Graveyard Ghosts of Key West: The Angry Sea Captain

DeWolfe and Wood Collection, Monroe County Public Library

The spirit pushes and scratches people who dare to approach his grave. A dark figure rushes toward nighttime visitors peering through the gates. The sea captain's ghost is angry, and he is not alone.

 St Paul's Cemetery is a favorite stop for many Key West ghost tours. The current church is the 4th structure built on the site, but the likely reason there are so many active spirits here is that they had to move bodies to make room for the present church. At least six people are still at rest beneath St. Paul's, including a founding father of Key West, John Fleming. We believe his bones are at rest directly beneath the altar.

But the bones of Captain Thomas Mann Randolph stir the most fascination. His grave abuts the rear of the church in the Memorial Garden, an area he fiercely protects with actions that have earned him the "angry sea captain" moniker. But why is he angry?

Captain Randolph was much more than a sea captain. Born on March 19, 1778, on the James River in Virginia, he entered the Navy early and rose through the ranks. After marrying, Randolph tried his hand at agricultural pursuits, but the bold and adventurous life of a sailor called him back to the sea. He once fought through a tremendous gale for nine days in the merchant service. This struggle left him with a "flaw in his iron constitution" and saw him join the U.S. Revenue Service as Commander of the first Revenue Cutter USS Washington. Randolph fell victim to yellow fever in Key West and died on August 20, 1835. His ship was retired the same year and replaced with an identical cutter with the same name. Two years later, this cutter captured the slave ship Amistad off the coast of Long Island. Friends buried Randolph in St. Paul's Graveyard in Key West.

Captain Thomas Randolph - Findagrave

Each day, thousands of people pass less than a stone's throw from the secluded grave of Captain Thomas Mann Randolph without the slightest knowledge that the good captain directly connects Key West to President Thomas Jefferson. Captain Randolph's great, great, great grandfather was Thomas Jefferson's uncle. His great, great grandfather grew up in the same house as the boy who would become President, and a look at the Jefferson family tree reveals several Thomas Mann's and Thomas Randolph's, even in the Sally Hemmings branch of the tree. After Thomas Jefferson's death, the Randolph family relocated from Montecillo to Florida and played an active role in Florida politics. Historians suspect they were involved in naming our Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas.

Is Captain Randolph angry because he worked hard all of his life to become Commander and is now just referred to as a captain? Or is he ticked off that people moved the graves around him and exhumed bodies when constructing the new church? Maybe he is upset that no one talks about his presidential connection? Or perhaps he just wants to rest in peace.

 See a complete listing of the 7 best locally owned and operated ghost tours in 2022 and check out Key West's free Haunted Directory at hauntedkeywest.com, Key West's only destination for everything haunted.