Randolph Slaves Research Guide

RANDOLPH FREED PEOPLE OF COLOR BIBLIOGRAPHY

John Randolph of Roanoke, Virginia. 1773-1833. https://www.werelate.org/wiki/Person:John_Randolph_(33) In his will, he freed 518 slaves and left instructions to purchase land for them in a free state. Legal delays determined that the Freedman did not move to Ohio until 1846 after the executors purchased land in Mercer County, Ohio. The Freedmen moved to Troy, Piqua, Sidney, and Xenia instead because the white residents of Mercer County physically rejected their settlement.

Family names: Bailey, Brown, Clay, Cole, Crowder, Giles, Gilliad/Gillard, Green, Harris, High, Hill, Jefferson, Johnson/Johnston, Jones, Lee, Molten/Motan/Moten/Morton/Morten, Randolph, Real/Rial/Ryle, Vix/Vicks, Wells, White, Young

Places: Roanoke (county), Virginia, United States Richmond, Virginia, United States Mercer, Ohio, United States Sidney, Shelby, Ohio, United States Rossville, Miami, Ohio, United States Fletcher, Miami, Ohio, United States Hanktown, Union Township, Miami, Ohio, United States Troy, Miami, Ohio, United States Piqua, Miami, Ohio, United States Xenia, Greene, Ohio, United States

Civil War soldiers: Hillary White, Julius Young, Silas White, Harrison Gillard, James Gillard, Israel White, Spencer White (Source: Remarkable Ohio Hanktown sign) https://remarkableohio.org/picture.php?/6359/category/1085

BOOKS Gerber, David. Black Ohio and the Color Line 1860-1915. University of Illinois Press. Urbana, Illinois. 1976. page 18. Mercer Co

Gilmore, Helen Dehlia. History of the John Randolph Freed Slaves of Roanoke, Virginia Who Settled in Miami & Shelby Counties. Rossville-Springcreek Historical Society: Piqua, OH. 1981. Dayton Metro Library Call # Gen R 977.148 G488H also circulating copy. The Helen Gilmore collection of materials on the Randoph Freed People is now housed at the National Afro American Museum and Cultural Center.

Haller, Stephen. Registers of Blacks in the Miami Valley a Name Abstract 1804-1857. 1977. Blacks registered their freedom (manumission) papers with the clerk of courts in the county where they resided. Includes an extensive number of pages of Miami County Randolph slave names. Dayton Metro Library Call # Gen R 977.17 H185R

Lunsford, Anita. Conspiracy of John Randolph’s Slaves. XLibris. 2006. ISBN 9781425747442; 9781425747435. Held at Troy Library.

Nees, Heidi and Michael M. Carver. Images of America: Piqua. Arcadia Publishing, Charleston, South Carolina. 2014. ISBN: 978-1-4671-1130-0. Has some images of Randolph slave descendants and of places such as Hanktown, Marshall Town, and Rossville and Jackson Cemetery. Includes a photograph of the house of York Rial, former Randolph slave (1835-1913) which is now a museum. https://www.werelate.org/wiki/Person:York_Rial_(1)

Quillin, Frank U. Color Line in Ohio. Michigan University 1913. reprinted Negro Universities Press. New York. 1969. Gen R 325.26 Q6 1969. p. 29

Wallace, Rich. Adventures in Shelby County History: Voices from the Past. Dayton Metro Library Call # Gen R 977.145 W193V 2001. pp. 21-28 “Freed Randolph Slaves: A Part of Our Black Heritage”.

PERIODICALS

Associated Press. “Slaves Were Robbed of Property in Ohio”. Bucyrus Telegraph Forum. Bucyrus, Ohio. 22 Feb 1993.

Baker, Steve. Museum Tells Area’s Black History”. Dayton Daily News. Dayton, Ohio. 22 Feb 2007, page Z9N4.

Bennish, Steve. “Promised Land Became Problem Laden”. Dayton Daily News. Dayton, Ohio. 7 March 1990, page A20.

Campbell, Art. “Time Takes Its Toll on What Once Was”. Dayton Daily News. Dayton, Ohio. 1 Sep 1976. Page 65. Hanktown Cemetery. Leonard Hill. Ulysses Cole.

Cyrene AME Church to Observe 116th Anniversary, Sept. 17-21. Piqua Daily Call. Piqua, Ohio. 12 Sep 1969, page 14, column 1. Cyrene African Methodist Episcopal. Edith Rial. Goodrich Giles.

Death notice for Sampson Rial. Weekly Anglo-African. New York, New York. 19 Nov 1859.

“Columbus – Descendants of the Slaves…”. Greenville Journal. Greenville, Ohio. 29 Mar 1917, page 7. Law suit to gain possession of land lost.

“Emancipation of Patience Rial”. Darke County Genealogical Society Kindling. Volume 36, number 1, Winter 2017, pp 6-7.

“Ex-Slaves Sue”. Marion Star. Marion, Ohio. 10 Aug 1907, page 2.

