Surname Saturday ~ RANDALL of Boston, Another Brickwall Ancestor

I have two RANDALL lines, that seem to be completely unrelated. In 2015 I wrote a Surname Saturday post on Richard Randall (1633 – 1713) of Saco, Maine.  This second lineage starts with a possible 7^th great grandfather,  Stephen Randall, a mariner who died in Boston before 18 May 1742.  He is a mystery and a brickwall since I do not know his origins or his parents’ names.  Nor do I know his birth date.

The first and earliest record I found for Stephen Randall was that he served as a private in the Colonial Wars from 22 November 1724 to 22 May 1725, 26 months, in Colonel Thomas Westbrook’s Company.  Next to his name it reads “Of Boston”.  The next record I found for Stephen Randall was a probate record granting his widow, Sarah, guardianship of his son “Andros a. about 4 in right of his father Stephen Randall of Boston late deceased, mariner, May 18, 1742”.   Sadly, just a few years later a man named John Hill was made guardian for “Andrus Randall, a. abt. 11, son of Stephen, mariner & Sarah, both deceased, Mar. 1749/50”.  I have not been able to find a death record for Stephen or Sarah, the parents.

In the Thwing Collection, Inhabitants and Estates of the Town of Boston, 1630 – 1822 there is a listing for Stephen Randall, who married Sarah Cannon on 16 January 1729.  Their children are listed as:

1. Abigail, born 20 March 1730

2. Elizabeth, born 7 January 1732/3

3. Mary, born 10 January 1734/5

4. Stephen, born 5 December 1736

5. Andros, born 20 February 1739

[Note that this record does NOT name a daughter named Sarah Randall.  In the Boston Births 1700 – 1809 there is a “Sarah Randall, daughter of Stephen and Sarah Randall, born 16 October 1729", so we know that there is a Sarah in this family group.  Another good clue is that a man named William Randall married Elizabeth Hill in Boston on 10 December 1691 [Torrey’s Marriages, Volume II, page 1247].  Could this be a relative to the mysterious John Hill who was named guardian to Andros Randall?]

In the Boston Marriages 1700 – 1809 there is a record:  “Benjamin Gardner to Sarah Kendall, Dec. 1, 1751 West Church”   Benjamin Gardner and his first wife Sarah Randall are my 6^th great grandparents.  He was a Boston ropemaker who removed to Salem around the time of the Revolutionary War.  The Boston Marriages  record is a transcription of church records, famous for mistakes.  Could Sarah Kendall be a Sarah Randall?   Sarah (Randall/Kendall) Gardner died in 1781 in Salem, Massachusetts, the mother to three children:  Mary (my 5^th great grandmother), Benjamin b. 1753, and Sarah b. 1755. 

Does anyone know the story behind this RANDALL / KENDALL / GARDNER mystery?  Please leave a comment below or email vrojomit@gmail.com

Thank you!

My previous blog post on Richard Randall of Saco, Maine:

https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/03/surname-saturday-randall-of-saco-maine.html

My RANDALL? genealogy:

Generation 1:  Sarah (possible surname RANDALL or KENDALL) possibly born 16 October 1729 in Boston, daughter of Stephen Randall and Sarah Cannon, died in 1781 in Salem, Massachusetts; married on 10 October 1751 at the West Church in Boston to Benjamin Gardner.  He was born about 1720 in Boston and died 7 June 1797 in Salem.  Three children.

Generation 2:  Mary Gardner; married 24 June 1775 in Lynn, Massachusetts to Abijah Hitchings.  He was born 18 January 1753 in Lynn and died 27 March 1826 in Salem.  Four children.

Generation 3:  Abijah Hitchings m. Mary Cloutman

Generation 4:  Abijah Hitchings m. Eliza Ann Treadwell

Generation 5: Abijah Franklin Hitchings m. Hannah Eliza Lewis

Generation 6: Arthur Treadwell Hitchings m. Florence Etta Hoogerzeil

Generation 7: Gertrude Matilda Hitchings m. Stanley Elmer Allen (my grandparents)

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Surname Saturday ~ RANDALL of Boston, Another Brickwall Ancestor", Nutfield Genealogy, posted March 18, 2017, (http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/03/surname-saturday-randall-of-boston.html: accessed [access date]).