Draft:Blanchard Randall

Blanchard Randall (November 12, 1856 - August 24, 1942) was a merchant and civic leader who resided in Maryland. He was born in Annapolis to Elizabeth Philpot Blanchard and Alexander Randall. His father, a prominent lawyer in Annapolis, served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives representing the Fourth District of Maryland from 1841 to 1843 and as Attorney General for the State of Maryland from 1864 to 1868. Among Blanchard’s eleven siblings was T. Henry Randall, an accomplished architect during the gilded age.

Early life

Blanchard’s formative years were spent at the Bordley-Randall House, the family’s residence in Annapolis. His childhood impressions of town life were largely influenced by the Civil War and the presence of soldiers on the streets. He attended St. John’s College in Annapolis, graduating in 1874. He later received an honorary M.A. degree from the same institution in 1904. Following his graduation from St. John’s, he took up residence in Baltimore, Maryland and started his career as a merchant in 1874, clerking for Spence and Reid Sugar and Coffee Importers. In 1879, he moved to the grain export firm, Gill & Fisher, where he was appointed partner in 1883. On October 30, 1884, Blanchard married Susan Katharine Brune, daughter of attorney Frederick William Brune Jr. and his wife, the former Emily Stone Barton. Brune, a well- known Baltimore attorney, founded the law firm Brown & Brune with his brother-in-law, George William Brown, who served as mayor of Baltimore during the early period of the Civil War. Blanchard and Susan had seven surviving children – Frederick Brune Randall, Susan Katharine Barton [Randall] Pincoffs, Emily Brune [Randall] Webster, Elizabeth Blanchard (Randall) Slack, Eveyln Barton (Randall) Hanrahan, and Alexander Randall. In 1891, Blanchard purchased a country estate named “Cloud Capped” located in Catonsville, Maryland. The property was sold to the U.S. Government in 1936 and subsequently converted to the Baltimore National Cemetery The Randalls also resided in a townhouse located on Mount Vernon Square in Baltimore, which is now the Mount Vernon Club.

Career as a merchant

Blanchard Randall was appointed Senior Partner at Gill & Fisher in 1904. In addition to his leadership responsibilities at the firm, he served as President of the National Board of Trade from 1902 to 1903 and President of the Baltimore Chamber of Commerce (the organization of grain dealers) in 1907. Blanchard also served as a director on several financial institution and company boards that included the Safe Deposit & Trust Company, Merchants National Bank, Maryland Life Insurance Company, and the Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington Railroad Company.

Civic activities

Blanchard Randall maintained an active interest in cultural, philanthropic, political, educational, and church organizations. He served on the Board of Trustees of Johns Hopkins University and Johns Hopkins Hospital. He was President of the Board of Trustees of the Baltimore Museum of Art from 1914 to 1937. He was instrumental in securing the current location of the museum across from Wyman Park on the edge of the Johns Hopkins University Homewood campus, where construction commenced under his Board stewardship with a groundbreaking ceremony on May 16, 1927 led by Mayor of Baltimore Howard Wilkenson Jackson. The new building housing the museum’s collection, designed by John Russell Pope, subsequently opened its doors to the public on schedule on April 19, 1929. Blanchard’s ardent support of the museum stemmed from his own interest in art as an avid collector of prints and lithographs.

Blanchard also served as Treasurer of the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland and was Chairman of the Republican Party for the Roosevelt League in 1916.

The following excerpt from an editorial published in The Baltimore Sun following Blanchard’s death characterizes his achievements as a leader in Baltimore’s mercantile business community and dedication to civic affairs:

"For at least a generation, Mr. Randall typified more than any other individual, perhaps, the merchants of an older day. As such he was a model in his way of living, and especially in his deportment, for the oncoming leaders of the altering economy. He set a standard below which it was not fitting to fall. He had a sense of his obligation to the community which had profited him, and he paid the debt in philanthropy and in constant civic endeavor".

Blanchard Randall was buried in the Randall family plot at Greenmount Cemetery in Baltimore.