Theodora was daughter of Charles Ayer of Ayer, Massachusetts, who made his fortune dealing in patent medicines and Sarsaparilla.
She was the niece of General George S. Patton. Her first marriage, to NYC investment banker Robert Winthrop, ended in divorce.
She met Dr. Archibald Cary Randolph during her time visiting her uncle and partaking in the local fox hunting. After the death of Dr. Randolph, many years later, she succeeded him as hunt master of the Piedmont Hunt, a 150 year old landowners' association.
She was known as "First Lady of the Hunt."
~~~
By Robert Mcg. Thomas Jr.
June 15, 1996, Section 1, Page 11
Theodora Ayer Randolph, who rode the Virginia hunt country long enough and well enough to become known as the first lady of fox hunting, died on Tuesday at her Oakley Farm home in Upperville, Va. She was 90.
It had been years since Mrs. Randolph had donned her dark-blue, gold-collared coat, tucked her auburn hair under her helmet and galloped off over the vast expanse of farmland that makes up the grounds of the 150-year-old landowners' association known as the Piedmont Hunt. But as a master of the Piedmont, she had remained an indispensable presence in the affairs of the nation's oldest and largest fox-hunting entity.
In an area 45 miles west of Washington, where generations-old farms are sometimes acquired by city-bred newcomers unaccustomed to seeing a horde of horsemen thunder across their front yards in pursuit of a pack of hounds in pursuit of a fox, no respecter of property lines, after all, it would be Mrs. Randolph's duty to pay the newcomers a call. Over a cup of tea, perhaps, she would acquaint them with the customs and traditions of the neighborhood, assuring them that the members of the Piedmont Hunt were always careful to close gates they might have opened and to not trample any flower beds near the house.
As a clincher, she would note that as landowners, the newcomers would be eligible to join the Piedmont, an act that would instantly elevate them to the upper reaches of Virginia society.
The widow of Dr. Archibald Cary Randolph, a landed surgeon whose family helped settle Virginia, Mrs. Randolph succeeded her husband as hunt master after his death in 1959. But she was something of a newcomer herself. In an area where the first families of Virginia can be downright condescending to those who trace their ancestry to only the second wave of settlers, Mrs. Randolph achieved social prominence and fox-hunting distinction despite the fact that she was an actual Yankee.
Mrs. Randolph was born Sept. 27, 1905, in Beverly Farms, Mass., and learned to ride at the age of 3. Her father was master of the local Myopia Hunt, and she was fox hunting long before she saw Virginia.
Even so, she readily acknowledged that she received some of her most vivid training in advanced fence-jumping during Virginia visits to her daredevil uncle, General George S. Patton.
Mrs. Randolph -- whose first marriage, to the Massachusetts-born New York investment banker Robert Winthrop, ended in divorce -- married well twice and was born better.
Her father, Charles Ayer, was a member of the family that settled Ayer, Mass., and made a considerable fortune dealing in woolens and patent medicines, including the 19th-century tonic rage, sarsaparilla.
After her divorce, Mrs. Randolph, who had fallen in love with the Virginia hunt country during her years at Foxcroft, a Virginia boarding school, settled there and renewed her acquaintance with Dr. Randolph, whom she had known as the dashing master of the Piedmont Hunt during her boarding school days.
After their marriage in 1941, she became active in every aspect of equestrian affairs, breeding show and steeplechase champions, leading a drive to ban the use of performance-enhancing drugs and receiving numerous honors for her work, including an honorary degree from the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine.
But it was as a highly accomplished horsewoman, one who could take the lead in an organization that prides itself on being the nation's fastest hunt ("Keep up or go home" is one of its official rules), that she won greatest acclaim.
It was a tribute to her standing, and her reputation for social observation, that in her later years newcomers tended to come to her.
In an area of such sprawling acreage and long driveways that next-door neighbors tend to drive over when they visit, Mrs. Randolph lived next door to Paul Mellon, not that she could actually see the Pittsburgh banking heir's house from her own.
But she could see his private landing strip from her parlor window and took wry delight in the extravagant idiosyncrasies of the very wealthy. Whenever she would see the Mellons's private plane land and then take off 10 minutes later, her step-granddaughter and farm manager, Becky Armstrong, recalled yesterday, Mrs. Randolph would take a sip of her tea and nod knowingly: It was only Mrs. Mellon, she would say, come home to fetch a scarf.
