RANDOLPH

several owners, from whom he purchased. Possibly his first purchase was 591 acres (2.39 km2) of land on Swift Creek, south of

• Mary Randolph (born ~1692) married Captain John Stith, a member of the and the son of , around 1712. Her son, , was the James.

the third ; her son-in-law, , was the second president of The College of William & Mary. Mary was the great-grandmother In 1676 a Virginia colonist, , rebelled unsuccessfully against the colonial government and his estate was forfeited. This was of Congressman . Her second son, John Stith III, was the great-great-grandfather of and also , of the .

, located near Turkey Island. Randolph made an assessment of the property for and was allowed to buy it for his estimated price,

• (born ~1695) married around 1711 and had five children, including Mary Bland (who married and was the mother of ,

adding 1,230 acres (5.0 km2) to Randolph’s previous land holdings. This conflict of interest was criticized by his neighbors.

the grandmother , and the great-grandmother of ), (who was the father of Congressman as well as grandfather to ), and In 1678 Mary Isham’s brother died, making her the heiress to her father’s large estate. William Randolph had married her the statesman (who was the great-great-grandfather of ).

before her brother’s death, because the brother’s will refers to her as “Mary Randolph”.

Researchers are unsure of the total number of children born to William Randolph and Mary Isham Randolph, because of deaths in Around 1700, when Randolph’s political career was at its peak, he received land grants to almost 10,000 acres (40 km2) of infancy and the tendency to name children after their deceased siblings. However, it is known that at least nine children survived newly-opened land near Richmond; a 3,256-acre (13.18 km2) tract at and a 5,142-acre (20.81 km2) plot at . This land became the into adulthood. The sons of William Randolph were each distinguished by the estates left to them.

basis of the Tuckahoe and Dungeness Plantations, which were later founded by two of William Randolph’s sons.

Early generations of Randolphs married into several other gentry families, including Beverley, Bland, Fleming, Byrd,

William Randolph owned a considerable number of . This reflected the rise of slavery during his business career. Around Fitzhugh, Carter, Cary, Harrison and Page. Later affiliations included members of the Lewis, Meriwether and Skipwith families.

1675 Governor Berkeley reported the population of the colony as 40,000, with 4,000 indentured servants and 2,000 slaves. But Most of the Randolphs, like the rest of the Virginia gentry, strongly supported the . However, John Randolph (son of Sir as the supply of indentured servants declined late in the 17th century, the planters turned to slaves for work in the labor-intensive John), in opposition to both his brother Peyton and son Edmund, remained loyal to Great Britain and left Virginia. It was the tobacco cultivation.

period of William Randolph’s most famous descendants. Thomas Jefferson wrote the , and 18-year-old John Marshall was at for It is difficult to determine the acreage or number of slaves he owned at his death. His will has been transcribed and a copy the trying winter of 1777–1778.

appears on the internet, but portions are missing. One estimate is that he had 20,000 acres (81 km2). He paid property taxes on Jane Randolph Jefferson

1,655 acres (6.70 km2) in and 19,465 acres (78.77 km2) in in 1704.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Randolph held multiple official appointments. At the local level, he became clerk of Henrico County Court in 1673 and held Jump to: ,

the position until he was asked to serve as a in 1683. He also served as and .

Randolph represented in every assembly of the from 1684 to 1698, was Speaker of the House of Burgesses in 1698, and was Born February 9, 1721

the Clerk of the House from 1699 to 1702. He fell ill in August 1702 and his son, William, took his place. Randolph resigned the

, , ,

clerkship completely in March 1703.

Died

March 31, 1776 (aged 55)

Randolph was a founder and one of the first trustees of the . His son, John Randolph, secured a for the College on one of

,

several trips to London to conduct business for the colony.

Children