Home reminiscences of John Randolph of Roanoke |
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 | CHAPTER VII. Home reminiscences of John Randolph |  |
CHAPTER VII.
Critical—Sarcastic—Revelations of his Overseer—His Manner of Dealing
with Overseers—Midnight Ride—Whips his Cook—Testimony of Joseph
M. Daniel in the Will Case—"Hot Toddy"—"Boiled Pants"—
The Effect of Liquor on Him—Recollections by W. B. Green, Dr. I.
B. Rice and others.
ABOUT two days after a severe spell of sickness, Mr.
Randolph was seen driving up to Watkins's store.
Everybody was daily expecting to hear of his death.
Those who saw him could hardly believe that it was he;
but it was indeed the "dying man."
Mr. Randolph drove up before the door, and observing
the gentleman who had waited upon him during his illness
said: "You hardly expected to see me out so soon." His
friend was indeed astonished at the rapidity with which he
could recover from a spell of sickness.
Mr. Randolph called for some red flannel. The young
gentleman who acted as salesman brought out the article
called for. Mr. Randolph inquired how much there was in
the piece? The merchant replied: "I cannot tell precisely
without measuring it, but I reckon there are ten yards."
"Reckon!" reiterated the critic. "A young man reckoning!
I thought it was women who kept a reckoning, and
that only at particular times!"
Mr. Randolph once put up at one of those "miserable
inns between here and Washington," as he styled them.
As soon as he seated himself at the table, he turned up his
lady of the house blushed up, and replied that he was mistaken;
the plates were clean. She took it off the table,
however, and washed it with her own hands. Still he insisted
that it was "nasty." The hostess tried to turn it off
in a joke, by remarking: She "had heard it said that we all
had to eat our peck of dirt during our lives."
"Yes," rejoined Mr. Randolph, "but I don't want to take
all of mine at once."
Mr. Randolph bought a plantation of Mr. H. Read, and
was somewhat behind in paying for it. He had been dunned
for it repeatedly, but he had never found it convenient to
pay. On one occasion, when Mr. Read went to Roanoke to
collect the debt if possible, he was met by the distinguished
debtor, who accosted him thus:
"Sir, had it not been for your exceedingly genteel appearance,
my dogs would have torn you to pieces."
Mr. Randolph bought the "Bushy Forest" tract of land
on Roanoke creek of Mr. Howel Read. Mr. Read was
very reluctant to sell it, but after repeated solicitations he
consented. When the papers were all signed, Mr. Randolph
turned around and chided him for selling the graves
of his forefathers. Mr. Bedford, who was present at the
time, regarded it as a most unjustifiable piece of ill-nature.
The tall poplar tree was pointed out to us, under the shade
of which the memorable transaction took place.
Upon being asked the direct question what sort of man
was John Randolph, nine out of ten of his neighbors would
reply at once, without a moment's reflection, that he was the
most sarcastic man they ever knew. We do not remember
to have conversed with a single individual, learned or unlearned,
friend or foe, who did not remark upon this trait of
his character.
Speaking of his powers of ridicule and sarcasm, a gentleman
informed us that Mr. Randolph was once inflicting
upon a certain individual one of his severest and most unmerited
chastisements, when a man in the crowd, no longer
able to endure the scene of mental agony, exclaimed, "Stop,
stop, Mr. Randolph, I would not treat a dog so."
What must have been the ill-nature which dictated remarks
calling forth such an exclamation under such circumstances?
It would not have been more cruel to have
thrust a knife into the flesh of his victim.
Mr. Thomas Cardwell, a great admirer of talent, once
asked the Hon. James W. Bouldin to tell him who, in his
opinion, was the greatest man that the county of Charlotte
had raised.
Mr. Bouldin replied: "Mr. Randolph could force more
down the throats of the people than any man he ever knew,
and that, with the exception of Mr. Randolph, the Rev.
Moses Hoge was the most eloquent."
Mr. Randolph would drive a man as far as he could be
driven; had no mercy on him. In fact, he took a pleasure
in seeing how many humiliating things he could force a fellow
creature to do. He would make sport of him in his
own house, and laugh him to scorn at his own table. He
was familiar with the faults of everybody in reach of him,
and when he wanted a man to move, he knew exactly where
to apply the goad. But when he could not drive, he would
not insist on it. His knowledge of human nature enabled
him to determine who was a proper subject to be operated
on. When he found that he had mounted the wrong horse,
he frequently got right off and complimented him for his
independent spirit.
He once sent for all his overseers. We have this from Mr.
William P. Harvey, now living in the county of Pittsylvania,
him. It so happened that Messrs. H., C. and G. rode up at
the same time. John, Mr. Randolph's body-servant, met
them at the door, and requested them to pull off their shoes,
saying his master was quite sick, and could not bear a noise.
