Biographical Sketch of Capt. Patrick ANDERSON (1719-1793); Chester County, PA

Contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by 
Sandra Ferguson [ferg@ntelos.net]

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The following is from THE HISTORY OF CHESTER COUNTY PA, by Futhey and Cope.

     ANDERSON, CAPT. PATRICK, was born July 24, 1719, on a farm on the 
Pickering Creek, in what is now Schuylkill township, and was the first 
child of European parents born within the limits of the old township of 
Charlestown. He was the son of James Anderson, a Scotch emigrant, and 
Elizabeth Jerman, daughter of Thomas Jerman, a noted Quaker preacher and 
thrifty miller, who settled very early in the Chester Valley. When a babe 
his mother occasionally left him with the friendly Indian women to be nursed, 
while she visited her parents across the mountain. In his youth he was sent 
to Philadelphia to be educated, and afterwards he taught school in his 
father's house. He obtained the home property from his father, and on it at 
an early age, built thje saw-mill which now belongs to his great-grandson, 
Dr. M. J. Pennypacker. He was thrifty and enerprising, and among other 
possessions owned a number of slaves. There is a letter extant, written by 
William Moore, of Moore Hall, Nov, 5, 1755, during the progress of the French 
and Indian War, to William Allen, chief justice of the province, recommending 
him for a captaincy    In the Revolutionary struggle, he bore an active part. 
In 1774 he was elected one of the Chester County committee of which Anthony 
Wayne was chairman. In March, 1776, he was appointed by the Assembly senior 
captain of the Pennsylvania battalion of musketry, and though then considerably 
advanced in years, he accepted the position and recruited a company. This 
battalion, under the command of Col. Samuel J. Atlee, was placed on the right 
of the American army at the battle of Long Island, fought with a great gallantry, 
capturing from the British and holding a height, and did much to save the army 
from destruction. Lieut.-Col. Caleb Parry, a friend and neighbor of Anderson, 
was killed by his side, and according to tradition, the sight very much enraged 
him. His company lost heavily in killed, wounded, and missing. Atlee having been 
captured, the command of the battalion, which had been very much shattered, 
devolved upon him, and a letter from him to Benjamin Franklin, dated Sept 22, 
1776, detailing its condition, is printed in the Archives. At the capture of 
Fort Washington, all, or nearly all, of his company were taken prisoners, and 
on the 9th of January, 1777, he made application for a lieutenant-colonelcy, but 
does not appear to have succeeded. The battalion was reorganized and consolidated 
with other troops, and he was put in command of the first company of the State 
regiment of foot, and later of a company in the Thirteenth Pennsylvania Regiment 
in the Continental Line. He was in the service when, in the fall of 1777, the 
British passed through Chester County in the campaign for the possession of 
Philadelphia. At his house they committed great depradations, destroying and 
taking his furniture and other property, including 11 cows, 7 beef-cattle, 40 
sheep, 10 swine, and 121 fowls, to the value of ?303 3s 6 d. A mirror, which had 
been apart of the marriage outfit of his dead wife, escaped, and now belongs to 
Samuel Pennypacker, Esq.   He was elected a member of the Assembly in October 1778, 
and after a long contest, obtained his seat. He was re-elected in 1779, 1780, and 
1781, and as a member of that body voted against all efforts to abolish slavery 
in Pennsylvania. In April, 1779, he wrote to the Council of Safety in regard to 
irregularities in the election of the militia officers in Chester County, as 
conducted by Col. Levi Granow, and that election was annulled. In 1781 he was 
appointed by the Assembly one of the board of commissioners to provide for the 
navigation of the river Schuylkill.
     He married, at Christ Church, Philadelphia, Dec. 22, 1748, Hannah Martin and 
had two children, --Rebecca and Harriet. He married again, Elizabeth Morris, grand-
daughter of John Bartholomew, and cousin of Cols. Edward and Benjamin Bartholomew, 
by whom he had three children, --Isaac, James, and Elizabeth. He married the third 
time, Ann Beaton, sister of Col. John Beaton, and had by her seven children. He 
died in 1793, and is buried in the yard of the Valley Episcopal Church.



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