Thomas Randolph (June 1683 – 1729),[1] also known asThomas Randolph of Tuckahoe, was the first European settler atTuckahoe, a member of theHouse of Burgesses, and the second child ofWilliam Randolph and Mary Isham,[2][3][4] daughter of Henry Isham and Katherine Isham (Banks).
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.
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]
William Byrd hired Randolph to oversee hisWestover Plantation around March 6, 1712.[8] Thomas inherited land from his father and purchased additional adjoining acreage on September 4, 1714, from his brotherJohn for £90sterling, 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 becameGoochland County.[11] In 1727, he also boughtFarrar'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 byWilliam Farrar Jr. nearly a century earlier, ultimately became part ofChesterfield County.
Randolph became one of the justices of the peace for Henrico county in 1713.[2][12] Randolph and his brotherWilliam Randolph II were the two representatives from Henrico in theHouse 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]
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 ofNew Kent County and the sister of John and Tarleton Fleming.[5][7][e]
^Page states that he was born in 1681.[3] There are other sources that state he was born about 1683, without the month.[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]
^Dendrochronology analysis on the current Tuckahoe house reveals the present dwelling was most likely constructed beginning ca. 1735.[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 thatWilliam 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]
^Charles Fleming is a planter with land next toIsham Randolph and on the upper James River at Howard's Neck inNew Kent County, Virginia, where he was an important Quaker. He owned Castle Rock Plantation.[16]
^Cynthia Miller Leonard, The Virginia General Assembly 1619-1978) (Richmond: Virginia State Library 1978) p. 70
^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. RetrievedNovember 12, 2010.
^Register of the Kentucky State Historical Society (Vol 16 No 47 ed.). Frankfort, KY: Kentucky State Historical Society. May 1918. p. 64. Retrieved28 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.
