A Memoir of Sir Edmund Andros, Knt Part 2

The Colony sent over Elisha Cooke and Thomas Oakes to a.s.sist their agents, Sir Henry Ashurst and Increase Mather, in prosecuting their charges against Sir Edmund and his a.s.sociates. We find in the New York Col. Doc.u.ments, iii. 722, and also in R.I. Records, iii. 281, an account by Sir Edmund of his administration, which is termed by PALFREY (iii. 587) "extremely disingenuous," though we cannot a.s.sent to this term. In it he says that he and his friends were sent to England "where, after summons given to the pretended agents of New England, and their twice appearance at the Council Board, nothing being objected by them or others, they were discharged."

HUTCHINSON, indeed, (i. 394,) attempts to lay the blame of this release of Andros and his more guilty a.s.sociates, upon Sir John Somers, the counsel employed by the agents. It may be nearer the truth to say that Andros had committed no crime for which he could be punished, and that he had in no way exceeded or abused the powers conferred upon him.

At all events, Andros was favorably received at home, and in 1692 was appointed Governor of Virginia, to which command was joined that of Maryland. "He brought over to Virginia the Charter of William and Mary College, of which he laid the foundation. He encouraged manufactures and the cultivation of cotton in that Colony, regulated the Secretary's office, where he commanded all the public papers and records to be sorted and kept in order, and when the State House was burned, had them carefully preserved, and again sorted and registered.

By these and other commendable acts, he succeeded in gaining the esteem of the people, and in all likelihood would have been still more useful to the Colony had his stay been longer, but his administration closed in November, 1698." (O'CALLAGHAN, Woolley's Journal, p. 67.)

Strangely enough, the Governor who in Ma.s.sachusetts was chiefly hated for his love of Episcopacy, was overthrown in Virginia for quarrelling with the Church authorities. The Earl of Bellomont writes in 1690, in a letter printed in N.Y. Col. Doc. iv. 490, "Sir Edmund Andros for quarreling with Doctor Blair in Virginia, brought the resentment of the Bishop of London and the Church (they say) on his head, which is the reason he has lost his government, and by the same rule they would get me recalled by making this a church quarrel." Bishop Meade in his "Old Churches and Families of Virginia," i. 157-8, gives some account of this controversy. The opponent of Andros was the Rev. James Blair, Commissary of the Bishop of London and President of the College, who seems to have pa.s.sed nearly all his life in disputes with successive Governors; and it is no proof that Andros was in the wrong that he was recalled and superseded. The record of the trial of Dr. Blair is preserved at Lambeth, the result being that he returned triumphant with a good sum of money for his College.

Sir Edmund soon reappears, however, as the recipient of Court favor, being in 1704 appointed Governor of Guernsey, an office which he held for two years, retaining also the post of Bailiff of the Island, which he had for life. This is nearly the last we learn of him, and his age, nearly seventy years, must have debarred him from farther service. We find his name indeed among the new members in the "Proceedings of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, 20 Feb.

1712-3 to 19 Feb. 1713-4;"[11] and this was in the last year of his life, as he was buried at St. Anne's, Soho, Westminster, London, 27th Feb. 1713-4, in his 76th year.

[Footnote 11: Communicated by W.S. Appleton, Esq.]

There remain to be noticed only a few items in respect to Sir Edmund's marriages, all occurring after his return from Virginia.

We do not know how soon after the death of his first wife in 1688 he married again; but the examination made for us by Joseph L. Chester, Esq., of London, shows that Sir Edmund's second wife was Elizabeth, third daughter and co-heiress of Thomas Crispe of Quekes, co. Kent.

Her father, who died in 1680, was the oldest son of Thomas Crispe, Esq. of Gondhurst, co. Kent, nephew and heir-male of Henry Crispe of Quekes. She was a widow, having married first Christopher Clapham, (son of Sir Christopher Clapham, Knt. of Clapham, co. York,) who died 15th November, 1677, and was buried in Birchington Church, Isle of Thanet, co. Kent: by him she had but one child, Christopher Clapham, who is mentioned in Andros's Will. It may be added, that Sir William Craven, brother of the first Lady Andros, married Mary Clapham, a sister-in-law of this Mrs. Elizabeth Clapham. The connection between the families rendered this second marriage of Andros the more natural.

The second Lady Andros was buried at St. Giles'-in-the-Fields, co.

