William Andrus (September 27, 1806 – March 10, 1884) was an American coach driver, farmer, and politician from New York.
Life
Andrus was born on September 27, 1806, in
Malone, New York
Malone ( moh, Tekanatà:ronhwe) is a town in Franklin County, New York, United States. The population was 14,545 at the 2010 census. The town contains a village also named Malone. The town is an interior town located in the north-central part ...
, the son of Cone Andrus and Melinda House. His brothers were assemblymen
Lucius C. Andrus and
Albert Andrus.
Andrus went to school in
Danbury, Connecticut. After finishing school, he returned to Malone and initially worked as a clerk in Jonathan Stearns' store. He soon left the job and worked for Jonathan Thompson, driving a mail coach between
Plattsburgh and
Ogdensburg until 1832. In 1842, he became a proprietor of that mail route, which he maintained until it was superseded by the railroad in 1851. When the Bank of Malone was founded in 1851, he became one of its directors, a position he was annually re-elected to. He was the only surviving member of the original board when he died.
He also worked as a farmer and sold village lots from large tracts of land his father owned.
Andrus was
town supervisor
The administrative divisions of New York are the various units of government that provide local services in the State of New York. The state is divided into boroughs, counties, cities, townships called "towns", and villages. (The only borou ...
of Malone from 1847 to 1852 and from 1857 to 1860. He was initially a conservative
Whig, later joining the
American Party and then the
Republican Party.
He served as
sheriff of
Franklin County from 1839 to 1842. In 1860, he was elected to the
New York State Assembly as a
Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
, representing Franklin County. He served in the Assembly in
1861
Statistically, this year is considered the end of the whale oil industry and (in replacement) the beginning of the petroleum oil industry.
Events
January–March
* January 1
** Benito Juárez captures Mexico City.
** The first stea ...
. He again served as town supervisor from 1864 to 1870. He often served as a village trustee, and was president of the board.
He was a delegate to the
1872 Republican National Convention.
In 1832, Andrus married Susan Roberts of
Chateangay.
They had three surviving sons. He was a member and senior warden of St. Mark's
Episcopal Church.
Andrus died at home on March 10, 1884.
He was buried in
Morningside Cemetery in Malone.
References
External links
*
The Political Graveyard'
William Andrusat ''
Find a Grave''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Andrus, William
1806 births
1884 deaths
People from Malone, New York
Farmers from New York (state)
Town supervisors in New York (state)
New York (state) sheriffs
New York (state) Whigs
New York (state) Know Nothings
New York (state) Republicans
Members of the New York State Assembly
19th-century American Episcopalians
Burials in New York (state)