1862 - 1921

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• Birth	1862	Lafayette (Medina) Ohio
  Gender	Female
  Died	AFT. 1920	Arkwright, Spokane (Spokane) Washington
  Person ID	I29231	Brainard (Brainerd) / Foster / Fish
  Last Modified	22 Nov 2005 00:00:00
  Father	Pemberton RANDALL, , Reverend, b. 6 Oct 1807, Lebanon Township (Windham) Connecticut
  Mother	Sarah C. (b) FOSTER, b. 28 Jul 1819, Bakersfield (Franklin) Vermont
  Family ID	F11998	Group Sheet
  Family	George L. NYE, b. 1860, Guilford Township (Medina) Ohio
  Married	8 Sep 1896	Medina (Medina) Ohio
  Notes	Note: Marriage License application announcement. "Medina County Gazette" on Thursday, June 11, 1896 (Randall Archives)
  Family ID	F12023	Group Sheet

• Notes

  Source of Randall details: Wiliam R. Randall Web Page: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~randall Name: Randall, Lydia Dwelling: 38 Family: 38 Relationship to Head of Household: Daughter Age: 8 years Marital Status: Single Race: White Birthplace: Ohio "1870 Federal Census" Lafayette Township - County of Medina - State of Ohio (Series: M593 - Roll: 1241 - Page: 318B - Line: 32) (USGenWeb Census Project) Name: Randall, Lydia Relation to the Head of the Household: Daughter Race: White Sex: Female Age: 18 years Marital Status: Single Birthplace: Ohio Birthplace of Father: Connecticut Birthplace of Mother: Vermont "1880 Federal Census" Lafayette Township - County of Medina - State of Ohio (Series: T9 - Rolf: 1047 - Page: 316B) (US GenWeb Census Project) Name. Nye, Lydia E. Race: White Sex: Male Age 57 years Marital Status: Married Relationship to Head of the Household: Wife Read English: Yes Write English: Yes Birthplace: Ohio Birthplace of Father: Connecticut Birthplace of Mother: Vermont "1920 Federal Census" City of Spokane, 1st Ward, Arkwright - County of Spokane - State of Washington (Series: T625 - Roll: 1940 - Page: 234) (HeritageQuest) * * * * * * * * Spokane, Washington, November, 1940 My Dear Alice: I have been devoting some of my spare time of late to the job of looking over old letters and an old scrap book. In the book, from time to time through the years, I have pasted newspaper clippings; some of them brief and some lengthy, all interesting 'to me because they bring back memories of a time long gone, of people I knew and loved and the contribution they made to life, each in his own way and within his particular sphere of influence. You may be disappointed because I have not found much that could be called "authentic" concerning the history of the Randall family; my father was not as much interested in ancestors as his brother, D. A. Randall. If he had been I might have a more satisfactory report to submit today. The old family bible, which contained a record, even the only really good picture of my father, (a daguerreotype) was appropriated by one of the older children in our family and seems to have been lost, somewhere. My father would insist that it didn't matter so much who and what our ancestors were; that its what we are that counts. And maybe he was right, though his mother, Joanna must have been rather proud of her side of the house since she named her eldest son (my father), "Pemberton". The Pemberton who was Lord Mayor of London in the seventeenth century A. D. was a,forebear of her father, Patrick Grant Pemberton. She, Joanna, married James Randall, my father's father, and my grandfather. He was a Scotchman, and my father was more like him, while his brother, D. A., resembled the English side of the house. My father was out-spoken, brusque, caring little for the niceties of life, a great student of books, he found it easy to be "brains and speech for the whole countryside" as some one once put it. My uncle was entirely different both in looks and in personality. He was gentle, courteous, a lover of beauty; as an author, lecturer and world traveler he was well known and well loved. He was a successful business man, too, in Columbus where he made his home all his life. His books, stationery and all kinds of interior decorations such as pictures, wall paper and the like, was one of the attractive business houses, as I remember it. It was always a red letter day when he came to visit us at our farm home near Medina. He liked children and always brought us story-books and whatever else he could think of or thought we would like. Once he gave my mother five hundred dollars, "to use as she liked", he said. He realized, I suppose, that she could find a use for it. Looking through a box of old keepsakes a week or so ago, I came across a faded flower of a variety that I know must have been beautiful and rare, pasted on a card, once white, but now yellow with age. At the bottom of the card was written, "For Sarah, (my mother) a flower from Jerusalem". When my father found himself with a family of growing boys he decided to abandon village life and move to a place that seemed to him, at least, more suitable for youngsters, and so, for years and years that farm was the place where "Elder Randall's" family lived and moved and had its being. My father was away a great deal, so