John's request was complied with, and they all went in in
their stocking feet. Mr. H. states that he found Mr. Randolph
sitting up in bed, far from being in the condition
represented.
In a few days he sent for all his overseers again, with the
injunction that they should come as soon as possible. John
was at the door as before, holding in his hands several pairs
of stockings for the overseers to slip on before they entered
his master's chamber. Mr. G. pulled off his shoes as before;
but Mr. H. says the game could not be played on him again.
He had no objection to taking off his shoes if he had supposed
there was a necessity for it, but he had no idea of
doing it when he believed that it was all "pretense with Mr.
Randolph about being so sick."
John informed him that his orders were positive not to let
any one in with his shoes on. Mr. H. told him "if he did
not stand aside he would knock him down."
As they entered, Mr. Randolph said: "Good morning,
G.; I can afford to call you G.; but"—addressing himself to
Mr. H., "I shall have to call you Mr. H.
Mr. H. replied: "It mattered not with him what he called
him."
"Shut your mouth, sir," said Mr. Randolph.
Mr. H. being very much incensed opened wide his mouth
right in Mr. Randolph's face. They then had some bickering
words. At last Mr. Randolph remarked: "See, now,
you have gotten mad with a gouty old man." He then invited
them to take a drink. Mr. W. C., who was sitting on
room. After they had gotten there, Mr. C. remarked: "We
have to swallow some hard things here." Mr. H. replied:
"Yes; I have been swallowing chestnut burs, but I do not
intend to do it any longer."
Mr. Harvey says he witnessed the following:
Mr. —, one of his overseers, was leaning his chair
back against the wall when the following dialogue ensued:
"Were you ever in a gentleman's house?"
"Yes, sir."
"Leaning your d—n greasy head against the wall?"
"Yes, sir."
"As d—ned a fool as you are, the wonder is how you
ever" * * * * * * * * *
"Yes, sir."
And that was all he could get out of him.
A highly respectable old lady in Charlotte told us the following:
Shortly after Mr. Randolph had in a spree, as she supposed,
killed several of her husband's finest hogs, he was
visited by the injured party for the purpose of finding out
the cause. He nerved himself up to the point of intimating
that if his neighbor's dogs did not stop killing his hogs he
might possibly shoot them.
Mr. Randolph informed him that if he killed his dogs he
would shoot the best cow he had on his plantation. Afterwards
he threatened to shoot his best horse, and finally said:
"If you kill my dogs I will kill you."
The husband being a quiet, easy sort of man, did not resent
it, but his wife was
Nursing her wrath to keep it warm."
She determined to take revenge in the best way she could.
At any rate, the next time she met him she would give him
to understand that if he was Mr. Randolph she was Mrs.
—.
As good luck would have it, she one day overtook him in
the road. He was riding in his coach; she in a buggy with
a fleet horse. As he was going along at a slow gait she
passed him. But when they came to a wide space in the
road he increased his speed and passed her.
Again she reined up her spirited steed, and putting the
lash to him with all her might, distanced him a second time.
As she drove by, Mr. Randolph gave her an awful look, and
she returned the glance. He looked at her, and she at him.
He passed her, and she passed him:
She won the day; who won the race?"
When they came to the fork leading to her house she was
ahead, and turning exultingly round in her buggy she bid
him "Good bye."
In a few days afterwards Mr. Randolph sent for her husband,
and asked him the value of his hogs. Upon being
informed, he gave him an order on Mr. C. for the amount
specified.
Mr. Robert Carrington and Mr. Randolph were at variance.
In fact they were mortal enemies. It appears that
the latter had to pass through the plantation of the former
to get to his lower quarter. Mr. Carrington determined he
would put a stop to all passing on the part of all persons
from the premises of his hostile neighbor, so he posted a
servant at his gate, with a loaded gun in hand, with the
necessary orders. Pretty soon Mr. P., an overseer of Mr.
Randolph's, came by. The sentinel halted him, telling him
time requesting that he would see his master before he
passed through. Mr. P. went to Mr. Carrington, who informed
him that he might go anywhere he pleased on his
plantation. Some time afterwards Mr. Randolph drew an
instrument of writing condemning the conduct of Mr. Carrington,
and requested his overseer to endorse it. His overseer
promptly refused, saying Mr. Carrington had always
treated him in a very gentlemanly manner, and that he had
nothing to say against him. Mr. Randolph thereupon informed
him that he had no further use for him. "And I
have none for you," replied his overseer, and left him.
