William Randolph (1713 or 1714–1745) was an American politician and county clerk. He was the son of Thomas Randolph of Tuckahoe in Goochland County, Virginia. He built the elegant two-story residence for Tuckahoe. Randolph held the positions of Clerk and Justice in Goochland County and he represented the county as a member of the House of Burgesses. He was the first Clerk of Albemarle County.
William Randolph | |
|---|---|
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| Born | 1713 or 1714 Virginia |
| Died | 1745 Tuckahoe, Virginia |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Planter |
| Known for | Building Tuckahoe manor, friend and relative of the Jeffersons |
| Children | Thomas Mann Randolph Sr. |
| Parent(s) | Thomas Randolph, Judith Fleming[a] |
| Relatives | Jane Randolph Jefferson (Thomas Jefferson's mother) William Randolph (grandfather) |
He was a good friend of Peter Jefferson, whose wife Jane Randolph Jefferson was Randolph's first cousin. The Jeffersons raised Randolph's children after his wife's death in 1743 and his death in 1745.
Early life
editWilliam was born in 1712[1] or 1713.[2]: 43 Named after his grandfather William Randolph of Turkey Island(who died in 1711), he was the son of Thomas Randolph and Judith Fleming Randolph.[1][a] who was the daughter of Susanna Tarleton and Charles Fleming of New Kent County. William had two sisters, Maria Judith and Mary Isham.[2]: 32–37, 43–44
His father, Thomas Randolph established Tuckahoe plantation when this man was a boy, purchasing that particular parcel from his youngest brother (this man's uncle) John on September 4, 1714. In 1720, Thomas Randolph spent an additional 54,990 pounds of tobacco to finance construction of first church in the area, Dover Church. Until 1728, the area was mostly wilderness with just a few homesteads.[2]: 29–32 Thomas died in 1730.[1] His widow Judith remarried, to Nicolas Davies, an immigrant from Wales, on December 24, 1733.[2]: 35, 37
Career
editPlantation manager and owner
edit
William Byrd of Westover visited Judith and questioned the difficulties the eighteen-year-old might face for taking on significant responsibilities before getting a good education.[1] In any event, Randolph became an able manager of the family's plantation and fit in well with the "elite planter culture".[1] Household and farm work was performed by indentured servants and enslaved men, women, and children.[4][b] The slave quarters at Tuckahoe were larger than most slave quarters, which could be as small as 12 by 8 feet. They were about 16 by 20 feet, but were divided into two units, which were separated by a central chimney. Each room had an exterior door.[5]
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Tuckahoe, located along the James River in Goochland County, Virginia, was near the properties of his uncle, Isham Randolph of Dungeness, and Peter and Jane Jefferson.[7] He patented 2400 acres in what is now Albemarle County. The land was adjacent to a 2000-acre tract owned by Peter Jefferson.[2]: 43 Randolph sold 200 acres that were adjacent to Peter Jefferson's Shadwell property in 1741 to Jefferson, who used it for the site of his home with his wife Jane.[8][c]
Politics
editHe worked for Goochland County as the Clerk and a Justice. In 1744, he became the first Clerk of Albemarle County, newly formed from part of Goochland County.[2]: 43 He was elected to the House of Burgesses representing Goochland County in 1742; he died before the February 20, 1746 session.[3]
Marriage and children
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In 1733, Randolph started building a two-story house on Tuckahoe.[9] In 1735, he married Maria Judith Page, the daughter of Hon. Mann Page and Judith Wormsley or Wormeley of Rosewell. Known as Mary, she had a dowry of £2000 sterling,[1][2]: 43 [3] which the couple used to finish building the mansion for Tuckahoe. It was completed in 1840[9] and The Washington Post said that it is "one of the James River's most famous plantations.[10]
They had four children, including their only son Thomas Mann Randolph Sr.[1][2]: 43
Death
editRandolph was widowed when Maria died by 1742. He wrote out a will in late 1745, knowing that his three children would become orphans on his death.[1]
Whereas I have appointed by my will that my dear only son Thomas Mann Randolph should have a private education given him in my house at Tuckahoe, my will is that my dear and loving friend Mr. Peter Jefferson do move down with his family to my Tuckahoe house and remain there till my son comes of age with whom my dear son and his sisters shall live.
