Administrative Information

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Preferred Citation

Additional Papers of the Randolph Family of Edgehill , Accession #5533-g, Special Collections, University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.

Acquisition Information

This collection was given to the special Collections Department, University of Virginia Library by Patricia A. Taylor,7200 3rd Avenue, Apt. C, Sykesville, Maryland 21784 on October 4, 2005.

Biographical/Historical Information

William Randolph (1651-1711)was the patriarch of the Randolph family of Virginia. He was born to Richard Randolph and Elizabeth Ryland in 1651 in Warwickshire, England and he came to Virginia in 1673. Even though he is considered the father of the distinquished "Turkey Island" (Charles City County, Virginia) branch of the Randolph family, he was the second member of the family to settle in America. His uncle,Henry Randolph (1623-1673),first came to Virginia in 1642 and received a position of importance as the Clerk of Henrico County. After serving from 1644 to 1669, he returned to England where he regaled his nephew William Randolph with stories about his life in the Colonies. William Randolph followed his uncle, Henry Randolph, back to Virginia in 1673. Since he came from a family of means, with literary and political importance, William Randolph quickly became well established in Henrico County with a grant of land from the Governor of Virginia, Sir William Berkeley. Soon after his return to Virginia, Henry Randolph died leaving his second wife, Judith Soane, a widow. She later married Peter Field who had two daughters from an earlier marriage. One of his daughters, Mary, married Thomas Jefferson, grandfather of Thomas Jefferson (3rd president of the United States).

After Henry Randolph died, William Randolph succeeded him as County Clerk of the House of Burgesses of Henrico County and started one of the most wealthy and powerful families of eighteenth century Virginia. He married Mary Isham in 1680 and they had seven sons: William Randolph of Turkey Island (1681-1742), Thomas Randolph of Tuckahoe (1683-1729), Isham Randolph of Dungeness (1684-1773), Richard Randolph "of Curles" (1686-1748), Henry Randolph (1687-?), Sir John Randolph (1693-1736), Edwin Randolph [1690-?] and two daughters: Elizabeth Randolph Bland (1680-1720) and Mary Randolph Stith (1692-?).

William Randolph's sixth son, Sir John Randolph (1693-1736) married Lady Susannah Beverley in [1718] and had four children: Beverley Randolph, Peyton Randolph, John Randolph and Mary Randolph Grymes. Sir John Randolph completed his academic education at William and Mary College and pursued his legal studies at Gray's Inn and the Temple, London. He returned to Virginia and settled in Williamsburg. He achieved great distinction as a lawyer, and was knighted by the King. He was a representative for William and Mary's College in the House of Burgesses; was Speaker of the House; Treasurer and Attorney General of the Colony.

His third son, John Randolph,(1728-1784) married Arianna Jennings and had two daughters, Susan Beverley Randolph Grymes and Arianna Randolph Wormley and one son Edmund Randolph (1753-1813), who became the Governor of Virginia (1786-1788), Attorney General of the United States (1789-1794) and Secretary of the United States 1794-1795). However,the family genealogy of Edmund Randolph, his sisters: Susan Beverley Randolph Grymes and Arianna Randolph Wormley (the great grandchildren of William Randolph) and their descendants are the primary focus of this collection.

Edmund Randolph married Elisabeth Carter (daughter of Robert Nicholas Carter)in 1776. Their children were Susan Beverley Randolph Taylor (1781?-1846), Peyton Randolph (?-1828), Edmonia Madison Randolph (1787- 1847) and Lucy Nelson Randolph (1788-1847). Susan Beverley Randolph married Bennett Taylor. Their son was John Charles Randolph Taylor who married Martha Jefferson Randolph (Pat), great granddaughter of Thomas Jefferson. Susan Beverley Randolph Taylor and Bennett Taylor also had a daughter, Charlotte Bennett Taylor Robinson.

Some of the main family names in the Randolph genealogy are Cocke, Preston, Thornton, Norris, Neilson, Daniel, Moncure, Skelton, Kent, Taylor, Moyer, and Brockenbrough. The genealogy is very comprehensive and is extremely helpful in identifying many of the Randolph family members from the sixth generation of William Randolph of Warwickshire.

Scope and Content

This collection is primarily concerned with Edmund Randolph (1753-1813) of Tazewell Hall and Clarke County, Virginia, and the genealogy of his family (1651; 1723-1880; 1996). Edmund Randolph was the Governor of Virginia (1786-1788), Attorney General of the United States (1789-1794), and Secretary of the United States (1794-1795) under President George Washington. The collection contains 6 items (less than one Hollinger box and half a linear foot): a letter from Edmund Randolph in Winchester, Virginia written in 1812 to an unidentified recipient about his poor health and a business affair in Richmond pertaining to the death of a friend; a small pocket account book from 1854 belonging to Edmund Randolph's grandson John Charles Randolph Taylor as well as an 1832 commonplace book of "Scraps" from novels and poetry; electrostatic copies of a handwritten family genealogy (58 pages, with an 11 page index) that lists the members of Edmund Randolph's family (his descendants as well as those of his siblings; including great-great grandchildren); a handwritten genealogical chart of the descendants of Martha Jefferson Randolph Taylor and John Charles Randolph Taylor, and a photocopied portion of a circular genealogical chart (oversized; original of the latter in 5533-e) of the family of Page Taylor Kirk (Page Kirk was a granddaughter of John Charles Randolph Taylor and Martha Jefferson Randolph Taylor which made her a great-great granddaughter of Edmund Randolph on her paternal side and a great-great-great granddaughter of Thomas Jefferson on her maternal side).

Arrangement

This collection is organized alphabetically by topic.