William Allen Andrews, Jr.

Birth: May 13, 1726 Henrico County Virginia, USA Death: Aug., 1772 Mecklenburg County Virginia, USA

William Andrews (of Dinwiddie), is the documented father of William Andrews (of Mecklenburg). William Sr's will devises the property on which they presently live in Mecklenburg to William Jr's widow Ann Brooks and William's Sr's 4 grandchildren: Ephraim, Varney, William & David. A study of the area land patents yields the fact that William Sr. was the only Andrews who patented land in that area. He patented 1400 acres south of the Meherrin (Mecklenburg) & 400 acres north of the Meherrin (Lunenburg.) The intent of those patents appears to be to provide a home for his children. Although the children lived on the land and paid tax on the land, William Sr. obviously retained legal title to the land. The first actual deeds where William Andrews (who patented the land per the deeds) devised property in Mecklenburg were the two 1767 deeds: (1) to James Cooper, which had been sold to Cooper by his son Lazez (probably Eleazor since he is called by that name in the James Cooper to Abram Andrews deed listed below) & (2) to his son Rowland. Therefore William Jr. (who many attribute this sale to) could not have been the devisor in the deeds as he did not own the property. I believe the designation in the deeds which specified that the person who patented the land was William Andrews of Mecklenburg, was just an assumption on the part of the recorder that since William Andrews owned the property in Mecklenburg, that he lived in Mecklenburg.

William Jr.'s son, David Andrews, Sr., who removed to Stewart County, Tennessee, is the ancestor of Lt. General Frank Maxwell Andrews.

The names of WILLIAM ANDREWS, his father Richard Andrews (there is disagreement over whether his father is William A. Sr. or William A. Sr.'s brother Richard Andrews), Ephriam Andrews and John Andrews, each a descendant of Thomas Andrews the immigrant, appeared in the tithable (tax) lists in the same area in the present Mecklenburg County, where the Andrews plantation, in part, still remains. A portion of the home and several out buildings are extant. The only other William Andrews whose name appeared in this period in the public records of Mecklenburg County, was a son of THOMAS ANDREWS, the immigrant. He lived and died in Dinwiddie County, Va. In each such public record he was described as "of Dinwiddie County." On May 14, 1770 in a deed in which he described himself as "of Dinwiddie County" he deeded 380 acres of land "to my son, Ephriam Andrews, for the better care of his family, 380 acres of land in Mecklenburg County." On December 9, 1771, he deeded 200 acres of land in Mecklenburg County, to John Andrews, describing himself as of Dinwiddie County. A deed dated October 10, 1774, filed in Mecklenburg County Deed Book 4, page 335, deeded land in Mecklenburg County, to a loving son Ephriam by Avis Andrews, widow and relict of William Andrews of Dinwiddie County. These records eliminate the possibility that this William Andrews of Dinwiddie County could have been the father of Varney Andrews, of Mecklenburg County.

Proof that the father of (2) VARNEY ANDREWS, of Mecklenburg County, was (1) WILLIAM ANDREWS, b. 1726 in Bristol Parish, Henrico County, (the son of (-1) RICHARD AND Mary Andrews), is established as follows:

1. Deed Book 1. page 472. Mecklenburg County, contains the record of a deed dated July 27, 1767 by which (1) William Andrews, "of Mecklenburg County" deeded 155 acres of land to "my son Rowland Andrews."

2. A Court Order in Mecklenburg County ORDER BOOK 4, page 77, 1773-1777, named (2) VARNEY ANDREWS and (2) Ephriam Andrews, minors, as the orphans of WILLIAM ANDREWS deceased.

3. The will of (2) William Andrews (Jr.) who died in Halifax County, Va., in 1777, named (2) VARNEY ANDREWS of Mecklenburg County as his brother and named his "loving Mother Anne Andrews." This will also mentioned "other brothers and sisters," but did not name any of them. ___________

The above confuses William A. Andrews, Sr, brother of Richard, with William A., Jr., the actual father of Varney as laid out by Sue Gill below:

The will of William A. Andrews, Jr. (son of William A. Andrews of Dinwiddie County) gave us the information that he had sons Ephraim, David, William, and Varney. Also that he was married to a woman named Ann.

