 |
Peyton Randolph
b. c. 1721, Williamsburg, Virginia
d. 22 Oct 1775, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Title: |
President of Congress |
| Term: |
5 Sep 1774 - 22 Oct 1774 |
| Chronology: |
5 Sep 1774,
elected to the office of the President of Congress, session of Congress, Carpenter's Hall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania [1] |
|
22 Oct 1774, ceased to exercise the functions of office [2] |
| Term: |
10 May 1775 - 24 May 1775 |
| Chronology: |
10 May 1775,
elected to the office of the President of Congress, session of Congress, State House, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania [3] |
|
24 May 1775, ceased to exercise the functions of office [4] |
| Biography: |
| Studied law in London; was appointed King's attorney for Virginia (1748); elected a member of the House of Burgesses of the Colony and Dominion of Virginia (1764-1774, 1775) and served as its speaker in 1766-1775; chaired the committee of correspondence (1774); when the House of Burgesses was dissolved (26 May 1774) by the Royal Governor, he joined the other burgesses in organizing a session of the First Virginia Convention; served as President of the First (1 Aug 1774 - 6 Aug 1774) and Second Virginia Conventions (20 Mar 1775 - 27 Mar 1775); elected to the First Continental Congress (1774); when the Congress convened on 5 Sep 1774, he was elected its president by unanimous vote; presided over discussion of A Plan of Union of Great Britain and the Colonies and Declaration and Resolves; failed to attend the session "on account of indisposition" and was replaced with Henry Middleton (22 Oct 1774); was re-elected to the Second Continental Congress (1775); elected its president (10 May 1775) by anonymous vote; served for only two weeks and on 24 May 1775 left for his hometown to attend a session of the House of Burgesses which met 1 Jun 1775; elected President of the Third Convention (17 Jul 1775 - 16 Aug 1775); discharged of his functions as President 16 Aug 1775 when it was observed that "he was much indisposed"; died two months later. |
| Biographical sources: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (2005), p. 1783; The Pennsylvania Gazette, October 25, 1775, Numb. 2444, p. [3] (obituary); The Pennsylvania Evening Post, Tuesday, October 24, 1775, Vol. I, Num. 118, p. 485 (obituary). |
| |
| [1] |
Journals of the Continental Congress, 1:14. |
| [2] |
Journals of the Continental Congress, 1:102. |
| [3] |
Journals of the Continental Congress, 2:12. |
| [4] |
Journals of the Continental Congress, 2:58-59. |
| |
Image: portrait by Charles Willson Peale. |
