Randolph

Randolph, name of a prominent Virginia family. William Randolph (1651?–1711) was attorney general for Virginia (1694–98). The post was also held by his son Sir John Randolph (1693?–1737) and his grandson Peyton Randolph (1721?–75), who was also president of the 1st Continental Congress. Edmund Jennings Randolph (1753–1813), a nephew of Peyton, became attorney general (1776–86) and then governor (1786–88) of Virginia. At the Constitutional Convention (1787) he drafted the Virginia Plan, calling for representation in Congress to be related to state population. He did not sign the Constitution but later urged its ratification. He became the first U.S. attorney general (1789–94) and secretary of state (1794–95). John Randolph of Roanoke (1773–1833), great-grandson of William Randolph, entered the U.S. House of Representatives in 1799. A much-feared orator and champion of States' Rights, he led Southern opposition to the Missouri Compromise in 1820. George Wythe Randolph (1818–67), great-great-great grandson of William Randolph and grandson of Thomas Jefferson, became Confederate secretary of war in 1862.