Biographical Info

Randal first appears in the historical record in the 1832 will of Zachariah Lamar, then again in an 1841 list of enslaved workers who were hired out. The majority of what is known about him comes from the period after 1850, when he fled from the Swift Creek plantation to John B. Lamar’s home in Macon to protest his treatment at the hands of the plantation’s overseer. Lamar responded to Randal’s complaints by agreeing to hire him to brothers John T. and James L. Grant, who were engaged in railroad construction across much of the deep South. They were also related to Lamar by marriage. For at least the next thirteen years, Randal labored for the Grants with Lamar receiving between $125 and $200 per year for his work. According to the Grants’ reports, Randal found this arrangement satisfactory until 1863. At that point, he came into conflict with the railroad supervisors and again resisted abusive treatment, appealing to the Grants for relief. James Grant succeeded in getting Randal away from the construction site. Grant reported that he had put Randal “to work on the West Point RR near its junction with the Macon RR so as to have him out of sight.” Despite his long absence, Randal always attempted to remain connected to his family and requested information about them through letters between the Grants and Lamar. The Grants attempted to return him to their construction operations in Mississippi but intrusions by federal troops frustrated those efforts.The Grants then returned Randal to the Swift Creek Plantation. He is later listed as living there in 1863 with his wife Rachel.

Sketch written by Delainey Foster, Magnus Erhardt, Kesha Patel, Joshua Ruder