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BIOGRAPHIES
Source:
PORTRAIT and BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD
of
TAZEWELL and MASON COUNTIES,
ILLINOIS
Prominent and Representative Citizens of the
Counties,
Together with Biographies and Portraits of all the
Governors of the State and the Presidents of the United States
---
Chicago:
Biographical Publishing Co.
1894
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JOHN A. ANDREWS, the
senior member of the firm of John A. Andrews & Co., millers, of Wahington, was born in Trumbull County, Ohio, Aug. 13, 1827, and is
a son of the Rev. Wells Andrews. His father was born
and reared in Connecticut and was a son of of Asa Andrews,
one of the heroes of the
Revolution. Rev. Mr. Andrews was
graduated
from Jefferson College, of Pennsylvania, entered
the Presbyterian ministry and took charge of the
church in Alexandria, Va. He there married Nancy Harper, a native of the Old Dominion and
a daughter of John Harper. In 1826 he removed
to Trumbull County, Ohio, where he remained
for ten years as a preacher, after which he became
a professor in the Ohio University at Athens.
The year 1843 witnessed his arrival in Washington,
Ill., and after serving as pastor here for a
short time he went to Tremont, then the county
seat, where he spent eleven years. On the expiration
of that period he returned to Washington,
and was pastor of the Presbyterian Church until his decease, which
occurred in February, 1867. He was an active and prominent
minister for a half-century, and his earnest and untiring labors
were productive of much good. He was one of the pioneer
preachers of Tazewell County, and all who knew him respected him.
His wife passed away July 12, 1872.
In the Andrews family were eight children, all
of whom reached mature years, while live are yet
living, viz.: John A.; James, who resides near
Geneseo, Ill.; Lucy, wife of George Shaw, a resident
of Henry County, Ill.; Margaret, widow of J. M. Harlan, a resident of Eureka,
Ill.; and Chester,
who is engaged in cattle raising in Nebraska.
Those deceased are, Mary, who became the wife of John M. Bush and died in 1856;
Robert, whose
death occurred in 1856; and Wells, who died Mar. 11, 1894, at which time he was senior member
of the milling firm of W. & J. A. Andrews.
Our subject was a youth of sixteen years when with his
parents he came to Tazewell County. He
was educated in the Ohio University, of Athens,
and on starting out in life for himself he turned
his attention to farming. Having purchased land
in Washington Township, he continued to cultivate
and improve his farm for about three years.
In 1851 he formed a partnership with his brother
Wells and bought out the flouring mill of A. W.
Danforth. Since that time he has been engaged
in the milling business, and his has been the only
mill of importance in Washington during the
long period of thirty-eight years. He makes an
excellent grade of flour, therefore receives a liberal
patronage and enjoys an excellent trade. He has
also engaged in buying and selling grain, and
from 1854 until 1866 carried on general merchandising.
In 1855 was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Andrews
and Mary Telva Burton, a native of Kentucky
and a daughter of Dr. Robert Burton, a
physician of Kentucky, who brought his family
to Tazewell County in 1837. Here he engaged in
practice for a time, and then embarked in the
dry-goods business, which he followed until his
death, in 1859. Mrs. Andrews was reared in Tazewell
County, and here died Nov. 21, 1878.
To our subject and his wife were born ten children, six of whom are
yet living: Charles W., a
farmer of Washington Township; James, who is
now serving as County Treasurer of Dundy County,
Neb., and makes his home in Benkelman; Telva, who is engaged in teaching in the public
schools of Washington; Margaret Wells, at home; J. Andrew, who is studying medicine; and
Anna,
who completes the family.
In early life Mr. Andrews affiliated with the
Whig party, but since voting for John C. Fremont in 1856 has been a stalwart Republican. He is a
member of the English Lutheran Church, to which
his wife also belonged. One of the oldest settlers
now living in this section of Tazewell County, he
may well be numbered among the honored pioneers,
and also among the valued citizens, for he
has taken an active part in everything pertaining
to the welfare of the community, and withholds
his support from no enterprise calculated to prove
of public benefit.
Source: Portrait and Biographical Record of Tazewell and
Mason Cos., Illinois - publ. 1894 - Page 263 |
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