Middles.e.x, August 18th, 1703.

Sir Edmund married thirdly, April 21st, 1707, Elizabeth Fitzherbert, of whose family nothing has been found. She survived him and was buried at St. Anne's, Soho, February 12th, 1716-17. He left no issue by any of his wives, though representatives of the family, in the line of his nephew, still reside at Guernsey.

In reviewing the long public career of Sir Edmund Andros, we are struck not less by the amount of work which he performed than by the censures which his services incurred. He was the Governor at times of every Royal Province on the mainland, and exercised a larger influence than any other of the rulers sent hither by Great Britain. He was repeatedly accused of dishonesty and oppression, yet he pa.s.sed harmless through repeated examinations only to receive fresh promotion. He was apparently the chosen follower of James, and yet there is no reason to suspect him of any disloyalty to his country at the anxious period when that monarch was striving to retain his throne. He was intrusted by William with the government of Virginia, and was honored by Queen Anne; thus holding office under four successive monarchs. Surely there must have been some n.o.ble traits of character in a man thus perpetually involved in contests and thus invariably successful.

It is certainly to be regretted that we have been led to form our opinion of Andros from the reports of men who were deeply interested in maligning him. That his government was distasteful to the citizens of Ma.s.sachusetts is undeniable, but no man sent here to perform the same duty would have been acceptable. In reality the grievance of the colonists lay in the destruction of their Charter, and filled with hatred to those who had thus deprived them of this accustomed liberty, they were at enmity with every form of government that might be imposed in its place. The leaders indeed found that a restoration of the Charter was impossible, but Increase Mather's letters testify how reluctantly the people acquiesced, and how sharply he was blamed for not effecting impossibilities.

As to the government of Andros, we fail to see in it any special hards.h.i.+ps or persecution. He himself declares that he levied for the expenses of the State only the usual annual tax of a penny in the pound, which had been the rate for the previous fifty years. If other officers, not appointed by him, nor under his control, charged unmerciful fees, that was a matter to be urged against them. It is a significant fact, however, that most of these officers remained in America and were unmolested. If under instructions from the Crown, and fortified by the opinions of English judges, he attempted to collect rent for lands which the settlers claimed were their own, unless he used fraud or violence, he should no more be blamed than the lawyers employed in the cases.

We see then no reason to doubt that Sir Edmund Andros was an upright and honorable man, faithful to his employers, conscientious in his religious belief, an able soldier, possessed of great administrative abilities, a man worthy to be ranked among the leaders of his time. He may have been hasty of speech, yet his words were followed by no acts of revenge; he may have been proud of his ancestry and his position at Court, yet we find no evidence that his pride exceeded the bounds of decorum. He was singularly fortunate in acquiring the affection of the Indians at a time when their good-will was of immense importance; and his overthrow was the precursor of one of the most disastrous Indian wars that New England ever experienced.

It should be remembered, finally, that he labored under the disadvantage of being here at the time of a transition in affairs. He was fast building up a party here of those who wished to a.s.similate Ma.s.sachusetts to other portions of the British empire. There were many, and those not the poorest or least educated, who were sorry when the reaction succeeded for a time and the old rule was re-established.

And yet the triumph was but nominal, for the old Charter and the old system were never restored. The Colony was destined to enter upon a new career which was to reach to the Revolution, and undoubtedly a potent influence at the outset was the breaking up of old a.s.sociations effected by Andros. The only injustice we need to repair, is the mistaken idea that he was the ruling cause of the change--it was something far more powerful. Unless, therefore, we are disposed to quarrel with the progress of events, and to wish to restore our State to the primitive rule of the Puritan church, we should cease to make a bugbear of the instrument of its overthrow. We may cla.s.s Andros rather among those statesmen, unwelcome but necessary, whose very virtues and abilities are detested in their lifetime, because they do so thoroughly their appointed work and initiate new periods in national history.

WILL OF SIR EDMUND ANDROS.

[Extracted from the Princ.i.p.al Registry of Her Majesty's Court of Probate, in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury.]

In the Name of G.o.d, Amen.

