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Note: N121 "Peter Andress was p[robably born in the Mohawk Valley of New York state in 1784, of a Dutch or German father and an Indian mother. Both Peter and his brother were half-breed Indians. The only member of Peter's family ever seen by our family was his brother known as "Injun Doctor", who was a frequent visitor in and around Woodland. My mother, Mary Clifford Smith, remembers older members of the family saying that Grandma Nancy Andress was part Indian. Being Peter's daughter she would have been a quarter blood Indian. After Peter joined the family, black hair and black eyes began to show up. Before this sandy and brown hair, occasionally a redhead, blue and grey eyes and fair complexions, typically Scottish and English characterisitics, were the rule. One of Nancy Andress' sons, John, had black hair, black eyes, and practically no beard. Jesse Clifford as a young woman showed high cheek bones, straight black hair and dark skin. As a child she was called "Injun" by her brothers and cousins. Peter liked to roam and spent most of his time in the woods and in traveling. His brother, Injun Doctor, was evidently much like him because every once in a while he would turn up in Woodland for a visit. A number of Peter's children lived around the Woodland area but Uncle Injun Doctor found his hospitality somewhat limited. Nancy Andress had too crowded a house, and too many problems of her own to make him welcome. Roxanna Barnum had very snobbish in-laws. Peter was Roxey's uncle so the Barnums had to put up with him, but they certainly didn't have to associate with Injun Doctor. Injun Doctor spent the winter of 1865 with nephew, Jeremiah Filley. Peter was a consummate actor, and so full of sly nonsense that it was difficult to tell when he was telling the truth and when he was "stringing" you along. He dearly loved a sensation and was more than willing to make it. It was his delight to make some mildly sensational remark, and then watch it spread and grow bigger as it spread from person to person. When he was maling a "dicker" for a horse trade, he was wont to the self possession of the other party by romantic flights of imagination designed to get his opponent's mind on something besides the deal at hand, and render him more or less "scatter-brained" while his own intent black eyes guaged every fluctuation of thought or emotion. If Peter was trading with a blacksmith then Peter was a blacksmith too. If his partner in conversation was fond of stories of adventure, then Peter detailed his wanderings in the Green Mountains of Vermont, or the unforgettable Niagara Falls country. He told the little children that he and his brother used to run away, and no matter what time they got home, their mother always whipped them, even if it was after they were in bed. ... His delight in seeing the town gossips rushing about retelling a choice bit of his manufactured news, has set afloat about him all manner of conflicting stories. Some shake their heads and say, "he was a strange man". When the Baptist Church was established in Woodland Township, Michigan (about 1850), Peter's niece Roxanna and her husband Isaac Barnum were made Deacon and Deaconess of the church. Now it was in the Barnum blood to do inumerable little things for their own aggrandizement and the downfall of the other fellow; quietly, skillfully, and with the most angelic face and manner. Peter knew this and his intense searching eyes and almost uncanny intuition saw much that Isaac would have preferred to remain hidden. It was Peter's delight to attend the church services (being Baptist, Lutheran, Unitarian, Methodist, or any other kind of "tist" to suit the occasion. Sittng with his cane between his knees, his hands clasped over the head of the cane, and his chin resting on his hands, his eyes gleaming like holes of light in his head, he would watch the minister intently, storing in his wonderful memory every thought and phrase. After Sunday dinner he would walk over to Roxey's and engage Isaac in a discussion of the sermon. Isaac, like a good deacon would stoutly uphold the minister. Again and again, Peter would lead him into deep water, and then remind him wherein his daily life was inconsistent with his professed beliefs and his preacher's teachings. Needless to say, the Barnums were not comfortable with him around and tried to even up by sticking their noses in the air, shrugging their shoulders and sniffing, "them Andresses". He was the torment and delight of his children and grandchildren. When approaching the little ones he was wont to draw himself up to his full height, hump his shoulders, spread his hands and arms in a spidery claw-like way, and with sinister aspect and terrible throat noises, slowly corner them. Then he would cuddle and talk to them and tell them wondewrfuil bugaboo yarns of fact and fancy until their little feelings were racing up and down like a glass ball in the fountain. Trul;y, he was a strange man!"
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