Thomas Randolph (1830 - 1863)

Born 1830 in Tennessee

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 11 Apr 1863 at about age 33 in Greenville, Hunt County, Texas

Biography

Thomas Randolph

Origin

Thomas Randolph was born c. 1830 at Tennessee.^{[citation needed]}

Marriage and Children

Thomas Randolph married c. 1848 at Tennessee to Jane Fitzgerald.^[1]

Children

1. John W Randolph 1849-
2. William M Randolph 1851-
3. Henry C Randolph 1854-
4. Mary M Randolph 1856-
5. Nancy R Randolph 1858-

Cass County, Texas

Thomas and Jane removed from Tennessee to Cass County, Texas with others of the Fitzgerald family in about 1850.^[1]

Death and Legacy

Thomas was among the Brush Men or Brush Battalion, those who had taken to the brush to avoid conscription in the Confederate Army. He was with his Fitzgerald brothers-in-law, were captured and taken to Greenville where they were tried on charges and found not guilty (apparently the crowd was against hanging the men). They were being transferred to Tyler, when a mob overwhelmed the guards and hanged the men anyway.^[1] Pleasant Fitzgerald's widow, Emeline, placed the date as 11 April 1863. It occurred about a mile from Greenville, and the men were buried under the tree where they were hanged.^[1]

Research Notes

The settlers in east Tennessee were mostly the Scotch-Irish who had come from Ireland to Philadelphia and from there to Pennsylvania and Virginia.^[2] In Virginia, they settled the southwestern counties, Botecourt, Augusta, and Frederick..^[2] Many of the settlers moved from there along the Holston River Valley (part of the "Great Valley").^[3][4]

One of Malinda Jane's brothers, Hiram Fitzgerald, was born at Rhea County, Tennessee, located in the "Great Valley."^[5] Rhea county was the only eastern Tennessee county which was pro-confederate.^[2] Did this have an influence on the Fitzgerald family's decision to remove to Texas?

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3} Pickering, David, and Judy Falls, 2004 Brush Men and Vigilantes: Civil War Dissent in Texas. (Page 95) Texas A&M University Press, GoogleBooks.com accessed 9 March 2016.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2} Temple, Oliver Perry, 1899 East Tennessee and the Civil War. (pp 8-9, 199) Cincinnati: R. Clarke Company, Archive.org, accessed 10 March 2016.
3. ↑ Goodpasture, A.V., Why the First Settlers of Tennessee were from Virginia. originally published in Tennessee Historical Magazine Tennessee Historical Society (Vol V, Page 229) reproduced on website of Bill Thayer, accessed 10 March 2016.
4. ↑ Kmusser, Map of the Holston River Watershed
5. ↑ Map of the Great Appalachian Valley accessed 10 March 2016.

See also:

• Pickering, David, and Judy Falls. 2000. Brush Men and Vigilantes, Civil War Dissent in Texas. College Station, Tex.: Texas A&M Press.
• WorldCat Bibliography on Rhea County
• 1850 Census

Name: Thos Randolph Age: 20 Birth Year: abt 1830 Birthplace: Tennessee Home in 1850: Precinct 1, Cass, Texas, USA Gender: Male Family Number: 57 Household Members: Name Age Thos Randolph 20 Jane Randolph 18 John W Randolph 1 Source Citation Year: 1850; Census Place: Precinct 1, Cass, Texas; Roll: M432_909; Page: 719B; Image: 266

• 1860 Census

Name: Thomas Randolph Age: 30 Birth Year: abt 1830 Gender: Male Birth Place: Tennessee Home in 1860: Grey Rock, Titus, Texas Post Office: Grey Rock Family Number: 63 Value of real estate: View image Household Members: Name Age Thomas Randolph 30 Jane Randolph 30 John W Randolph 11 William M Randolph 9 Henry C Randolph 6 Mary M Randolph 4 Nancy R Randolph 2 Source Citation Year: 1860; Census Place: Grey Rock, Titus, Texas; Roll: M653_1305; Page: 145; Image: 294; Family History Library Film: 805305

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