Samuel Randall was born June 26, 1834, in Ohio. His ancestors were among the earliest settlers of that state. Notably, his great-grandparents, Judge Findley and his wife, endured the full hardships and perils of pioneer life. Family tradition recounts that his great-grandmother, while riding horseback to church in her youth, was attacked by Native Americans and left tomahawked by the roadside. She later revived and escaped.

Randall was orphaned in infancy and soon removed with his grandparents to Paris, Illinois. There he was taken into the home of Colonel Baldwin, a prominent merchant. Baldwin’s wife was a cousin of Mary Todd Lincoln, wife of President Abraham Lincoln. Under this influence, Randall received an excellent business education.

In 1855 he came west and entered the employ of the Pettijohn family at Mendota, Minnesota, where they operated a lumber yard. He was soon transferred to manage one of their yards in Shakopee. He later moved to Henderson to take charge of a lumber yard owned by Franklin Steele.

On November 11, 1858, he married Catherine Ridgeway, a public school teacher and a native of Kentucky.

In June 1859, Randall moved to Mankato and established the first lumber yard in the town, located on the corner later occupied by the Lewis and Manderfeld stores. During the U.S.–Dakota War of 1862, his entire lumber supply was appropriated by the military, effectively destroying his business.

Undeterred, in 1863 he opened the first distinctively ready-made clothing store in Mankato. Within a few years he formed a partnership with his cousin, Warham B. Smith, under the firm name Randall & Smith. The business prospered until its dissolution in 1878, when Randall retired after being completely prostrated by the sudden death of all five of his children from diphtheria.

Randall was active in civic affairs. He served as an alderman and held other local offices. Along with John H. Barr, he was among the original instigators of the Mankato Board of Trade, which was organized in the second story of his building. Throughout his life he was known as an enterprising and public-spirited citizen.

Samuel Randall died July 6, 1882.