Issac Randall of St Albans, Vermont, lower Canada and Newark, New Jersey.

Isaac Randall was born in Easton, Massachusetts, on April 1, 1795. In February of 1816, he married Jerusha Blodgett. She is listed on the various websites as born in Greenwich, MA, and St. Albans, VT. If she was born in St. Albans, then we know one of the reasons why Issac moved there. Issac is recorded in St. Albans, Vermont, by 1817. Paul Foley, in his book, “Willard’s Patent Time Pieces,” lists that Isaac’s first son was born in this year. Today, most of what we know of Isaac Randall and his clockmaking career is taken from advertisements he placed in local Vermont newspapers. In December of 1827, he purchased the business of Curtis Wilkinson. In 1829, Isaac Randall & Co. was across from the courthouse at 5 Exchange Row in St. Albans, VT. Here, he advertised as a clock and watchmaker, jeweler, and silversmith. There is also a mention that this firm kept in inventory eight-day brass clocks and timepieces of their manufacture, as well as numerous household goods such as spoons, jewelry, spectacles, flutes, hair combs, etc. On October 30, 1834, Isaac Randall began to advertise alone. He is then referred to as working in Lower Canada and later in Newark, NJ. His name appears on the 1850 census of Newark, where he is listed as a watchmaker. Isaac died in Newark on June 4, 1863. Several timepieces or banjo clocks, as well as the New Hampshire mirror clock form, have been found signed by this maker. A watchpaper advertising Randall & Co. St Albans, VT is in the collection of the American Antiquarian Society in Worcester, MA.

Isaac must have been attracted to North Western VT due to the positive and vibrant economic climate. In fact, from 1770 through about 1825, Vermont enjoyed an unprecedented population growth. The town of St. Albans, a farming community, is located in Franklin County. Franklin County is bordered to the West by Lake Champlain and to the North by Lower Canada. Due to its proximity to the lake, brisk commerce developed with New York and Canada. This area of Vermont was rich in vast stands of timber and potash. As a result, roads were built from the South, and in 1808, a stage route was established between Boston, Massachusetts, and Burlington, Vermont. This journey took just three and one-half days to complete, and I traveled as often as twice a week. Between 1791 and 1810, the population of Franklin County grew fifteen hundred percent.