Mr. Randolph insisting that he had the right to go from
one of his plantations to another through Mr. Robert Carrington's,
the latter addressed him a short note, prohibiting
him, and informing him plainly that if he attempted it he
would shoot him. Knowing of what stuff Mr. Carrington
was made, Mr. Randolph did not venture. Mr. Carrington
told Judge F. N. Watkins, of Prince Edward, that in reply
to his curt note, Mr. Randolph wrote him four pages of
foolscap, which Mr. Carrington said was as brilliant as anything
Mr. Randolph ever wrote, and in which, in his way,
he said a great many things of severity.
When Mr. Carrington afterwards became a candidate for
the house of delegates, although all personal intercourse between
the parties had ceased, Mr. Randolph was one of the
first to record his vote (then viva voce) for Mr. Carrington,
with some very complimentary remark.
Mr. W. P. Harvey states that he was present on one occasion
when Mr. P., one of his overseers, came after being sent
for several times to get his wages for the previous year. Mr.
Randolph was then living up stairs. Mr. Hundley was also
present.
"Harvey," said Mr. Randolph, "go and invite him up."
Mr. Harvey went, and reported that P. had to go out.
"Has he the b—y ache?"
This created quite a laugh. Mr. Harvey invited him as
many as three times before he could be induced to go up
stairs. Mr. Randolph received him in a very friendly manner.
"Mr. P.," he inquired, "why have you not been after your
money?"
"I could not come sooner," replied Mr. P.
"Well, sir, I shan't pay interest on it, as I was not able to
go to you, and you would not come to me. There is the
money. Count it out to him, Harvey."
Mr. Harvey counted it.
"Is it right?"
"Yes, sir."
"Count it over again."
"Right, sir."
"Mr. Hundley will you count it?"
Mr. H. (not Harvey, but the other gentleman present)
counted the money, and detected a five-franc piece among
the silver.
"That's right now, sir," said Mr. Randolph, "sign this receipt
without interest, else it will be said of me that I am not
an honest man in not paying interest, when it was your
fault."
Mr. P. stated that he preferred not to sign it. Mr. Randolph
then requested Mr. Harvey to talk to him; but Mr. P.
still declined to sign the receipt. Mr. R. requested the other
gentleman present to talk to him. Mr. P. holding to his resolve,
Mr. Randolph said to him: "You are the d—st fool
I ever saw. You are as d—ed a fool as my Bull," a negro
whose name he had changed to Bull.
Mr. Harvey says he never saw a man sign his name as
quickly before. Mr. Randolph was in bed propped up. He
sent both hands under the sheets, and P. thought he was
after his "bull dogs," as he called them—meaning his pistols.[1]
Mr. Harvey states that while Mr. Randolph was kind to his
servants, he was the strictest master he ever knew. He said
disobedience to orders was the greatest crime a negro could
commit. Mr. Harvey states that he has heard Mr. Randolph
say to his negroes if their overseer told them to set fire to
the granary, corn house, stables or barns, if they did not do
it he would kill them.
Mr. Harvey says: He was at his house when one of his
slaves ran from his overseer at Lower Quarter, and came to
Mr. Randolph, complaining that his overseer was going to
kill him, and he wanted to see master before he did.
As soon as he said that, Mr. Randolph told Mr. Harvey
to take him out and kill him. "D—n him, kill him. I have
plenty negroes to kill one every other day."
Mr. Harvey took the "run-a-way" and gave him a thrashing.
When he brought him back, Mr. Randolph remarked:
"I told you to kill him,"
"Stand there, sir," said Mr. Randolph to the negro, while
he wrote a note to the overseer.
"Take that, sir; give it to your overseer.
Mr. Harvey states that he never had one to come to him
after that. He remarks that "this harsh chat and strict
orders were to save him from annoyance. Had it not been
for that, his negroes would have been running from overseers
to `master' all the time."
Mr. Harvey states that when he was overseer for him, Mr.
Randolph had four hundred and nine slaves.
He says he has frequently heard Mr. Randolph speak of
an overseer he once had by the name of Cumbey. He said:
"Cumbey could do anything." They were riding in the
plantation one day together when they came to a framed
house, Mr. R. remarked: "He wished he had it for a storehouse."
He said in two days afterwards it walked up into
his yard—everything complete, except the chimneys.
Mr. Harvey mentions another of Cumbey's performances.
Mr. Randolph, he says, showed him a barn forty by twenty
feet; stated that that was the "turn-round barn." Cumbey
had it built in his absence. He told him it was in the right
place, but that it was set wrong; it ought to have been north
and south. The next day he said he rode by and it was all
right. He therefore named it the "turn-round barn."
Mr. Harvey says Mr. Randolph once had horses saddled
at dead of night, to ride to a certain point in the plantation.
As they (Mr. Harvey and Mr. Randolph) rode along, Mr.
Randolph's horse became dreadfully frightened at a bush.
Mr. Randolph stuck the spurs deep in his side, and the horse
plunged and reared at such a rate that Mr. Harvey became
alarmed for the safety of the rider, and so expressed himself.
Mr. Randolph remarked: "It was as easy to throw a
new girth from a saddle as to throw him." He did not desist
until he made his horse go up to the bush. When they
had arrived at a certain place, Mr. Randolph observed:—
"There is the place I want you to begin the ditch."
Mr. Harvey says Mr. Randolph drank very hard, and
took great pains to conceal it. Johnny would sooner put
his head in the fire than invite a gentleman into his master's
room while he was drinking. He always carried liquor in
what is curious, he always stopped the key-hole.
On one occasion, Mr. Randolph asked Mr. Harvey what
he would have to drink; said, "he had everything."
Mr. Harvey says he thought he would call for something
out of season, that he might baulk him; so he asked for
cider. To his suprise, Johnny was ordered to go into the
cellar and bring up cider, which was very fine.
When intoxicated, Mr. Harvey says, he was profane and
obscene. He kept at least six candles burning all night
long. The excuse he made was, that if he dreamed anything
he could take his lap desk and write it down, and then
he would never forget it.
He once directed Mr. Harvey to give Queen Betty, his
cook, a whipping, complaining that, instead of making him
a plum pudding she made him a pudding with a plum in it.
After she had been chastised, he said, "she always made
them right, and greatly improved in her soup."
When entirely sober he always called old Essex "father."
One day, the old servant came into his master's room, where
there were several gentlemen present, in his every-day
clothes. Mr. Randolph remarked: "Essex, if your friends
came to see you, I would put myself in a condition to see
them." Pretty soon afterwards Essex came back, the finest
dressed man almost that Mr. Harvey had ever seen.
Mr. Randolph's orders to his negroes were to take off
their hats whenever they spoke to a white man. He himself
spoke to each of his negroes as he came to them in the
field. He always spoke to his overseers with his hat off.
Mr. Randolph once got one of his overseers to do some
writing for him. When the letter came to be backed, the
overseer wrote "Va." Mr. Randolph repeated, " `Va.,' d—n
against the wall. He wanted it written "Virginia," in full.
The above closes our memoranda from Mr. Harvey. We
are glad that we had an opportunity of interviewing him,
which was done about ten years ago, and the result carefully
written out and filed away among the other interesting
papers which we were keeping until the time should arrive
when we had leisure to arrange our Randolphiana for a
book. We say we are glad we took notes from him, because
we feel that we must draw Mr. Randolph as he really was.
We now turn to the reminiscences of Dr. R. B., whose
high standing entitles him to the highest credit.
He states that in the latter part of Mr. Randolph's life he
sent for him in great haste. It was known all over the
neighborhood that he was sick abed. Dr. B. went promptly
to see what Mr. Randolph wanted with him. Upon entering
the room, he found him lying on a bed which was literally
covered with books and papers. The moment he made
his appearance, Mr. Randolph pointed to a box, and requested
him to hand him a certain paper, describing it. After an
hour's search, the paper was found and handed to him. Mr.
Randolph took it and bid him good morning; and that, before
his guest showed any indications of his intention to
leave. Dr. B. had scarcely gotten off his horse at home,
before the same messenger who went for him the first time
rode up and said that his master desired him to return immediately.
On his entering the room, Mr. Randolph requested
him to look in a certain box for another paper,
which, he stated, it contained. The paper was found and
placed in his hand. He looked at it for a few moments, and
handed it back to his friend, with the request that he would
put it back in the box and "seal it with the sign of the
cross." This latter injunction was somewhat embarrassing
sign of the cross with his finger, which seemed to satisfy the
mysterious patient. So soon as this was was done, Mr. Randolph
again bid adieu to his visitor in the same unceremonious
style.
The Hon. James W. Bouldin prefaces his Randolphiana,
the manuscript of which is now before us, with the following
remark:
"In order to make many of the following facts intelligible,
consistent, or even credible, it will be necessary to mention
two facts in relation to Mr. Randolph, which, if they were
generally known, have not been generally borne in mind by
those who have spoken of him, his character and peculiarities."
We will not in this chapter quote the first of the facts mentioned
by Mr. Bouldin, but the second. He says:
From the first time I ever saw Mr. Randolph, to the last—say from
about 1808 or '9 till his death, he drank very hard—great quantities of all
kinds of intoxicating drink. He generally drank the best, whether wine
or distilled spirits; but he would drink bad if he could not get good.
