Are the Fitz Randolph's of NJ related to the Randolph's of VA?

Question

Did these two families merge or they were separate.  What is the relationship of the two?

Answer 1

Hello,

I'd like to help you if possible.

There is not yet enough information for me to do a meaningful search.  Based on just the last name given and the two locations nothing turned up.  Nobody by that name born in New Jersey that moved to Virginia nor the other way around.  Without specifics I do not think there is a way to provide you an answer short of doing the entire genealogical history of every Fitz Randolph who was ever in either state.

If you are able to provide any details or narow down your question we can probably do much better.

Do you have a specific ancestor you are researching?  If so, you can include names, birth places and aproximate years, spouces or places of residence... any clues can help in the quest.  If any of the people are already represented with profiles on WikiTree you can include a link to them in your question.

Hope to hear from you soon!

Answer 2

According to the profile of ancestor Edward Fitz Randolph:

http://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Fitz_Randolph-42

I found this text:

"The Fitz Randolph family of Massachusetts and New Jersey should be clearly differentiated from the Randolph family of Virginia, since they belong to the different branches of the family which came to England with William the Conqueror from Normandy in 1066."

Answer 3

I think I have discovered the answer to this question that has confounded so many for so long. Without going into the exact details in this response (I can support my hypothesis) the Fitz Randolphs and the Randolphs were the same family until the late 1400's in England. During The War of Roses, the family split. The split sides choose their loyalty either to The House of York, or to The House of Lancaster. They regonized this by the Fitz or lack of it.

The Fitz-Randolphs first arrived in Plymouth Colony than moved to Piscataway, NJ. The Line was through Edward The Pilgrim.

The Randolphs went to The Virginia Colony and were the lineage of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson.

If you go back The War of Roses, you will see that these two families merge as one.

So they are all related today, but will be by many cousins removed.

Comments

Gary, Genetic evidence seems to indicate that there are several different Randolph groups, some of which are totally different haplogroups so have not been related for millennia. Those in the same R1b haplogroup have been separate since well before the Norman invasion in 1066. Bill Randle has a nice summary of this at the Randolph site on Spokt. He has been updating the Randolph dna project at FTDNA: https://www.familytreedna.com/public/Randolph%20DNA%20Surname%20Project/. The groups most closely related look to be the Fitz Randolph's and the Yancy Co. Randolph's.

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Hello, Where can I find support for your hypothesis?  Thank you.

Answer 4

Speaking of Edward the immigrant, I searched for the obvious "FitzRandolph" and didn't find him.

Why are his parents flagged as Uncertain?

Answer 5

A number of Fitz Randolphs from New Jersey emigrated to Virginia, specifically New Salem, Harrison County, (now West) Virginia.  That particular Fitz Randolph Family was Samuel and Margaret Fitz Randolph (cousins).  Samuel was the son of John Fitz Randolph, son of Edward and Elizabeth (Blossom) Fitz Randolph who is considered the original emigree from England.  

Other Fitz Randolph and related families (Smalley for example) were in the Northern Neck area of Virginia as well, some possibly in Loudoun County, Virginia in the late 1700's.

I haven't seen a lot of evidence to show Virginia Randolphs moving into New Jersey.  Many went west into Kentucky and Tennessee, some went south to the Carolinas and Georgia.  One of the Prince William County, Virginia Randolphs ended his days in Baton Rouge, Louisiana (known as Captain Jack Randolph).  One of the Prince William County Randolph descendants moved to Columbiana County, Ohio and there were others who settled in Indiana and Illinois as those states became settled.

From what I have seen of DNA evidence, the Fitz Randolphs and Randolphs are in general not related recently.  There may be incidences of the two families inter-marrying since their North American immigration but the divergence of the families originally took place long before coming to this continent.