Randolph Mott
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Randolph Lawler Mott | |
|---|---|
 from The Last Battle of the Civil War, 1915 | |
| Born | August 9, 1799 Fauquier, Co., Virginia |
| Died | July 19, 1881 |
| Spouse |
Mary Jeter (m. 1821) |
Randolph Lawler Mott (1799-1881) was an American businessman and Union sympathizer of Columbus, Georgia.
A native of Fauquier Co., Virginia, Mott was born on August 9, 1799.[1] He was the son of William Mott and Sally Lawler. Mott apprenticed as a tailor and pursued that occupation when he left Virginia for Georgia in 1819. He settled first in Augusta before relocating to Milledgeville. Mott married Mary Jeter in 1821 in Milledgeville and entered a business partnership with John Mustain. Mustain married Mott's sister-in-law Julia Jeter in Macon in 1833.
Career
Mott and Mustain operated a variety of business ventures including the Washington Hall hotel and a stagecoach line between Augusta and Montgomery via Macon.[1] The partners moved to Columbus Georgia in 1843 and expanded into railroads, mills and real estate. Mustain was elected to the Georgia Legislature two years later and Mott took over the operations of their business. Mott was elected to the Georgia State Legislature himself in 1857.[2] Mott also had a plantation in Russell County, Alabama.
Wanderer affair
Mott was indicted in 1859 for “holding an African negro boy” in the Wanderer Affair.[3] He had acquired one of the last African slaves imported into the United States from Charles Augustus Lafayette Lamar who brought him from Africa aboard his ship Wanderer. That slave was later identified as Frank Bambush.[4]