John Randolph Medical Center stands today on the site of Cawson's overlooking the mouth of Appomattox River in Hopewell, Virginia. There is no longer any trace of the home of Theodorick and Frances (Bolling) Bland, where their daughter Frances spent her childhood.

Frances Bland was a sixteen-year-old beauty in 1769, when she married John Randolph, eleven years her senior. They lived at Matoax, his plantation in Chesterfield County, which encompassed over a thousand acres on Appomattox River. Their marriage lasted only six years, for John Randolph died in October 1775, leaving his young widow with three small sons and a life right in Matoax, as well as the management of Bizarre, his plantation in Prince Edward County. She was thereby obliged to manage two large plantations, distant from one another, during the first years of the American Revolution. She did well, exhibiting prudence, diligence, competence and honor.

None of John and Frances Randolph's sons left children. The two elder sons, Richard and Theodorick, died in their twenties. The youngest son, famous "John Randolph of Roanoke," lived for almost sixty years, mesmerizing and exasperating fellow members of the United States Congress with his eloquent oratory, and shocking many with his vitriolic verbal attacks on his enemies, and his involvement in a caning and a duel!

Frances Bland Randolph was only twenty-three when John Randolph died, and two years later a chance encounter in Williamsburg, Virginia, with a young lawyer from Bermuda changed her life dramatically. By his own account, St. George Tucker had vowed never to marry a widow, but just one look at the beautiful face of Frances Randolph in Bruton Parish Church melted his resolve! He pursued her in the most elegant and romantic style imaginable by a well educated and gently bred young eighteenth century gentleman. Their letters attest to her hesitation and his ardor, her care for the well-being of her children and Tucker's corresponding assurances. While her extensive properties and material assets added to her desirability, there is no doubt from their letters, both before and after their marriage in 1778, that they cared deeply for each other.

St. George Tucker married without the wholehearted approval of his parents in Bermuda. They apparently did not object to Frances Randolph, but rather to his marrying and staying in Virginia, when they had expected he would return to Bermuda. He did not inform them of his marriage until after it had taken place. In 1780 he commissioned John Durand to paint both his and his wife's portraits, which he sent to Bermuda, hoping no doubt that Frances's obvious beauty and elegance would soften the blow of his absence.

Although born in Bermuda, St. George Tucker threw himself wholeheartedly into support of the American Revolution. His military service required frequent absences from home soon after their marriage. During the war, he rose to the rank of Colonel and was injured in 1781. Their correspondence during that period bemoaned their mutual loneliness. Frances remarked once that she had difficulty getting letters to him because most of her neighbors did not understand the intensity of their attachment and so they did not think to inform her when they were going to see him. During her husband's absences, Frances continued to manage both Matoax and Bizarre effectively.

Frances and St. George Tucker had five children: Anne Frances Bland Tucker, Henry St. George Tucker, Theodorick Tudor Tucker, Nathaniel Beverly Tucker, and Henrietta Eliza Tucker. Anne married Judge John Coalter and died in 1813. Henry St. George and Nathaniel Beverly both distinguished themselves as jurists and Professors of Law. Theodorick died when he was only twelve, and Henrietta Eliza, when she was eight. Had Frances Tucker lived long enough, she could have been justly proud to have two sons serve in the U. S. Congress. Henry St. George Tucker was elected to Congress in 1815 and served two terms. John Randolph of Roanoke served in the Congress from 1799-1813, from 1815-1817, from 1819-1825, and as a U. S. Senator from 1824-1827.

After the Revolutionary War, St. George Tucker busied himself establishing his law practice in Richmond. Once again, he was often absent from Matoax, and Frances was kept busy managing children and plantations. Their letters continued to provide solace and express mutual affection. In April 1787 he wrote to Frances, whom he called Fanny, that Richmond was the "dullest place in the universe," because he saw no one but lawyers and judges. She wrote of her daily routine and the children's activities and scholastic progress. Her health declined during the latter years of their marriage, and her death in January 1788 followed the birth of her last child by only a month. She was buried at the Randolph plantation, Matoax, beside her first husband, John Randolph.

St. George Tucker moved to Williamsburg with the children shortly after the death of his wife, and in 1791 he married Lelia, widow of George Carter and daughter of Sir Peyton Skipwith.

References:

• Churchill Gibson Chamberlayne, The Vestry Book and Register of Bristol Parish, Virginia, 1720-1789 (Greenville, SC, 1994)
• H. J. Eckenrode, The Randolphs The Story of a Virginia Family (New York, 1946)
• Rev. Philip Slaughter, D. D., A History of Bristol Parish, Va... (Greenville, SC, 1994)
• Lyon Gardiner Tyler, LL. D., Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography, vol. II (Baltimore, 1998) 34, 63-64, 202
• Claudia Lamm Wood, "With Unalterable Tenderness": The Courtship and Marriage of St. George Tucker and Frances Randolph Tucker, Master's Thesis, Department of History, College of William and Mary (1988)
• Letters of Frances Tucker and St. George Tucker, St. George Tucker Papers, Tucker-Coleman Collection, Earl Greg Swem Library, The College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia