Thomas Mann Randolph Sr.

Thomas Mann Randolph Sr. (1741–November 13, 1793) was a Virginia planter and politician who served in the Virginia House of Burgesses, the Revolutionary conventions of 1775 and 1776, and both houses of the Virginia state legislature following the American Revolutionary War. Orphaned as a young boy, Randolph became the ward of Peter Jefferson before he inherited Tuckahoe plantation when he came of age. He was raised alongside future President Thomas Jefferson and later purchased Salisbury house, which Randolph used as a hunting lodge. He married twice and had 15 children, 13 with his first wife and cousin, Anne Cary.

Early life

Randolph was the only son of William Randolph III (1712–1745) and Maria Judith Page (died 1744), the daughter of Mann Page of the Rosewell plantation. He was the grandson of Thomas Randolph of Tuckahoe and descendant of William Randolph (c.1650–1711). (Thomas Jefferson's earliest memory, according to family lore, was said to be a two or three year old boy being held securely by a trusted slave while riding on horseback and cushioned on a pillow as he was transported from Shadwell to Tuckahoe.) The boys were tutored at Tuckahoe on English spelling, grammar, and composition.

Goochland County voters first elected Randolph as one of their representatives to the House of Burgesses in 1769, and continued to re-elect him and veteran legislator John Woodson until Governor Dunmore suspended the legislature in 1775 (and members could not reach a quorum in 1776). They then elected the pair to all five Virginia Revolutionary Conventions.

during the Revolutionary War acquired the honorific "Colonel Randolph".

After Virginia declared is independence, voters from Goochland and neighboring Henrico and Louisa Counties elected Randolph to the first Virginia state senate in 1776, but Richard Adams replaced him in 1778, and he would not again win election to the Senate until 1791. In 1780, Randolph returned to the House of Delegates, as he replaced Thomas Underwood who became sheriff (a covered position for its tax-collection fees). He again won election to the house of Delegates in 1783, alongside Thomas Underwood, and the pair were re-elected until 1787, when John Guerrant replaced Randolph. After a year's absence, he replaced Underwood and served alongside Guerrantin 1788. Randolph had his last legislative service as a state senator for Goochland, Henrico and Louisa Counties between 1791 and won re-election in 1793 but died before the legislature convened and voters elected Samuel McCraw to fill the vacancy. He was a member of the House of Delegates from 1784 to 1788 and was County Lieutenant of Goochland County.

Marriages and children

In 1761, Thomas Mann Randolph Sr. married Anne Cary (1745–1789), (Mary Randolph was the daughter of Richard Randolph and Jane Bolling Randolph.) Mary Randolph (1762–1828), married David Mead Randolph in 1780, she was the author of The Virginia House-Wife (1824) Henry Cary Randolph,(1764-1765), died as an infant Elizabeth Randolph,(b. 1765), married Robert Pleasants of Filmer about 1785 Thomas Mann Randolph Jr. (1768-1828) an American planter, soldier, and politician, including Governor of Virginia. Married Martha Jefferson in 1790. William Randolph, (1770-1848, married Lucy Bolling, the daughter of Beverley Randolph about 1794 Archibald Cary Randolph, (1771-1771), died an infant Judith Randolph, (1772-1816), married Richard Randolph of the Bizarre plantation and tried for the Bizarre Plantation scandal Ann Cary "Nancy" Randolph (1774–1837), wife of Gouverneur Morris. Nancy was harassed throughout her life because of an alleged unwed teenage pregnancy and subsequent suspicion of abortion that was detailed in a sensational murder trial at the time where she was defended by both John Marshall and Patrick Henry who secured her acquittal for lack of evidence. She later claimed a stillborn birth had occurred after a member of her own family relentlessly pursued her in the court of public opinion. Jane Cary Randolph, (1776-1832), married Thomas Eston Randolph of Bristol, England about 1797 Dr. John Randolph, (1779-1834), married Judith Lewis George Washington Randolph, (1781-1783), died an infant Harriet Randolph, (1783-1869), married Richard S. Hackley of New York about 1803 Virginia Randolph Cary (1786–1852), author of Letters on Female Character (1828)

Ann Cary Randolph died in 1789.

The children of Gabriella Harvie and Thomas Mann Randolph are: Mary Jane Randolph who died while an infant. The second Thomas Mann Randolph, Gabriella's son, inherited Tuckahoe. After Randolph's death, Gabriella married Dr. John Brockenbrough of Richmond by 1798.