William Henry Whitmore

“ He kept a correspondence with the Colony whilst he was Governor of New York. His letters then discovered much of the dictator." So Palfrey (iii. 517) in his admirable History, says that James "had known Andros many years as a person of resolution and capacity, of arbitrary principles, and of habits and tastes absolutely foreign to those of the Puritans of New-England; and could scarcely have been ignorant of his personal grudge against Massachusetts, on account of old affronts. It was not to be doubted that here was a man prepared to be as oppressive and offensive as the King desired." ”

“ Whether any part of his youthful years while he was a page in the Royal service, had been spent in her household or not, it is worthy of notice that as a young man Andros was in a position to acquire the accomplishments of a Court, and to behold Royalty in its most fascinating form.
Elizabeth, Queen of Bohemia, was the only daughter of King James I. of England, and was born 19th August, 1596. She was married 27th Dec. 1612, to Frederick V., Count Palatine of the Rhine, Duke of Bavaria and Silesia, who was soon elected King of Bohemia, but lost all his possessions by the fortune of war. ”

“ The moral question as to waste lands is more difficult of decision, since the argument is not without force, that it was better for Andros to grant them to persons who would improve them, than for the towns to hold them, unimproved, as commons.
Among the earliest acts of Andros, was his extending his authority over New Hampshire, Plymouth and Rhode Island, as well as Maine and Massachusetts. In October, 1687, he visited Hartford, and took the government of Connecticut also into his hands, and he afterwards traveled through that Colony. ”

“ It is evident that no person was executed for a political offence, and that none of the atrocities of Jeffreys or Lauderdale were repeated in this country. It is equally evident that no one was fined or imprisoned for non-conformity to the Church of England, and the contrast with the mother-25- country is entirely in our favor. If the fees exacted were excessive, a point hereafter to be considered, was Andros a gainer thereby? ”

“ Andros pursued his plans for protecting his Colony, furnished the necessary arms and ammunition, and disarmed the friendly Indians. Returning to New York, he called together the neighboring sachems and renewed the treaties with them; and in August, 1675, he proceeded to Albany, where he succeeded in gaining the friendship of the Mohawks and other powerful tribes. For nearly a year, till the death of Philip, August 12th, 1676, Massachusetts and Connecticut suffered from the barbarous incursions of the Indians. ”

“ In April, 1688, Andros visited Portsmouth and Pemaquid, where he repaired the fort, and proceeding to Penobscot, he seized some property of Castine, a Frenchman who had settled there among the Indians. Returning to Boston, "he found a great promotion awaiting him in a new commission, creating him Governor of all the English possessions on the mainland, except Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia." [7] His command embraced New England, New York and New Jersey, with its capital at Boston. ”

“ In fact, both parties had a patent for the same land, since the Connecticut Charter covered all the land from the Narragansett Bay, due west to the South Sea, and the Duke of York's territory was to be carved from this domain. Andros indeed says with truth that the English claim had been abandoned,-16- since under that patent Connecticut might claim "New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Carolina and the Spanish West Indies," as well as all New York. ”

“ In prosperity modest and unassuming; in adversity surmounting difficulties and dignifying poverty, her character was regarded with enthusiasm in her own time, and has won for her the admiration of posterity. ”

“ The Colony at that time was estimated to contain between six and seven thousand white inhabitants, to which number were to be added the English settlers on Long Island. Andros's commission, which was dated July 1, 1674, made him "Lieutenant and Governor" over that part of Maine which was styled Pemaquid, Long Island, Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard, and the territory from the west side of Connecticut River to the east side of Delaware Bay. This latter territory comprised not only the State of New York, but Delaware, New Jersey and a large portion of Connecti-15-cut ”

“ Towards the end of the summer of 1676, the Indian troubles broke out in the settlements in Maine, and though Massachusetts had taken possession of the Duke of York's territory of Pemaquid, Andros exerted himself to protect the settlers there, and sent an armed sloop thither. ”