Mrs. Randolph is survived by three children from her first marriage, Theodora Hooton of Glen Head, N.Y., Amory Winthrop of Millbrook, N.Y., and Cornelia Bonnie of Prospect, Ky.; five grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
She was the niece of General George S. Patton. Her first marriage, to NYC investment banker Robert Winthrop, ended in divorce.
She met Dr. Archibald Cary Randolph during her time visiting her uncle and partaking in the local fox hunting. After the death of Dr. Randolph, many years later, she succeeded him as hunt master of the Piedmont Hunt, a 150 year old landowners' association.
She was known as "First Lady of the Hunt."
~~~
By Robert Mcg. Thomas Jr.
June 15, 1996, Section 1, Page 11
Theodora Ayer Randolph, who rode the Virginia hunt country long enough and well enough to become known as the first lady of fox hunting, died on Tuesday at her Oakley Farm home in Upperville, Va. She was 90.
It had been years since Mrs. Randolph had donned her dark-blue, gold-collared coat, tucked her auburn hair under her helmet and galloped off over the vast expanse of farmland that makes up the grounds of the 150-year-old landowners' association known as the Piedmont Hunt. But as a master of the Piedmont, she had remained an indispensable presence in the affairs of the nation's oldest and largest fox-hunting entity.
In an area 45 miles west of Washington, where generations-old farms are sometimes acquired by city-bred newcomers unaccustomed to seeing a horde of horsemen thunder across their front yards in pursuit of a pack of hounds in pursuit of a fox, no respecter of property lines, after all, it would be Mrs. Randolph's duty to pay the newcomers a call. Over a cup of tea, perhaps, she would acquaint them with the customs and traditions of the neighborhood, assuring them that the members of the Piedmont Hunt were always careful to close gates they might have opened and to not trample any flower beds near the house.
As a clincher, she would note that as landowners, the newcomers would be eligible to join the Piedmont, an act that would instantly elevate them to the upper reaches of Virginia society.
The widow of Dr. Archibald Cary Randolph, a landed surgeon whose family helped settle Virginia, Mrs. Randolph succeeded her husband as hunt master after his death in 1959. But she was something of a newcomer herself. In an area where the first families of Virginia can be downright condescending to those who trace their ancestry to only the second wave of settlers, Mrs. Randolph achieved social prominence and fox-hunting distinction despite the fact that she was an actual Yankee.
Mrs. Randolph was born Sept. 27, 1905, in Beverly Farms, Mass., and learned to ride at the age of 3. Her father was master of the local Myopia Hunt, and she was fox hunting long before she saw Virginia.
Even so, she readily acknowledged that she received some of her most vivid training in advanced fence-jumping during Virginia visits to her daredevil uncle, General George S. Patton.
Mrs. Randolph -- whose first marriage, to the Massachusetts-born New York investment banker Robert Winthrop, ended in divorce -- married well twice and was born better.
Her father, Charles Ayer, was a member of the family that settled Ayer, Mass., and made a considerable fortune dealing in woolens and patent medicines, including the 19th-century tonic rage, sarsaparilla.
After her divorce, Mrs. Randolph, who had fallen in love with the Virginia hunt country during her years at Foxcroft, a Virginia boarding school, settled there and renewed her acquaintance with Dr. Randolph, whom she had known as the dashing master of the Piedmont Hunt during her boarding school days.
After their marriage in 1941, she became active in every aspect of equestrian affairs, breeding show and steeplechase champions, leading a drive to ban the use of performance-enhancing drugs and receiving numerous honors for her work, including an honorary degree from the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine.
But it was as a highly accomplished horsewoman, one who could take the lead in an organization that prides itself on being the nation's fastest hunt ("Keep up or go home" is one of its official rules), that she won greatest acclaim.
It was a tribute to her standing, and her reputation for social observation, that in her later years newcomers tended to come to her.
In an area of such sprawling acreage and long driveways that next-door neighbors tend to drive over when they visit, Mrs. Randolph lived next door to Paul Mellon, not that she could actually see the Pittsburgh banking heir's house from her own.
But she could see his private landing strip from her parlor window and took wry delight in the extravagant idiosyncrasies of the very wealthy. Whenever she would see the Mellons's private plane land and then take off 10 minutes later, her step-granddaughter and farm manager, Becky Armstrong, recalled yesterday, Mrs. Randolph would take a sip of her tea and nod knowingly: It was only Mrs. Mellon, she would say, come home to fetch a scarf.
Mrs. Randolph is survived by three children from her first marriage, Theodora Hooton of Glen Head, N.Y., Amory Winthrop of Millbrook, N.Y., and Cornelia Bonnie of Prospect, Ky.; five grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
Theodora was daughter of Charles Ayer of Ayer, Massachusetts, who made his fortune dealing in patent medicines and Sarsaparilla.