This had various and very singular effects on him. Sometimes he became
drunk in the ordinary way—lost the use of his limbs, including his
tongue, and his mental faculties became almost entirely obscured. This,
however, I presume was seldom, as I do not recollect of having seen it
happen more than two or three times in all my acquaintance with him.
Generally the more he drank the stronger and the more brilliant he became,
until after weeks sometimes he would become suddenly prostrate
and sink, and so after a time he would recover.
Although he drank much in public, he drank still more in private,
and although this fact was known to so many, yet it is a matter of great
surprise to nine-tenths of persons to be told that he drank to excess. He
scarcely ever drank with the illiterate or vulgar at all, even during the
highest electioneering times. I scarcely ever saw him drinking with gentlemen,
but he drank more than any of them. Still he had the power of
fascination and charm to such an extent on most men, that though he
talented men I ever knew, General J., told me he knew that when he
boarded with Mr. Randolph, at Crawford's, he drank more brandy (fifth
proof French brandy) than any man he ever saw.
If any one doubts that the brilliant intellect of the great
statesman and orator was sometimes maddened by strong
potations, let him read the testimony of Mr. Joseph M. Daniel,
one of the witnesses (and a more truthful witness never
testified in any cause) at the trial of his celebrated will case
at Petersburg. A manuscript report of Mr. Daniel's testimony
was kindly donated to us by his venerable wife, who
still survives him. From this manuscript we extract as follows:
I saw Mr. Randolph at Charlotte Court-house, November court 1831,
but observing that he received many of his old friends with more indifference
than usual, I did not approach him.
A few days afterwards some fox-hunters ran their dogs through his
yard, and when they reached my plantation I joined the chase. During
the chase Mr. Randolph sent for me, and when I reached his house, the
first thing he said to me was: "I am sorry you have turned fox-hunter."
He inquired after the health of my family, but was less particular in his
inquiries than usual about them, and less cordial in his reception of me.
He inquired if I would accept the office of postmaster at Tucker's, a new
office he wished to establish near him. I told him it would be inconvenient
to me, and was going on to assign my reason for not accepting,
but he stopped me, and in a rather crabbed manner said, "that is sufficient."
He then turned off and addressed himself to Mr. L., who was
also then talking to him about his horses.
During the same month I received a note from him, one night about
dark, urging me to come to his house on some matters of business. I accordingly
went. He met me at the door, and received me more cordially,
and apologized for sending for me in the night. The business related to
an overseer of his, named —, whom he had that day discharged from
his employment.
He said that the overseer had destroyed more than he had made. He
in his wagon, a quantity of wool, leather, and some other articles I do not
remember, and demanded of me a search warrant to enable him to search
the wagon. He took the necessary oath and I issued the warrant.
In a few days after, he returned from Prince Edward court, the same
month. He again sent for me. — appeared in the afternoon, according
to his promise to the constable, to answer the charge of stealing
the wool and leather. After sitting with Mr. Randolph a short time, he
proposed that we should go and try —. As soon as he came in sight
of — he appeared to get very mad; made a great many charges
against him, and said he would swear to them. By way of getting rid of
him, I told him he had already been sworn. I then asked him if he had
no other evidence of his guilt. He said, "yes." Mr. P. (his overseer)
and Mr. T. (the constable) would be ample witnesses of guilt; for they
had found some of the leather in his chest.
From the evidence of P. and T. (I did not examine Mr. Randolph) I
thought the case ought to be enquired into, and committed him to jail, he
being unable to find security for his appearance.
The evening Mr. Randolph obtained the search warrant he complained
of his negroes also. He said he had no doubt there was a combination
between — and several of his negroes that he named, in relation to
taking and carrying off the wool. "He had," he said, "the tanner's receipt
for twenty-eight hides," I think, and the overseer had only accounted
for a small proportion of them—I think about half.
The next time I saw him was a month or two afterwards. He complained
that a great many lies had been told about his conduct in Saint
Petersburg and of his appearance before the Emperor of Russia; showed
all his clothes, and, using a quotation from Shakespeare, said, "they were
rich but not gaudy." He then took up a volume of Shakespeare, and said
he would read me the whole story. He commenced reading; but before
he finished, Mr. W. M. W. came in. I went off shortly afterwards.
I saw him again about the last of February, or the first of March, 1832.
I found him in the garret room, in bed. He complained that I had not
visited him; said that that was black Monday with him; that, during his
absence in Europe, his negroes had all turned rogues—those on the hill
worse than any. When he left he thought they were as honest and correct
negroes as any he knew. Indeed, he said there were but few men
he would sooner rely on or believe than Daddy Essex and some others
hard drink, and had been drinking some time before he found it out; that
the habit was so confirmed and the propensity was so strong it had caused
the old man to resort to dishonest means to procure it.