“ Reduced to plain statements, the personal charges against Andros seem to be, first, a zeal for Episcopacy, which led him to insist upon having a place for Church services in one of the Boston meeting-houses for a time; and secondly, a rude or insolent carriage towards his disaffected subjects.
As to the first, the facts are patent, and they do not seem to constitute a very heinous offence. ”

“ 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 noble traits of character in a man thus perpetually involved in contests and thus invariably successful. ”

“ The other claim of the Crown was to the ownership of all the land, which involved two questions, viz. as to lands already owned by the settlers, and waste lands. The government held that private titles were invalid, unless confirmed by the Crown on the payment of a quit rent. Preposterous as this doctrine may seem, it had staunch defenders, and Andros was in earnest in enforcing it. Many complied with the requirements of the government, but the work was not completed when the Revolution came. ”

“ We have yet to learn of any claim made against Andros for fees illegally collected or for public money mis-appropriated. Palmer indeed, in his Impartial Account, makes a strong defense for Andros on this head. The Council were all old residents; the Secretary and Collector, who received the greatest fees, were not appointed by Andros, and indeed Randolph quarrelled with him. The Treasurer was John Usher, who continued to reside here after the downfall of Andros, and the Chief Justice was Dudley. ”

“ To prove-27- that he discountenanced making defence against the Indians, his opponents offer the testimony of certain village officials, whose affidavits prove only that Sir Edmund probably had read Shakespeare.
We fail, therefore, to see any evidence that Andros was cruel, rapacious, or dishonest; we know of no charge affecting his morality, and we find a hasty temper the most palpable fault to be imputed to him. ”

“ And the magistrates and others in place, chosen by the people, think that they are obliged to assert and maintain said government all they can, and are Church-members and like so to be chosen, and to continue without any considerable alteration and change there, and depend upon the people to justify them in their actings. ”

“ Andros at this time brought before the Council the matter of the false charge that he had supplied the Indians with ammunition, and the Agents for Massachusetts, William Stoughton and Peter Bulkley accordingly replied, promising "To do their utmost endeavour" to remove any misunderstanding between Sir Edmund and their government. ”

“ Andros had been previously warned however, by his friends in New York.
From this time until the 18th of April, there were doubtless plots and conspiracies without end. On that day the-31- people of Boston rose against Andros and his government, but no hint is given us of the real contrivers of the revolution. Palfrey, iii. 579, writes, "It would be very interesting to know when and how the rising in Boston was projected. But conspirators do not show their hands while they are at their game ”

“ 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 Cæsar 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 An-42-dros the yearly sum of twenty pounds for his maintenance which sd. ”

“ Andrews, an English Gentleman, borne in Northamptonshire, coming into the Isle of Guernsey as Lieutt. to Sr Peter Mewtis, Knight, the Governour, did there marry, Ao. 1543, with Judith de Sausmarez, only daughter of Thomas Sausmarez, son and heir of Thomas Sausmarez, Lords of the Seignorie of Sausmarez in the said Isle, which Judith did afterwards become heir to her brother George de Sausmarez, Lord of the said Seignorie: And that John Andros, Esqr., son and heir of the said John and Judith, had the sd. ”

“ He married Lady Mary Howard, daughter of George, fourth Earl of Suffolk. From the identity of names it is probable that his son was the Percy Kirke who in 1735 was a Brigadier-General, commanding the King's Own Regiment of Foot. ”

“ He arrived on the 7th September, 1678, and found his Colony at peace, though there were still difficulties to be apprehended in dealing with the Indians. During the next two years Andros seems to have been much disturbed by controversies with some of the leading merchants, and complaints were freely made to the Duke of York that his Governor was dishonest. Accordingly, James wrote, May 24, 1680, to Andros, (N.Y. Col. Doc. iii. 283,) that he wished him to return to England "by the first convenience," turning over the government to Anthony Brockholst, the Lieutenant-Governor. Mr. ”