Tuscola-Wayne County MI Archives Biographies.....Randall, Orson B. 1844 - 
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Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com February 20, 2007, 6:18 pm

Author: Chapman Bros. (1892)

ORSON B. RANDALL. This well-known citizen of Vassar was born in Kittanning,
Armstrong County, Pa., September 13, 1844 and is the son of Henry H. and
Elizabeth (Blair) Randall, both New Yorkers by birth. When the son was five
years of age the family removed to Michigan and settled on a farm in the
township of Romulus, Wayne County, whence they removed to Nankin, in the same
county. Although the father was a manufacturer the son spent most of his early
days on the farm, and his opportunities for education were quite limited, and at
the age of eighteen he began working out for wages in order to obtain the
necessary means to go to school at Ypsilanti. He had not been at school more
than a month when he returned home to attend a wedding, which although not his
own was a fateful one to him, as he then and there decided to enlist under the
old flag, and he became a member of Company M, First Michigan Engineers and
Mechanics, for he had picked up the trade of a carpenter in his father's shop.

  His date of enlistment was November 3, 1863, but he was dated back by his
captain to October 23, which caused him to lose a bounty which was afterward
given to those who enlisted after a certain date. He refused a bounty of $500
which was offered if he would be credited to a ward in Detroit and patriotically
gave the credit to his own township of Nankin. He soon joined the forces in the
field at Poplar Springs, Tenn., and was engaged in pontoon bridge building,
storehouse building, etc., and has held the bull's eye lantern many a time for
night surveying.

  Gen. William P. Innis, of Grand Rapids, was the Colonel of this regiment and
it was one of the largest in the service, being emphatically an engineer's
regiment. Although this young man was under fire many a time he was never
wounded, but was injured in a railroad collision on the Chattanooga & Nashville
Railroad. At this time he could have escaped had he not stopped to help others,
and undoubtedly saved the life of his brother by preventing him from jumping
from the train. His honorable discharge was granted him September 22, 1865, at
Nashville.

  The marriage of Orson B. Randall and Celia M. Felton was solemnized February
7, 1866, in Nankin. This lady was born in Bronson, Ohio, and is a daughter of
Lyman and Harriet Felton. In 1870 he removed from Wayne County, where he had
followed farming and brick making, and made his home in Watertown, this county,
where his wife died in March, 1873, leaving one child—Willis E., who is now
married and lives at Marlette upon a farm.

  Our subject had become thoroughly convinced of the necessity to him of an
education, and after his return from the army he had devoted himself to study,
and availed himself of every opportunity for improvement. In 1873 he began
teaching a district school, and for several years engaged in this work in the
winter and farmed in the summer. His second marriage united him with Miss Sarah
McAlpine, who was born about ten miles from Sarnia, Canada, and is of Scotch
ancestry. Her father is a farmer of Watertown, this county. This second marriage
occurred September 14, 1875, and soon after Mr. Randall sold his farm and
entered upon the mercantile business in Mayville, but in 1880 went on the road
selling tobaccos, and is now traveling with a boot and shoe line. He was with H.
P. Baldwin for some nine years, but is now representing an Eastern firm.

  The children of the second marriage are Edith and Henry Eber (twins), who were
born in Mayville,July 10, 1877; and Ruby E., a little daughter who was born in
Vassar, May 23, 1887. Mr. Randall's political views are in accord with the
doctrines of the Republican party, which is but natural since he was born and
bred in the hot bed of Abolitionism. He has held the office of Township
Superintendent of Schools in Watertown Township, being the first one who ever
held that office there, and receiving every vote but three. He was appointed to
the same position in Fremont Township, Tuscola County, and has served on the
School Board in Vassar some five years. He became a Mason in 1888 and has been
Senior Warden.

  When Sherman started on his march to the sea two companies of our subject's
regiment were assigned to Gen. Thomas' command and were in the siege at
Murfreesboro when they lived on mush for a month and frequently had but three
spoonsful a day. After the downfall of Hood's army they were ordered to
Savannah, which they reached by a long and tedious journey and were present at
the surrender of Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, after which they marched at a rate of
thirty miles a day and appeared among Sherman's dust covered veterans at the
Grand Review.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from:

Portrait and Biographical Record of Genesee, Lapeer and Tuscola Counties,
Michigan, Containing Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative
Citizens, Together with Biographies of all the Governors of the State, and of
the Presidents of the United States

Chicago:
Chapman Bros.
1892


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