Meriwether Lewis Randolph (1810-1837) was the tenth child of Martha Jefferson Randolph and Thomas Mann Randolph. He was born at Monticello and named for his grandfather's secretary, the explorer Meriwether Lewis.

Randolph studied law and moral and natural philosophy at the University of Virginia, 1829-1831, but chose to pursue a career on the western frontier. He worked briefly as a clerk for the Department of State before being appointed Secretary of the Arkansas Territory by President Andrew Jackson in February 1835, a position Randolph held through the transition to statehood. On April 9, 1835, he married Elizabeth Martin, daughter of James Glasgow Martin of Nashville, and grandniece to President Jackson. They had one son, Lewis Jackson Randolph (1836-1840).

After his commission expired, Randolph began purchasing large tracts of land, eventually acquiring over ten thousand acres. He died of malaria in Clark County, Arkansas, on September 24, 1837, and was buried on his newly established plantation, Terre Noir.

- Heidi Hackford, 2004

Further Sources

• Carter, Clarence Edwin, ed. The Territorial Papers of the United States. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1934-1975. See 21:1024-25, 21:1030-31, 21:1038-46, 21:1255-56.
• Encyclopedia of Arkansas. S.v. "Randolph, Meriwether Lewis." Accessed 2/13/20.
• Journal of the Executive Proceedings of the Senate of the United States of America. Washington, DC: Printed by D. Green, 1828-. See 4:463-64 (February 2, 1835), 4:470-71 (February 23, 1835).
• Arkansas Gazette, October 3, 1837.
• Richmond Whig and Public Advertiser, October 24, 1837.
• Shackelford. Descendants. See 1:32, 1:122-27, 2:171-72.
• Thomas Jefferson Foundation. Jefferson Quotes and Family Letters.
• Thomas Jefferson Foundation. The Monticello Classroom. "Meriwether Lewis Randolph, Jefferson's grandson."