Note: The following letter was written in response to a request from Helen Andrew to Henry J. Andrew, her 2^nd cousin, once removed (Alexander was the common ancestor) for some information concerning Andrew history:

Ontario Center, N.Y.

March 24, 1946

Miss Helen Hunt Andrew

Huntington, Long Island

Dear Miss Andrew,

Am afraid I can't give you as much information as I could wish. Don't know as I have much more information than you have access to. I recall that a very long time ago your father [Fred Andrew] read a paper at a gathering of the Andrew clan. Think that the facts given in this paper were based largely on whatever my Father [Jermain Andrew, Fred's 2nd cousin] told him. Think you Father always kept a copy of this paper.

I can only tell you that Alexander Andrew came to the U.S. somewhere about the time of the Am. Revolution.

My impression is that the Uncle's name was John Andrew but am not positive about this. I recall a story that my Aunt Amelia [Jermain's sister] was in New York City one time and she went to Old Trinity Church Yard and she found a stone which she believed marked the grave of our early relative.

Sorry am unable to answer your questions more fully. If there are any other question regarding the later history of the Andrew's would be glad to answer if I am able.

Sincerely,

Henry J. Andrew

Note: The following History was found in Helen Hunt Andrew's papers. Concerning it, she wrote "This is probably the paper which Henry Andrew [see above] said Daddy [Fred Delmar Andrew] read at a gathering of the Andrew clan".

The earliest ancestor of our family who has ever lived in this country is Alexander Andrew. He was born in the year 1758 in the north of Ireland and was the youngest of three sons. His parents were well-to-do Irish farmers living near Coldrain [probably Coleraine], a village of considerable size and importance. His mother's name was Nelson whence comes the name in our own family. As at the present time in England and Ireland, even comparatively wealthy people were obliged to rent farms from landlords, so that our Irish ancestry, although possessed of considerable wealth, had no family estates.

The eldest son inherited all the property according to the English customs, the second son was educated for the ministry, while the youngest emigrated to this country at an early age. He had an uncle living in New York City, a merchant of considerable wealth, who had offered free passage in his ships to any of his nephews who desired to come to America. The immediate cause of his leaving his native isle was that he was drafted into the British Army. With some difficulty he succeeded in escaping from Ireland and in reaching New York City. For a time he lived with his uncle and worked for him in his store; but this work for some reason was distasteful to him and he soon left it and removed to Washington County, New York.

There seems to be some little doubt as to his exact age at the time of emigration, but he probably was about eighteen years of age. His desertion from the army would then be a decidedly pleasant remembrance to us, for it was to escape being sent to this country to fight against the united colonies in the Revolution. If this is the fact, he probably remained in New York City but a short time, for the British took possession of the city in September of the year of his emigration, and we can imagine that he would not wish to remain in too close proximity to the British Soldiery. The objection to this date of arrival is that among all his stories, his grandchildren never heard him tell any of the Revolutionary War, while he must have been in this country during all those exciting times.

Sometime after moving to Washington County, Alexander Andrew married Esther Gilmore, a most estimable young lady of Scotch parentage. They settled in Cambridge, now called Jackson, where they remained for many years and where all of their children were born. [In the current road atlas there is a Cambridge but not a Jackson in Washington County.]

In the year 1811, James Andrew, who was then 16 years of age, in company with his father came to this part of the country prospecting for land. With money furnished by Esther Andrew's family they bought a farm in Penfield and then returned for the rest of the family. They were preceded on their journey to their new home by James and William and who were to prepare the place for the arrival of the others. But the entire family was never again to be united. While James and William were sick with typhus at a little settlement which afterwards developed into the beautiful village of Walworth, their mother sickened and died on their journey, probably at Auburn. In due course of time the rest of the family arrived at their intended home. But the small property with which they intended to get started in the world was all used up in getting settled and in the troubles that followed their change of residence.

But Penfield was not destined to be the permanent home of the Andrew family. After a time they moved to Walworth where representatives have remained ever since.

