STITH, William, historian, born in Virginia, in 1689" died in Williamsburg, Virginia, 27 September, 1755. He was a nephew of Sir John Randolph, and brother-in-law of Peyton Randolph. After studying theology, he was ordained in England as a minister of the established church, and in 1731 became master of the grammar-school of William and Mary college. He was chaplain of the house of burgesses in 1738, and in 1752-'5 rector of Henrico parish and president of William and Mary. He published a " History of Virginia from the First Settlement to the Dissolution of the London Company" (Williamsburg, 1747; new ed., with bibliographical notice by Joseph Sabin, limited to 250 copies, New York, 1866). Thomas Jefferson says of this work that it is "inelegant and often too minute to be tolerable," and De Tocqueville calls it "long and diffuse," but it, is praised highly by others for its accuracy. Stith acknowledges in his preface his indebtedness to the writings of William Byrd, and he also made use of materials that Sir John Randolph had collected for a purpose similar to his own. All the documents that he used have been recently destroyed by fire. He also wrote "The Nature and Extent of Christ's Redemption," a sermon (Williamsburg, 1753).