RANDALL, Samuel Jackson, American statesman: b. Philadelphia, 10 Oct. 1828;• d. Washington, D. C., 12 April 1890. Educated in the schools of his native city, he began life as a silk merchant's clerk and later entered into partnership in a firm of wholesale iron met.. chants.. But politics was more attractive to him than business. He served four years as mem ber of the city council and in 1858 was elected to the State senate. He enlisted with the City troop of Philadelphia at the beginning of the Civil War and served under General Thomas' command in the 2d United States Cavalry. He was promoted to orderly sergeant, then quarter master and finally captain of his company. During the battle of Gettysburg he was ad vanced to provost marshal In 1862 he was elected to Congress and was a member of that body for 28 years. The first eight years of his career in Congress were uneventful; but in the 43d Congress he served with Blaine, Garfield, Banks and S. S. Cox on the committee on rules
and took the lead in the opposition to the Force Bill in order to defeat its passage as law and secure for himself the leadership of the Demo cratic party in Congress. He was elected speaker of the House at the second session of the 44th Congress and re-elected by the 45th and 46th; hence it fell to him to preside during the dispute over the Presidential election of 1876. He was not in sympathy with the settlement of the difficulty by means of an electoral commis sion. Although always a Democrat, he took the opposite view to that of his party on the subject of protection at the period when tariff discussions were uppermost in Congress. He was an indefatigable worker and never shirked the arduous labor of committees, insisting al ways on economy and honesty in the manage ment of public affairs. Hence he served as an immense safeguard of the national treasury.