JUDGE BERTRAND ANDREWS, Mount Gilead, Ohio, is one of the prominent lawyers in this part of the State.  Of his life and ancestry, we present the following brief sketch:
     Judge Andrews is of Scotch origin.  His grandfather, Philemon Andrews, was born in Scotland, and shortly after the Revolutionary war became a citizen of the United States.  His son, Erastus Andrews, the Judge’s father, was born in Vermont in 1793, and for fourteen years was in the United States Navy, where he held the rank of Lieutenant.  He was promoted to the office of Commander about the time he resigned.  He was wounded in the war of 1812.  At Truxton, Cortland county, New York, Erastus Andrews married Miss Polly Freeman, who was born at Colerain, Massachusetts, February 22, 1800, daughter of Rev. Rufus Freeman, a Baptist minister.  Rev. Freeman was for eight years in the Revolutionary war, three years as a private, and the rest of the time as Chaplain, and at the battle of Monmouth was wounded.  After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Andrews settled in Cortland county, New York, where they resided six years, at the end of that time removing to Westfield, Chautauqua county, same State, and in 1826 coming from the latter place to Ohio, and settling on a farm in Medina county.  At that time there were only two other families in the township.  He died in 1846, and she in 1869.  They were the parents of eight children, six of whom are now living, viz.: Sophia Haskins; Bertrand, whose name heads this article; Phoebe Howell; Augusta Durand; Eliza A. Watt, wife of Dr. Watt, of Iowa; and E. E., a veteran of the civil war, and now proprietor of the Chippewa Lake resort, Medina county, Ohio.  The eldest son, Rev. Dudley Andrews, died in 1861 at Hebron, Licking county, Ohio.  Rufus S., who died August 1, 1893, was surveyor of the port of New York during President Lincoln’s administration; he was present at the death of President Lincoln.
     Judge Andrews was born at Westfield, Chautauqua county, New York, October 21, 1822, and grew to manhood on his father’s frontier farm in Medina county, Ohio, receiving his education in the district schools, Wadsworth Academy and Granville College.  He began the study of law at Wooster, Ohio, and completed his law course under the instructions of C. A. Lake, of Medina county.  June 6, 1848, he was admitted to the bar and immediately thereafter entered upon the practice of his profession in Medina county.  In June of the following year he came to Morrow county and located at Mount Gilead, where he has since resided.  During all these years he has been a prominent factor in the town.  He has served on the City Council and the School Board, and for a number of years he was Mayor of Mount Gilead.  For two terms, beginning in 1863, he was Prosecuting Attorney of Morrow county.  In 1892 he was appointed Probate Judge, and was elected for the short term of 1893.  Always a stanch Republican, he has taken an active interest in political matters, frequently serving as delegate in county and State conventions and doing much as a campaign speaker for his party.
     Judge Andrews was married September 8, 1844, to Rachel Hand, a native of Wayne county, Ohio, and daughter of Samuel H. Hand.  She was born July 6, 1824, and was educated at Wooster, Ohio.  They are the parents of six children, of whom five are living, namely: Samuel H., a veteran of the civil war, he having enlisted when he was seventeen; Mary J., wife of R. P. Miller, has four children; Ida S., wife of D. D. Rodgers, of Youngstown, Ohio, has one child; Fredericka I.; and Walter O.
     The Judge and all his family are members of the Baptist Church, he being an official in the church.  He is also identified with the Knights of Pythias.  His son, Walter O., is Chancellor Commander of the Knights of Pythias and also holds next to the highest office in the Encampment, I. O. O. F.
Memorial Record of the Counties of Delaware, Union & Morrow, Ohio; Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Co., 1895, pp. 456-457
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist.