William Albertus Randall (1852 - 1934)

Born 4 Nov 1852 in Riga, Monroe, New York, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Phebe Ann (Mosher) VanNortrick — married 26 Dec 1875 in Oneida, Eaton, Michigan, United States

Husband of Phebe Jemima (Gorham) Randall — married 11 Nov 1900 in Wexford Township, Wexford, Michigan, United States

Descendants

Died 3 Feb 1934 at age 81 in Kalamazoo, Kalamazoo, Michigan, United States

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Biography

Birth

William Albertus Randall was born 4 Nov 1852, at Riga, Monroe, New York, about 15 miles west of Rochester. He was the second of six children born to Isaac Wilmarth Randall and his wife Paulina Chase. ^[1]

Youth

Over the first several years of his life, William's family moved quite frequently between the states of New York and Michigan. By the time he was three years old, in 1856, the family was residing in North Star Township in Gratiot County, Michigan,^[2] but by April 1860, they were back in New York, now residing in the town of Barre in Orleans County, about 25 miles west of Riga. That year, seven-year-old William was attending school at Barre.^[3] Then, the following year, the family returned to Gratiot County, where William’s sister, Mary, was born in December 1861.^[4] By 1865, the family had returned briefly to New York, and was residing on a farm at Hartland in Niagara County.^[5] By 1869, sixteen-year-old William was residing with his family on a farm in Eaton County’s Oneida Township, about fifty miles south of Gratiot County, and about twelve miles west of Lansing.^[6] Sadly, that same year, William’s eleven-year-old sister, Ursula, died of measles at Oneida Township.^[7] In 1870, seventeen-year-old William was working as a laborer on his father’s farm while attending school – suggesting that he may have had as much as a full twelve years of public education. ^[8]

At about age eighteen, William moved with his younger brother, George, to Wexford County, Michigan, about twenty miles northwest of the city of Cadillac, where he lived for about three years in the town of Sherman. During this time, William and George worked as the first drivers of the Sherman-Manton stage coach, delivering mail between the two towns – a distance of about fifteen miles each way. The brothers then moved to a farm about three miles west of Sherman, in the neighborhood known as Farnsworth (later called Bagnall). He farmed there for a number of years and also managed a potato warehouse in Glengary.^[9]

Marriages and Family

On 26 Dec 1875, twenty-three-year-old William married seventeen-year-old Phebe Ann Mosher, at Oneida Township, in Eaton County, Michigan.^[10] Phebe's mother had died when Phebe was eleven years old and her father died just five years later, seven months before she married William. William and Phebe's marriage appears to have been rocky from the start. On 22 Nov, 1877, William and Phebe separated, and on 28 Dec 1877, Phebe filed for divorce, charging William with extreme cruelty to her “by words, acts, conduct, and demeanor and to the extent that [her] life was rendered miserable in the extreme and suffering beyond endurance...” She claimed that William had disregarded the solemnity of his wedding vow and his obligation to her, having “grossly, cruelly, and wantonly refused and neglected to furnish [her] with suitable support, although of sufficient ability so to do” forcing her to depend on the charity of her friends “for her daily bread, as well as that of her child.”^[11]

Apparently, Phebe was pregnant at the time of her separation from William and, in July 1878, the couple's first child, Claude Walter, was born. Claude always claimed that he had been born in Rochester, New York – not far from his father's hometown. However, in her Bill of Divorce, Phebe claimed that she had lived consistently in Michigan since the time of her marriage. If Claude was born in Rochester, it is likely Phebe had gone to stay with relatives until her child was born, and then returned to Michigan. What happened next in regards to William and Phebe's marriage is unclear, but it appears that they reconciled and went on to have two more children before Phebe again filed for divorce in April 1887. William was found guilty of several counts of cruelty and failure to provide support, and the divorce was granted on 18 July 1887, by Circuit Court Judge Frank A. Hooker, at Charlotte, Eaton County, Michigan.^[12] It seems that William remained in Wexford County with the couple’s two oldest children, Claude and Frantie, while Phebe and her youngest child, Lena, returned to her family’s farm in Eaton County. According to William's grandchildren, Louis and Elizabeth Randall, their father Claude had told them the story of the last time he saw his mother, walking across the corn field carrying his baby sister.^[13] Phebe remarried quickly and began a new family. Sadly she died young, at which point young Lena returned to her father's farm.^[14]

William, in contrast, would remain single for the next thirteen years. In 1900, William was living in Wexford County with his daughter, Lena. Later that year, on 11 Nov 1900, he married Mrs. Phebe Jemima (Gorham) Williams, at Farnsworth, Springville Township, Wexford County, Michigan. He was 47 years old, Phebe was ten years younger.^[15] Phebe had been married previously to Phineas Edward Williams, from whom she had been granted a divorce from, following 21 years of marriage, just four days earlier.^[16] She was the mother of four sons, then ages eleven to nineteen.

In 1910, William and Phebe were residing in Wexford Township, where William did odd jobs.^[17] According to 1914 plat map, William's farm was located south of W 12¾ Road and east of N 7 Road, in Wexford Township. (Plat map) In 1912, Phebe’s three-year-old grandson, Phinney, came to live with the couple following his parents’ divorce. He continued to reside with them into young adulthood, even after his parents each remarried. Phebe’s grandsons Clarence and Donnell Williams, ages ten and six, also came to live with the couple after their mother died in 1919. They eventually returned to their father’s care after he remarried.

In 1920, William and Phebe were residing in Springfield Township in Wexford County, where William was identified as a farmer.^[18] In 1924, William and Phebe were residing in the village of Mesick in Wexford County.(source?) In 1930, William owned his own house free of mortgage in Wexford County. It appears that the house may have been located on a farm in Mesick which was owned by his brother George.^[19]

Death

Phebe died of uterine cancer, at age 71, 15 Dec 1933, at Wexford Township (Mesick).^[20][21] Following his wife's death, William, who had been battling stomach cancer and had been confined to his bed for nearly year, moved into his daughter Frantie's home in Kalamazoo, Kalamazoo County, Michigan.^[22] He died less than two months later, at age 81, February 3, 1934.^[23] William and Phebe were both buried beside his parents at Cornell Cemetery in Wexford County.^[24]

We do not know whether William and Phebe were churchgoers or to which, if any, church they belonged. William's first marriage was conducted by a Justice of the Peace^[25] However, his second marriage was conducted by Rev. Harley H. Harris, a pastor of the Methodist Church, suggesting that the couple may have been members of a local Methodist congregation.^[26] William's funeral services were conducted by Rev. Milton G. Wheelock of the Grant United Methodist Church in Buckley.^[27]

Federal Census Summaries

1860 – Willie Randall, age 7, attending school, Barre, Orleans Co., New York.^[28]

1870 - Willie Randall, age 20, farm laborer/attending school, Oneida Township, Eaton Co., Michigan. (named transposed with brother Charles – should be age 17)^[29]

1880 – Wm. Randall, head, age 27, day laborer, Benton, Eaton Co., Michigan.^[30]

1900 – William Randall, head, age 47, laborer, Wexford Township, Wexford Co., Michigan.^[31]

1910 – William A. Randall, head, age 57, laborer – odd jobs, Wexford Township, Wexford Co., Michigan.^[32]

1920 – William Randall, head, age 67, farmer - general farm, Springfield Township, Wexford Co., Michigan.^[33]

1930 – William Randall, head, age 77, farmer - general farm, Wexford Township, Wexford Co., Michigan.^[34]