If you didn't know about this William, but you knew that Varney was the son of "a" William, you would begin searching out all of the Williams you could find. Much of the data links Varney Andrews to William, the son of Richard and Mary Andrews. This couple had children: Isham, Francis, William, Henry, and Phoebe. (Perhaps they had more, but this came from birth records).

When I was trying to sort out the children of Richard Andrews, I thought this will below might be his son, William. (There were wills for William, Isham, and Francis fairly close together in time in Chesterfield Co., and they were living in the same area as their father, Richard).

Will Book 5, page 249. Will of William Andrews, Sen'r.

Son, Bolling, tract I live on, 100 acres.

Daughter, Kiziah Andrews

Execs: Sons, Randol and Aaron

Dated 2 January 1799

Wit: Isham Dyer, Dan'l Dishman, Phebe Dyer, David Johnstone

There is no Varney named. A lot of data shows that Varney also had brothers named Ephraim and William, but there is also no Ephraim named in the above will, and no William. But by ruling out all of the other Williams in this area, and not knowing about Wm. and Avis's son, the only one left that would have been even close to the proper age was William, son of Richard.

Unfortunately, they did not know about William, the son of William and Avis. But if you were doing the research today, and had this additional piece of information, which would you choose for the father of Varney, Ephraim, and William? (Willliam's 1770 will does mention a son, William and Wm. Jr's sons, Ephraim, Varney, David, and William).

Another big conflict was with Richard, the son of Thomas Andrews. Almost all of the data has him dying in 1752 in Lunenburg Co. Not sure how that date came about, as I could find no probate records in the county for Richard. I also think that I have proven that Richard stayed in Henrico/Chesterfield. Found him as late as 1756, and while he was in records there, there was another Richard in Lunenburg during the same years.

If you check the records, most of William and Avis's children moved to the area of Mecklenburg/Lunenburg, and were living on the land he patented in 1750. It seems fairly certain that the Richard living there, along with the other Andrews children, was William and Avis's son. But, if you didn't have the will information, you might not even be aware that William and Avis had a son by the name of Richard. So, without that puzzle piece, you would look around for another convenient Richard. The son of Thomas Andrews was selected. I think that's how that piece of data was thought out.

Sue Gill

Family links:

Parents:

 William A. Andrews (1693 - 1772)

 Avis Garnett Andrews (1700 - 1744)

Spouse:

 Ann Brooks Varney Andrews (1730 - 1772)*

Children:

 William A. Andrews (1753 - 1777)*

 Roland Andrews (1754 - 1785)*

 Nancy Ann Andrews Floyd (1757 - 1857)*

 Varney Andrews (1760 - 1848)*

 David Andrews (1765 - 1867)*

 Ephraim A. Andrews (1765 - 1823)*

 David Andrews (1765 - 1867)*

 Lazarus Andrews (1767 - ____)*

Siblings:

 Ephraim Andrews (1720 - 1808)**

 Abraham Andrews (1721 - 1799)*

 George Andrews (1722 - ____)**

 Winnifred Andrews Granger (1724 - ____)**

 William A. Andrews (1726 - 1772)

 Avis Andrews (1727 - ____)**

 John Andrews (1729 - 1817)**

 Luciana Andrews Brooks (1731 - ____)**

 Mark Andrews (1733 - 1820)*

 Thomas Andrews (1740 - 1783)**

 Mark Andrews (1740 - 1820)*

 Rowland Andrews (1745 - ____)**

*Calculated relationship

• *Half-sibling

Burial: William Andrews Cemetery South Hill Mecklenburg County Virginia, USA

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Created by: Sue Loretta Sullivan /Jo... Record added: Jun 07, 2011 Find A Grave Memorial# 70966735 https://old.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=70966735

• Reference: MyHeritage Family Trees - SmartCopy: Oct 7 2019, 14:44:51 UTC

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• Reference: MyHeritage Family Trees - SmartCopy: Aug 13 2018, 20:50:35 UTC