John Andrews (clergyman)

For other people named John Andrews, see John Andrews (disambiguation).

John Andrews (1746–1813) was a Colonial/American clergyman, professor of moral philosophy, and author. He served as provost of the University of Pennsylvania and founded of York College of Pennsylvania. He is referred to as "America's First Scholar" for he dedicated his career as a student, tutor, professor, and administrator of schools and colleges.

Early life and family

Andrews's great-grandfather, also named John Andrews, immigrated in about 1654 from the County of Rutland, England, to Anne Arundel County or Calvert County of the Province of Maryland under the patronage of Lord Cæcilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore. Andrews was born in Cecil County on Eastern Shore of Maryland, about six miles from the head of the Elk River, on April 4, 1746, the son of Moses and Letitia Cooke Andrews. His childhood home was a 75 acre tract of land called "Lesson" (patented to his father March 10, 1746)in Cecil County, Maryland.

In 1772, Andrews married Elizabeth Callender, daughter of Robert Callender of Carlisle, Pennsylvania. They had ten children.

Education

When he was seven years old, Andrews's father enrolled him in the Newcastle Presbytery's Head of Elk School in Head of Elk, Maryland. Andrews received an A.B. with distinguished honor from The Academy and College of Philadelphia in 1764. He later taught grammar school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In 1767, he received an M.A. from the College of Philadelphia.

Andrews continued his connection with the Grammar School and then took charge of a classical school in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Having previously resolved to devote himself to the ministry in the Episcopal Church, he studied theology under the Rev. Thomas Barton, Rector of St. James's Church in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Andrews then sailed for London, England, where he was ordained a deacon in the Anglican Church. He was then appointed a Missionary to Lewes, Delaware by the Society for Propagating the Gospel in Foreign Parts.

Career

Andrews ministered at St. Peter's Church in Lewes from 1767 through 1770. He then transferred to York, Pennsylvania, where assumed missionary jurisdiction at St. John's Church in York, York County and St. John's Church in Carlisle, Pennsylvania in Cumberland County. Sometime in 1775 he took charge of St. John's Church in Queen Anne's County, Maryland. As the American Revolutionary War progressed, Andrews grew conflicted: his political sympathies lay with the Americans, but he believed the oath of allegiance to England he took as part of his Holy Orders took precedence. He recused himself from public exercise of his profession and returned to York.

In 1776, during this period in York, Andrews founded the academy that evolved under several changes to become known as today the York College of Pennsylvania. In 1787 it was incorporated as York County Academy and brought under the jurisdiction of St. John's Episcopal Church.

After the Revolution, Andrews resumed his clerical duties. In 1782 he returned to Maryland to become rector of St. Thomas Church in Garrison Forest, Baltimore County, Maryland, a position he held until 1784. That same year he was a member of the convention that organized the separation of the American Episcopal Church from the Anglican Church. He later advocated for union with the Methodist Church.

In 1785, Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland, awarded Andrews an honorary Doctor of Divinity. That same year, when The Episcopal Academy was founded in Philadelphia, the Academy's trustees unanimously elected Andrews as Principal. He served in this position until 1789, when he became Professor of Moral Philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania. At UPenn he lectured admiringly on the Constitution of the United States. He was Vice-Provost 1789-1810 and Provost from 1810 until his death from sudden illness on March 29, 1813. Until his death he also served as Rector of St. James Church in Bristol, Pennsylvania, and assistant minister of Christ Church in Philadelphia.

He is interred at Christ Church Burial Ground in Philadelphia.

Writings

Textbooks

• A Compend of Logick (1801)
• Metamorphoseon (1805)
• Elements of Logic (second edition 1807)
• Elements of Rhetorick and Belles Lettres (1813).

Published sermons

• A Sermon On The Importance Of Mutual Kindness (1789).
• A Sermon on the Parable Of The Unjust Steward (1789).

Further reading

• Who Was Who in America, Historical Volume 1607–1896. Chicago: Marquis Who's Who, 1967.
• Universal Pronouncing Dictionary of Biography and Mythology, Vol. 1 by J. Thomas, Philadelphia: Lippincott and Co. 1870.
• American Bibliography: 1786–1789 by Charles Evans.
• American Bibliography: 1790–1792 by Charles Evans.
• History of Philadelphia, 1609–1884, Volume 3. L. H. Everts & co., 1884.