Notes for JOHN RANDALL:

Son of John and Elizabeth (Moorford) Randall.
Born: May 28, 1629 in Clerkenwell, London, England.
Died: 1684.
Residence:
1668 - Westerly, Washington County, Rhode Island.
1670 - Stonington, Connecticut.
1678 - Westerly, Washington County, Rhode, Island.
Occupation: Farmer.
Married: Elizabeth Morton January 31, 1658 at Saint James Parish, Clerkenwell, London, England.

In London John was a silk manufacturer. With his wife and child John followed his wife's brother, Sir William Morton, to America in 1667, where he could enjoy freedom and religious liberty. He came to America in 1666. (Crowell's Scrapbook at the Public Archives of Nova Scotia) "John Randall first appears at Newport, Rhode Island, but removed to Westerly, the same State as early as 1667, where the remainder of his life was spent. Mr. Randall was born in Bath, England, May 28, 1629, the son of Matthew Randall, who was mayor of Bath in 1627. John was a silk manufacturer in England--of Seventh Day Baptist faith, and married there Elizabeth Morton, sister of Sir William Morton, who settled in New London, Conn. (see Hurd's History of New London.)" In fact, it was his grandfather who was the mayor of Bath, not his father. Brian E. Randall, of Sudbury, Ontario, indicates in his notes that both this grandfather, Mathew Randall, and John's uncle, John Randall, were involved in the textile industry. Elaine Dinan, of Washington State, is following leads regarding this, and is presently involved in research with original sources back in England. The following are notes from two other researchers, each drawing from a number of sources: 1) From "Just Rooting Around the Randall Family Tree," by G. Einarson "John Randall.... was in Westerly, Rhode Island in 1667. In 1670 he purchased land on the Pawcatuck River from Thomas Bell and on Nov. 30, 1670 he was admitted as an inhabitant of Stonington, Conneticut. In 1678 John and Elizabeth subscribed the letter of Westerly Baptist (accepted in Church). John took the oath of fidelity to Rhode Island in 1679 and in 1682 was a deputy to the Rhode Island Assembly. In 1685 Elizabeth, widow of John Randall petitioned for privilege to improve her deceased husband's land." 2) From "Ancestral (Maternal) Lines of Herbert Harris Olding, Jr." by Herbert Olding "John Randall, the progenitor of the Randall family of Westerly, Rhode Island and Stonington (Pawcatuck) City first appeared at Newport, R.I., from which place he came to Westerly as early as 1667, remaining in that area the rest of his life.... In 1684 John Randall died in Westerly, and his widow died there in 1685. Their son, John, born 1666 in England removed from Westerly, on the Rhode Island-Connecticut border, in a section known as Pawcatuck. At the time John Randall, Sr. settled there, Pawcatuck belonged to Rhode Island, but in 1663 the court declared that the Pawcatuck River separated the two colonies, with the result that the Randall property eventually came under the jurisdiction of the Town of Stonington."
("History of Stonington" by Richard Anson Wheeler and "Public Records of Colony of Connecticut (1665-1678) by J.H. Trumbull. Both of the above researchers list an early genealogy of Randall's "Genealogy of a Branch of the Randall Family, 1666 to 1879," by Paul K. Randall of Corland, N. Y., printed Norwich, N.Y.:1879. Books: "Just Rooting around the Randall Tree", by G. Einarson(