Col. John Randall was born in 1750 in Princess Anne County, Virginia

Princess Anne County, Virginia

Princess Anne County is a former county which was created in the British Colony of Virginia and the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States in 1691. The county was merged into the city of Virginia Beach...

, died on 12 June 1826 at age 76, and was buried at St Anne's Cemetery in Annapolis

Annapolis, Maryland

Annapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Maryland, as well as the county seat of Anne Arundel County. It had a population of 38,394 at the 2010 census and is situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east of Washington, D.C. Annapolis is...

, Anne Arundel County, Maryland

Maryland

Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...

.

He was the 13th child and youngest son of Thomas Randall, a planter, Justice of the Peace

Justice of the Peace

A justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions...

, vestryman of North Farnham Parish, and Jane Davis, his wife. Per his daughter-in-law Elizabeth Blanchard Randall, he did not even know all the names of his siblings. "He knew only the names of Mrs Henriette Sandford, Mrs Catherine Short, Mrs Agnes Thomas, Mrs Mary Claytor (ancestress of the West River Claytors), Mrs Delosie, Thomas, Robert, William, Richard & Frank. The others may have died in infancy."

• He was educated in Fredericksburg, Virginia
  Fredericksburg, Virginia
  Fredericksburg is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia located south of Washington, D.C., and north of Richmond. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 24,286...
  
   as a builder and joiner under the tutelage of Mr Buckley of Fredericksburg, an architect
  Architect
  An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
  
   and builder (Elizabeth Blanchard Randall says he was named Buckland)
• He owned a flour mill in Annapolis, Anne Arundel County, Maryland, and owned a schooner trading between Annapolis & Baltimore
  Baltimore
  Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
  
  .
• He was Anglican (Episcopalian), and a vestryman of the parish for many years at St Anne's Church in Annapolis.
• He was elected as Mayor 1813-1814, 1815-1816, 1817-1818 in Annapolis, serving every other term from 1813-1818
• He worked as an architect in Annapolis. He designed and constructed several of the most admired specimens of colonial architecture.
• He served in the United States Army
  United States Army
  The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
  
  , ending as a colonel
  Colonel
  Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
  
   during the American Revolution
  American Revolution
  The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
  
  . He was appointed by the Governor and Council of Maryland to be Commissary to the Maryland troops, to supply the army then in New York on 13 February 1778 (called Quartermaster in some records. In 1779 he was made State clothier to the Maryland troops. He was appointed Ensign in the 4th Maryland Regiment on 27 October 1779 - "In another Letter Colo Hall recommends Mr John Randall for a Commission in the same Regiment; we approve the Promotions and appoint Mr Randall to an Ensigncy in the fourth Maryland Regiment and request Commissions may issue accordingly." (Quoted from letter of Maryland Council to Board of War.)
• He resided in Annapolis at "the middle house on the dock", which he leased from 1787 to 1792 in Annapolis until he built the store and dwelling at the north end of the market-house which was Marx' Hotel in 1895. It had previously been the Middleton Tavern, as it would be again many years later. Middleton Tavern was a favorite gaming and drinking spot of George Washington, where he noted in his journals that he often lost rather large sums of money playing a card game called Whist.
• After the war he became Collector of the Port of Annapolis until his death in 1826. Later this was called Navy Agent. Was appointed by President George Washington
  George Washington
  George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
  
  after the war.

John married Deborah Knapp, daughter of William Knapp and Frances Cudmore, on 7 January 1783 in Anne Arundel County, Maryland. Deborah was born on 3 May 1763 in Cork, Ireland, died on 18 December 1852 in Annapolis, Maryland at age 89. She was buried in St Anne's Cemetery in Annapolis. They had 14 children: William, Elizabeth Hamilton "Eliza," Frances, John, Daniel, Thomas, Henry Knapp, James, Richard, Anne, Henrietta Sanford, Francis K, Alexander, and Burton.