She was the niece of General George S. Patton. Her first marriage, to NYC investment banker Robert Winthrop, ended in divorce.
She met Dr. Archibald Cary Randolph during her time visiting her uncle and partaking in the local fox hunting. After the death of Dr. Randolph, many years later, she succeeded him as hunt master of the Piedmont Hunt, a 150 year old landowners' association.
She was known as "First Lady of the Hunt."
~~~
By Robert Mcg. Thomas Jr.
June 15, 1996, Section 1, Page 11
Theodora Ayer Randolph, who rode the Virginia hunt country long enough and well enough to become known as the first lady of fox hunting, died on Tuesday at her Oakley Farm home in Upperville, Va. She was 90.
It had been years since Mrs. Randolph had donned her dark-blue, gold-collared coat, tucked her auburn hair under her helmet and galloped off over the vast expanse of farmland that makes up the grounds of the 150-year-old landowners' association known as the Piedmont Hunt. But as a master of the Piedmont, she had remained an indispensable presence in the affairs of the nation's oldest and largest fox-hunting entity.
In an area 45 miles west of Washington, where generations-old farms are sometimes acquired by city-bred newcomers unaccustomed to seeing a horde of horsemen thunder across their front yards in pursuit of a pack of hounds in pursuit of a fox, no respecter of property lines, after all, it would be Mrs. Randolph's duty to pay the newcomers a call. Over a cup of tea, perhaps, she would acquaint them with the customs and traditions of the neighborhood, assuring them that the members of the Piedmont Hunt were always careful to close gates they might have opened and to not trample any flower beds near the house.
As a clincher, she would note that as landowners, the newcomers would be eligible to join the Piedmont, an act that would instantly elevate them to the upper reaches of Virginia society.
The widow of Dr. Archibald Cary Randolph, a landed surgeon whose family helped settle Virginia, Mrs. Randolph succeeded her husband as hunt master after his death in 1959. But she was something of a newcomer herself. In an area where the first families of Virginia can be downright condescending to those who trace their ancestry to only the second wave of settlers, Mrs. Randolph achieved social prominence and fox-hunting distinction despite the fact that she was an actual Yankee.
Mrs. Randolph was born Sept. 27, 1905, in Beverly Farms, Mass., and learned to ride at the age of 3. Her father was master of the local Myopia Hunt, and she was fox hunting long before she saw Virginia.
Even so, she readily acknowledged that she received some of her most vivid training in advanced fence-jumping during Virginia visits to her daredevil uncle, General George S. Patton.
Mrs. Randolph -- whose first marriage, to the Massachusetts-born New York investment banker Robert Winthrop, ended in divorce -- married well twice and was born better.
Her father, Charles Ayer, was a member of the family that settled Ayer, Mass., and made a considerable fortune dealing in woolens and patent medicines, including the 19th-century tonic rage, sarsaparilla.
After her divorce, Mrs. Randolph, who had fallen in love with the Virginia hunt country during her years at Foxcroft, a Virginia boarding school, settled there and renewed her acquaintance with Dr. Randolph, whom she had known as the dashing master of the Piedmont Hunt during her boarding school days.
After their marriage in 1941, she became active in every aspect of equestrian affairs, breeding show and steeplechase champions, leading a drive to ban the use of performance-enhancing drugs and receiving numerous honors for her work, including an honorary degree from the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine.
But it was as a highly accomplished horsewoman, one who could take the lead in an organization that prides itself on being the nation's fastest hunt ("Keep up or go home" is one of its official rules), that she won greatest acclaim.
It was a tribute to her standing, and her reputation for social observation, that in her later years newcomers tended to come to her.
In an area of such sprawling acreage and long driveways that next-door neighbors tend to drive over when they visit, Mrs. Randolph lived next door to Paul Mellon, not that she could actually see the Pittsburgh banking heir's house from her own.
But she could see his private landing strip from her parlor window and took wry delight in the extravagant idiosyncrasies of the very wealthy. Whenever she would see the Mellons's private plane land and then take off 10 minutes later, her step-granddaughter and farm manager, Becky Armstrong, recalled yesterday, Mrs. Randolph would take a sip of her tea and nod knowingly: It was only Mrs. Mellon, she would say, come home to fetch a scarf.
