Randolph Family of Virginia
Randolph Family of Virginia
RANDOLPH FAMILY OF VIRGINIA. The first William Randolph (c.1651–1711), an English gentleman, came to Virginia from Warwickshire around 1673 and in 1684 bought lands on the south bank of the James River that had been known from earliest colonial times as Turkey Island. By 1705 he owned ten thousand acres in Henrico County alone, and he willed a plantation to each of his seven sons. Meanwhile he had held a number of official appointments, including that of King's Attorney (an office subsequently held by his son John and the latter's two sons) and in 1699 he had been appointed lieutenant colonel of militia. Sometime prior to 1681 he married into the Isham family of "Bermuda Hundred," and the descendants of Colonel William and Mary Isham Randolph included not only those who retained the family name but also Thomas Jefferson, John Marshall, Henry "Light-Horse Harry" Lee, and the latter's son, Robert E. Lee. Colonel Randolph was among the founders (in 1693) of the College of William and Mary. Six of his seven sons attended the college, as did Jefferson and Marshall.
SEE ALSO Randolph, Edmund Jenings; Randolph, Peyton.
revised by Harold E. Selesky