Early Life
Andrew Oliver was born in Boston, capital of the British Province of Massachusetts Bay, on March 28, 1706. His father, Daniel Oliver, was a wealthy and politically active merchant, and his mother, Elizabeth Belcher Oliver, was the daughter of Jonathan Belcher, son of another wealthy merchant and governor of the province in the 1730s. Andrew had two brothers: Daniel Oliver (1704–1727) and Peter Oliver (1713–1791). Characterized as "sober and pious", Andrew was sent to Harvard College, where he graduated in 1724.
Oliver then entered the family business, setting up a merchant business with his brother Peter that concentrated on wine and textiles. The business was successful, and the brothers eventually controlled Boston's Long Wharf. On March 20, 1728, Oliver married Mary Fitch, the daughter of Colonel Thomas Fitch. The couple had three children before Mary died in 1732; only one, a son named Andrew, survived to adulthood. After Mary's death Oliver traveled to England, returning to Massachusetts in 1734. On December 19, 1734 he married Mary Sanford of Newport, Rhode Island, the sister-in-law of Thomas Hutchinson. The couple had fourteen children.
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