The History of Stow Acres Country Club

John and Elizabeth made their primary residence in Boston, but spent much time on the family property in Stow. Around the turn of the 19th century (circa 1800), he built a home that has been transformed, over many years, into the Stow Acres Clubhouse. There are no available drawings of the original structure, but, according to the Stow Historical Society, "the house may have begun as a five bay, 2 or 2 1/2 story Georgian house". Today the building exhibits a mix of early architectural styles, including elements from the Federal, Greek Revival, Italianate and French Second Empire periods.

The Randalls had five children, two of whom, John Witt and Belinda Lull, survived into old age and became substantial benefactors of the town. Neither sibling ever married or had children, thus the family property, now known as Stow Acres Country Club, passed into various hands, John Witt Randall was a very gifted and intellectual man. He was educated at Harvard University, and displayed an interest and aptitude for entomology, the study of insects. He spent many hours of the day on his property in Stow, ever in search of new insect species. His real talent, and one he pursued contrary to the wishes of his physician father, was poetry.

Like his knowledge of insects, many of his ideas and poems were inspired by things that he saw and experienced while on his estate in Stow. Though John Witt held a medical degree, he never felt compelled to practice medicine. This displeased his father and made it difficult for John Witt to pursue his poetry as a career. Of the six or so volumes he wrote, only one, Consolations of Solitude, was ever published. His work was critically, but never popularly received, for several reasons. First, was the fact that he was a modest man and not known to resort to what he called "puffery" to promote himself. Second, his publisher refused to properly advertise the volume. This predictably hurt sales and caused John Witt to pull all copies from the open market. Response to the few copies that were dispensed by Randall himself was overwhelmingly good. He received letters of praise from many people, including the famous poet Ralph Waldo Emerson.

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