Colonel William T. Randolph

 William Randolph and his wife Judith Page Randolph both died in 1745. It was then that their good friend, Peter Jefferson-who was married to William's cousin Jane Randolph-brought his son Thomas to the Randolph plantation Tuckahoe to live with and be raised with the Randolph children. (See Gedcom notes.)

For more about this illustrious family-go to the website: pixleyblair.tribalpages.com and scroll to the bottom of the page to Stories. Click on: 'Our Randolphs and Cousin Thomas Jefferson'. Also type a name in the upper right Search box and click. :

06/14/2011 email from FAG contributer: 47131861 Per a plaque pictured on his father's grave he's buried the same place his father is & was born 1712 & died 1745. It also says there's a Mary Page & I'm thinking that's his wife.

• Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: May 13 2018, 20:14:16 UTC

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GEDCOM Note

(Research): «i» Genealogical Society of Colonial Wars«/i» Pg 741: Col. William Randolph of Tuckahoe 1713-1745 Goochland Co. Va. Burgess 1742-45 Co. Lt. 1740-45. Book Virginia Families-Randolphs of Tuckahoe Genealogy of Virginia Families Jefferson Randolph Anderson, Savannah, Georgia Genealogy of Virginia Families Vol V 1981 Genealogical Publishing Co. Baltimore Y Y

GEDCOM Note

LIFE AT TUCKAHOE
The Randolphs were the most important family in Virginia, and because Virginia was the largest and richest of the colonies, many people considered the Randolphs the most important family in America.
They had cleared vast stretches of fertile acreage, chased off the indians and put African slaves to work in the fields. In what seemed like an instant, they had established a civilization on a single cast crop three thousand miles from supplies of manufactured goods on which they relied. The great manor houses had not gone up until the 1700s, scarce, until a century before. Rome might not have been built in a day, but Virginia was, and for a great many years Randolphs ran it. Tuckahoe Plantation stood on a wooded area overlooking the James River. It was built by William Randolph around 1710 some twenty years before Richmond was established, and was the scene of boisterous barbecues, fish fries, and fancy dress balls. The clapboard mansion was known throughout the colonies for its fine walnut paneling and its fragrant boxwood gardens. In the time of William's son Col. Thomas Mann Randolph Sr., the Colonel's bedroom was done up in velvet and gold and was the stuff of local legend' the stables housed some of the fastest horses in the South. For years the gentry would gather at Tuckahoe to drink barrels of Madeira and feast on beef, pork, and mutton raised on the farm and on game shoe it its fields and forests. With an entire wing for the accommodation of visitors, the mansion was designed, one visitor said, *"solely to answer the purposes of hospitality." (*See notes by Thomas Aubrey with Col. Thomas Mann Randolph.) When there were not enough visitors for dancing, guests read plays by candlelight. William Byrd of Westover recalled passing a rainy evening at Tuckahoe acting out John Gay's Beggar's Opera. William Randolph took a wife and sired seven sons, who in turn took wives, fathered children and established their own plantations. Around these plantations settlements grew, and then towns, with churches, courthouses, apothecaries and taverns. In their powdered wigs, white silk stockings and satin doublets, the Randolphs sat on the vestries of their complacent Anglican churches and served as gentlemen jurors in the county courts. They advised the king's colonial agents, legislated in the House of Burgesses, and took turns as governors of the Commonwealth. In time, the Randolphs became so numerous and intermarried with such regularity that it became impossible for all but the most devoted family historian to them straight, a veritable "tangle of fish-hooks so ensnarled together that it was impossible to pick up one without pulling three or four after it. [THAT'S the truth!]

«u»Thomas Jefferson and Our Randolphs at Tuckahoe «/u» Amused by the tendency of Randolphs to marry their own cousins, less well born Virginians would say, "Only a Randolph is good enough to marry a Randolph." When Randolphs did condescend to marry outside the family, they did so smartly. William's cousin Jane Randolph married and enterprising Piedmont backwoodsman named Peter Jefferson and gave birth to a boy they called Thomas. (See notes for Thomas Jefferson.) They lived on a Peter Jefferson's neighboring plantation of Shadwell, named after the area in London where Jane was born. Accordingto Fawn Brodie in her book «i»Thomas Jefferson-An Intimate History«/i»: "William Randolph, who had helped shape Thomas Jefferson's destiny by giving the site for the Shadwell home in which he was born, had remained an intimate family friend." According to the story, William hadn't known that Peter Jefferson wanted the land he had bought so he 'sold it to him' for...the biggest bowl of arrack *punch. William Randolph's wife Maria Judith Page had died & William died soon after. As he lay dying, he called his friend Peter Jefferson (who had married William's cousin Jane) to his bedside, imploring him to look after the plantation in his absence, since he would leave the plantation to his only son, Thomas Mann Randolph Jr., then but five years old. For seven years the Jeffersons lived at Tuckahoe, where Jefferson forged a life-long friendship with young master Thomas of Tuckahoe. A school house was built and a tutor hired to educate the Randolph children & their cousin Tom. It still stands. When you visit there, it is a thrill to see it. On our first visit there was in 1985. With arrangements with the local historic society, we were allowed to go inside the house. One of the first things we saw was one of the lovely carved staircases. I like to imagine our ancestor Mary Randolph sliding down with her cousin Tom...giggling all the way.

• From «i»Planters and Pioneers pg 147«/i»: "William Randolph of Tuckahoe plantation, in a moment of exhileration at a Williamsburg tavern, deeded 200 acres to Peter Jefferson in 1738 for 'Henry Wetherburn's biggest bowl of arrack punch. The sweetened toddy & the mint julep were highly regarded as digestants & as proper drinks for ladies & invalids."

TUCKAHOE From a «i»Guide Book of Historic Houses:«/i» Tuckahoe Plantation-from Interstate 64, just west of Richmond, take Parham South exit. Continue until Parham ends at River Road. Turn west, right, on River Road, go just over 4 miles, turn left in the first lane past Rte 649. Tuckahoe stands today in its virtually undisturbed setting. Nichols says in his book, "Tuckahoe Plantation,"--"MIracuously, Tuckahoe has survived for over 250 years and today it stands as the most complete plantation layout in North America dating from the early eighteenth century... Not only is the house priceless because of its completeness, but it contains some of the most important architectural ideas of the early Georgian period. Probably unique in American architecture are and rare outbuildings, including paired structures which were the office and schoolhouse where Thomas Jefferson went ot classes" Because of its unique state of preservation, Tuckahoe Plantation was chosen as the site for the country scenes for the filming of the Williamsburg orientation movie, The Story of a Patriot. The only remaining Randolph house in its original location, it contains outstanding examples of early Georgian paneling and carving and is appropriately furnished.
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In 1969 Tuckahoe was designated as a Registered National Historic Landmark. It is privately owned & open for self-guided tours of the grounds. The house can be toured by appointment & is available for special events: «i»tuckahoeplantation.com«/i»

GEDCOM Note

Book Randolph scandal Unwise Passions
A True Story of a Remarkable Woman and the First Great Scandal of Eighteenth-Century America Alan Pell Crawford Simon & Schuster NY NY 2000 Y Y

• Reference: WikiTree Genealogy - SmartCopy: Oct 6 2021, 21:57:51 UTC