ANDREWS, FRANK DEWETTE

[Photo : Vineland Historical and Antiquarian Society]

Copyright © 2000-2019 John N. Lupia III

Andrews, Frank DeWette (1847-1937), was born on August 1, 1847 in Southington, Hartford County, Connecticut, the son of Bennet Josiah Andrews (1806-1860) and Lavinia Frost (1817-1899).

He was a descendant of John Andrews an original proprietor of Farmington in 1640. As a young boy Andrews developed what would grow into a life-long avid interest in geology, genealogy, numismatics, philatelics, antiquarian history and Indian relics.

Fig. Ebenezer Locke Mason, Jr., correspondence with Frank DeWette Andrews July 6, 1867. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic Library.

According to the 1870 U. S. Census the family owned and worked a prosperous estate farm and Andrews personal estate was valued at $4,000. While farming in Southington, Andrews married Kittie Gallup (1842-1880) on December 16, 1868. In 1869 he and his family moved to South 7^th Street, in what was then called Landis Township, Cumberland County, New Jersey.

His wife having died sometime prior to June 1880, led him to occupy his mind by writing his book, A Description of 268 Varieties of United States Cents, 1816-1857 in the Collection of Frank D. Andrews (1881).[1] He tells us about this in his own words :

"I will say here, that, for the want of something to closely occupy and engage the mind, I attempted the work upon the United States cents 1816-57 . . . There is nothing . . . to enable one to endure sorrow as constant occupation, which shall keep the mind from dwelling upon its loss."[2]

Andrews self-published the book in only forty copies. He explains this in his author’s preface in the fifty-four page pamphlet :

“Believing this pamphlet to be of value for reference to others as well as myself, I have issued a small edition, forty copies, part of which I intend distributing among my coin collecting friends, for the remainder, should anyone desire a copy, the price will be twenty-five cents each. FDA February 10, 1881.”

The scarcity of copies drove up the price of this fifty-four page pamphlet and by 1884 we find a record that it realized a price of $4.00 at public auction.[3]

His numismatic interests also led him to become a corresponding member of the ANS since June 12, 1883. During this time he lived with his twice-widowed mother Lavinia A. Norton and his elder widowed sister Emma Belinda Gridley at his home in Vineland, New Jersey.

It was at his home in Vineland that Andrews found himself publishing a revised edition of his original 1881 pamphlet on United States cents. Andrews’ second book on Large Cents, An Arrangement of United States Copper Cents 1816-1857, for the Assistance of Collectors (Vineland, N. J., 1883), printed in forty-two pages is given its first public notice in March 1883.

An Arrangement of United States Copper Cents 1816-1857, for the Assistance of Collectors, by Frank D. Andrews, Vineland, N.J.The work, a 42 page pamphlet, published by Mr. Andrews at 50 cts. Per copy, describes the minute variations in dies of over 400 copper cents, beginning with 1816, and continuing until the end of the coinage, in 1857. Each date, obverse and reverse, is under a separate heading, with a numerical arrangement for the obverses and an alphabetical one for the reverses, also a short, concise, and easily understood system of definitions, occupying not over one line for each variation, tabulated, and referring to the position of curl to date, of star to coronet, points of leaves to legend, etc. Striking peculiarities in date, cracked dies, etc., are also enumerated, and in its present shape the work of Mr. Andrews will prove of positive interest and usefulness to collectors of the cents issued from 1816 to 1857, decidedly superior in every particular to his former work on the subject. Twenty-five copies are printed on thick paper, with blank leaves inserted. [4]

In November 1884, Mason advertised it as being sold for only $0.40.[5] In March of 1885 it was once again being sold for $0.50.[6]

Several years later, he became a Trustee of the Vineland Historical and Antiquarian Society in 1888. Two years later, he married Rebecca “Bessie” Graham Ayars (1849-1921) on April 10, 1890 at Greenwich, New Jersey. About this time he began to assist in land acquisition for the Library building of the Vineland Historical and Antiquarian Society, which he endowed. By July 1894 the small building housed a collection of curiosities and relics as well as books and documents.

From 1890 he worked, without compensation, as the Librarian for the Vineland Historical and Antiquarian Society, and that same year became secretary and treasurer.

The 1900 – 1920 U. S. Census reports list him living with his second wife and his sister Emma at his home in Vineland, New Jersey.

He published dozens of books, pamphlets and articles through the Society and later on in 1916 through their organ publication The Vineland Historical Magazine. These works were mainly genealogical essays and biographies derived from antique documents, autograph letters, rare Americana, tax records and gravestones and included such titles as : Thomas B. Braidwood, Born 1818, Died 1906 (1909) A Journey From New York to Montreal by way of Saratoga Springs and Niagara Falls in the Year 1824 : Printed From the Original Manuscripts in the Possession of Frank D. Andrews (1912); Names of Tax Payers of Hingham, Massachusetts, 1711 : From Original Manuscripts in the Possession of Frank D. Andrews (1913), to mention a few examples.

