the ranch had produced 5000 pounds of butter, 500 bushels of Irish potatoes 

 and 400 pounds of honey. Daniel Seaver, Sarah's brother, produced 4300 

 pounds of butter on a dairy on the south part of the ranch. A man named 

 William Peach lived on Randall land; he owned 35 milk cows and 40 other 

 cattle. His relation to the Randall family is unknown, and one John Peach 

 appears on the census as residing with Sarah Randall ten years later. 54 



William Randall, known to his family and friends as Edgar, did not have 

 long to enjoy the fruits of his labor. On June 7, 1860, Randall's neighbor 

 Benjamin Miller killed him in a long-simmering boundary dispute. A history of 

 Marin County written in 1880 detailed the murder. Reportedly angry that 

 Randall and Nelson had purchased land that he coveted, Miller "commenced a 

 fierce war against them, and on two occasions shot at and missed" Nelson. 

 Miller allegedly shot at Randall seven times in the days before the final act, 

 here described: 



The day before while Randall was riding along the 

 road, a ball whistled close by his head. It would seem 

 that Miller was in the habit of tearing down Randall's 

 fence, and permitting his stock to run at large upon 

 the ranch. On the morning of the shooting, Randall 

 and his brother-in-law were driving out the stock 

 when they came to a gate where they found Miller 

 and his son, each armed, Miller with a rifle and the 

 latter with a double-barrelled shotgun. Some words 

 passed between them, when, on the arrival of another 

 brother-in-law, the gun was taken from the younger 

 Miller by the new-comer. Upon this, Miller, the elder, 

 presented the rifle which he carried at the last 

 arrival, when Randall rode up towards Miller with a 

 small pistol in his hand, on this move Miller whirled 

 around and fired at Randall striking him in the 

 abdomen. This was at 10 a.m.; at 7 p.m. he died. 



A good Samaritan rode on horseback some 25 miles to San Rafael for a doctor; 

 by the time the doctor arrived the victim was dying. Randall was buried in a 

 small graveyard established on a knoll north of the ranch. Miller, although 

 sentenced to 11 years in prison, went free and eventually took the case to the 



"Population and Agriculture Schedules, 8th U. S. Census, 1860. Peach may have been the 

 husband of Sarah's sister Jane. 



147 