Fox, Bill. “Graveyard Turns Up a Lot to Be Proud of: Ex-Slaves Buried There Were Her Ancestors”. Dayton Daily News. Dayton, Ohio. 13 Nov 1978, pages 1 + 19. Dehlia Russell Gilmore of Rossville and Jackson Cemetery.

“Freed Slaves Randolph People Hold Reunion at Midway Park”. Piqua Call. Piqua, Ohio. 25 Jul 1902, page 4.

“Freedom in a Free State”. Journal of Negro History. New York. Volume 1. 1916 , page 311.

Hannah, Jim. Pieced Together Pilgrimage: Wright State Grad Works on Slave Exhibit with Ohio Focus. Dayton Daily News. Dayton, Ohio. 6 Jul 2017, page D1.

“John Randolph Emancipated…” Dayton Empire. Dayton, Ohio. 7 Jun 1867, page 2. How the settlers are faring.

“John Randolph’s Former…”. Junction City Weekly Union. 22 Jun 1867, page 1. Former slaves are settled.

Mathias, Frank. “John Randolph’s Freedmen: The Twarting of a Will”. Journal of Southern History. Volume 39. Number 2. May 1973, pp. 263-272. Highly recommended. Written by a history professor from University of Dayton. Contains excellent footnotes and references. Clem Clay mentioned.

“Perhaps You Didn’t Know…” Dayton Daily News. Dayton, Ohio. 2 Jun 1927, page 19. Brief two paragraphs about Randolph and Hanktown.

“Randolph Ex-Slaves”. Dayton Herald. Dayton, Ohio. 8 August 1908, page 7. Reunion. Fountain Randolph. Manson Brown. Isham Randolph. Anna Jones Coleman. Goodrich Giles.

“Randolph Slaves”. Journal of Negro History. New York. Volume 1. 1916, Pages 312-313.

“Randolph Slaves” Richmond Enquirer. 24 Jul 1946, page 4. Slaves arrive in Mercer County, are met by armed citizens, go to Piqua.

“Randolph Slaves to Hold Reunion” Dayton Herald. Dayton, Ohio. 17 Jul 1907, page 2. Piqua. Speaks of law suit.

“Randolph’s Slaves”. Sandusky Clarion. 28 Jul 1846, page 4. Arrive in Bremin, armed escort removed them across the county line to Piqua,

“Remarks of Hon. Wm. Mungen on Southern Land Grants”. Daily Ohio Statesman. 12 Feb 1868, page 1. Mentions Randolph slaves.

“Slave Heirs Lose Suit”. Lima News. Lima, Ohio. 4 Feb 1907, page 8.

“Transporting Free Negroes to Ohio: A Typical Colonization Convention”. Journal of Negro History. Volume 1. Number 3. Jul 1916. Page 302.

“Will Meet in Sidney Randolph Ex-Slaves Association to Hold Annual Reunion July 27”. Piqua Daily Call. Piqua, Ohio. 13 Jul 1905, page 5. Land case in Mercer County court. List names of original slaves still living.

“Woman Completes Effort to Preserve Slave History”. Bucyrus Telegraph Forum. Bucyrus, Ohio. 9 May 1984, page 8.

Wood, Nicholas. 2012. "John Randolph of Roanoke and the Politics of Slavery in the Early Republic." Virginia Magazine Of History & Biography 120, no. 2: 106.

Yoakam, Rosalie. “Randolph Slaves Set Free”. Springfield News. Springfield, Ohio. 18 Jan 2014, page 12.

WEBSITES

https://www.ohiohistory.org/learn/collections/history/history-blog/2017/february-2017/randolphfreedpeople Ohio History Connection Blog February 2017. The Will of the Randolph Freedpeople.

http://www.shelbycountyhistory.org/schs/archives/blackhistoryarchives/randolphbhisA.htm Freed Randolph slaves.

http://www.shelbycountyhistory.org/schs/blackhistory/jameshumphrey.htm Mayor James Humphrey is a descendant of Randolph freedmen Carter and Phoebe Lee.

http://www.thetroyhistoricalsociety.org/Randolphs/list.htm Inventory of Slaves, from the Will of John Randolph, Roanoke, Virginia

http://sites.rootsweb.com/~ohmchgs/ The Miami County Genealogical and Historical Society offers a Randolph Lineage Certificate.

http://sites.rootsweb.com/~ohmchgs/mchgs_recognition_randolph-freedmen.html

https://ohiomemory.org/digital/collection/p267401coll32/id/26804 Emancipated slaves of John Randolph Miami County Clerk of Courts 1906, 14 pages of names, 383 persons named

https://mydatabase.tribalpages.com/ Art Thomas's genealogy page. Includes Randolph Freed People and descendants.

FamilySearch.org, Ancestry.com, and more websites: 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920 Miami County, and Shelby Ohio censuses Places: Rossville, Washington, Piqua, Springcreek (Spring Creek), etc.

slw Feb 2024