Meet the Ancestors: Alexander Randall

Monument to Alexander Randall

Alexander Randall was born in 1803 and died in 1881 and was the 13th child of John and Deborah Knapp Randall. He graduated from St. John’s College in 1822 and studied law for two years under Addison Ridout. After his father’s death in 1830, he took his father’s place as Collector of the Port of Annapolis. He held the post of Auditor of the Court of Chancery until he joined the 27th Congress of the United States in 1840 and was a Trustee of St. John’s College.

During the Civil War he remained loyal to the Union although many of his friends and family were not, which put their property in jeopardy as well as their personal freedom. Alexander represented them with these problems. In 1864 he was elected Maryland Attorney General until 1867 when the State Constitution was revised.

After the Civil War he worked to recover funds for St. John’s College to repair the damage done to its ground and buildings when the Union used them for their hospital. He also worked to insure the permanence of the Naval Academy and formed gas and water companies for the city. In 1877 he was elected President of the Farmers’ National Bank and remained for the rest of his life.

He had 8 children with Catharine Wirt and when she died, he remarried Elizabeth Blanchard and had 7 more children.

He was an early advocate of public education and helped to begin the first primary school in Annapolis. His interest in horticulture led him to create Maryland’s “Arbor Day” in 1884.

He was a devout member of St. Anne’s and served on the vestry and was also an ardent member of the Temperance Movement and became President of the State Temperance Society.