Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

Collection is open to research.

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Preferred Citation

Alexander Randall Letters, 1842-1869. Accession 22295a. Personal Papers Collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

Acquisition Information

Gift of Lucy Roller, 17 July 1941.

Biographical Information

Alexander Randall was born 3 January 1803 in Annapolis, Maryland. Educated by private tutors, he later attended St. John's College in Annapolis, from where he graduated in 1822. He was admitted to the bar and began practicing in Annapolis in 1824. Randall served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1841 to 1843, declining renomination in 1842. He practiced law and became involved in banking in Annapolis. Randall served as auditor of the high court of chancery of Maryland from 1844 to 1848, and as a delegate to the 1850 Maryland state convention. From 1864 to 1868, Randall was Maryland's attorney general. He married Catherine Wirt (d. 1853), the daughter of William Wirt (1772-1834) and Elizabeth Gamble Wirt (1784-1857). He was the brother-in-law of Admiral Louis Goldsborough (1805-1877), who married another Wirt daughter, Elizabeth (d. 1885). Randall married second Elizabeth Philpot Blanchard (1827-1895) in January 1856. He had 15 children by both wives. Randall died 21 November 1881 in Annapolis, and was buried in St. Anne's cemetery.

Scope and Content

Letters, 1842-1869, of Alexander Randall (1803-1881) of Annapolis, Maryland, discussing the death and estate of Elizabeth Gamble Wirt (1784-1857) with Louis Malesharbes Goldsborough (1805-1877) and Elizabeth Wirt Goldsborough (d. 1885); the capture of William Wirt (d. 1899) during the Civil War and possibility of his release; a naval appointment for the son of a Maryland Unionist; and other family and personal news.