I Sr. Edmund Andros of Guernsey and now residing in the parish of St Anne in the Liberty of Westminster in the County of Middles.e.x Knight being in health of body and of good and perfect memory praised be G.o.d do make and ordain this my last Will and Testament in manner and form following that is to say First and princ.i.p.ally I commend my soul into the hands of Almighty G.o.d my Creator trusting and a.s.suredly hoping through the merits and mediation of my blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ to inherit eternal life my body to be decently buried but without ostentation and as to the worldly estate it hath pleased G.o.d to bless me with I dispose thereof as followeth viz Imprs: I order and direct that all the just debts which I may happen to owe at my decease be forthwith paid----Item I give the sum of one hundred pounds for the placing of ten poor children to be apprentices to some trades or otherwise preferred according to the discretion of my Executor that is to say ten pounds for each child----Item Whereas I am ent.i.tled to two several annuities of fifty pounds p.

annum each payable out of the Exchequer by virtue of an Act of Parliament whereof the order for payment for one is number one thousand and ninety four and therefore payment of the other is number four thousand three hundred seventy seven now for a further and better provision for Dame Elizabeth my wife I do give unto her the said two several annuities of fifty pounds p: ann: a piece together with the several Tallys and Orders relating thereunto for and during the term of her natural life only and I also give unto my said wife the sum of one hundred pounds to be paid to her immediately after my death which said several annuities for life and one hundred pounds I do hereby direct appoint and declare are for and in lieu of a jointure and in full recompence of her dower and are hereby given to my said wife upon condition that she shall not claim any interest right or t.i.tle in or to any lands tenements or hereditaments of which I am or shall be seized at the time of my decease and if my said wife shall after my death claim any estate right t.i.tle or interest in or to any of my lands tenements or hereditaments Then the bequest herein made unto her of the said several annuities and of the said one hundred pounds as aforesaid shall be void and of none effect and then and in such case I give the said several annuities and the said one hundred pounds unto my Executor hereinafter named----And from and after the decease of my said wife I also give the said two several annuities of fifty pounds each unto my Executor hereinafter named together with the Tallys & orders relating thereunto----Item I give the sum of two hundred pounds which is due to me by bond from Thomas Cooper near Maidstone in Kent taken in the name of my late sister in law Mrs Hannah Crispe and all the interest that shall be due thereupon unto Christopher Clapham Esq (son of my late dear deceased wife) if I do not in some other give or secure to the said Christopher Clapham the sd. debt of two hundred pounds and interest----Item I give to Edwin Wiat Esq Serjeant at Law (if he shall survive me) and in case of his death before me to his Executors Administrators or a.s.signs the sum of three hundred pounds which is due and owing to me by mortgage made from Mrs Mary Hurt unto my said late wife by the name of Elizabeth Clapham Widow and all interest that shall be due thereupon and all my right and interest in and to the same upon this condition that the said Serjt. Wiat his executors administrators or a.s.signs shall within six months next after my decease pay unto the said Christopher Clapham Esq the sum of two hundred pounds which sum I do give to the said Mr. Clapham out of the said debt----Item I give to my niece Elizabeth daughter of my late brother John Andros deceased the sum of two hundred pounds----Item I give to my niece Ann daughter of my said late brother John Andros the sum of one hundred pounds----Item I give to my nephew Caesar son of my sd. late brother John Andros the sum of one hundred pounds----Item I give to my nephew Edmund son of my said late brother John Andros the yearly sum of twenty pounds for his maintenance which sd. yearly sum of twenty pounds my will is shall be paid by my Executor hereinafter named free from all taxes charges and payments whatsoever unto my said nephew Edmund or to such person or persons as shall from time to time have the care and keeping of him by equal half yearly payments for and during the term of his natural life that is to say at the feast of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Feast of St. Michael the Archangel the first payment to begin and to be made at such of the said feasts as shall first happen after my death----Item I give unto my nephew William son of my said late brother John Andros the sum of one hundred pounds----Item I give to my nephew George Son of my late brother George Andros deceased all my estate and interest in the Island of Alderney which I shall be seized or possessed of at the time of my death either in fee simple or for any term of years or otherwise howsoever in the said Island of Alderney together with all powers privileges and francises to me belonging and all my right t.i.tle and interest thereto and I also give unto my said nephew George Andros the sum of five hundred pounds----Item whereas there is payable to me or my a.s.signs out of the Exchequer and chargeable on the Revenue of Excise by Act of Parliament two several annuities of fifty pounds each whereof the order for one is number four hundred sixty three & the order for the other is number four hundred sixty four I do hereby give unto my said nephew George Andros the said two several annuitys or yearly sums of fifty pounds & all my term benefit & advantages in & to the same together with the Tallys and orders relating thereunto to be delivered to him immediately after my decease----Item I give to my niece Anne Lemesurier daughter of my said late Brother George Andros the sum of one hundred pounds----Item Whereas Caesar Knapton Gent is indebted to me in several sums of money by bond mortgage or otherwise the mortgage being made to Ralph Marshall Esq & by him a.s.signed to me in lieu of moneys had of mine I do hereby give unto the sd. Caesar Knapton all such moneys as remains due to me from him & do also release unto him and his heirs all securities which I have for the same----Item I give to William Le Merchant Son of my late niece Elizabeth Le Merchant dec'ed the sum of one hundred pounds and to his sister Elizabeth the now wife of Mr. Elizea Le Merchant the like sum of one hundred pounds----Item I release and discharge my cousin Magdalen Andros Widow the Relict of my Cousin Amos Andros deceased and his heirs off and from all and every the sum and sums of money which is due and owing to me from the said Amos Andros by Bond or otherwise----Item I release & discharge my cousin Mary Andros (daughter of the said Amos Andros deceased) off and from all sum and sums of money charges and other expences whatsoever which I have disbursed or have been at for her late maintenance or might have or clayme any wise for the same and also I give unto her the said Mary Andros the sume of one hundred pounds and my mind and will is and I doe hereby direct that the several and respective legacies hereinbefore given shall be by my Executor hereinafter named paid or a.s.signed to the said several legatees ent.i.tled thereto within one year next after my decease nevertheless my will is and I do hereby declare that the said several legacies hereinbefore given are given to the said several legatees respectively upon condition that they do not claim any other part of my estate than what is hereby given to them respectively and that if any or either of them or any other person or persons on their or any of their behalfs or claiming by or under them either or any of them shall or do clayme any part of my estate either real or personal other than what is by this my Will given to them respectively or shall in any wise molest hinder or disturb my nephews John Andros or his heirs or any claiming under him or them in the quiet possession or enjoyment thereof or shall upon his or their request refuse to release all his her or their claim interest or pretensions in or to all or any part or parcel of my estate other than what is hereinbefore respectively given to them That then and from thenceforth the legacy or legacys so given to him her or them respectively as aforesaid so claiming or refusing as aforesaid shall respectively cease determine and be utterly void and in such case I give the said legacy or legacys so as to be made void as aforesaid unto my said nephew John (eldest son of my said brother John Andros dec'ed) and his heirs----Item I give to Mrs.

