[5] On September 23, 1770, Christian evangelist George Whitefield paid a visit to Portsmouth as part of his last speaking tour of the country, arriving barely a week before his death.

Randall was an ardent American patriot during the revolutionary crisis of 1775 to 1776, and with the outbreak of armed hostilities he briefly enlisted in the Massachusetts militia in the company of Captain John Parsons at New Castle during the first half of 1775.

[16] He would reenlist in September 1776 as a sergeant in a regiment headed by Colonel Pierce Lang, ultimately serving as a militia soldier for a year and a half.

"[17] During his military tenure Randall made a point of regularly visiting the sick and performing the duties of a chaplain in offering religious consolation.

"[23] He was nearly struck in the head with a thrown piece of a brick when walking down the street one day, narrowly escaping death or serious injury when the shard grazed his hair.

[27] The people of the community built a meeting house for their new religious leader, who maintained himself through the voluntary contributions of his congregation and various odd jobs in tailoring, also tending a small household farm.

[30] This idea of free salvation proved to be in conflict with the fundamental doctrines of Calvinism, including predestination, which dominated the official Baptist church.

[37] Randall and his followers were dismissed by many contemporaries as adherents of a fanatical sect and were pejoratively called a variety of names, including "Randallites," "General Provisioners," "New-Lights," and "Freewillers.

"[37] From the time of his lay preaching until his death of tuberculosis on October 22, 1808, Randall was instrumental in planting many Free Will Baptist churches throughout New England.