J. J. R. Randall

Jean Jacques Rousseau Randall, usually known as J. J. R. Randall, was an architect, civil engineer and politician from Rutland, Vermont. He was one of the first professional architects to practice in the state, after Ammi B. Young (1830-1838) and his brother, Gurdon P. Randall (1845-1850).

Jean Jacques Rousseau Randall
Born1828
Braintree, Vermont
DiedSeptember 4, 1891
West Windsor, Vermont
NationalityAmerican
OccupationArchitect
Old Mill, University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont, 1881.

Life and career

J. J. R. Randall was born in Braintree, Vermont in 1828 to Gurdon and Laura Scott Randall, natives of Litchfield, Connecticut.[1] His siblings included Francis V. Randall, Union Army officer of the American Civil War.[2]

Randall initially worked with his brother, Gurdon P. Randall, in his office in Rutland. When his brother relocated to Syracuse, New York in 1850,[3] he succeeded to the practice.[4] He would continue in this business for much of his life. In 1864 his practice suffered a major setback when the building in which he kept his office was destroyed in a fire.[5]

In 1869 Randall became associated with Kellogg, Clarke & Company, iron bridge manufacturers of Phoenixville, Pennsylvania. He and another new partner, James E. Bagley, established a branch for that firm at Springfield, Massachusetts.[6] The following year he severed his connection with that firm and returned to Rutland.[7] In 1877 the Imperial government of Russia approached him with an offer of employment to design a system of railroad bridges in the empire, though it is not clear if he accepted.[8]

He was a member of Rutland's board of school trustees for many years. Randall was active in Democratic politics, and in 1876 he was a candidate for the United States Congress. When Grover Cleveland was elected president in 1885, he appointed Randall national bank examiner for Vermont. He held this position until suffering paralysis in 1887. He died in West Randolph, Vermont on September 4, 1891.[1]

Personal life

Randall married Elizabeth C. Bailey of Rutland in 1859, who died in 1865. In 1874 he married Harriet Elizabeth Forbush of Montpelier, who survived him.[1]

Legacy

Randall was responsible for the design of at least one building that is listed on the United States National Register of Historic Places, and others which contribute to listed historic districts.[9]

Architectural works
YearBuildingAddressCityStateNotesImageReference
1854Landon Block51 Merchants RowRutlandVermontA contributing property to the Rutland Downtown Historic District, listed on the NRHP in 1980.[10][11]
1856"Clementwood" for Charles ClementClement RdRutlandVermontAttributed. Listed on the NRHP in 1980.[12][12]
1857United States Post Office and Courthouse10 Court StRutlandVermontRandall was superintending architect for Supervising Architect for the U. S. Treasury, Ammi B. Young. Presently the Rutland Free Library.[13]
1861Rutland Savings Bank Building71-75 Merchants RowRutlandVermont[14]
1867Academy BuildingMiddlebury CollegeMiddleburyVermontNow known as Alexander Twilight Hall.[15]
1867Building110 Merchants RowRutlandVermontAttributed. A contributing property to the Rutland Downtown Historic District, listed on the NRHP in 1980.[10][14]
1868Christ Episcopal Church64 State StMontpelierVermontA contributing property to the Montpelier Historic District, listed on the NRHP in 1978.[16]
1869Rutland County Courthouse83 Center StRutlandVermontA contributing property to the Rutland Courthouse Historic District, listed on the NRHP in 1976.[17]
1870Vermont Mutual Fire Insurance Company Building110 State StMontpelierVermontA contributing property to the Montpelier Historic District, listed on the NRHP in 1978. Has been a state office building since 1953.[16]
1871First Baptist Church of Rutland81 Center StRutlandVermontA contributing property to the Rutland Courthouse Historic District, listed on the NRHP in 1976.[11]
1874Rutland Town Hall52 Washington StRutlandVermontBurned.[18]
1878Howe Scale Works1 Scale AveRutlandVermontNow known as the Howe Center.[17]
1881College Building (Old Mill)University of VermontBurlingtonVermontA complete rebuilding of the University's 1825 main building. A contributing property to the University Green Historic District, listed on the NRHP in 1975.[19][20]
1881Ripley Opera House67 Merchants RowRutlandVermontA contributing property to the Rutland Downtown Historic District, listed on the NRHP in 1980.[10][21]
1882Crescent Valley House141 SchoolPawletVermontDemolished.[22]
1884Richardson Block36 Center StRutlandVermontA contributing property to the Rutland Downtown Historic District, listed on the NRHP in 1980.[10][23]

References
  1. "Obituary," Vermont Journal (Windsor, VT), September 5, 1891, 5.
  2. Child, Hamilton (1888). Gazetteer of Orange County, Vt., 1762-1888. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse Journal Company. p. 84 – via Google Books.
  3. "Gurdon P. Randall," Biographical Sketches of the Leading Men of Chicago (Chicago: Wilson & St. Clair, 1868): 326-330.
  4. "Randall," Vermont Watchman (Montpelier, VT), September 2, 1891, 1.
  5. "Fires," Vermont Chronicle (Bellows Falls, VT), December 17, 1864, 8.
  6. Vermont Watchman (Montpelier, VT), June 9, 1869, 3.
  7. "Notice," Railway Times 23, no. 4 (January 28, 1871): 32.
  8. Vermont Watchman (Montpelier, VT), February 14, 1877, 3.
  9. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  10. Rutland Downtown Historic District NRHP Nomination (1980)
  11. Dawn D. Hance, The History of Rutland, Vermont, 1761-1861, (Rutland, VT: Rutland Historical Society, 1991)
  12. Clementwood NRHP Nomination (1980)
  13. History of Rutland County, Vermont, ed. H. Y. Smith and W. W. Rann (Syracuse, NY: D. Mason & Company, 1886)
  14. The Historic Architecture of Rutland County, ed. Curtis B. Johnson (Montpelier, VT: Vermont Division for Historic Preservation, 1988)
  15. The Historic Architecture of Addison County, ed. Curtis B. Johnson (Montpelier, VT: Vermont Division for Historic Preservation, 1992)
  16. Montpelier Historic District (Additional Documentation) NRHP Nomination (2018)
  17. Glenn M. Andres and Curtis B. Johnson, Buildings of Vermont (Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia Press, 2013)
  18. Annual Report of the Board of Officers for the Town of Rutland, February 20, 1875 (Rutland: Globe Paper Company, 1875)
  19. University Green Historic District NRHP Nomination (1975)
  20. Bryant F. Tolles Jr., Architecture & Academe: College Buildings in New England Before 1860 (University Press of New England, 2011)
  21. Carpentry and Building, August 1881, 154.
  22. "Pawlet," Manchester (VT) Journal, October 19, 1882, 3.
  23. Paul J. Crossman Jr., "A History of the Richardson Building," Rutland Historical Society Quarterly 37, no. 1 (2007)
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