Anne Pleasants

Biography

Anne Randolph, daughter of Isham Randolph and Jane Lilburne Rogers, born about 1735,
was married three times:

1. She married DANIEL SCOTT 28 November 1751 in Goochland County, VA. (NO ISSUE)
2. She married JONATHAN PLEASANTS 14 June 1759. Issue: 1) Samuel Samuel Pleasants 2) Jane Jane S. Pleasants
3. She married a third time: JAMES PLEASANTS Abt. 1760 in Henrico County, VA, son of JOHN PLEASANTS and SUSANNA WOODSON. He was born Abt. 1732 in Henrico County, Virginia. Issue: James, Gov of Virginia James Pleasants, Jr., 22nd Governor of Virginia (DemRep) .

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Note:
The celebrated Douglas Register is an indispensable compilation of births, marriages, and deaths covering the period from about 1750 to 1797, with some miscellaneous records going back to 1705.
The registers are for the parishes of St. James Northam (Dover Church) and King William, but they concern individuals who were residents of the Virginia counties of Fluvanna, Goochland, Louisa, Orange, and Spotsylvania.

Parents & Siblings
Marriage: 25 Jul 1717 St.Paul's Church, Shadwell Parish, London, Middlesex, England [7] [8]
Father: Isham Randolph
Mother: Jane Rogers
Child: Ann Randolph

Research Notes

The lack of more authoritative sources regarding Ann Randolph's children is concerning, especially in view of the fact that there are Randolph family genealogies that make contrary claims.

According to one, Anne Randolph had three husbands and, while the first was Daniel Scott, with him she "had no children". [9] (The same is asserted in a book [10] on the PAGE family.)

Another expressly states that Daniel Scott died without issue ("d. s. p."). [11]

Others report the marriage to Daniel Scott and list no children born to that union. [12] [13]

Citing the PAGE book, Wikipedia makes Ann the mother of Governor James Pleasants, implying that she was living in 1769. As does Stanard ...

Stanard, William G. "The Randolph Family", in William and Mary Quarterly v8 #2 (Oct 1899) page 122.

However, more authoritative sources are ominously silent on Gov. Pleasants' parentage

Biographical Dictionary of Congress, page 386.
Guide to the Pleasants Family papers 1745-1898 at virginia.edu
Tyler, L. G. Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography, v2 page 349. (Fails to mention a Jefferson connection, in spite of Tyler's interest in genealogy.)

PAGE and others probably got the marriages from Slaughter and/or Stanard.
But the Robert Isham Randolph book names the parents of the two Pleasants husbands, and therefore would seem to be based on additional evidence.
It also names the children of the two husbands (which tells us nothing about who their mother was, but is relevant here if this Ann was in fact their mother):

38 m. 2nd. Jonathan Pleasants, son of John Pleasants and Dorothea Cary
381 Samuel Pleasants
382 Jane Pleasants, m. 1783, Isae [sic] Webster Pleasants (had issue)
38 m. 3rd. James Pleasants, son of John Pleasants and Susannah Woodson
383 Gov. James Pleasants, b. 1769, d. 11/9/1836, m. Susannah Rose, da. Robert Rose (had issue)
384 Tarleton Woodson Pleasants [had issue according to other sources]
385 Anna S. Pleasants, m. Isaac Webster (had issue)
386 Pauline Pleasants
387 Susanna Randolph Pleasants
388 Martha Pleasants, b. 12/2/1779, d. 7/10/49, m. (1st cousin) Randolph Railey (had issue)

This information appears not to fit well with other sources. Note the 2nd husband, if the son of those parents, would have been a much older man. But other sources don't mention a Jonathan. Some people equate him with their son John; but John is said to have married 3 other women, not Ann Randolph. Susannah Woodson's son James is also credited with a different wife.

The Wassell Randolph book has a list of sources for Ann Randolph. These are all secondary and tertiary sources. The Douglas Register, the mother's Will and the marriage bonds are the only primary sources cited.