He had made a will, he said, before he went to Russia, leaving his negroes,
particularly those on the hill, as free as the laws of his country
would permit; that he had left his brother Harry their nominal master,
and had made ample provision for their support. But, he said, since his
return, and since he found how badly they behaved in his absence, he had
changed his mind, and none of them should be sold within five hundred
miles of that place.
While I was there, he had Queen in the room, searching for money
which, he said, had been stolen from him some few weeks before. She
searched all over the room, and said she could not find it. He was in a
great passion with her; abused her very much, and asked her if she had
examined under the head of the bed. She then examined under the
head of the bed, and pulled out a pair of blue broadcloth pantaloons,
very much rumpled, and on examining them found the money in the
watch pocket, as she said, and as I believe.
Mr. Randolph's rage seemed to be more violent, if possible, than before.
He said he would convince me or any other person that she had
put the money in the pocket herself; and, raising himself up in the bed,
with the pantaloons in his hand, he handed them to me, and said: He
would swear they had been boiled and well washed, and if the money had
been there it would have been defaced or destroyed. At the same time
he handed me the money to show it was uninjured. The money was not
injured, nor did I think that the pantaloons had been washed.
I saw him again about the middle of March of the same year, 1832. I
found him as before in the garret in bed. He asked me if I did not think
he was dying. I told him I thought not. He then asked me if I thought
him capable of making a will, or if he was in his right mind. I answered
I hope you are. He handed me a paper, which he said was his
will. He said he was blind, and could see but little, but felt on the paper
for a wax or wafer seal. He said: "I acknowledge this to be my hand
and seal, act and deed."
His name was signed to the paper, which he said he had written in a
great hurry, expecting to die every minute. I witnessed it, and he then
H. and Mr. C., who came and also witnessed the paper.
He advised me if I had any money owing to me to collect it, or owing
from me to pay it. Spoke of South Carolina nullification; said that
dreadful times were coming. The United States Bank would be broke;
troops would he marching through the country; breadstuffs would be very
high. He advised us to make grain and no tobacco; said he would not
take Mr. Gerard's or Mr. Bruce's bond for eighteen cents. He had, he
said, a large sum of money in bank, and wanted me to write a check in
favor of Henry Saint George Tucker, president of the Court of Appeals,
to enable him to draw it all in gold and silver, not in notes, which he considered
no better than trash.
When he first called on me to witness the paper he told me to take it,
and to take care of it, and made me promise to deliver it to the clerk immediately
after his death; then warned me against letting it be known,
and said if his negroes found it out they would burn my house over me.
After I had witnessed it, however, he changed his mind, and concluded
to send it to his brother by an express, which I understood he did. He
frequently repeated the words: "Take notice, I am in my right mind."
I saw him again in April, the morning of the day he went to the courthouse.
He seemed to be in a stupor; received me politely, and taking
one of my hands between both of his, pressed it, and closing his eyes
said, in a voice hardly audible, "I am dying." Asked me if I noticed
that Nero, his dog, did not bark at me when I came in; said that he had
been a good guard, but now the devil had gotten into him, and he would
bark at nobody.
We then went into the house. His servant, John, came in after us. He
told John to hand him old Colonel Morton's cane. He then gave it to me
to keep; said he expected to die, and wished good care taken of it. In
this time John went out, and locked the door after him. He asked me if
I did not see devils, or blue devils, I forget which, standing around the
room. I said I did not; at which he seemed greatly surprised.
He said he had a portrait of my mother—a better one than I had. He
pointed to a watch hanging up, which he said I might have. John, he
said, was above wearing it. The watch needed some repair. Send it to
Lynchburg, said he, and I will pay for it.
He had just found out, said he, how it was that the portrait of my
not observed that there was a harshness in the features in the portrait
which I had, and accounted for it by saying that at the time it was taken
my mother was looking at these blue devils. He then said I must go
home, as he knew I was fond of home; took hold of my hand and pressed
it to his bosom, and said he loved me, and that I must not forsake him.
The next time I saw him was in the month of September, or last of August.
I thought him free from all excitement.
The result of the prosecution of — was, that he was examined by
the court and acquitted.
I believe Mr. Randolph had not a portrait of my mother in his possession.
When —'s case was before me, Mr. Randolph asked me to
swear him as a witness. I told him that he had been sworn to get rid of
him. I did not think he was in a situation to give evidence. He was
violently excited, and in a great rage.