Margaret Baxter Widow the yearly sum of ten pounds to be paid to her tax free out of the interest rents issues and profits of the mortgage money hereinafter mentioned to be due to me from the estate of my late cousin Margaret Lowdon deceased by equal quarterly payments for and during the natural life of the said Mrs. Baxter the first payment whereof to begin and to be made at the end of three calendar months next after my decease----Item I discharge the heirs executors and administrators of the said Mrs. Margaret Lowdon of and from all interest money that shall remain due to me at the time of my decease over and above what sums of money she did in her lifetime pay and which they or any of them shall have paid to me or by my order for the sum of four hundred pounds which is due to me on the mortgage of her estate in Harron Alley without Aldgate London----Item all other my estate whatsoever both real and personal in Great Britain Guernsey or elsewhere not herein disposed of after all my debts legacies and funeral expences shall be paid and satisfied I give devise and bequeath unto my said nephew John (eldest son of my said late brother John Andros deceased) and to his heirs----But my will is that my said nephew John or his heirs shall within two years after my decease (if not built before) build a good suitable house on or at the Manor of Sacmares in Guernsey aforesaid and if the said John or his heires shall not in that time build such house (if not built before) Then my Will is and I do hereby direct and appoint my said nephew John or his heires to pay the sum of five hundred pounds unto my said nephew George Andros within one year after his or their neglect to build such house as aforesaid and I do hereby make ordain const.i.tute and appoint my said nephew John Andros (in case he survives me) Sole Executor of this my last Will and Testament----But if my said nephew John Andros shall be then dead then and in such case I make his heirs male Sole Executor of this my last Will and Testament----And I do hereby revoke annul and make void all former wills by me made declaring this to be my last Will and Testament----In witness whereof to this my last Will and Testament contained in five sheets of paper I have to each of the said sheets sett my hand and seal the nineteenth day of July Anno Dom: 1712 and in the eleventh year of the reign of our Sovereign Lady Anne by the Grace of G.o.d of Great Britain France and Ireland Queen Defender of the Faith