- 45 Va. page 82 [VMHB; J. R. Anderson, Tuckahoe citing Douglas Register]
- 4 Val. p2298 n, 2303 [Valentine]
- Eckenrode p41 [The Randolphs by H. J. Eckenrode (1946) (not seen)]
- Weddell p130 [probably Virginia Historical Portraiture by Alexander Weddell (1930) (not seen)]
- Robt. I. Randolph p180-181
- 14 Va. p227 n. [Mother's will]
- 33 Va.p37, [Daniel Scott, marriage bond], p38 [John Pleasants, marriage bond].
- 8 W. & M. p122 [Stanard]
- Slaughter p217
- 4 Va. p89 n. [Cocke Family. Garbled citing Brock, 1:139].
The Cocke article makes Gov. Pleasants' mother the widow of Isham Randolph, which seems impossible. Nobody mentions any children of the Scott marriage, with or without sources.

[citation needed] for Anne's picture.

References

1. https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Randolph-207 Cites
   1. "Virginia Marriages 1785-1940", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:HV39-JP2M : 29 Jan 2020), Ann Randolph in entry for Daniel Scott, m: 1751.
   2. "Virginia Council Journals" in Virginia Magazine of History and Biography v33 @1 (Jan 1925) page 37, editorial footnote.
   3. "Virginia Marriages 1785-1940", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V29M-T54 : 29 Jan 2020), Ann Randolph in entry for John Pleasants 1759. (No film number or citation is given, but evidently this is taken from the Douglas Register, which seems to have Scottish tendencies (eg. "in" rather than "of"). This might explain why the bride is called Ann Randolph, not Ann Scott, as she is in the bond.
   4. Douglas Register, page 39.
   5. "Virginia Council Journals", in Virginia Magazine of History and Biography v33 #1 (Jan 1925) page 38, editorial footnote.
   6. "Journal of the Council", in Virginia Magazine of History and Biography v14 #3 (Jan 1907) page 227, editorial footnote.
   7. Ancestry.com Public Member Tree for Jane Lilburne Susan Rogers
   8. Yates Publishing; U.S. and International Marriage Records 1560-1900 on ancestry.com; Pedigree chart; 7 pages; for Isham Randolph; Text: 1718 England.
   9. Randolph, Wassell. William Randolph I of Turkey Island, Henrico County, Virginia, and His Immediate Descendants. Memphis, Seebode Mimeo Service; distributed by Cossitt Library 1949. page 58.
   10. PAGE, Richard Channing Moore. Genealogy of the PAGE Family in Virginia, New York: Publishers' Print. Co., 1893. 2d ed. page 264. (note: this book gives invented dates for the births of Isham Randolph's children which are quite wayward and not at all helpful.)
   11. Randolph, Robert Isham. The Randolphs of Virginia, a Compilation of the Descendants of William Randolph of Turkey Island, and His Wife Mary Isham of Bermuda Hundred. Details of publication not provided in source. page 180.
   12. Randolph, John. Randolph Family of Virginia. Details of publication not provided in source. page 2.
   13. Railey, William Edward. Brief Sketches of the Randolphs and Their Connections, the Woodsons, the Keiths, the Strothers, the Pleasants and the Mayos; also a Brief Sketch of the Owsleys and the Whitleys; Frankfort, KY: Roberts Printing Co. [1929?] page 15.
   14. Slaughter, Rev. Philip (1879). History of Bristol Parish p217 Text: RANDOLPH, Anne, m1st: Dan'l. SCOTT by whom she had no issue; m2nd: Jonathan PLEASANTS of Fine Creek" (issue: Saml., Jane; m3rd: James PLEASANTS of Goochland (issue: James, clerk of Ho. of Del., Gov. of VA (note: daughter Susan appears to be confused - a similar Susan follows in the next paragraph as Anne's sister)

• https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/13197/images/dvm_G...
• Reference: MyHeritage Family Trees - SmartCopy: May 6 2017, 5:13:02 UTC
• Railey, W.E (1920-29). Woodson County p267.
• Edward Pleasants Valentine Papers v4 p2294, VI.
• Yates Publishing; U.S. and International Marriage Records 1560-1900 on ancestry.com
• Reference: Ancestry Genealogy - SmartCopy: Sep 11 2022, 21:20:13 UTC