to my mother fell the burden to overseer and general manager. A more courageous woman never lived I am sure, and she needed not only that heaven-sent endowment but all that was cultivated as well. My uncle's wife used to spend a month or so with us on the farm each summer. She was a most remarkable woman. Her parents were New Englanders and came to Ohio in 1800. Their name was Oviatt. He was one of the original founders and generous patrons of "Western Reserve" College. The daughter, Harriet, must have received the best educational advantages of her time as her brilliant accomplishments were often spoken of. She took great interest in all questions of the day, possessed great mental vigor; often contributing articles for the press. She had among her friends many eminent men of the day; John Brown, the political martyr, was one of them. One of his last letters, written, the night before his execution, was to her, in answer to one she had written to him expressing sympathy for him in his hour of trial. She was interested in all sorts of philanthropic work. The poor and friendless found her a sympathetic friend and helper. She helped to found mission schools and homes for the friendless. This about Aunt H. may not be of any particular interest to you. It only goes to show that my uncle's wife must have contributed quite a bit in the way of brains to her son, E. O. Randall, who was supreme court reporter for years, also nationally known historian, writer, delightful orator and a generally well beloved human being. My father and "E. 0.", as we always spoke of him, used to have many long conversations concerning men and things lasting long into the night. He was fond of "Uncle Pern" though he was too busy to come often to see my father. He had a son and a daughter. The son, a lawyer, died last year. I wanted to send you the newspaper write up but I have lost it. Put it away too carefully, I guess. I may find it, if I do I will send it onto you, so that you can add it to whatever you have by way of a Randall Chronology. I seem to have gathered more concerning my cousin Emilius and his activities than about other members of our clan, maybe because he lived during that period of my life when I took more interest or pride in everything than I have during later periods. He filled so many places in public life that he was almost an institution in himself. I have just re-read a scrap book story that tells of "a rare opportunity" which came to the art lovers in Marquette, one evening many years ago, when E. 0. was visiting relatives in that city. He talked about Benjamin West, first painter and founder of the Royal Academy of England. From some of the comments I'll quote this: "Mr. Randall possesses an elegant diction and a great command of language, always being able to grasp the word having just the right shade of meaning he wishes to express. He has long been interested in art matter and has visited the principal galleries of this country and of Europe thus acquiring information that fits him to speak with authority and to the advantage of his hearers. He was a graduate of Cornell University, also of the law college of Ohio State, degree of bachelor of philosophy in Cornell and degree of bachelor and master of laws at Ohio State. Later postgraduate in history at Cornell and in Europe. Had two children, a son and a daughter. The daughter still survives. She is Mrs. Robert Pfieffer, she has several children, but as they are not Randalls, we will pass them by." I have always held that the children in my father's family might have made a name for themselves had he manifested the same interest in their education that his brother did. My uncle often pointed out that the children's needs ought to come first, that something beyond the common school education must be planned for them. A letter to my mother from my uncle's wife seems to have kept a place among old reminders of past years. In it she writes ''How are things going with you nowadays, sister? I suppose the days are still full of care. "How is Theodorus getting along in school, is he applying himself? And is your husband still spending all his time and strength for others, trusting the education and care of his children to Providence? No doubt he feels the conversion of souls a more benevolent act and that his sacrifices in behalf of sinners will be rewarded." Oh dear me; I wonder if its good for me to keep such old records. My mother must have been a woman of many sorrows, and yet I always think of her as a bringer of sunshine. She was always ready with a hopeful suggestion when things looked black. When I think of my father, I feel proud of his knowledge, but never the love for him that I feel for my mother. She seems always near me. the same guide and counselor that she was in days of long ago. The older I grow the better I understand her. "Sarah Foster, descendent of Colonel Foster of Revolutionary fame". T. B. used to have the old sword he carried. In his book entitled "The wonderful Tent" Rev. D. A. Randall, D. D. has written: "Pemberton Randall was one of seven children born to