Editing Benjamin Andrew (section)

==Early life==

He was born in either [[Dorchester County, South Carolina]] or [[Colleton County, South Carolina]], around 1726.  His father was John Andrew, who is believed to have come to South Carolina from the New England area around 1705. Benjamin was a member of the Dorchester, SC, Congregationalist Church, and re-located with that church when they elected to move, as an entire congregation with their Negro slaves, to Georgia in 1754.<ref name="Stacy's History">{{Cite book |last=Stacy |first=James |title=History and Published Records of the Midway Congregational Church |date=1987 |publisher=The Reprint Company |isbn=0-87152-298-5 |location=Spartanburg, SC |page=19}}</ref>

The church established itself in [[Midway, Georgia]] that year.  The community cleared the marshes and became a thriving community of rice planters.  They built [[Midway Congregational Church]], which became the center of both religious and civil gatherings for the tight-knit community.

In 1769, Benjamin was elected to the royal provincial legislature (the Commons House of Assembly) of Georgia representing Midway and St. John's Parish (modern-day [[Liberty County, Georgia|Liberty County]]).  He served in the Commons through 1774.<ref name="CRG">{{Cite book |last=Candler |first=Allen D. |title=The Colonial Records of the State of Georgia, 26 vols. |date=1904–1916 |publisher=Franklin Printing and Publishing |volume=15 |location=Atlanta, GA |page=12+}}</ref>
   
In April 1773, the naturalist [[William Bartram]] visited Benjamin Andrew at his home in Midway and recorded the visit in his [[Bartram's Travels|Travels]] book.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bartram |first=William |title=Travels through North & South Carolina, Georgia, east & west Florida, the Cherokee country, the extensive territories of the Muscogulges or Creek Confederacy, and the country of the Chactaws |date=1793 |publisher=Moore, Jones, McAllister & Rice |location=Dublin, Ireland GA |page=4}}</ref>