Mrs. Randolph is survived by three children from her first marriage, Theodora Hooton of Glen Head, N.Y., Amory Winthrop of Millbrook, N.Y., and Cornelia Bonnie of Prospect, Ky.; five grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
She was the niece of General George S. Patton. Her first marriage, to NYC investment banker Robert Winthrop, ended in divorce.
She met Dr. Archibald Cary Randolph during her time visiting her uncle and partaking in the local fox hunting. After the death of Dr. Randolph, many years later, she succeeded him as hunt master of the Piedmont Hunt, a 150 year old landowners' association.
She was known as "First Lady of the Hunt."
~~~
By Robert Mcg. Thomas Jr.
June 15, 1996, Section 1, Page 11
Theodora Ayer Randolph, who rode the Virginia hunt country long enough and well enough to become known as the first lady of fox hunting, died on Tuesday at her Oakley Farm home in Upperville, Va. She was 90.
It had been years since Mrs. Randolph had donned her dark-blue, gold-collared coat, tucked her auburn hair under her helmet and galloped off over the vast expanse of farmland that makes up the grounds of the 150-year-old landowners' association known as the Piedmont Hunt. But as a master of the Piedmont, she had remained an indispensable presence in the affairs of the nation's oldest and largest fox-hunting entity.
In an area 45 miles west of Washington, where generations-old farms are sometimes acquired by city-bred newcomers unaccustomed to seeing a horde of horsemen thunder across their front yards in pursuit of a pack of hounds in pursuit of a fox, no respecter of property lines, after all, it would be Mrs. Randolph's duty to pay the newcomers a call. Over a cup of tea, perhaps, she would acquaint them with the customs and traditions of the neighborhood, assuring them that the members of the Piedmont Hunt were always careful to close gates they might have opened and to not trample any flower beds near the house.
As a clincher, she would note that as landowners, the newcomers would be eligible to join the Piedmont, an act that would instantly elevate them to the upper reaches of Virginia society.
The widow of Dr. Archibald Cary Randolph, a landed surgeon whose family helped settle Virginia, Mrs. Randolph succeeded her husband as hunt master after his death in 1959. But she was something of a newcomer herself. In an area where the first families of Virginia can be downright condescending to those who trace their ancestry to only the second wave of settlers, Mrs. Randolph achieved social prominence and fox-hunting distinction despite the fact that she was an actual Yankee.
Mrs. Randolph was born Sept. 27, 1905, in Beverly Farms, Mass., and learned to ride at the age of 3. Her father was master of the local Myopia Hunt, and she was fox hunting long before she saw Virginia.
Even so, she readily acknowledged that she received some of her most vivid training in advanced fence-jumping during Virginia visits to her daredevil uncle, General George S. Patton.
Mrs. Randolph -- whose first marriage, to the Massachusetts-born New York investment banker Robert Winthrop, ended in divorce -- married well twice and was born better.
Her father, Charles Ayer, was a member of the family that settled Ayer, Mass., and made a considerable fortune dealing in woolens and patent medicines, including the 19th-century tonic rage, sarsaparilla.
After her divorce, Mrs. Randolph, who had fallen in love with the Virginia hunt country during her years at Foxcroft, a Virginia boarding school, settled there and renewed her acquaintance with Dr. Randolph, whom she had known as the dashing master of the Piedmont Hunt during her boarding school days.
After their marriage in 1941, she became active in every aspect of equestrian affairs, breeding show and steeplechase champions, leading a drive to ban the use of performance-enhancing drugs and receiving numerous honors for her work, including an honorary degree from the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine.
But it was as a highly accomplished horsewoman, one who could take the lead in an organization that prides itself on being the nation's fastest hunt ("Keep up or go home" is one of its official rules), that she won greatest acclaim.
It was a tribute to her standing, and her reputation for social observation, that in her later years newcomers tended to come to her.
In an area of such sprawling acreage and long driveways that next-door neighbors tend to drive over when they visit, Mrs. Randolph lived next door to Paul Mellon, not that she could actually see the Pittsburgh banking heir's house from her own.
But she could see his private landing strip from her parlor window and took wry delight in the extravagant idiosyncrasies of the very wealthy. Whenever she would see the Mellons's private plane land and then take off 10 minutes later, her step-granddaughter and farm manager, Becky Armstrong, recalled yesterday, Mrs. Randolph would take a sip of her tea and nod knowingly: It was only Mrs. Mellon, she would say, come home to fetch a scarf.
Mrs. Randolph is survived by three children from her first marriage, Theodora Hooton of Glen Head, N.Y., Amory Winthrop of Millbrook, N.Y., and Cornelia Bonnie of Prospect, Ky.; five grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
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