Enoch H. Randall - Civil War Soldier Buried in Farmer Cemetery

Stephen Randall and his wife, Betsey, came from New York to Farmer Township sometime between 1850 and 1860.  In 1850, they were farming in Canton, Saint Lawrence County, New York with their oldest son, Enoch (Enos in that census), 18; Jacob, 16 and crippled; Delilah, 14; Loisa, 11; Christa, 8; Carolina, 4 months and Ester Wood, 67, born Vermont, who was Betsey's mother.  Their farm was worth $300 at the time.

In 1860, Stephen Randall owned no real estate in Farmer Township, but possibly Enoch was living and working outside of the house somewhere (he could not be located in that census), and Jacob worked as a peddler.  An additional daughter had been added to the family - Sarah, 6 - and daughter, Delilah, was not noted, but perhaps she had married and moved out as she would have been 24.

Enoch was just shy of 31 when he enlisted into Company F, 111th Regiment O.V. I. on August 15, 1862, for a three year term.  He was captured at a battle near Knoxville in early February, 1864, and taken to Richmond, Virginia to a POW camp, probably Belle Isle.  According to the official roster, his stay there lasted from February 14, 1864 to March 16, 1864.  Whether he was exchanged or not is not documented, but eventually, he mustered out with his company on June 27, 1865, in Salisbury, North Carolina.

He came back to Farmer Township and, by the 1870 census, was working as a laborer for and living with the Orley Foot family.  Enoch was 38 by that time, and had acquired real estate worth $300.  By 1880, Enoch moved back with his parents, Stephen, now 74, and Betsey, now 69.  Enoch, 48, worked on the farm and Jacob, 46, carried the mail.  Caroline, 30, was also at home.

Enoch Randall never married, and he reported no disabilities on the 1890 Veterans' Census.  The newspapers reported that he had a gun shop at one time, and he was, in 1900, an artesian well driller.  He and Jacob lived together until Jacob passed away in late 1900.  The Defiance Weekly Express reported:

"Jacob Randall, the old and well known mail carrier of Farmer, dropped dead Monday evening, Oct. 22."

In 1910, at 81, Enoch lived alone in Farmer.  He died on January 18, 1914, at the age of 82 years, 4 months and 6 days..
No obituary could be located, but information on his death certificate listed cause of death as arteriosclerosis. D. C. Lord, of Farmer, was the informant