When asked the question: "Did you think him insane when he made
the will in March?" Mr. D. answered: "I was not certain. I thought
he had been drinking, as I smelt spirits very strong, and he sent me out of
the room several times. On another occasion he sent me out of the room
in the same manner, two or three times. Once he sent me out with a
watch into another house to ascertain the time of day. When I came
back I thought he smelt stronger of spirits than before, and did not seem
to care about knowing what o'clock it was. He sent me again to find his
English papers, saying that the servants could not find them. I brought
them to him, and he pressed them in his hands, with the remark, that they
were his only source of amusement."
"Did you perceive that he was more abusive to his servants, and
punished them more frequently after his return from Russia than before?"
"Answer. He was more abusive, but I do not know that he punished
them more frequently."
His servants were excellent. As far as I know, there was no foundation
for the charge made against them by Mr. Randolph. I had a suspicion
that they did trade improperly, and that some of them were guilty
of theft while he was in Russia. But old Essex I had seen sometimes at
the tavern in the neighborhood.
Mr. Randolph sent for me in February, 1832, the evening before he
went to Watkins's, and asked me to ride that, night with him to some
he had to send them off by next morning's mail. He detained me at his
house reading a letter to me, and I thought it was too late to go. It was
also very cold, and I objected to going with him. He said I must not lie,
but must go with him. He wished me to ride in the carriage, but I declined.
He then said, I had better push on as if I was mounted on a
plow horse.
He told me to go to Watkins's store and wait for him. I rode there
and waited about an hour and a half. As he did not come, I started to
go home; but met him on the road, and hailed him. He said he should
be sorry to make orphan children that night, and insisted that I should get
into the carriage, as it was so cold I should otherwise freeze. I declined;
but he still urged me, when I told him it would make me sick to ride in
the carriage. He said that I must have one of his bottles of hot water.
He handed one to me, and I took it in my hands, and put it back. He
then said I must have some hot toddy, which he made and handed me.
I drank part of it and gave him back the rest, which I presume he drank,
as he did not throw it out.
We went on a little farther, when he stopped and asked me to take another
drink, which I declined, saying one was enough. He stopped some
time. What he was doing, I do not know. He again stopped a third
time, but did not again ask me to drink. We then went on to Watkins's
store. When he got out of the carriage, he put his cloak over one of the
horses. When we went in, he returned to see about some sugar which he
said had been spilt in the carriage. I remained in the house, and when
he came back he was rubbing his hands saying: "I am frost-bitten. I am
frost-bitten." He then sat down and wrote letters, and I wrote the acknowledgments,
which, I believe, he dispatched to the post-office that
night.
I went home and left him there. I did not hear any of the letters read.
He was excited I thought by drinking, but I considered him capable of
transacting business. He said he must send them off that night, as his
honor was pledged to do so. I do not know when the deeds were made.
I understand that they conveyed lots in Farmville. I am under the impression
that the deeds were inclosed and sent off that night by a boy.
I am a very near neighbor of Mr. Randolph's. Before he went to Russia
he was in the habit of visiting me frequently, but he did not visit me
after his return from Russia.
A few pages of the manuscript of Mr. W. B. Green will
come in very appropriately here. He says:
Mr. Randolph always professed to be an orthodox Christian, and consequently
recognized the personality of the devil on all proper occasions.
It was, I think, in the winter preceding his death, or perhaps the winter
before, that he set out from home in a deep snow, late in the afternoon,
to visit me, for the purpose of having some deeds certified for lots in
Farmville, which he had sold. On his way to my house he learned (or
imagined that he had) that the devil had gotten after me, and that I had
left home and gone up to the Rev. Clement Read's (my father-in-law) to
get him to pray for me. Hearing this on the road, he turned back at
Overby's store and went to Captain Watkins's, where he remained all
night. It was from him that I learned these particulars. The Captain
also informed me that Mr. Randolph kept him up nearly all night burning
and drinking burnt rum. He had doubtless made a free use of rum on
the road. I was at the time at home, and quite happy.
I have always considered it fortunate for myself that he did not come
to my house that night, for if he had I should have been summoned to
Petersburg instead of Captain Watkins, as witness in the will case.
Captain Watkins, and several other gentlemen from Charlotte, were witnesses,
and the former, when giving testimony before the court, mentioned
what has been above stated.
This was, however, by no means the first time that Mr. Randolph's
imagination had been disturbed by the devil. Many years before he had
been in a high state of excitement, which continued for a considerable
length of time. The devil took advantage of this, and through key-holes
and crevices insinuated himself into the bed rooms and all parts of the
house, until the annoyance could no longer be borne. Mr. Randolph
posted off a messenger to the Rev. Mr. Clopton, requesting him to come
to his aid and abate the nuisance. I do not know whether Mr. Clopton
went or not; I presume he did not go.
We will now lay before the reader the Randolphiana,
furnished us by Dr. I B. Rice, who resided on the Staunton,
about eight miles above Mr. Randolph's, a man of sterling
integrity, upon whose statements the reader may implicitly
much of the irregularity of his conduct.
After stating that "Mr. Randolph appeared among men
as a towering oak amongst the undergrowth of the forest,"
he proceeded to furnish us with the Randolphiana, which
occurred to him at the time we made our request. We copy
literally from his manuscript.
On one occasion, I met with him at Mrs. D.'s, in the county of
Charlotte, on a morning visit to her. He was very agreeable; asked
me "How is Dr. — this morning?" I remarked he was still very
ill; that he would not take the advice of physicians, but practiced on
himself. "That," said Mr. Randolph, "reminds me of an old Spanish
adage, that `a man who practiced on himself had a fool for a physician.' "
He found Mrs. D. busily engaged in making clothes for the Greeks.
(At that time there was considerable sympathy expressed in this country
for the Greeks in their effort to throw off the Turkish yoke. Mr. Randolph
opposed the resolutions introduced in Congress, and on that occasion
made one of the great speeches of his life.) As he left, after the
door was closed, he saw two ragged negroes passing by. He told them
to stop. He again knocked, and Mrs. D. returned. He pointed at the
negroes, and said to her: "Madam, the Greeks are at your door," and
passed rapidly away.
He once set his hands to pulling fodder on the Sabbath. A lady remarked
to him that it was sinful. "No," said he, "it is the pulling my
ass and ox out of the mire."
In the Virginia Convention Mr. Benjamin Watkins Leigh was at a loss
for an epithet with which to designate the Western people of Virginia.
"Call them horned cattle," said Mr. Randolph.
On another occasion in the Convention, when Alexander Campbell was
replying to some personal allusions to himself, among other things he
said: "The gentleman's remarks had no more effect than the falling of
the last leaf in Autumn." Mr. Randolph replied: "I perceive my shot
has stuck."
He had made a long absence from home. On his return he learned
that his negroes had been sick, and that one had died. Mr. Randolph
"Then," he said, "the poor fellow had a fair chance, and died a natural
death."
His passion for fine horses was great, and he had many of his own to
admire. Two of his favorite horses were once presented to public view;
one (Gascoigne) under size, and in other particulars defective, which he
earnestly eulogized; the other (Janus) a horse of great beauty and merit.
He was asked by a gentleman what he had to say for him? "Nothing,"
he replied; "he stands for himself."
I heard a gentleman ask after his health on one occasion. His reply
was: "Dying, sir; this continent was not made for the white man, but
the red man." On another occasion his reply was: "This church-yard
cough will surely kill me."
My opinion for a long time has been that Mr. Randolph's mind was
as sound as any man's, and that much of the irregularity of his conduct
proceeded from disease of body and inebriety. I believe that he never
had an hour of good health, nor was he ever free from physical suffering.
A great deal of his suffering was of that class of diseases which are mitigated
by stimuli, which he used freely, until they brought his system into
a terrible state of mental excitement and physical debility, and until the
use of them was a fixed fact with him, necessary to sustain his bodily
energies and even his life.
Besides two valuable letters furnished us by Judge F. N.
Watkins, we are indebted to him for some interesting notes
concerning Mr. Randolph. We give them in his own language.
He says:
When I went to the bar, the Honorable James W. Bouldin was still
in practice. In calling the docket in the county court, Mr. Randolph had
been a party to some motion or suit. He having died, it was necessary
to revive it, or let it go off in some way. Many of the old justices were
afraid of Mr. Randolph (in his latter days especially). When the clerk
called the case there was quite a pause and silence. Neither court (justices)
or counsel seemed disposed to say a word. Mr. Bouldin in his very
peculiar and amusing way said, so that all the court could hear: "Mr.
Randolph is dead now; you need not be afraid of him now."
Mr. Randolph drove up to the old hotel in Farmville, during the last
year or two of his life, in his carriage and four. Juba went promptly to the
heads of the leaders, and Johnny to the carriage door. Messrs. M. and
J. were sitting in the porch. Seeing Mr. Randolph's feeble condition,
they hastened to the carriage to help him out and up the steps of the
hotel. Petulantly he called Juba, and reproving him for not helping him
out the carriage, struck him with a little cane several times. Juba reminded
him that his own orders required him to promptly stand at the
horses' heads, while Johnny's duty was to help him out. Messrs. J. and
M. assisted him to his room on the first floor, and Randolph threw himself
on the bed. They asked whether "they could serve him, and what were
his wishes," &c. "I gave orders," said Randolph, "to have a private
room prepared for me, and here I am, where I can't be alone." Of
course the gentlemen at once retired.
| CHAPTER VII. Home reminiscences of John Randolph | |