In 1931 an addition was built onto the Vineland Historical Society Library containing “Andrews Room”. In 1932 a stately portrait of Andrews was painted by August Franceschi. He continued as Editor-in-Chief of the Vineland Historical Magazine up until his death at Philadelphia on January 28, 1937.

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Incomplete Bibliography of Andrews Books:

001. Where to Emigrate and Why : Describe the Climate-Soil-Productions-Mineral and General Resources-Amount of Public Lands-The Quality and Price of Farm Landsin Nearly All Sections of the United States; and Contains A Description of the Pacific-Railroad-The Homestead and Other Laws-Rates of Wages Throughout the Country, Etc., Etc. (New York, New York : Frederick B. Goddard, 1896)

002. “Indian Relics From Schoharie [sic] N. Y., “ Smithsonian Institution Annual Report (1879)

003. A Description of 268 Varieties of United States Cents, 1816-1857 in the Collection of Frank D. Andrews (1881)

004. An Arrangement of United States Copper Cents 1816-1857 (1883) Reprinted by the Guttag Brothers in 1924; Reprinted by B. Max Mehl, Fort Worth, Texas, 1924;

005. The Tea-Burners of Cumberland County : Who Showed Their Resistance to British Tyrrany and Unjust Taxation By Burning A Cargo of India Tea on the Evening of December 22, 1774, at Greenwich, New Jersey (Vineland, New Jersey : Private Print, 1908)

006. Thomas B. Braidwood, Born 1818, Died 1906 : A Paper Read at the Vineland Historical and Antiquarian Society, October 9^th, 1906. (1909)

007. Inscriptions on the Grave Stones in the Old “New England Town” Burying Ground, Fairton, Fairfield Township, Cumberland County, New Jersey With An Historical Sketch, A List of the Signers of the Cohansey Compact 1697, and the Names of the Early Settlers of Fairfield (Vineland, New Jersey : Private Print, 1909)

008. Business Men of the City of Hartford [Connecticut] in the Year 1799 Printed From the Original Manuscript (Vineland, New Jersey : Private Print, 1909)

009. Directory For the City of Hartford For the Year 1799, Containing the Names of the Business Men and Other Residents, Their Occupations and Location, When Known, to the Number of Nearly Eight Hundred. (Vineland, New Jersey : Private Print, 1910)

010. Names of Residents of New Britain, Connecticut, in the Year 1799, Who Paid Taxes : With the Amount of Their List (Vineland, New Jersey : Private Print, 1910)

011. Inscriptions in the First “Old Cohansey” Burying Ground, Hopewell, Cumberland County, New Jersey, With A Historical Sketch, by Frank D. Andrews (Vineland, New Jersey : Private Print, 1911)

012. The Beginning of the Temerance Movement in Vineland (Vineland, New Jersey : Private Print, 1911)

013. A Journey From New York to Montreal by way of Saratoga Springs and Niagara Falls in the Year 1824 : Printed From the Original Manuscripts in the Possession of Frank D. Andrews (1912)

014. Names of Tax Payers of Hingham, Massachusetts, 1711 : From the Original

Manuscript in the Possession of Frank D. Andrews (1913)

015. The Vineland Pioneers (Vineland, New Jersey : Private Print, 1913)

016. Tombstone Inscriptions in the Old Burying Ground At Harwinton, Conn. : With A Historical Sketch (Vineland, New Jersey : Private Print, 1913)

017. Thomas Bridge, the First Minister of the Church in Fairfield (Vineland, New Jersey : Private Print, 1914)

018. A Quaker’s Visit to Hartford in the Year 1676 (Vineland, New Jersey : Private Print, 1914)

019. Tombstone Inscriptions in the Old Presbyterian Burying Ground at Greenwich, New Jersey : With A Historical Sketch (Vineland, New Jersey : Private Print, 1915)

020. Residents of Greenwich, New Jersey, Who Paid Taxes in the Year 1843 : With Notes on the First Settlers (Vineland, New Jersey : Private Print, 1916)

021. A Bibliography of Vineland, Its Authors and Writers (Vineland, New Jersey : Private Print, 1916)

022. Inscriptions on the Early Gravestones in the Baptist Burying Ground at Dividing Creek, New Jersey : With A Historical Sketch (Vineland, New Jersey : Private Print, 1916)

023. Burials in the Old Stone Fort Cemetery at Schoharie, New York : Copied From the Gravestones, June Nineteen Hundred and Sixteen (Vineland, New Jersey : Private Print, 1917)

024. “Inscriptions, Oak Hill Cemetery, Vineland, N. J.,” Vineland Historical Magazine, Vol. 2, No. 1, January (1917); Vol. 3, No. 2, April (1918)

025. Robert Ayars and His Descendants (Vineland, New Jersey : Private Print, 1918)

026. A Historical Sketch of the First Congregational Unitarian Church of Vineland, New Jersey : With A List of Members (Vineland, New Jersey : Private Print, 1919)

