John Witt Randall

Who was John Witt Randall?

John Witt Randall was an American naturalist, poet and art collector.

John Witt Randall was born to the physician Dr. John Randall and his wife Elizabeth Wells in 1813. He studied at Harvard College and later studied medicine, and was described by a classmate of that time: "Though among us, he was not wholly of us, but seemed to have thoughts, pursuits and aspirations to which we were strangers". His publications include two papers on beetles, one on crustaceans from the West Coast of the United States and Hawaii, and a book of poetry called Consolations of Solitude, which was commended in the North American Review, the reviewer likening his descriptions of nature to those of William Cullen Bryant. A further volume on the natural history of Maine and five further volumes of poetry were prepared but not published. Randall was also an art collector, and amassed a large collection at his family seat in Stow, Massachusetts.