Randall, Robert Richard
Barnett Shepherd (Author)
Randall, Robert Richard (1750?-05 June 1801), merchant and philanthropist, was born probably in Chatham, New Jersey, the son of Thomas Randall and Gertrude Cooke. In the 1740s Randall’s father, a native of Scotland, immigrated to New York City, where he became a ship owner and amassed the family’s fortune. During the French and Indian War Thomas Randall was given permission by the British Crown to capture ships, owning at one time at least three armed vessels. Thomas Randall was a founder of the Marine Society of the City of New York, which helped to relieve indigent and distressed shipmasters and their orphans and widows. He was also instrumental in convening the New York Colonial Congress and became president of the first Board of Aldermen and Common Council of the liberated city. In addition, his name heads a list of citizens who greeted General ..
Encyclopedia Article, 1999
American National Biography Online, 1999
Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1999