E. ANDROS.

Signed sealed declared and published by the said Sir Edmund Andros to be his last Will and Testament in the presence of the Witnesses hereunder written which said Witnesses subscribed their names in the presence of the said Sir Edmund Andros--James Spenceley--Rob: Hodson Jno. Hodson--

Probatum fuit hujus modi Testamentum apud London coram Venerabili Viro Johanne Andrew Legum Doctore Surrogato Praehonorandi viri Domini Caroli Hodges Militis Legum Etiam Doctoris Curiae Prerogativae Cantuariensis Magistri Custodis Sive Commissarii legitime const.i.tuti Octavo die mensis Martii Anno D'ni Millesimo Septingentesimo decimo tertio juramento Johannis Andros Armigeri Executoris in dicto Testamento nominati Cui Commissa fuit administratio omnium et singulorum bonorum jurium et creditorum dicti defuncti de bene et fideliter administrando eadem ad Sancta Dei Evangelii Jurat.

[Ill.u.s.tration: From Sir Edmund's official Seal used in New England.]

NOTES ON THE PRECEDING MEMOIR.

Since the foregoing pages were in type, we have been favored with some additional information concerning the Governor, through the kindness of A.C. Andros, Esq., one of the present representatives of the family.

A.

He refers, first, to the printed account of Sir Edmund Andros, to be found in the following book:--"Sarnia, or Brief Memorials of many of her sons," by Ferdinand Brock Tupper, Esq. of Guernsey, published in that island in 1862. In it the fact is mentioned that the manor or fief of Sausmarez (_anglice_ Saltmarsh) in St. Martin's parish, was sold in 1748 by the Andros family to a branch of the Sausmarez family which still owns it.

B.

Amice Andros, father of Sir Edmund, was "keeper of the castle of Jerbourg, and hereditary Cup-bearer to the King in Guernsey, as also one of the gallant defenders of Castle Cornet, during its memorable nine years' siege. Two of his brothers, military officers, were slain; one in the service of the King of Bohemia, who was son-in-law of James I. of England; and the other in 1644, during the Civil War."

C.

We have mentioned (p. xxii) that Sir Edmund received in 1683 a grant of the Island of Alderney for ninety-nine years. Mr. Tupper states that Lieut. General John Le Mesurier, who died 21st May, 1843, was the last hereditary governor of Alderney. He was descended from Anne Andros, sister and co-heir of George Andros, the nephew and heir of Sir Edmund. Gen. Le Mesurier resigned the patent in 1825, on condition of receiving a pension of 700 a year until its expiration in 1862.

D.

In an old pedigree, written about A.D. 1687 by Charles Andros, uncle of the Governor, and still preserved in the family, are a few additional items relating to Sir Edmund. Before 1660 he served three years in a troop of horse commanded by his uncle, Sir Robert Stone, in Holland, and had a commission as Ensign to go to the island of Funeme in Denmark.... After the death of the Queen of Bohemia he was made ensign of the company of Sir John Talbot, Captain of the King's guards. He was married "in England" to Mary Craven in February, 1671.

March 30th, 1672, (by which we understand the same year as that of his marriage,) he was made Major of Prince Rupert's Dragoons. "The 14th day of January, 1673," (? 1673-4,) he received "by patent in reversion the charge of the Bailly of the island of Guernsey." "The 13th April, 1683, the King, Charles II. gave the charge of Gentleman in ordinary of his privy chamber" to Sir Edmund, and "the 6th day of the month of June, 1685, the King, James II. gave a commission to the above Sir Edmund Andros to command a troop of cavalry to go against the rebels in England." This refers of course to Monmouth's Rebellion. In August, 1685, he was made Lieut. Colonel of Lord Scarsdale's cavalry. (_Ante_, p. xxii.) "The 19th October, 1686, the above Sir Edmund left England to go to New-England;" he arrived 19th December, 1686. (_Ante_, p.

xxvii.)

E.

We are indebted to Mr. Andros for a photograph of an original portrait of Sir Edmund, from which the engraving prefixed to this memoir has been made. As no other likeness of the Governor has been published, our readers will fully appreciate the kindness of this contribution, and will cordially join in expressing thanks for it.