The LuLac Edition #5, 638, April 25th, 2026

 

PAYTON RANDOLPH

FIRST A VIRGINIAN.

THEN AN AMERICAN

Payton Randolph was born into Virginia's wealthiest and most powerful family, Randolph served as speaker of Vrginia's House of Burgesses, president of the first two Virginia Conventions, and president of the First Continental Congress.[1][2] He also served briefly as the first president of the Second Continental Congress.

In 1774, Randolph signed the Continental Association, a trade boycott adopted by the First Continental Congress in response to the British Parliament's Intolerable Acts. Randolph was a first cousin once removed of Thomas Jefferson and was also related to John Marshall, the fourth Chief Justice of the United States, and Robert E. Lee, commander of the Confederate States Army in the American Civil War.

Randolph chaired meetings of the first of five Virginia Conventions of former House members, principally at a Williamsburg tavern, which worked toward responses to the unwelcome tax measures imposed by the British government. On March 21, 1775, he was president of the Second Virginia Convention in Richmond that debated independence (the setting of Patrick Henry's famous "Give me liberty or give me death!" speech). In April, Randolph negotiated with Lord Dunmore for the removal of gunpowder from the Williamsburg arsenal during the Gunpowder Incident, which was a confrontation between the governor's forces and Virginia militia, led by Henry.

The House of Burgesses was called back by Lord Dunmore one last time in June 1775 to address British Prime Minister Lord North's Conciliatory Resolution. Randolph, who was a delegate to the Continental Congress, returned to Williamsburg to take his place as Speaker. Randolph indicated that the resolution had not been sent to the Congress (it had instead been sent to each colony individually in an attempt to divide them and bypass the Continental Congress). The House of Burgesses rejected the proposal, which was also later rejected by the Continental Congress.

Randolph was the last speaker of the House of Burgesses (their role was replaced by the Virginia Conventions and later the House of Delegates in 1776). Randolph also served as the president of the Third Virginia Convention in July 1775, which as a legislative body elected a committee of safety to act as the colony's executive since Lord Dunmore had abandoned the capital and took refuge on a British warship. Pendleton succeeded Randolph as president of the later conventions.

In th e First and Second Continental Congress;

Virginia selected Randolph as one of its delegates to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia in 1774 and 1775. Fellow delegates elected him their president (speaker) of both the First Continental Congress, which requested that King George III repeal the Intolerable Acts and passed the Continental Association, and president of the Second Continental Congress, which extended the Olive Branch Petition as a final attempt at reconciliation. However, Randolph fell ill during each term. Henry Middleton of South Carolina succeeded him as president from his resignation on October 22, 1774, two days after presiding over the passage and signing of the Continental Association, until his return on May 10, 1775. He was again elected president of Congress, but Randolph left for Virginia four days later and was succeeded as president by John Hancock.

Randolph returned as a Virginia delegate but suffered a five-hour-long stroke while dining with Thomas Jefferson in Philadelphia and died later that evening on October 22, 1775. His remains were returned to Williamsburg, where they were interred at the chapel of the College of William & Mary. Since renamed the Wren Building, Randolph remains buried in the chapel following its restoration.