Sources

1. ↑ Randall, Paul King. "Genealogy of a Branch of the Randall Family, 1666-1879." (Norwich, NY, Chenango Union Press, 1897) p. 155
2. ↑ Randall, Paul King. "Genealogy of a Branch of the Randall Family, 1666-1879." (Norwich, NY, Chenango Union Press, 1897) p. 155
3. ↑ 1860 US Federal Census: New York, Orleans County, Barre; page 120, family 838; Household of Wilmoth Randall.
4. ↑ Randall, Paul King. "Genealogy of a Branch of the Randall Family, 1666-1879." (Norwich, NY, Chenango Union Press, 1897) p. 155
5. ↑ 1865 New York State Census: New York, Niagara County, Hartland, 2nd District; page 2, line 24, family 15; Household of I.W. Randall.
6. ↑ Randall, Paul King. "Genealogy of a Branch of the Randall Family, 1666-1879." (Norwich, NY, Chenango Union Press, 1897) p. 155.
7. ↑ 1870 US Federal Census Mortality Schedule: Michigan, Eaton County, Oneida; page 220, line 2; Percilla (Ursula) Randall.
8. ↑ 1870 US Federal Census: Michigan, Eaton County, Oneida; page 7, family 57; Household of Isaac Randall.
9. ↑ Obituary for William Randall, Cadillac (Michigan) Evening News, 5 Feb 1934, p. 2.
10. ↑ State of Michigan Record of County of Eaton Marriages, Eaton County Courthouse, book 4, page 129, entry #45, William A. Randall to Phebe A. Mosher (26 Dec 1895).
11. ↑ Bill of Divorce, Wexford (Michigan) County Courthouse, Phebe A. Randall v. William A. Randall (22 Nov 1877).
12. ↑ Decree of Divorce, Wexford (Michigan) County Courthouse, Phoebe Randall v. William Randall (18 Jul 1887).
13. ↑ Personal recollections of grandchildren, Louis K. Randall (Dec 1991) and Elizabeth (Randall) Nelson (Dec 2000), as told to David M. Randall.).
14. ↑ 1900 US Federal Census: Michigan, Wexford County, Wexford Township; page 7B, family 161; Household of William Randall.
15. ↑ Return of Marriages, Eaton County, Michigan, p. 630, entry 6, William Randall to Phebe Gorham (3 Nov 1900).
16. ↑ Return Relative to Divorce, Wexford County, Michigan, Phebe Williams v. Pheneas Williams (30 Oct 1900).
17. ↑ 1910 US Federal Census: Michigan, Wexford County, Wexford Township; page 3A, family 48; Household of William A. Randall.
18. ↑ 1920 US Federal Census: Michigan, Wexford County, Springville Township; page 1A, family 7; Household of William Randall.
19. ↑ 1930 US Federal Census: Michigan, Wexford County, Wexford Township; page 4B, family 81; Household of William Randall.
20. ↑ Certificate of Death (15, Dec 1933), State of Michigan Department of Health, Phebe Randall.
21. ↑ Obituary for Mrs. William Randall, Cadillac (Michigan) Evening News, 16 Dec 1933, p. 6.
22. ↑ Obituary for William Randall, Cadillac (Michigan) Evening News, 5 Feb 1934, p. 2.
23. ↑ Certificate of Death (3 Feb 1934), State of California Department of Health Services, William Randall
24. ↑ .Find a Grave, memorial no. 71469074, William Albertus Randall (4 Nov 1852–3 Feb 1934), citing Cornell Cemetery, Buckley, Wexford County, Michigan, USA; Maintained by David M. Randall (contributor 47654263).
25. ↑ State of Michigan Record of County of Eaton Marriages, Eaton County Courthouse, book 4, page 129, entry #45, William A. Randall to Phebe A. Mosher (26 Dec 1895).
26. ↑ Return of Marriages, Michigan, Eaton County, p. 630, entry 6, William Randall to Phebe Gorham (3 Nov 1900).
27. ↑ Obituary for William Randall, Cadillac (Michigan) Evening News, 5 Feb 1934, p. 2.
28. ↑ 1860 US Federal Census: New York, Orleans County, Barre; page 120, family 838; Household of Wilmoth Randall.
29. ↑ 1870 US Federal Census: Michigan, Eaton County, Oneida Township; page 7, family 57; Household of Isaac Randall.
30. ↑ 1880 US Federal Census: Michigan, Eaton County, Benton; ED 66, page 20, family 203; Household of Wm. Randall.
31. ↑ 1900 US Federal Census: Michigan, Wexford County, Wexford Township; page 7B, family 161; Household of William Randall.
32. ↑ 1910 US Federal Census: Michigan, Wexford County, Wexford Township; page 3A, family 48; Household of William A. Randall.
33. ↑ 1920 US Federal Census: Michigan, Wexford County, Springville Township; page 1A, family 7; Household of William Randall.
34. ↑ 1930 US Federal Census: Michigan, Wexford County, Wexford Township; page 4B, family 81; Household of William Randall.