III.
The story of John Witt Randall's life, although he lived to an advanced age, is itself a short and uneventful one. Even for the telling of this, the materials in my possession are scanty and few.
The "Memorials of the Class of 1834, of Harvard Col- lege. Prepared for the Fiftieth Anniversary of their Graduation by Thomas Gushing, at the Request of his Classmates. Boston: David Clapp & Son. 1884," con- tains a brief account which is here transcribed in full : —
"John Witt Randall, son of Dr. John (H. C. 1802) and Elizabeth (Wells) Randall, granddaughter of Samuel Adams, the great patriot of the Revolution, was born in Boston, Mass., Nov. 6, 18 13.
"He received his preparatory education at the Bos- ton Latin School, in company with many who were after- wards his classmates in college, by whom his peculiar and marked originality of character is well remembered. Though among them, he was not wholly of them, but seemed to have thoughts, pursuits, and aspirations to which they were strangers.
"This was also the case after he entered college, where his tastes developed in a scientific direction, entomology being the branch to which he specially devoted himself, though heartily in sympathy with Nature in her various aspects. The college did little at that time to encourage or aid such pursuits ; but Mr. Randall pursued the quiet tenor of his way, till he had a very fine collection of in- sects and extensive and thorough knowledge on that and
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