Randolph, Peyton, 1721-1775

<ul><b>RACES</b>
<li>12/31/1774 VA Continental Congress Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
<li>08/01/1774 VA Continental Congress Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
</ul>

<p>Peyton Randolph (September 10, 1721 – October 22, 1775) was a planter and public official from the Colony of Virginia. He served as Speaker of the Virginia House of Burgesses, president of Virginia Conventions, and the first and third President of the Continental Congress. Randolph was technically the first leader of the United States of America as the first president of the Continental Congress, which led the nation during the American Revolutionary War.</p>

<p>Randolph was born in Tazewell Hall, Williamsburg, Virginia, to a prominent family. His parents were Sir John Randolph, the son of William Randolph, and Susanna Beverley, the daughter of Peter Beverley; his brother was John Randolph. Peyton Randolph was 15 when his father died.</p>

<p>Randolph attended the College of William & Mary, and later studied law at Middle Temple at the Inns of Court in London, becoming a member of the bar in 1743. He lived his adulthood in Williamsburg.</p>

RANDOLPH, Peyton, (Uncle of Edmund Jenings Randolph), a Delegate from Virginia; born at Tazewell Hall, Williamsburg, Va., in September 1721; received his early education under private tutors; was graduated from the College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Va.; studied law at the Inner Temple, London, England, and was appointed King's attorney for Virginia in 1748; member of the Virginia House of Burgesses 1764-1774 and served as speaker in 1766; chairman of the committee of correspondence in 1773; president of the Virginia conventions of 1774 and 1775; Member of the Continental Congress in Philadelphia, Pa., September 5, 1774, and elected its President but resigned October 22, 1774, to attend the Virginia House of Burgesses; reelected to the Continental Congress, which met in Philadelphia in May 1775 and again served as President; died in Philadelphia, Pa., October 22, 1775; interment beneath the chapel of the College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Va.