Alexander Andrew was married the second time, but his wife lived scarcely a year. The last 30 or 40 years of his life were passed quietly with his son James in Walworth. In the year 1855, on his birthday, our ancestor departed this life, being then 99 years of age.

In as brief a manner as possible, we will give a light history of the families of each of the immediate descendants of Alexander Andrew, taking them in order of age.

Polly, the oldest daughter, was married to a man my the name of Williams. They lived for a time near the lake in Ontario [Wayne County]. His business was fishing and hunting. They afterwards moved to Pennsylvania where there has grown up a large family of descendants, but little is now known of them, correspondence having never been kept up.

At the age of 23, James was married to Polly Hyde of Massachusetts and settled in Walworth. He was the only one of the family who was in the early wars of our country.

William married Harriet Peck and lived with his brother James for some time in Walworth. He afterwards moved to Ontario where he lived until his death. He was married a second time, his second wife being still alive.

Robert , the fourth child, died at an early age while still a bachelor.

John Nelson was apprenticed to learn a trade in Rochester. On account of ill-usage he ran away, and having changed his name from John Nelson Andrew to Nelson Andrews, he settled in Troy. In that vicinity his descendants still live. As a business man he has been very successful. He began life as a carpenter and afterwards became a architect.

Mathew married Abigail Tiffany and is still living in Walworth, being the only one of Alexander Andrew's children still alive.

Martha Ann married Symeur [?] Chase and passed a useful life in Walworth.

Alexander Andrew was a man of very marked characteristics. Whatever of talkativeness there is in the Andrew family seems to have come from the Irish side of the house. He was noted everywhere for his good nature, jollity, and love of fun. The children were his special favorites. He was everywhere known as "Uncle Andrew". Everyone loved him. His grandchildren, who ere best acquainted with him, loved him almost as much as they did their father. Coming from the North of Ireland from a good family and being a Protestant, he would have nothing to do with the low-lived Catholic Irish whom he sometimes met. He did not consider them representative Irishmen. He lived at a time when liquor drinking was not considered hurtful and he had more or less the habits of the times. In his later years, however, he signed the Washingtonia pledge which prohibited the drinking of anything stronger than cider. There was perhaps no more marked characteristic than his religious propensities. No doubt there has never been a happier Christian man than he. For a great many years he was a member of the M. E. church, and he never felt quite so much at home in any other church as in this. Thirty years after his connection with it, he concluded that baptism by immersion was the only true baptism and was finally immersed although he remained true to Methodism. One little anecdote will show ell the religious zeal with which he was full of:

He held class meetings in his sleep. A part of the night was often spent in singing, praying, and apparently conducting general class. It is said that he would make a most fervent and touching prayer at such times. The neighbors used to come in during the evening to listen to him.

We cannot leave this little history without speaking more at length concerning one member of the family. I refer to Esther Gilmore Andrew. No two persons could be more unlike in some respects than she and her husband. She was thoroughly Scotch in her character and disposition. In her there was none of that fun-loving, jovial disposition so prominent in her husband, but instead there was solidity and shrewdness. James Andrew, the oldest of her sons, could never speak her name without tears. He was more intimate with her than any of the other children, and this little incident speaks for itself. She was a careful manager and a good business woman. She was kind and lovable in her disposition, thus uniting all the characteristics necessary in a tender mother and a dutiful wife.

SOME NOTES CONCERNING ALEXANDER ANDREW AND HIS DESCENDENTS
(September, 1989)

These notes stem from some research done by Kith and Bill Gateley while visiting Oakdene in the summer of 1989. During this visit we went to two cemeteries -- Furnaceville and Free Will -- and also spent some time at the Wayne County Historical Museum which is located in Lyons. The museum has an excellent collection of genealogical data and offers ample material for much additional research into the Andrew and associated families -- e.g., Hunt, Willard, and Peck, which are the female lines connected with the Andrews. Some of the information below comes from Winkie (Helen Andrew).

