Samuel Fitz Randolph

1738 - 1825  (86 years)

• Name	Samuel Fitz Randolph  [1, 2, 3]
  Birth	17 Oct 1738	Piscataway, Middlesex, New Jersey, USA   [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
  Gender	Male
  Death	25 Feb 1825	Salem, Doddridge, West Virginia, USA   [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
  Burial	Seventh Day Baptist Cemetery, Salem, Harrison, West Virginia, USA   [3, 4, 5]
  Person ID	I22585	Master
  Last Modified	7 Jul 2019

  
  

  Father	Jonathan Fitz Randolph,   b. 12 Jan 1692, Piscataway, Middlesex, New Jersey, USA d. May 1783, Piscataway, Middlesex, New Jersey, USA (Age 91 years)
  Mother	Mary Dunn Bonham,   b. 4 Oct 1691, Piscataway, Middlesex, New Jersey, USA d. 25 Feb 1779, Piscataway, Middlesex, New Jersey, USA (Age 87 years)
  Marriage	1712	Piscataway, Middlesex, New Jersey, USA   [6, 7]
  Family ID	F5865	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Margaret Fitz Randolph,   b. Nov 1739, Piscataway, Middlesex, New Jersey, USA d. 29 Feb 1832, Salem, Doddridge, West Virginia, USA (Age 92 years)
  Marriage	25 Mar 1761	Seventh Day Baptist Church, Piscataway, Middlesex, New Jersey, USA   [1]
  Children	1. Jonathan Fitz Randolph,   b. 20 Mar 1775, , , New Jersey, USA d. 8 Mar 1853, New Milton, Doddridge, West Virginia, USA (Age 77 years)  [Father: Natural] + 2. Nancy Fitz Randolph,   b. 19 Feb 1781, Piscataway, Middlesex, New Jersey, USA d. 18 Jul 1871, Salem, Doddridge, West Virginia, USA (Age 90 years)
  Family ID	F5861	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	20 Dec 2014

  
  

• Event Map

  Birth - 17 Oct 1738 - Piscataway, Middlesex, New Jersey, USA Marriage - 25 Mar 1761 - Seventh Day Baptist Church, Piscataway, Middlesex, New Jersey, USA Death - 25 Feb 1825 - Salem, Doddridge, West Virginia, USA Burial - - Seventh Day Baptist Cemetery, Salem, Harrison, West Virginia, USA  = Link to Google Earth

  
  

• Notes

  SAMUEL FITZ RANDOLPH Samuel Fitz Randolph (1738 - 1825) and his wife, Margaret, lie buried in the Seventh-Day Baptist Cemetery at Salem, West Virginia. They were the founders of the town. Edward Fuller, a passenger on the Mayflower, was one of Samuel's ancestors, aas were early immigrants, Thomas Blossom, Rev. John Lothrop and Edward Fitz Randolph. Margaret shared much of her husband's heritage because she and Samuel were first cousins. The practice of marrying one's cousin was not uncommon in 18th century America. Samuel and Margaret were married on March 25, 1761 at the Seventh-Day Baptist Church in Piscataway Township, Middlesex County, New Jersey. They were both born at Piscataway. Samuel was the son of Jonathan Fitz Randolph and Margaret, the daughter of Jonathan's brother, David Fitz Randolph. The Seventh-Day Baptist Church in America is not a large denomination compared to some others. However, in some sections of the nation, it is quite active. The Seventh-Day Baptist Church was an early offshoot from the English Baptists and came about, principally, because of their belief in the biblical Sabbath, which the Hebrews kept on the last day of the week. Samuel Fitz Randolph was a soldier in the War for American Independence. He served as Ensign in the Second Regiment of the Sussex County, New Jersey Militia. After the war, Samuel Fitz Randolph prospered. Probably in the hope of speculation, in 1785, he bought eleven hundred acres of land in Pennsylvania. Eight hundred acres was a tract of virgin forest in Northumberland County. The remaining three hundred acres was a farm in the southwestern part of the state. By the year 1789, he and Margaret were living there. The Woodbridgetown Seventh-Day Baptist Church was formed on George's Creek, Fayette County, Pennsylvania, on June 6, 1790. Most of the church members had come from Piscataway, New Jersey. Among the constituent membership were Samuel and Margaret Fitz Randolph. The same year, on November 26, Samuel purchased from Catherine Swearingen two hundred and fifty-six acres. That tract was located in northwestern Virginia along Ten Mile Creek, a tributary of the West Fork of the Monongahela. The purchase price was 132 pounds, 10 shillings and 5 pence, Virginia money. Previously, that land, which included much of the present town of Salem, West Virginia, had belonged to Nicholas Carpenter, an early resident of Clarksburg. He had established a camp there from which he hunted the plentiful wild game. He also used it as a way station in his journeys to the Ohio to buy and sell cattle. Unfortunately, it was on one of those trips to Marietta, with a herd of cattle, that Carpenter and his son were ambushed and murdered by Indians. That atrocity occurred the year after Samuel bought the land. The years of the Revolution were particularly difficult for the Seventh-Day Baptist Church at Shrewsbury, New Jersey. Several male members enlisted in the patriot cause and marched off to war. Some became Tories and were unwelcome in the churchh. A few were excommunicated for the awful sin of taking communion with members of the Church of England. The Battle of Monmouth was fought less than ten miles away from their church. And so it was, for whatever the reason, the congregation voted to sell their meetinghouse, in 1789, and join the migration to the west. The church record states that ten families left Shrewsbury. It is thought that others joined them on the way. The Seventh-Day Baptists settled on White Day Creek in Mononongalia County, northwestern Virginia. There they remained for two years. However, they were not pleased with their lands. The Woodbridgetown Church was not far from their settlement on White Day Creek. Samuel Fitz Randolph interested them in hihis tract on Ten Mile Creek about fifty miles away. They removed there and bought lots in the town that Samuel laid out. They also bought farms on adjacent lands. They built a log meeting house for church services and, remembering the fate of the Carpenters, nearby they built a blockhouse for protection from the Indians. The town of New Salem was established by an act of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Virginia on December 19, 1794. The name of "New Salem" as a post office became "Salem," by order of the Post Office Department, in March 1884. Samuel and Margaret Fitz Randolph expired there and were buried on the hill behind their church. Some of their descendants still attend the Seventh-Day Baptist Church of Salem, West Virginia. KINSHIP: 1st cousin of wife. RESIDENCE: Of Piscataway, N.J. {Piscataway, Middlesex, New Jersey}. RESIDENCE: Of Salem W. Va. {Salem, Roanoke, West Virginia}. BURIAL: Gravestone> Salem, W. Va. {Salem, Roanoke, West Virginia}.

