Background
John Hampden Randolph was born to a wealthy Virginia family in Nottoway County, Virginia on March 24, 1813. The son of Judge Peter Randolph, he lived in Virginia until his father was appointed a federal court judge in Woodville, Mississippi by President Andrew Jackson. The elder Randolph moved the family to Mississippi, and there the family continued to live a life of social and political stature at the Elmwood Plantation.
It was there that John Hampden Randolph met his future wife, Emily Jane Liddell. She lived in a plantation not far from the Randolph home. The couple married on December 14, 1837. Being from a family of wealth also, Emily entered into the marriage with a substantial dowry of $20,000 and 20 slaves.
Four years after their marriage, the couple moved to a cotton plantation in Louisiana known as Forest Home, located about five miles from what would become Nottoway Plantation. They already had two children, would have eight more at Forest Home, and their last child, a daughter, at Nottoway, for a total of 11 children.
Believing that a fortune could be made in sugar production, Randolph changed his crop from cotton to sugarcane. And, three years later, he mortgaged his home and 46 slaves to borrow money for construction of the first steam-operated sugar mill in Iberville Parish. Both strategies proved extremely successful, and within ten years of moving to Louisiana, Randolph was well on his way to becoming the successful sugar magnate he envisioned himself to be.
It was there that John Hampden Randolph met his future wife, Emily Jane Liddell. She lived in a plantation not far from the Randolph home. The couple married on December 14, 1837. Being from a family of wealth also, Emily entered into the marriage with a substantial dowry of $20,000 and 20 slaves.
Four years after their marriage, the couple moved to a cotton plantation in Louisiana known as Forest Home, located about five miles from what would become Nottoway Plantation. They already had two children, would have eight more at Forest Home, and their last child, a daughter, at Nottoway, for a total of 11 children.
Believing that a fortune could be made in sugar production, Randolph changed his crop from cotton to sugarcane. And, three years later, he mortgaged his home and 46 slaves to borrow money for construction of the first steam-operated sugar mill in Iberville Parish. Both strategies proved extremely successful, and within ten years of moving to Louisiana, Randolph was well on his way to becoming the successful sugar magnate he envisioned himself to be.