Andrew

John Tyler mentions Andrew in a letter describing the arrival of Christmas presents at Sherwood Forest in 1855: “Time was scarcely given the wagon to reach the door before it had been seized upon, and, with the assistance of Andrew, was placed in the dining room.” [1]

Andrew also appears in a letter from 1851 in which Julia Tyler describes a demonstration of mesmirism at Sherwood Forest: “…he gave several examples of his own ability to perform experiments [of mesmirism] when a suitable subject could be found. I was very desirous to see a successful experiment if possible and brought forward Rosetta and Andrew but they proved more stupid than nervous and in twenty minutes fixing of the eye upon one object went to sleep.” [2] Andrew most likely worked inside the house. It is unclear from these references whether Andrew was an enslaved or free servant.

[1] John Tyler to Margaret Gardiner, 25 Dec. 1855, in The Letters and Times of the Tylers, vol. 2, edited by Lyon G. Tyler, Whittet & Shepperson, 1884-96, p. 523.

[2] Julia Gardiner Tyler to Juliana Gardiner, 2 May 1851, Transcripts of Tyler Family Letters, Sherwood Forest Plantation Foundation, Charles City County, Virginia.