— William Randolph[1]
William Randolph died in 1745. Although Peter Jefferson had intended to establish a plantation off the Rivanna River, he instead moved his family to Tuckahoe in 1746 and raised William and Maria Judith's children there until 1752,[11][d] when Thomas Randolph was 21 years of age.[7]
[e] During that time Jefferson managed the plantation, was executor of William Randolph’s estate, and was guardian of the children. It was considered unusual that he did not chose a Randolph family member to be guardian of his children or executor of his estate.[10]
See also
editNotes
edit- ^ a b William's mother was Judith Fleming.[1][3] There was a belief among some that Judith Churchill of Middlesex was Thomas' wife and William's mother. However, there are a series of records that show that his mother was Judith Fleming: 1) A marriage record shows that Thomas Randolph of Henrico (county for Tuckahoe at that time) married Judith Fleming on October 16, 1712. 2) She married Nicholas Davies in 1733, and she was the sister of John and Tarleton Fleming. 3) Two deeds showed that William Randolph's mother was Judith Fleming Davies.[2]: 32–36
- ^ In 1859, there were 62 slaves that worked in the house, as cooks, a smith, or as field hands. From the records of that time, children began working in the fields by age 11.[4]
- ^ On May 18, 1736, Peter Jefferson received an option to buy 200 acres of land from Randolph. The £50 payment for the property was recorded on May 16, 1841.[8]
- ^ A few sources say it was in 1751[1][7] and others, such as presidential historian Jon Meacham, say it was 1752,[4][12][11]
- ^ An "English school" was established in a one-room schoolhouse for the children: three Randolph children, Thomas Jefferson, and his three sisters. They had coursework in the English and Latin languages.[1][4] Thomas Mann Randolph was a childhood friend, legal client, and business partner of Jefferson throughout their lives. Jefferson's daughter Martha married Thomas Mann Randolph's son Thomas Mann Randolph Jr. in 1790.[1] Thomas Jefferson came to formulate his moral viewpoints about slavery from his formative years, from about two years of age until the age of 9, at Tuckahoe:
The whole commerce between master and slave is a perpetual exercise of the most boisterous passions, the most unremitting despotism on the one part, and degrading submissions on the other. Our children see this, and learn to imitate it…
— Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia[11]
References
edit- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "Tuckahoe". Thomas Jefferson's Monticello. Retrieved 2021-05-03.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Anderson, Jefferson Randolph (1937). "Tuckahoe and the Tuckahoe Randolphs". Register of the Kentucky State Historical Society. 35 (110): 29–59. ISSN 2328-8183. JSTOR 23371542.
- ^ a b c "House History - William Randolph". history.house.virginia.gov. Retrieved 2021-05-04.
- ^ a b c d "The History". Historic Tuckahoe. 2013-03-04. Retrieved 2021-05-03.
- ^ Delle, James A.; Fellows, Kristen R. (2012). "A Plantation Transplanted: Archaeological Investigations of a Piedmont-Style Slave Quarter at Rose Hill, Geneva, New York". Northeast Historical Archaeology. 41 (4): 64. doi:10.22191/neha/vol41/iss1/4 – via The Open Repository @ Binghamton.
- ^ "Tuckahoe Plantation". The Cultural Landscape Foundation. Retrieved 2021-05-05.
- ^ a b c "Peter Jefferson". Thomas Jefferson's Monticello. Retrieved 2021-05-03.
- ^ a b "Shadwell". Thomas Jefferson's Monticello. Retrieved 2021-05-03.
- ^ a b "Tuckahoe Plantation" (PDF). National Park Service History. Retrieved 2021-05-03.
- ^ a b "John Marshall: Definer of a Nation". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2021-05-03.
- ^ a b c Meacham, Jon (2012). Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power. Random House Publishing Group. pp. 6–10. ISBN 978-0-679-64536-8.
- ^ "The Presidents (Tuckahoe)". National Park Service. Retrieved 2021-05-03.