027. “Siloam Cemetery Inscriptions,” Vineland Historical Magazine, Vol. 3, No. 3, July (1918); Vol. 4, No. 2, March (1919); Vol. 5, No. 1, January (1920); Vol. 8, No. 3, July (1923)

028. Inscriptions in the Old Burying Ground of the First Presbyterian Church, Cedarville, New Jersey : With A Brief Historical Sketch, Names of Charter Members of the Church and A List of the Ministers, 1839-1919. (Vineland, New Jersey : Private Print, 1920)

029. The Minister’s Rate For 1788, Richmond, Massachusetts : Town Votes For A New Church, 1794 : Rev. David Perry, Minister, 1784-1816 (Vineland, New Jersey : Private Print, 1922)

030. Family Record of Dr. Samuel Bancroft, 1715-1782, of Reading, Massachusetts : With His Journal of An Expedition of Soldiers, August 1757, Commanded to Report to Gen. Pepperrell at Springfield But Soon Ordered to Return ; Also, A Diary of September 8 to October 1, 1766 and April 1, to June 5, 1769 (Vineland, New Jersey : Private Print, 1922)

031. History of the Discovery of Water-Limestone and Early Manufacture of Cement at Southington, Connecticut (Vineland, New Jersey : Private Print, 1924)

032. Richard Edwards (Sheriff’s Deputy) of Hartford Colony of Connecticut : His Account Book From September 1, 1753 to May 9, 1754; With An Introduction and Ancestral Record (Vineland, New Jersey : Private Print, 1924)

033. Connecticut Soldiers in the French and Indian Wars : Bills, Receipts and Documents Printed From the Original Manuscripts by Frank D. Andrews (Vineland, New Jersey : Private Print, 1925)

034. Thomas Maskell of Simsbury, Connecticut : His Son Thomas Maskell of Greenwich, New Jersey, and Some of Their Descendants (Vineland, New Jersey : Private Print, 1927)

035. “History of A Bible Containing Records of the Ward, Bloomfield, Holmes Families, Vineland Historical Magazine, Vol. 16, No. 1 (1931)

036. “The Elmer Enclosure, Broad Street Presbyterian Church, Bridgeton [N. J.], “Vineland Historical Magazine, Vol. 17, No. 4, October (1932)

037. Philip Vickers Fithian of Greenwich, New Jersey, Chaplain in the Revolution, 1776 : Letters to His Wife, Elizabeth Beatty Fithian(Vineland, New Jersey : Private Print, 1932)

038. A Biographical Sketch of Enoch Green, Eminent Presbyterian Divine of Deerfield, New Jersey : Preacher, Teacher, Chaplain in the Revolution (Vineland, New Jersey : Smith Print House, 1933)

039. History of the Post Office and Postmasters of Vineland, New Jersey, 1861-1933 (Vineland, New Jersey : Private Print, 1934)

040. “Letters to Elizabeth Beatty Fithian of Cumberland County, N.J. From 1772 to 1802,” Vineland Historical Magazine, Vol. 15, No. 3, July (1930); Vol. 19, No. 2, April (1934)

Bibliography :

Gnecchi, Ercole and Francesco, eds., Guida Numismatica 4^th edition. (Milano : U. Hoepli, 1903. Edition) : 571, No. 6006

Proceedings of the American Numismatic and Archeological Society (1903) : 22

ANA Membership List and Directory (1927) : 77

Frank Ankenbrand, Frank De Wette Andrews, Gentleman and Scholar : With a Complete Bibliography of His Published Works(Vineland Historical and Antiquarian Society, 1939)

Clain-Stefanelli 3422, 3423;

Sigler 103-105;

ANA Library Catalog GB30.A5

[1] Charles E. Davis, American Numismatic Literature : An Annotated Survey of Auction Sales 1980-1991. (Lincoln, Nebraska : Quarterman Publications, Inc., 1992) : No. 45, Page 2

[2] Mason’s Coin Collectors’ Magazine, Vol. 1, No. 9, February (1885) : 93-94

[3] Mason’s Coin Collectors’ Magazine, Vol. 1, No. 8, January (1885) : 88

[4] “Numismatic Publications, Etc.,” Numisma, Vol. 7, No. 2, March (1883) : 2 (inside front cover). The 25 copies printed on thick paper with blank pages inserted were probably presentation copies given to his coin collecting friends as he tells us he did in his author's preface in the original 1851 first edition. According to Charles Davis none of these are known. See Charles E. Davis, supra, No. 46, page 12

[5] “Our Bargain Department,” Mason’s Coin Collectors’ Magazine, Vol. 1, No. 6, November (1884) : 72. This lower price might have been a typesetters error and was missed in the galley proof.

[6] “Scarce Coin-Book, Etc., For Sale,” Mason’s Coin Collectors’ Magazine, Vol. 1, No. 10, March (1885) : 108