Background
Samuel Randall, the son of Joseph and Esther (Fisher) Randall, was a descendant of one of the earliest settlers of the town of Sharon, Massachussets, where he himself was born. His father was a well-to-do farmer.
Samuel Randall, the son of Joseph and Esther (Fisher) Randall, was a descendant of one of the earliest settlers of the town of Sharon, Massachussets, where he himself was born. His father was a well-to-do farmer.
After receiving his primary education in the public schools of Sharon, Samuel attended the Latin Grammar school of the Rev. William Williams of Wrentham. In the year 1800 he entered Rhode Island College, now Brown University, and graduated in 1804.
While in college he gained considerable recognition as an orator and writer of plays. The Miser and The Sophomore, both printed as pamphlets in Warren, Rhode Island, in 1812, were probably written by him while in college and were performed there between 1800 and 1804. The plays are genuine American primitives, springing from the college emphasis on oratory and declamation, instead of from the English plays acted at the local theatres. The Miser is "A comedy in 4 acts, written and designed to be performed in schools and academies. " The Sophomore, a Dialogue in One Act, has no authorship given, but all the internal evidence goes to prove it was by Randall. Both plays are farces contrived to persuade doubting parents of the advantages of a college education for their sons. The characterizations are shrewd and the action lively.
In 1805 he went to Warren, Rhode Island, to become "a preceptor" in the Warren Academy.
Between 1813 and 1826 he published three local newspapers, the Telescope, the Clarion, and the Telegraph, all rather shortlived. Though a stanch Republican he was singularly restrained as an editor in a period characterized by fierce party rancor. In 1822 he was appointed judge of the court of common pleas for Bristol County, Rhode Island, and served in that capacity until 1824, when he was made justice of the supreme court of the state. He held this office until 1833, when he was displaced through a change of parties. His active life terminated about 1858 when ill health forced him to resign many of his duties. He died in 1864 at the age of eighty-six.
In 1809 he married Patty Maxwell, daughter of James Maxwell of Warren, and established his home in that town. Six children were born of this marriage. One of them, the Rev. George M. Randall, became an Episcopalian clergyman and the first missionary bishop of Colorado.