Alexander Andrew (Kith's great-great-great grandfather) was born in 1758 in Colerain, a town on the Bann River in the northern part of Northern Ireland. He came to America in 1776 on his uncle's boat and at some point in time went to Washington County, N.Y., which is located on the eastern edge of New York, roughly between Albany and Glens Falls, where he eventually married Esther Gilmer. It seems likely that he settled in or near Cambridge, N.Y. (located in Washington County) as this is the reported birthplace of James (his oldest son) on August 25, 1795 and William (Kith's great-great grandfather) on May 21, 1797. In about 1811 the Andrew family moved west to Penfield, N.Y. On the trip Esther died and was buried, possibly in Auburn. At some later time Alexander and James (at least) moved to the Town of Walworth in Wayne County. Alexander apparently lived with James and his family until his death on May 20, 1855 (97 years old).

Alexander was buried in the Free Will cemetery which is located on Atlantic Avenue on the top of a hill approximately one mile west of State Highway 350 (Macedon - Ontario Center Road) in the Town of Walworth. In the same cemetery plot are also buried James (died July 5, 1877, age 81 and a veteran of the War of 1812), James' wife Polly (born February 7, 1793; died July 11, 1865), and Harriet (born 1825; died November 2, 1891 - James' daughter). The graves are located near the southwest corner of the cemetery. There are a number of Hunts buried here also. Some of these are possibly ancestors or at least cousins, but this awaits further research (some names and dates include Micajah (1805 - 1883), his wife Sarah (1808 - 1857), William (1831 - 1911), his wife Alice E. (1839 - 1895) and daughters Libbie (1872 - 1873) and Jessie C. (1870 - 1910)).

Alexander's son William (born May 21, 1797; died July 8, 1882) moved from Walworth to the Town of Ontario at some unknown time between 1811 and 1827. A map of the Town in the booklet Heritage Square at the Brick Church Corners (published in 1984 by the Town of Ontario Historical and Landmark Preservation Society) shows William's farmhouse to be located a few hundred feet north of the intersection of Kenyon and Furnaceville Roads on the east side of the latter approximately 0.7 miles south of the village of Furnaceville); we were unable to determine if the building is still standing or not, but probably not. William's first wife was Harriet Peck (born January 31, 1793; died September 6, 1858) and his second was Permelia ? (born 1797; died September 5, 1894). William's children (by Harriet) -- all presumably born in Furnaceville -- were Alexander C. Kith's great grandfather) (born March 31, 1827; died September 12, 1884), Cynthia J. (born 1828; died August 15, 1834 at age 6y, 4m, 17d), and William Alvin (born 1831; died September 21, 1864 at age 32y, 10m, 24d) (see below for more about Alvin). All of these people as well as Alexander's wife Cordelia Sophia Willard ("Delia") (born December 23, 1828; died May 10, 1920) and their adapted daughter Jennie May (born March 4, 1868; died August 25, 1884) are buried in the Furnaceville Cemetery, which is located on Trimble Road about 0.15 miles east of its intersection with Furnaceville Road (where the village of Furnaceville is -- or at least was -- located). The Andrew plot is located in the northeast quadrant of the cemetery and consists of a tall (6 feet or so) columnar monument surrounded by the seven graves, each of which has its own small headstone.

Alexander C. Andrew was, like his father, a farmer. His farm, according to the map referred to above, probably was adjacent to his father's, and the farmhouse was located on the north side of Kenyon Road about 0.4 miles east of its intersection with Furnaceville Road (the only remains we found close to this spot were a grove of trees and a silo). Alexander and his wife Delia had 3 children including Ella, Fred Delmar (Kith's grandfather) (born June 1, 1856; died 1944), and their adapted daughter Jennie May.

The following note was found on page 52 of the book History of the Town of Ontario:

"On April 19, 1851, it was voted to raise $25 to pay expenses of Summer school. Alex Andrews (the father of Dr. Fred Andrews, a pioneer in X-ray in Rochester) was clerk."

The comment in parentheses was presumably added by the historian because Fred was not even born in 1851. Note that an "s" has been added to the Andrew name; this aberration was observed in several Andrew references in the materials scanned at the museum and consequently should be looked for in future research.