Biography of Presbyterian Reverend John Andrews, 1768-1849

"The Rev. John Andrews, the founder of this paper, was born on Piney Creek, Frederick County, Maryland, September 16, 1768. In early life his father had been a member of the Presbyterian church of Piqua, Lancaster County, Pa., of which Rev. Robert Smith, whose celebrated school gave so many ministers to the Presbyterian Church, was pastor. The family removed to North Carolina in 1772, and in 1773 settled on Cane Creek in the western part of Tryon County, where some of the most stirring events of the Revolutionary War took place. For his primary education Mr. Andrews was indebted to a sister; but afterwards studied in succession at three classical schools in that part of North Carolina. In 1779, he made a confession of faith in the church of Little Britain, most of whose members had originally come from the neighborhood of a place of that name in Lancaster County, PA. He studied Theology under the direction of Rev, James Hall and other ministers, and was licensed by the Presbytery of Orange in 1794. in 1795 he visited Kentucky, then recently admitted to the Union as a State, and continued his journey to Cincinnati, where Rev. James Kemper was at that time the only Presbyterian minister. He soon returned to Kentucky and labored for several years at Lexington and its vicinity. From Lexington he removed to Chillicothe, Ohio, then the headquarters of the Northwest Territory, where many families of high character and social influence had collected. There on July 5, 1814, he issued the first number of "The Weekly Recorder," which he continued to publish in Chillicothe until 1822, when he removed to Pittsburgh and continued to publish "The Pittsbugh Recorder," which passed through successive changes of name until it became The Presbyterian Banner and Advocate in 1855 and The Presbyterian Banner in 1860."

(p. 18-19) "At the meeting of the Synod of Pittsburgh, in the Fall of 1821, this record was made: "The Rev. John Andrews, of the Synod of Ohio, being present, was invited and took his seat as a corresponding member." And on the 16th day of April, 1822, he was received by the Presbytery of Redstone, which at that time included the City of Pittsburgh within its bounds, from the Presbytery of Chillicothe. On the 15th day of October, in the same year, Mr. Andrews and Revs. Francis Herron, Robert Patterson, Joseph Stockton and Elisha P. Swift, detached themselves from the presbytery of Ohio, according to the order of the Synod. And on the minutes of the Synod for 1823, Mr. Andrews appears as stated supply of Duff's (now Fairmount) and Sewickley. An old session book has been preserved , which contains a partial record of the church from 1822 to 1831. From this it appears that Mr. Andrews began his labors here June 1, 1822. The church then consisted of :elders-- James McLaughlin and Thomas Backhouse; private members--Nancy McLaughlin, Sarah Backhouse, Mrs. Woody (widow) Mann, William McLaughlin, Mary McLaughlin, Thomas Wagoner, Mrs. Wagoner, Jane Lester and Jane Vance, making eleven in all."

States Reverend John Andrews deathdate as November 13, 1849, age 82. On December 12 a death notice/bio ran in the "Presbyterian Banner".

(p.20-21) "He was of feeble and attenuated frame, and in his advanced years his hair was perfectly white and his face was nearly of the same color. he died in Pittsburgh when nearly , if not quite, ninety years of age."

Families Across Time