Friday, April 13, 2012

The Funeral of Col. Thomas Jefferson Randolph

East Carroll Delta News - October 21, 1965
As soon as the funeral services at the new-made grave of Col. Thomas Jefferson Randolph was concluded, and before the grave was filled up, a veteran negro stepped forward and asked if there was any objection to a service by his people. He was told that such a tribute would be acceptable to the family, and then a scene that should go down in history was enacted. Quietly Mr. Randolph’s former slaves assembled around him, and then swelled up from a hundred negro voices that most pathetic of hymns:
Am I a soldier of the cross - A follower of the Lamb?
A gentleman who was present says that in his whole life, extending over seventy years, he never witnessed anything so touching. When the last note died away amid the oaks of Monticello, there was not a dry eye in the vast assembly. --Richmond Enquirer - 1876.