Biography
Randolph seems to have studied math or philosophy and then attended The Grammar School at the College of William and Mary. Records show he resided at the College of William and Mary from Oct 1771 until Sep 1773 where he took violin lessons from the same instructor as his brother. Prior to that, he attended Ben Snead's Albemarle County school with his sisters. The historian Dumas Malone writes in his book Jefferson and His Time: The Sage of Monticello that Randolph did not share his older brother's eloquence. His letters to Thomas show a disregard of grammar and the use of colloquialisms such as "tech" instead of "touch."
Randolph served in the Revolution and in the local militia, and he furnished provisions for Virginia troops, pasture for cavalry horses, and Negro laborers at Scotts Ferry to help remove military stores. Along with his brother, Randolph signed an Oath of Allegiance to the Commonwealth of Virginia on 21 April 1779. He seems to have been an amiable man. A court record states that Randolph did not "possess the skill for the judicious management of his affairs, and that in all the occasions of life a diffidence in his own opinions." It said he was a kind man, but he was easily influenced by others.
A former Monticello enslaved man, Isaac Granger Jefferson, recalled in 1847 that "Old Master's brother, Mass Randall, was a mighty simple man: used to come out among black people, play the fiddle and dance half the night: hadn't much more sense that Isaac." Though Isaac was given to Thomas Jefferson's daughter in 1797 as part of her marriage settlement, Isaac and his family were hired or bought by Jefferson's older daughter, who lived near Monticello and moved there full time in 1809. According to Isaac's observations, he remained at Monticello until shortly before Thomas Jefferson's death.
Thomas was considerate and affectionate toward Randolph; they addressed each other as "Dear Brother," and exchanged visits and services with each other. Letters document that Thomas lent Randolph the harness for a gig, had his watch repaired, gave him a dog, sent him vegetable seeds, and gave him a spinning jenny.
Captain Jefferson, as Randolph was called, inherited the plantation Snowden, about twenty miles south of Monticello, in Buckingham County, across from Scott's Ferry. He lived with his family simply as a planter dependent on enslaved labor. Snowden later burned to the ground, two days after Randolph's second wife and widow Mitchie B. Jefferson moved out.
Read more about this topic: Randolph Jefferson
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