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Isham Randolph of Dungeness

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Isham Randolph
Member of the House of Burgesses for Goochland County
In office
1738–1741
Serving with James Holman
Preceded byEdward Scott
Succeeded byWilliam Randolph III
Personal details
BornFebruary 24, 1687
Turkey Island, Henrico County, Virginia
DiedNovember 2, 1742 (aged 55)
Goochland County, Virginia
Resting placeTurkey Island, Virginia
Spouse
Jane Rogers
​
​
(m. 1717)​
RelationsThomas Jefferson (grandson)
Charles Lilburn Lewis (grandson)
James Pleasants (grandson)
Children11, including Jane
Parents

Isham Randolph (February 24, 1687 – November 2, 1742) was an American planter, shipmaster, merchant, military officer and politician who served a partial term in the House of Burgesses representing Goochland County.[1][2] He may today be best known as the maternal grandfather of United States President Thomas Jefferson.[1]

Early life

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Coat of Arms of William Randolph

Isham Randolph was born on the Turkey Island plantation in Henrico County, Virginia on February 24, 1687. He was the third son of William Randolph (1650–1711) and wife Mary Isham (c. 1659–1735).[3] His father was a colonist, landowner, planter, and merchant who served as the 26th Speaker of the Virginia House of Burgesses.

Randolph graduated from the College of William & Mary.[4]

Career

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Like his father, Isham Randolph farmed tobacco and other crops using enslaved labor.[5] In 1730, Randolph built "Dungeness," an English manor styled house on what became a large tobacco plantations,[5][6] near Goochland, Virginia[7] just west of Fine Creek (near the Fine Creek Mills Historic District).[5] That land had seemed near the frontier when it was acquired,[8] 40 miles from Richmond, Virginia.[4] but Dungeness became a house of "refinement and elegant hospitality" with a hundred or more servants.[9]

Randolph was also a prominent merchant and shipmaster, traveling across the Atlantic Ocean to London many times.[1] A well-established merchant in London,[10] Randolph became agent for the colony of Virginia, but returned by October 1725 when his second daughter, Mary, was born.[8] In addition to bringing indentured servants to the colony, Randoph also participated in the triangular trade, and slaves to colonial Virginia.[4]

Like his good friend, Colonel William Byrd, Randolph had an interest in science and engaged in amateur science circles while in London. He was noted for his abilities as a naturalist by members of the Royal Society.[4] Upon the recommendation of naturalist John Bartram, Randolph was visited by botanist Peter Collinson and led an excursion to gather specimens in colonial Virginia.[4][9]

In 1738, Randolph succeeded Abraham Nicholas as the adjutant general of Virginia.<refname=Tyler /> The following year, he became a colonel of the militia of Goochland County. Around the same time, Randolph also succeeded Edward Scott of Manakintown, who died in 1738, as one of Goochland County's two representatives to the House of Burgesses.[8][11]

Marriage and children

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In 1717, Isham Randolph married Jane Rogers in London[12] at St. Paul's Church in the Shadwell parish (today east London).[12] Jane was from a wealthy landed gentry family of England and Scotland.[4] Isham and Jane Randolph moved to Virginia. Together, they had nine children[nb 1] and were familially connected to many other prominent individuals:

Death and legacy

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Randolph died in November 1742[12] and was buried on Turkey Island.[9][2] In his will he assigned guardians of his children, including his son-in-law, Peter Jefferson (the father of President Thomas Jefferson.)[8] His nephew William Randolph III (1712-1745; son of Thomas Randolph of Tuckahoe) would succeed him in the House of Burgesses but serve only one session (with his cousin of the same name representing Charles City County downstream).

The distinguished qualities of the Gentleman he possessed in an eminent degree: To justice probity & honor so firmly attached that no view of secular interest or worldly advantage, no discouraging frowns of fortune could alter his Steady purpose of heart. By an easy Compliance and obliging deportment he new no enemy but gained many friends; this in life meriting an universal esteem.

— From the inscription on his tomb[18]

Ancestry

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Ancestors of Isham Randolph of Dungeness
8. William Randolph
4. Richard Randolph
9. Dorothy Lane
2. William Randolph
10. Richard Ryland
5. Elizabeth Ryland
11. Elizabeth Harward
1. Isham Randolph
12. William Isham
6. Henry Isham
13. Mary Brett
3. Mary Isham
14. Christopher Banks
7. Catherine Banks
15. Janet Royall

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Robert Isham Randolph, whose grandfather's grandfather was Thomas Randolph, wrote that various sources erroneously treat sons Thomas and Isham as one child named "Thomas Isham". He also noted that some sources list birthdates for the children well after Isham Randolph of Dungeness had died in 1742.[12]

References

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  1. ^ a b c Custis, John (2005). Zuppan, Josephine Little (ed.). The Letterbook of John Custis IV of Williamsburg, 1717-1742. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. p. 47. ISBN 9780945612803.
  2. ^ a b Tyler, Lyon Gardiner (1915). Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography. Vol. 1. p. 310.
  3. ^ Glenn, p. 458.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Willard Sterne Randall (18 June 1994). Thomas Jefferson: A Life. HarperCollins. pp. 5–6. ISBN 978-0-06-097617-0.
  5. ^ a b c John B. Boles (25 April 2017). Jefferson: Architect of American Liberty. Basic Books. p. 16. ISBN 978-0-465-09469-1.
  6. ^ A Guidebook to Virginia's Historical Markers. University of Virginia Press. 1994. p. 156. ISBN 978-0-8139-1491-6.
  7. ^ "Dungeness Historical Marker". www.hmdb.org. Retrieved December 26, 2019.
  8. ^ a b c d e Historical Genealogy of the Woodsons and Their Connections. H. M. Woodson. 1915. pp. 46–47.
  9. ^ a b c Henry Stephens Randall (1858). The Life of Thomas Jefferson. Derby & Jackson. p. 10.
  10. ^ William G. Hyland Jr. (26 February 2015). Martha Jefferson: An Intimate Life with Thomas Jefferson. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. pp. 64–65. ISBN 978-1-4422-3984-5.
  11. ^ Cynthia Miller Leonard, The Virginia General Assembly 1619-1978 (Richmond: Virginia State Library 1978) p.76
  12. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Randolph, Robert Isham (October 1937). "The Sons of Isham Randolph of Dungeness". The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography. 45 (4). Virginia Historical Society: 383–386. JSTOR 4244820.
  13. ^ a b c d e 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. 263–264.
  14. ^ McAllister, John Meriwether; Tandy, Lura Boulton, eds. (1906). "Charles Lewis". Genealogies of the Lewis and Kindred Families. Columbia, Missouri: E.W. Stephens Publishing Company. p. 101.
  15. ^ Sorley, Merrow Egerton (2000) [1935]. "Chapter 13: Col Charles Lewis of Buck Island". Lewis of Warner Hall: The History of a Family. Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Co. ISBN 9780806308319.
  16. ^ John F. Dorman, Adventures of Purse and Person (4th Ed.) vol. 3 p. 744
  17. ^ a b Abbot, Willis John (1895). "The Harrison Family". Carter Henry Harrison: A Memoir. New York: Dodd, Mead & Company. pp. 1–23. ISBN 9780795020988. {{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
  18. ^ Glenn, pp. 450–451,
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