Lynchburg daily Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1852-1861, 1859-03-09
From the Xenia (O.) Torchlight.
Doath of Richard Randolph.

On Monday the 3lst day of January, Richard
Randolph, whose peculiarties had made him
known to nearly every body in The county, died
Mt his residence north Of Cedarvills in Miami
townsh' :. after an illness of few dayn Nir. r.
was II native # Virginin--a member of tho old
and distinguished R,ndolph family Of that State
and wns somewhat over sixty years Of nge lie
had been troubled for years past with tho
diabetes, which finally proved fatal. For twenty
or twenty-five yeurs he had resided on Win, II
known rs the Randolph tract" in Miami town
ship. lie wns never married, aud leaves no family
relatives in this State.
On tho 22d Of january he made will, which
was opened and admitted to probate on the 10th
inst By this instrument he disposss Of all the
property i'll his posscssion nt the tmo Of his death
consisting Of nhont 300 acres of land in tha
county, Goo acres in Fayette, and his personal
property worth probably about $30O0--the whole
estate Geing valued at near $4,000; and consttu-
tcs VIM. II. Knott. Esq, of Miami township, as
his executor, who filed bond for $4,000 the
hcnvlrst bond ever given in this county for aim
liar purpose. Tho disposition of the property.
under the will. s as follows: |. The funeral ex-
pcnscs aud debts nre TO be paid out of the money
and personal property .. The executor il to dis
pose "l the real estate ns he may deem no.
ccssnry. aud apply tho proceeds 10 tho purchase
and freedom ol sln,es owned by the Randolph
family Understood to mean the slaves which be-
longcd to the estate Of his father, and their OF.
sprinEl which are named in tho will, and nil the
slaves aud their offspring owned by tho Carter
family after these slaves set fro, the bal
anre il remaining of the estate ia to DO applied
10 the 'use and benefit of said slaves" The will
is not yer, precise in It's terms, but the wishes of
the deceased can be we'll understood from it, For
years prir to his death, Mr.. Randolph ha.l been
cndeaorug to obt.t,n the names and locations Of
the descendants oi the slaves which belonged to
the estate # his father II, tho time Of his deaf and
which wrrc sold, IA we understand, upon tho set
tlcmcni o TINT e>tate These Are scattered over
the South n portou "i them having been taken
to Alalama- aud II will involve considerable labor
on the pnrt of The executor TO carry out tho wishes
of the deceased
For mnny Years past. Mr.. Randolph had lived
on his tract OF land IN Miami township, an outcast
by his s"wn desire. lro,n tho society he WAS we'll
calculated. by his intellect and his varied store Of
| knowledge. To alorn. Although wealthy, he ias
been wiling to ass hS days in q mean tenc-
mrnt, aud rob himself Of all the comforts and ma.
ny of the necessaries oi lio---aud for what In
the opinion of many i, because of his love for
money but this could not have been the motive,
for he simply held to the land which had by some
means come into his possession, and made no effort
to increase his riches. further than was done by
the increasing value o! his real estate. Others
thought that he was looking ahead to the enrich
ing of some worthy branch OF the Randolph fami-
ly, and thus. by sacrificing his own comfort. and
ignoring his right Ia the position which by birth
and by intellect. he entitled to, build up tho
dcrnycd fortunes Of family, which, in the past,
stood the head Of all the families of old Virgin.
in. But this. IT appears, was mistaken idea.-
lie Ind an obj jcct. his will shows, and whatever
may be thon2 of it by the world at large. no one
can conteml late the fact Of man like Mr.. Ran
| dolph-endoWcd with intellect far nbovc the ma
| jority of his fellow mcn--wth u mind stored with
the knowledge which hnd been CLEANED from ex-
tensi,c and Intelligent reading-with conversa-
tiona powers that would have made his society
desirable among men Of mark, ,-Sacrifcing him.
self for tho lnrpose of doing justice tcSbpse whom
he deemed t. have been deprived Of thAiF personal
| rights. without feeling that he was amid oil Of his
| peculiarites. man indeed. We may be doing
! more than Justice To his motives for living Us he
did and for mahing; the disposition Of his proper
ty that he did-but wo prefer to look upon tho
noble side Il the picture. aud forget all the past.
MIR Rand ph was, We believe, the son of Richard
Randolph oi Virginia, and the cousin of John
Of diSroson and mind in with the cynical
to the court and jury here (where he sometimes
were pnssnp.s which, for kccnness of retort and
concentrated bitterness Of scorn, we're quite to
John iundolph's inyectises against northern men.
Against the institution Of slavery ho entertained
and expressed 'hc strnaec>t rcpugnance-apd his
comments upon this institution and upon the wreck
which it mikes Of public and private prosperity,
would have been denomnated harsh If they had
been uttered by northern man. That he ielt as
he spoke liz evidenced by the character Of his will.
Until the ip,roduction of the Kansas Nebraska
bill he politically what might be termed q
Virginia Democrat. but that measure drove him
| into the ranks of the Republicans.