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Robert Burton Randall
[History of the Village of Fonthill The Fonthill Women’s Institute, 1944]
In 1849 Robert Burton Randall brought his family from Brookfield, Nova Scotia to Fonthill.
Mr D’Everardo who was instrumental in bringing so many Nova Scotians to the village had promised to have a house ready for his occupancy when he arrived, but when they arrived there was no house and they were forced to stay at the Temperance Hotel kept by Mrs Morton, who afterward became Mrs Samuel Rice.
The Randall family stayed there for a time making beds for the children on the floor: later they moved into the Dance Hall of the old Rice Hotel, where they lived until he bought a house on the lot afterwards owned by Edward Morris.
Robert Randall was a blacksmith and moved to Welland, thinking he could better himself, but died soon after, leaving a wife with eight children.
The family then came back to the home in Fonthill, and his son Nathan built the house where Edward Morris lived for so many years. Robert Randall’s second daughter, Elizabeth, married John Brown Jr., in 1855, thus uniting two pioneer families of our village.
Another daughter, Kate Randall, better known as Cassie, taught school in Fonthill and was beloved by all the children with whom she came in contact. The Randall family were strong Baptists, especially Mrs John Brown, who served as President of the Ladies’ Aid for several years, and was always ready to do anything for the church she loved so dearly.
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