A Memoir of Sir Edmund Andros, Knt.. Whitmore William Henry
that Andros distinguished himself in the war against the Dutch, and was in 1672, "commander of the forces in Barbados and had obtained the reputation of being skilled in American affairs."
In February, 1671, Andros married Marie, oldest daughter of Thomas Craven of Appletreewick, co. York, and thus sister to the "heir in reversion to the Barony of Hamsted-Marshall." This match is a sufficient proof of the estimation in which he was held, as the lady was sister of the designated heir of the Earl of Craven, his former patron. The pedigree of the Cravens will be best understood by the annexed tabular statement.3 The "Peerages" have left the matter obscure, but it has been rendered plain by some articles in "Notes and Queries" for 1868. The Earl of Craven, after the death of his brothers, entailed the Barony on his more distant cousins of Appletreewick, omitting the issue of his uncle Anthony Craven. At his death, April 9th, 1697, the title passed to William Craven, nephew of Lady Andros.
It is possible that Andros came to England for the marriage, and returned to Barbados; but we think it more probable that the regiment had been recalled to England. Duncan states that in April, 1672, a regiment raised for Prince Rupert was armed for the first time with the bayonet, that Andros was made Major, and the four Barbados companies then under his command were incorporated in it. In the same month, the proprietors of the Province of Carolina, of which the Earl of Craven was one, conferred on him the title of Landgrave, with four Baronies, containing 48,000 acres of land.
In April, 1674, Andros succeeded his father in his estates in Guernsey, and 30 June, was sworn as Bailly of the island, the reversion of that office having been before granted him.
We do not find mention of the occasion which recommended him to the attention of the Duke of York, but from his early attendance on the royal family, and his exceptional loyalty, he had probably long been known to that prince. Andros was accordingly selected to be the Governor of the Province of New York, which was claimed by the Duke, and had recently been restored to him by the Dutch. He arrived in this country, November 1st, 1674, accompanied by his wife.
A brief notice of the events which had occurred in this country immediately before his arrival, may render his subsequent proceedings more intelligible to the reader.
On the 27th of August, 1664, the Dutch Colony of New Netherland was surrendered to an English force under Col. Richard Nicolls. The King, Charles II., had already granted it, by patent dated 12 March, 1664, to his brother, the Duke of York. After it had been held by the English for over nine years, the Dutch had recaptured it, August 9, 1673; but under the terms of the treaty of peace, it was restored to its English owners. In a letter dated 7/17 July, 1674, the Dutch embassadors wrote that they had complied with the orders from the States-General to notify the King that the Province would be delivered to his agent; that Edmund Andros had been designated as the person, and was to sail before the end of the week. (N.Y. Col. Doc. ii. 733.) 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 Connecticut; the claim of the Duke of York to which domains was by no means undisputed.
Andros was at the same time commissioned as captain of a regiment of foot, raised by the Duke of York for service in the Colony, and received the necessary money for the expenses attendant upon establishing the new government. He was accused by some of the Dutch colonists of having exacted a new and unlawful oath of allegiance from them, but this difficulty seems to have speedily subsided. His instructions had been explicit that he should not disturb those colonists who desired to remain in good faith, and we see no reason to doubt that Andros fulfilled his orders. He has left an account of his administration for the first three years (N.Y. Col. Doc. iii. 254-7) from which we take the principal items.
In October, 1674, he says, that having received possession of New York and reduced the east end of Long Island, he took in hand the turbulent at various other places; these once quieted, the country had been peaceful ever since. The next summer he commenced to press the Duke's claim to that part of the country between the Hudson and Connecticut rivers. He therefore wrote several letters to the Governor and General Court of Connecticut, but it may easily be believed that the claim was only a matter of form. 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, since under that patent Connecticut might claim "New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Carolina and the Spanish West Indies," as well as all New York. The Duke of York was not disposed to press the matter, and wrote to Andros in January, 1675-6, that he approved of the demand, as preserving his title entire, but hoped for some more convenient method of adjusting the boundaries in the future; the only stipulation he made, was that the Connecticut men should not approach within twenty miles of the Hudson River. Within a month, however, the hostile attitude of the Indians compelled the eastern colonists to apply to Andros for aid in the alarming position of affairs. On the 1st of July, 1675, a letter was sent by Gov. Winthrop of Connecticut to New York, and Andros not only was "much troubled at the Christians' misfortunes and hard disasters in those parts," but he proposed to start at once, with a force "ready to take such resolutions as may be fit for me," and to make the best of his way to Connecticut River; "his royal Highness's bounds," as he significantly termed them.
This was more than the colonists had anticipated; yet they were unwilling to bring the dispute of boundaries to an open rupture, especially at such a time. Andros, therefore, was allowed to come to Saybrook with his two small vessels, and was met by Robert Chapman and Thomas Bull in behalf of the Colony. Various protests were exchanged, and Andros caused the Duke of York's Charter and his commission to be read. After this ceremony, he declared he should depart immediately unless desired to stay. In return, the agents of the Colony, who had studiously disavowed any share in these proceedings, read a protest on the part of Connecticut. And so "his Honor was guarded with the town soldiers to the waterside, went on board, and presently fell down below the Fort, with salutes on both sides." (Trumbull, Col. Rec. Conn. ii. 584.) Thus both sides parted in peace, each content with its own performance; and a few years afterwards the boundary was settled by mutual concessions.
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. During this time, Andros, by his own account, had remained unwillingly idle, his offers of assistance having been rejected by his neighbors. He would have brought into the field his Mohawk allies, but the offer being slighted he could only keep them true to their allegiance, build forts and boats, and prevent any increase of Philip's forces. He seems in fact to have been greatly offended by the assertions of the Massachusetts Colony, that it was at Albany, and through his connivance, that the hostile Indians had obtained their supplies of arms and ammunition. He sent two gentlemen to Boston to obtain satisfaction, and received only a letter "clearing the magistrates, but not the generalty, still aspersed without any known cause, complaint or notice." So indignant was he at this false accusation, that after his arrival in England, he petitioned the King in Council to cause inquiry into the truth of the matter; to which the agents, William Stoughton and Peter Bulkley merely replied, that they were not furnished with the information, and that evil-minded persons might have sold ammunition to the Indians despite the Governor's prohibition; in short, while evading all concessions or apologies, they insinuated the truth of the charge.
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