The New Student's Reference Work/Randolph, Edmund J.

Randolph, Edmund J., an American statesman, was born at Williamsburg, Va., Aug. 10, 1753, and after legal study was admitted to the Virginia bar. In 1776 he helped to frame the constitution of Virginia, and became its first attorney-general. He was governor from 1786 to 1788, and was a member of the convention which framed the constitution of the United States. In 1789 he entered Washington's cabinet as attorney-general, and in 1794 was appointed secretary of state to succeed Jefferson. He resigned in the following year on account of some misunderstanding with President Washington and his colleagues in reference to the Jay treaty. He died in Virginia, Sept. 13, 1813.