia Conventions, and the first President of the Continental Congress.^[11][12]

Beverley Randolph, grandson of William Randolph, was a Virginia Delegate for Henrico County from 1777 to 1780 and the 8th Governor of Virginia, the first after the US Constitution was ratified.^[13]

Edmund Randolph, grandson of Sir John Randolph, was an aid-de-camp to George Washington in the American Revolutionary War. He was afterward seventh Governor of Virginia, the second Secretary of State, and the first United States Attorney General.

Thomas Jefferson, great-grandson of William Randolph, was a Virginia Burgess for Albemarle County and the principal author of the Declaration of Independence. At the beginning of the American Revolution he was a delegate to the Continental Congress for Virginia, also serving as a wartime Governor of Virginia. Just after the war ended, from mid-1784 Jefferson served as a diplomat to Paris and became the United States Minister to France. He was the first United States Secretary of State (1790–1793) serving under President George Washington. He was the 2nd Vice President, under John Adams, and 3rd President of the United States, during which he oversaw the Louisiana Purchase, leading the United States to double in size during his presidency. In later years he founded the University of Virginia.

John Marshall (1755–1835), 4th Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court.

John Marshall, great-grandson of Thomas Randolph of Tuckahoe, was the 4th Chief Justice of the United States. His court opinions helped lay the basis for United States constitutional law and made the Supreme Court of the United States a coequal branch of government along with the legislative and executive branches. Previously, he had been a leader of the Federalist Party in Virginia and served as a US Representative. He was Secretary of State under President John Adams from 1800 to 1801.^[14]

"Light Horse Harry" Lee, 2x great-grandson of William Randolph was an early American patriot who served as the ninth Governor of Virginia and as the Virginia Representative to the United States Congress. During the American Revolution, Lee served as a cavalry officer in the Continental Army.^[15][16]

Antebellum era[]

Thomas Mann Randolph Jr., 2x great-grandson of William Randolph, was a member of both houses of the Virginia General Assembly, a Representative in the U.S. Congress, and as the 21st Governor of Virginia, from 1819 to 1822.

Civil War era[]

Robert E. Lee, 3x great grandson of William Randolph, was an American career military officer best known for having commanded the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia in the American Civil War. In postbellum years he was president of Washington College (later Washington and Lee University).

George W. Randolph, 3x great grandson of William Randolph, was a general officer in the American Civil War and a Confederate States Secretary of War. He was most well known for his strengthening the Confederacy's western and southern defenses, but came into conflict with Confederate President Jefferson Davis over this.^[17]

Junius Daniel, 4x great grandson of William Randolph, was a planter and career military officer, serving in the United States Army, then in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War, as a brigadier general. His troops were instrumental in the Confederates' success at the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg. He was killed in action at the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House.

Modern era[]

Armistead C. Gordon, 5x great grandson of William Randolph was a Virginia lawyer and a prolific writer of prose and poetry.

Robert Williams Daniel, 2x great grandson of Edmund Randolph was a bank executive who served in the Virginia Senate from 1936 to 1940. He is best known for having survived the sinking of the ocean liner RMS Titanic in 1912. His account of the disaster was published in multiple newspapers.

Robert Williams Daniel, Jr., 3x great grandson of Edmund Randolph was a Virginia farmer, businessman, teacher, and politician who served five terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. While in Congress, Daniel was a member of the House Armed Services Committee and various subcommittees. He later served as deputy assistant to Secretary of Defense, Caspar Weinberger, from 1984 to 1986, and director of intelligence for the Department of Energy from 1990 to 1993. He was a recipient of the National Intelligence Distinguished Service Medal.

Plantations[]

The family's wealth was based on four large plantations on the James River, acquired by William Randolph: Turkey Island (which he began assembling after his arrival around 1668), Curles (purchased from the colonial government), Tuckahoe and Dungeness (the result of two large land grants around 1700).

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Turkey Island was given its name by the first explorers of the James River, who noted that it contained a large population of wild turkeys. The term can refer to the surrounding area as well as the island. William Randolph's residence overlooked Turkey Island, and he is buried near the site of the house.^[18]

Curles Neck Plantation is west of Turkey Island. It was owned by Nathaniel Bacon, who rebelled against the governor in 1676. The property was forfeited to the colonial government and William Randolph purchased it.

Tuckahoe is the American English name of an edible plant, borrowed from an Algonquian Native American language. It is also the name of several streams and places in eastern Virginia, including Tuckahoe Plantation, established by William Randolph's son, Thomas. "Tuckahoe" later became a pejorative nickname for eastern Virginians, used mainly by western Virginians.

Dungeness is the headland of a shingle beach in Kent, England, which must be rounded to approach the Thames Estuary. The founder of Dungeness Plantation, Isham Randolph, spent several years of his adult life as a ship's captain, and therefore was familiar with the feature.^{[citation needed]}

Bremo was the name for a tract between Turkey Island and Curles plantations.^{[citation needed]} The name comes from a Germanic word meaning "edge", in this case the edge of a river. The root also occurs in the English word "brim". The extant Bremo Plantation was established in the early 19th century in Fluvanna County, far to the west.

These plantations are shown on the 1751 Fry-Jefferson map.

Historic homes[]

Historic homes associated with the family include Tuckahoe in Goochland and Henrico counties, the Peyton Randolph House in Williamsburg, the Wilton House Museum and the John Marshall House in Richmond, Monticello near Charlottesville, Stratford Hall in Westmoreland, Brandon Plantation in Prince George and Burgh Westra in Gloucester, Virginia .

Freed slaves[]

Randolphs who freed slaves and fought Virginia's growing dependence on the "peculiar institution" in the early Republic are less known, but include Ryland Randolph of Turkey Island and Ann Cary Randolph Morris, who later married founding father (and anti-slavery advocate) Gouverneur Morris of New York^[19] Jacob Randolph of Isle of Wight County, Virginia, freed 13 slaves in 1783.^[20]

John Randolph of Roanoke freed nearly 400 slaves in his will, probated in 1833 and upheld more than a decade later.^[21][22][23]

Richard Randolph (? - 1859) of Greene County, Ohio, in his will probated in 1859, left his entire estate valued at $80,000 to be used to free slaves of the Randolph family and to be expended for their use and benefit.^[24] By 1895, $6,646.27 of Richard Randolph's estate remained unclaimed.^[25] In response, the Ohio General Assembly passed an act in 1898 that directed the entire $6,646.27 to be transferred to the endowment of Wilberforce University.^[25]

Other connections[]

Members of the Randolph family also intermarried with other prominent Virginia families, including the Blands, Byrds, Carters, Beverleys, Fitzhughs, and Harrisons. Pocahontas was indirectly an ancestress to members of the Randolph family through marriages of Robert Bolling's two granddaughters, Lucille and Jane Bolling. Some evidence suggests that famous American frontiersman, politician and hero Davy Crockett was of Randolph descent. Actor Lee Marvin and actress and producer Kimberley Kates are also Randolph descendants, in her case through her paternal grandmother. World War I fighter ace Hamilton Coolidge was a direct descendant of the marriage of a Randolph to the daughter of U.S. President Thomas Jefferson.

In 1926, Jessie Harlan Lincoln, the granddaughter of Abraham Lincoln married her third husband, Robert John Randolph of this Randolph family.^[26] Her later two marriages did not produce any more children.

Descendants[]

See also[]

• First Families of Virginia
• Nottoway Plantation

References[]

External links[]

• Media related to Randolph family of Virginia at Wikimedia Commons