  
  

• Sources

  [S710] Oris H. F. Randolph, Daniel Fitz Randolph His Ancestry and Descendents: An American Branch of the Fitz Randolph Family, (1959), p. 4. [S379] Ancestry.com, U.S., Sons of the American Revolution Membership Applications, 1889-1970, (Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.), Volume: 220; SAR Membership Number: 43803. [S751] Ancestry.com, U.S., Find a Grave® Index, 1600s-Current, (Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.). [S340] Findagrave.com, (http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi: accessed 16 July 2011.). Birth: Oct., 1738 Piscataway Middlesex County New Jersey, USA Death: Feb. 25, 1825 Salem Harrison County West Virginia, USA Family links: Spouse: Margaret Fitz Randolph Fitz Randolph (1739 - 1832) Children: Mary Fitz Randolph Hill (1761 - 1854)* Margaret Fitzrandolph Clayton (1777 - 1854)* Nancy Fitz Randolph Davis (1781 - 1871)* *Calculated relationship Burial: Seventh-Day Baptist Church Cemetery Salem Harrison County West Virginia, USA Created by: Mark Jones Record added: Feb 23, 2009 Find A Grave Memorial# 34123318 http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=34123318 [S340] Findagrave.com, (http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi: accessed 16 July 2011.) (Reliability: 3). Birth: Oct., 1738 Piscataway Middlesex County New Jersey, USA Death: Feb. 25, 1825 Salem Harrison County West Virginia, USA Family links: Spouse: Margaret Fitz Randolph Fitz Randolph (1739 - 1832) Children: Mary Fitz Randolph Hill (1761 - 1854)* Margaret Fitzrandolph Clayton (1777 - 1854)* Nancy Fitz Randolph Davis (1781 - 1871)* *Calculated relationship Burial: Seventh-Day Baptist Church Cemetery Salem Harrison County West Virginia, USA Created by: Mark Jones Record added: Feb 23, 2009 Find A Grave Memorial# 34123318 http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=34123318 [S710] Oris H. F. Randolph, Daniel Fitz Randolph His Ancestry and Descendents: An American Branch of the Fitz Randolph Family, (1959), p. 3, 4. [S703] Randolph, Oris H. F. (Oris Hugh Fitz), 1898- (Main Author), Edward Fitz Randolph branch lines, allied families and English and Norman Ancestry: a family genealogy, 860-1976, (Assembled by Oris H. F. Randolph - 1976), p. 3, FHL book 929.273 R159ro; FHL book 929.273 R159ro.