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from Past and Present of Mahaska County, Iowa by Manoah Hedge The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co. 1906
Charles D. Randell, respected and honored in the community where he resides, is classed with the representative citizens and a life of well directed activity and thrift has been crowned with success, making him a prosperous farmer of the county. He now owns a neat and well improved farm of three hundred and twenty acres and everything about his place is kept in good condition. He also has forty acres in Wright, where he resides. He has made his home in Mahaska county since the fall in 1867 and is a native of Ohio, having been born in Gahllipolis, Gallia county, August 13, 1845. His father, Augustus Randell, was also a native of that county, born August 17, 1823. The grandfather, Richard Randell, was a native of Massachusetts and was of Scotch descent, the family having been founded in America in Colonial days. On leaving the old Bay state in 1798, Richard Randell removed to Ohio, settling in Galhia bounty, where he opened up a farm in the midst of the wilderness. The district in which he located was a forest region and there he hewed out a farm, clearing away the timber in order to place the land under the plow. He was married to Miss Lucy Sprague in 1822. Upon the old family homestead there Augustus Randell was reared early assisting his father in the arduous task of developing new land, while in the public schools he acquired his education. He was married there, September 28, 1844, to Miss Rebecca Jane Mitchell, a native of Pennsylvania, born in Armstrong county. Following his marriage Mr. Randell engaged in farming in Galhia county and there reared his family. In 1852 he left for Illinois, driving three horses to a wagon, and settled in Hancock county, where he joined an uncle who had been living there since 1850. His father also subsequently removed to Illinois. Augustus Randell opened up a farm in Hancock county and there reared his family, giving his remaining days to general agricultural pursuits. He died in Bowen, November 17, 1895, at an advanced age, while his wife passed away in February, 1882. They were worthy people, respected and esteemed by all who knew them and Mr. Randell led a very busy and useful life crowned with a gratifying measure of success, which made him one of the substantial farmers of his community. Charles D. Randell, the oldest of a family of six sons and three daughters, all of whom grew to mature years, while at the present time all of the sons and one of the daughters are yet living. His boyhood and youth were passed in Hancock county, Illinois, upon the old home farm,, for he was a young lad at the time of the removal of his parents to that place. He was educated in the public schools and during the periods of vacation he worked in the fields, thus gaining practical knowledge of the best methods of tilling the soil and producing crops. In 1865 he went to Kansas, where he hired out to drive an ox-team through to the mountains. He spent the winter of 1865-6 at Central City, Colorado, and the following summer was in Boulder Valley. In the fall of 1866 he returned to Illinois with team and wagon but walked most of the way. On again reaching Hancock county he operated his father's farm until coming to Mahaska county later in the same year. Here he purchased forty acres of land which was raw and unimproved and for which he paid nine dollars per acre. He broke this with horse teams and as he prospered in his undertakings he later purchased more land from time to time and now has about five hundred acres of good Mahaska county land, his fields being rich and productive. Upon the farm he has erected a neat frame residence, also good barns and outbuildings and the place is likewise well fenced and tiled. There is a bearing orchard and a grove, together with many ornamental trees around the home, which add to the value and attractive appearance of the place. He has many walnut and elm trees and the young trees which he planted years ago have grown to splendid size and are an attractive feature of the farm. Altogether the place is neat and thrifty in appearance and the property is a monument to the labor and enterprise of the owner. On the 22d of December, 1870, Mr. Randell was united in marriage to Miss Sarah C. Moore, a daughter of John F. and Mary (Madox) Moore, living near Kirkville, Iowa, and a sister of R. W. Moore, who is represented elsewhere in this work. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Randell have been born two sons and six daughters: Seth A., a prominent farmer of Harrison township, who owns two hundred acres of well improved land; C. W., also a farmer of Harrison township, who has a well improved property there; Mary, the wife of David Gwin, who owns two hundred acres of good land in Harrison township; Clara A., the wife of W. A. McBurney, who is operating her father's farm together with his own farm adjoining; Florence, the wife of C. N. McBurney, a resident of Harrison township; Esther, Estella and Belle, at home. For many years Mr. Randell continued the active operation of his farm and in connection with the tilling of the soil was formerly engaged in raising and breeding stock, feeding from one to four carloads of fat cattle annually. Leaving the farm in 1905 he went to Nebraska and visited different parts of that state, also Kansas, and Denver, Colorado Springs and Salida, Colorado, spending three or four months in the west and gaining an intimate and accurate knowledge of that section of the country. Since his return he has made his home in Wright, where he has erected a neat residence. Politically Mr. Randell has been a lifelong republican, casting his first ballot for General U. S. Grant in 1868, and has since voted for each presidential nominee of the party but has been without political aspiration for himself, although he has been elected and served in numerous township offices, called to these positioned by his fellow citizens who recognize his worth and ability. It is needless to say that his duties have been discharged with promptness and fidelity and he has frequently served as a delegate to numerous conventions. His wife is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and takes a most active part in the work of the church and the Sunday-school and the daughters are teachers in the Sunday-school. Mr. Randell is a charter member of Wright lodge, I. 0. 0. F., and he and his wife and daughters are connected with the Order of Rebekah. He is one of Mahaska county's successful farmers and has helped to improve and make the county what it is today. Here he is well known as a careful business man, who has by his own labor and enterprise accumulated a valuable property, including a large farm and good home in Wright. He is today one of the substantial citizens of the county and his history shows what may be accomplished by earnest purpose and indefatigable effort. He has won not only success but also an honored name.
Past and Present of Mahaska County, Iowa
Mahaska County, Iowa Genealogy