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Thomas Randolph of Tuckahoe

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Thomas Randolph
Member Virginia House of Burgesses for Henrico County
In office
1720–1722
Serving with William Randolph
Preceded byJohn Bolling
Succeeded byJohn Bolling
Personal details
BornJune 1683
Turkey Island Plantation, Colonial Virginia
Died1729
Henrico County, Colonial Virginia
Spouse
Judith Fleming
​
(m. 1712)​
Children3, including William
OccupationPlanter, militia officer, politician
Military service
Branch/serviceHenrico County, Virginia militia

Thomas Randolph (June 1683 – 1729),[1] also known as Thomas Randolph of Tuckahoe, was the first European settler at Tuckahoe, a member of the House of Burgesses, and the second child of William Randolph and Mary Isham,[2][3][4] daughter of Henry Isham and Katherine Isham (Banks).

Early life

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Randolph was born in June 1683 on the Turkey Island Plantation along the James River in Henrico County, Virginia.[5][6][a] He was the son of the English immigrant William Randolph who established Turkey Island along the James River, and Mary Royall Isham, the daughter of Henry Isham. They descend from Ishams of Northamptonshire in England.[7] Children born to the Randolphs were William, Thomas, Isham, Richard, Henry of Longfield, Edward, Mary, John, and Elizabeth.[6] Randolph studied at the College of William & Mary.[8]

All of the sons took active and prominent part in the affairs of the Colony, and each received a large patrimony in the distribution of the great estate of their father. Most of them built fine houses and became known by the names of their estates.

— Jefferson Randolph Anderson[6]

William Randolph acquired land probably used as outlying quarter plantations during his lifetime. He died in 1711 and left property to each son, along with enslaved people to work the land.[9]

Career

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Planter

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William Byrd hired Randolph to oversee his Westover Plantation around March 6, 1712.[8] Thomas inherited land from his father and purchased additional adjoining acreage on September 4, 1714, from his brother John for £90 sterling, the total of which became the Tuckahoe plantation.[8][10][b] He owned 3,256 acres of land on which Randolph likely built a modest wood-frame house so that he could focus his energy on establishing and operating the plantation.[9][c] The first church in the area, Dover Church, was built in 1720 by Thomas, who covered the cost with 54,990 pounds of tobacco.[8][10] Until 1728, the area was mostly wilderness with just a few homesteads. Rev. William Douglass, the first permanent resident minister for the church, was not established in Northam of St. James Parish until 1750.[10] Randolph's estate was in the part of Henrico County that later became Goochland County.[11] In 1727, he also bought Farrar's Island in the James River from Thomas Farrar (who already lived in St. James Parish that became Goochland County that year) and his nephew, William Farrar IV (who moved to Goochland County). That plantation, which had been founded by William Farrar Jr. nearly a century earlier, ultimately became part of Chesterfield County.

See also: Slavery at Tuckahoe plantation

Politician

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Randolph became one of the justices of the peace for Henrico county in 1713.[2][12] Randolph and his brother William Randolph II were the two representatives from Henrico in the House of Burgesses for the 1720 to 1722 session.[2][11][13] Goochland was set apart from Henrico County in 1727.[2] A year later, he was the county lieutenant for Goochland.[11]

Personal life

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Thomas Randolph of Henrico County married Judith Fleming on October 16, 1712.[5][7][d] Judith, born about 1689,[5] was the daughter of Susanna Tarleton and Charles Fleming of New Kent County and the sister of John and Tarleton Fleming.[5][7][e]

The Randolphs had three children:[3][4]

Thomas died in 1729[5] or 1730.[9][12] Judith married Nicolas Davies, an immigrant from Wales, on December 24, 1733.[21]

Randolph was a great-uncle of United States President Thomas Jefferson.

Ancestry

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See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Page states that he was born in 1681.[3] There are other sources that state he was born about 1683, without the month.[2]
  2. ^ There are a number of theories about Randolph having received the land before that time, but the land records show that he could not have owned the land until 1714. The land was acquired by his father by the time he created his will on May 6, 1711. His brother inherited the land for Tuckahoe, which he sold to Thomas in 1714.[8][10]
  3. ^ Dendrochronology analysis on the current Tuckahoe house reveals the present dwelling was most likely constructed beginning ca. 1735.[4]
  4. ^ Thomas' wife was Judith Fleming.[2][9] There was a belief among some that Judith Churchill of Middlesex was Thomas' wife. However, there are a series of records that show that his wife was Judith Fleming: 1) A marriage record shows that Thomas Randolph of Henrico County married Judith Fleming on October 16, 1712. 2) She married Nicholas Davies in 1733, which was witnessed by the bride's brothers, John and Tarleton Fleming. 3) Two deeds showed that William Randolph III's mother was Judith Fleming Davies.[7] The theory that Thomas married Judith Churchill by historian William Edward Railey[8][14][15] is now known to be incorrect. There was confusion about family members named Judith; one was Judith Fleming, married to Thomas Randolph; and the other was Judith Wormeley (1694-1716), step-daughter of Col. William Churchill, married to Mann Page in 1712, and mother of Maria Judith (Page) Randolph.[7]
  5. ^ Charles Fleming is a planter with land next to Isham Randolph and on the upper James River at Howard's Neck in New Kent County, Virginia, where he was an important Quaker. He owned Castle Rock Plantation.[16]
  6. ^ The claim that he was a descendant of the Earls Marischal of Scotland conflates Rev. James Keith of Virginia with Field Marshall James Francis Edward Keith of Scotland (1696-1758), brother to the last Earl Marischal.
  7. ^ Some references indicate the husband of Mary Randolph to be William Keith.[3][4][20]

References

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  1. ^ Randolph, Robert Isham (1936). The Randolphs of Virginia: A Compilation of the Descendants of William Randolph of Turkey Island and His Wife Mary Isham Of Bermuda, Hundred (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-27.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Tyler, Lyon Gardiner (1915). Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography. Lewis Historical Publishing Company. p. 311.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Page, Richard Channing Moore (1893). "Randolph Family". Genealogy of the Page Family in Virginia (2 ed.). New York: Press of the Publishers Printing Co. pp. 249–272.
  4. ^ a b c d Glenn, Thomas Allen, ed. (1898). "The Randolphs: Randolph Genealogy". Some Colonial Mansions: And Those Who Lived In Them : With Genealogies Of The Various Families Mentioned. Vol. 1. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Henry T. Coates & Company. pp. 430–459.
  5. ^ a b c d e "House History". history.house.virginia.gov. Retrieved 2021-05-03.
  6. ^ a b c Anderson, Jefferson Randolph (1937). "Tuckahoe and the Tuckahoe Randolphs". Register of the Kentucky State Historical Society. 35 (110): 41. ISSN 2328-8183. JSTOR 23371542.
  7. ^ a b c d e Anderson, Jefferson Randolph (1937). "Tuckahoe and the Tuckahoe Randolphs". Register of the Kentucky State Historical Society. 35 (110): 32–38. ISSN 2328-8183. JSTOR 23371542.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g Krusen, Jessie Thompson (1976). "Tuckahoe Plantation". Winterthur Portfolio. 11: 103, 105. doi:10.1086/495843. JSTOR 1180592. S2CID 225084024. Retrieved 2021-05-04.
  9. ^ a b c d "Tuckahoe". Thomas Jefferson's Monticello. Retrieved 2021-05-03.
  10. ^ a b c d Anderson, Jefferson Randolph (1937). "Tuckahoe and the Tuckahoe Randolphs". Register of the Kentucky State Historical Society. 35 (110): 29–32. ISSN 2328-8183. JSTOR 23371542.
  11. ^ a b c Sorley, Merrow Egerton (2000) [1935]. "Chapter 33: Families Related to the Lewis Family". Lewis of Warner Hall: The History of a Family. Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Co. p. 832. ISBN 9780806308319.
  12. ^ a b Anderson, Jefferson Randolph (1937). "Tuckahoe and the Tuckahoe Randolphs". Register of the Kentucky State Historical Society. 35 (110): 43. ISSN 2328-8183. JSTOR 23371542.
  13. ^ Cynthia Miller Leonard, The Virginia General Assembly 1619-1978) (Richmond: Virginia State Library 1978) p. 70
  14. ^ Railey, W.E. (September 1918). Morton, Jennie C. (ed.). "Notes and Corrections of the Railey Genealogy". The Register of the Kentucky State Historical Society. 16 (48). Frankfort, Kentucky: The State Journal Company: 47–49. Retrieved November 12, 2010.
  15. ^ Railey, William Edward (2002) [1938]. History of Woodford County, Kentucky. Genealogical Publishing Com. p. 278. ISBN 9780806379999.
  16. ^ Worsham, Gibson (2003). "A Survey of Historic Architecture in Goochland County, Virginia" (PDF). Virginia Department of Historic Resources. p. 18.
  17. ^ Register of the Kentucky State Historical Society (Vol 16 No 47 ed.). Frankfort, KY: Kentucky State Historical Society. May 1918. p. 64. Retrieved 28 February 2018. ... Thomas of Tuckahoe had three children, viz.: William Randolph III, Mary Isham Randolph, and Judith Randolph. William Randolph III married Maria Judith Page and inherited the Tuckahoe Estate, which in turn was inherited by his son Col. Thomas Mann Randolph.
  18. ^ Gordon, Armistead C (1914). "The Stith Family". In Tyler, Lyon G. (ed.). William and Mary College Quarterly Historical Magazine. Vol. XXII. Richmond, Virginia: Whittet & Shepperson. p. 44.
  19. ^ a b Connelley, William Elsey; Coulter, E.M. (1922). "Capt. Pendleton Farmer De Weese Keith". In Kerr, Charles (ed.). History of Kentucky. Vol. III. New York: The American Historical Society. p. 122. ISBN 9780598572981.
  20. ^ Dillon, John Forrest, ed. (1903). "Introduction". John Marshall; life, character and judicial services as portrayed in the centenary and memorial addresses and proceedings throughout the United States on Marshall day, 1901, and in the classic orations of Binney, Story, Phelps, Waite and Rawle. Vol. I. Chicago: Callaghan & Company. pp. liv–lv.
  21. ^ Anderson, Jefferson Randolph (1937). "Tuckahoe and the Tuckahoe Randolphs". Register of the Kentucky State Historical Society. 35 (110): 35, 37. ISSN 2328-8183. JSTOR 23371542.
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