University of Virginia Library

SIR EDMOND ANDROS.

Edmond Andros was born in London, December 6, 1637. Bred a
soldier, he distinguished himself in the war with the Dutch, which
closed in 1667, and in 1672 was appointed a major in Prince Rupert's
Dragoons. In the year 1674, upon the death of his father, he succeeded
him as bailiff of Guernsey. He was appointed Governor of the
Colony of New York, where he had previously served in a military
capacity in 1678, and continued governor until 1681, being principally
employed there in passing grants to the subjects, and in presiding in
the Court of Sessions. Appointed Governor of New England, he
arrived in Boston December 21. There his administration was to the
utmost degree arbitrary and tyrannical. He interfered with the liberty
of the press, levied enormous taxes without authority, and required the
proprietors of lands to obtain from him new titles at great expense. In
October, 1687, he demanded, at the head of his troops, the surrender
of the charter of Connecticut, but it was successfully concealed in the
famous Charter Oak, at Hartford. His wife died and was buried at
Boston, February 10, 1687-8, in King's Chapel burying ground. In 1688
he caused an Indian war by his aggressions on the Penobscot tribe. At

last, under the weight of his oppressions, the people of Boston deposed
and imprisoned him. The abdication of James the Second prevented
any consequent trouble with the British Government, because
of this summary assertion of popular prerogative, and no
judicial decision was rendered regarding Andros. He was commissioned
Governor of Virginia March 1, 1693, and arrived in the colony
October 16th, following, relieving Colonel Francis Nicholson in the
government. He was kindly received by the Virginians, whose
solicitations to King William for warlike stores he had promoted. He
soon gave some offence, however, by ordering ships to cruise against
vessels engaged in contraband trade, yet his administration was a salutary
and prosperous one for Virginia, and by his conduct here he is
considered by some to have largely condoned his previous lawless career.
During his term of office the ancient seat of learning, William and Mary
College, was established, and in 1693 an act was passed for organizing a post-office
department for Virginia, with a central office and sub-offices in each
county, with fixed rates of postage, and Thomas Neale as Postmaster-General.
Andros's love of order carried him into the public departments,
and finding the documents and papers in great confusion, torn, soiled and
moth-eaten, he ordered their reparation, and pressed reform with vigor.
He encouraged manufactures, incited the planters to the cultivation of
cotton, and gave his assent to an act establishing the first fulling-mills
ever known in the settlement. Invested with the power of Ordinary, or
representative of the King and the Bishop of London, his acts brought
him in collision with commissary James Blair, President of William and
Mary College, who, in 1694, preferred charges to the King against him
as an enemy to religion, the church, and the college, and occasioned, thus,
his removal from office. He was succeeded, December 9, 1698, by
Colonel Francis Nicholson. Andros was Governor of Guernsey from
1704 to 1706. He died at London, February 27, 1713-14, honored
and respected. The narrative of his proceedings in New England was
published in 1691, and republished in 1773. The "Andros Tracts,"
edited by William H. Whitmore, were published by the Prince Society,
Boston, 1868, 2 vols. 4to.