James Randall and his wife, Joanna Pemberton. The parents were able to bestow upon their children those inestimable boons good blood and Christian influences. The Randalls originated in bonnie Scotland, in the stirring annals of which country their name is not obscure. The Pemberton's sprang from sturdy English stock possessed of both ability and nobility. Joanna was a direct descendant of Ebenezer Pemberton, D. D., one of the early distinguished pastors of Old South Church, Boston. Both father and mother were native New Englanders." My father was the oldest child in this family who, when he was born, (Oct. fifth, 1807) lived in Lebanon, Connecticut. Later the family moved to Auburn, New York and from there to Ontario County near Canandaigua Lake. The children in this household were well educated, pursuing a classical course the three boys at least, did when they had finished with the common school. Two brothers, my father and D. A., adopted the profession of "Minister of the Gospel", spent much of their time, for a while at least, in "Scripture reading, prayer and meditation" and in due time became cultivated ministers of the Baptist Church. I noticed in reading over one of the notices, this: "he, Pemberton, was regarded as one of the strongest intellectual and scriptural preachers of the denomination to which he belonged. Young ministers have always considered it a great privilege to listen to his discourses, his sermons being clear, logical and strong arguments in favor of the religion of Christ. At eighty, when he died, his mind "was clear to the very last." The other brother, Delano, was a gentle, refined and rather unassuming sort. He had several children, one of them, a doctor, lived on a farm in Granger, Ohio. I have lost all trace of the family since Uncle D. arid Aunt Louisa passed on. I know that some cousin had a summer home at Black River where we used to go some times but much that has happened in our family is long since forgotten (by me, anyway). My daughter has a history that she thinks she couldn't get along without; it is the Genealogy of the Nye family In Denmark and England and in America. I wish we could have such a history of The Randall Family. That would be worth something. This book has about seven hundred pages and the first record of the Nye family began in the 13th Century, A.D. Benjamin Nye was the first Nye to come to America. There is a picture of the house in which he lived in Lynn, Massachusetts and there is record of all the generations that followed, even up to the present. It is interesting. I have always felt interested in family histories. It helps us to understand the causes that lie back of what may seem to us to be strange performances on the part of friends or relations (distinguished ones, too). Then, too, I think it helps us to know that our forebears were folks who stood for the better things, some of them, at least making valuable contributions to the society in which they lived. I often think of that hope that George Elliott expressed when she wrote: "0 may I join the choir invisible, of those immortal dead, who live again in lives made better by their presence". Often, thinking- of those who have, gone on, I find myself wondering what their answer would have been to certain troublesome problems, and sometimes I listen, and am helped. I have two pictures of my Uncle Austin. One I have in a frame on the wall, the other one I thought you might like to look at, just to see how one Randall of an older generation looked. I have some old letters, yellow and worn, written over a hundred years ago. One is from my grandfather, James Randall, to my father. It has occurred to me that your sons might be interested in reading them sometime. They might be bored, though, it would depend on how they regard such things. I cannot help thinking that of all my brother Theodore's children, his oldest son, Ralph, seemed the most promising. I've just been looking again at his picture, and re-reading that obituary notice and brief biography that I clipped from the Medina Gazette years ago. Looking back across the years and thinking over the story of his life, as I knew it, I feel sure that had he lived, he would have made a success of life and to his children, he would have left not only a loving memory but the kind of a heritage that money cannot buy from the world, or power wrest from the "Fates". He seemed to have inherited from his Puritan ancestors more of the New England conscience than some of the rest of us received, steadfastness of purpose, the ability to think straight. The high regard that all who knew him came to feel for him gave evidence that he was free from the hypocrisy and the meaner vices of life that cast their shadow over so many of us. "If Only." How often we find ourselves repeating those fateful words. If only Ralph Randall had inherited robust health there would have been a different tale to tell concerning his life and work. The children of the future are going to have a better chance. "Ralph A. Hale, 1875-1905" unpublished biography compiled by Alice Mae Randall (Randall Archives)