Who was Jacob Andress of Beattystown?

According to the 1861 Knowleton Twp. death return of Peter W. Andress his father was Jacob Andress. His mother’s name is not stated. According to Elizabeth Skinner’s 1880 death record from the NJ Bureau of Vital Statistics her father was Jacob Andress. Her mother’s maiden name is recorded as Workman, with her first name omitted. It also states that Elizabeth was born in Beattystown. The 1874 Hardwick Twp. death return of Joseph Andress does not state his parents’ names, but does record his birth in Warren County. An 1875 death return for Hampton Andress has not surfaced. William Armstrong’s 1926-7 Hunt Households of Sussex County, from GMNJ, Vol. II, makes the incorrect claim that Hampton’s parents were Joseph Andress and Margaret Hunt. This is the result of confusing Hampton (b. 1807) with Hampton W. (b. 1832). Birth and baptism records for the Andress siblings have not surfaced. The earliest record I’ve located of the family is the 1825 notice in the Sussex Register of the marriage of Peter W. Andress and Sarah Skinner. Performing the marriage was the Rev. Joseph Campbell, the well-known pastor of the Presbyterian Church of Hackettstown.

On page 727 of James P. Snell’s 1881 History of Sussex and Warren Counties the author writes for Beattystown that “Jacob Andrews kept a blacksmith-shop in 1812” and that among the men drafted for the War of 1812 were William and Jacob Andrews of Mansfield Township. The account of Jacob Eckman of Mansfield Twp., dated 15 Feb. 1813, (file 1352S) includes “Jacob Andreas.” File 1195S is the will and inventory of Jacob Andres of Mansfield Township. Jacob names his wife Holly and a daughter Sarah, but does not name his underage children. Executors are John Hance and John Hockenbury. Witnesses to the will were James Rusling, Robt. Compton, and James Larason. This will was probated 15 Aug. 1809. The executors and witnesses, according to early records, were residents near Beattystown and Hackettstown. Included in the inventory are a set of blacksmith’s tools and unsettled account books. Is this the same blacksmith that Snell refers to? One clue that makes me think this Jacob is the father of our family is from an unverified claim that the wife of witness James Larason was Sarah Woertman. Were Sarah and Holly sisters?

On 17 Aug. 1813 a deed was recorded between David Inscoe and Ebenezer Inscoe for the same tract of land that in May of 1788 was “conveyed by John Armstrong to Abigail Thatcher.” This land is in Mansfield Township near Beattystown. The southeast corner of the land borders the “widow Andrews dwelling home.” This may be a reference to Holly, and I wonder if the John Armstrong that is mentioned is the same as the father of Euphemia Wright Armstrong, who on 20 Feb. 1819 married Wilson Hunt, brother of Margaret Hunt who later married Joseph Andress.

The earliest reference that I have found to a Jacob Andress of Beattystown is the 21 March 1801 will of Christopher Huffman of Mansfield Woodhouse Township. (File 1066S) Witnesses to this will were Elisha Bird, John Boyd (Bird?) and Jacob Anders. The inventory was taken by John Stewart and John Hance. Christopher names his daughter Mary Airs, and son-in-law Aaron Airs. Aaron was born 01 Aug. 1767 to Ezekiel Ayers and Annethe Stark.

According to the research of Alice A. Reiders, which includes a “Family Record of Ezekiel Ayers” and Hellen P. Alleman’s 1966 Ayers Family along the Delaware, from GMNJ Vol. XLI, Ezekiel was the son of Obadiah Ayers and Elizabeth Compton, who were among the earliest settlers of Hackettstown. In 1764 it was Obadiah who deeded the land to the Presbyterian committee upon which was built the Presbyterian Church of Hackettstown. Ezekiel was born 23 Feb. 1730 and he died 05 Aug. 1796. Annethe, Ezekiel’s first wife, died in 1778 and he remarried 16 March 1780 to Euphemia Longstreet. Euphemia was the widow of Richard Longstreet. He died 20 Aug. 1776. One of the daughters of Richard and Euphemia was Elli or Elsey. (R. J. Longstreet’s 1960 A History of the Longstreet Family, mentions a “Hillick Family Bible” that records the name of Richard and Euphemia’s daughter as Elsey.) She was born 26 April 1768 and she died 19 July 1791. In her 1801 will (file 915S) “Euphemia Ayers of Hackettstown” bequeathed to her granddaughter Sarah Andrews a “large blue chest, my satin cloak, muslin shawl and best homespun bedspread; also $133.20 with interest when 21.” Was Elli Longstreet Ayers married to Jacob Andress?

Euphemia’s estate inventory, dated 01 Mar. 1802, was taken by Jacob Sharp and Thomas Shields. Both Thomas’s and Jacob’s families are buried in the Old Cemetery of Hackettstown Presbyterian Church. According to Theodore F. Chambers’ 1898 Early Germans of New Jersey, page 490, Jacob and Bathsheba’s son Morris Sharp was born 25 May 1789. He died 20 June 1827. Recorded in New Jersey Marriages, 1684-1895, Morris Sharp married Sarah Andrews 22 Aug. 1811 in Sussex County. Sarah’s 05 Aug. 1843 death is recorded in the Sussex Register as follows: “Sarah, relict of Morris Sharp, Chatham, 53” This would place her birth circa 1790, which was about a year before Elli’s death. Is this Sarah the daughter of Jacob Andress and Elli Longstreet Ayers?

To summarize: Jacob Andress of Beattystown, born circa 1765, could have first married Elli, the daughter of Richard and Euphemia Longstreet. Jacob and Elli could have had a daughter Sarah born about 1790. Sarah’s birth was followed by her mother’s death of 19 July 1791. Jacob could have remarried anytime between then and 1798. His second wife’s name may have been Holly Workman. Between 1798 and 1807 Jacob and Holly had at least four children, namely, Elizabeth, Peter, Joseph, and Hampton. Jacob then died in 1809 leaving behind his widow and children. This is all, of course, speculation based upon the few records I’ve been able to uncover. Hopefully further research will confirm some of this theory or, at least, lead me in the correct direction.

(This post is adapted from previous posts on the Andress genforum of Genealogy.com.)