George Rex Andrews

George Rex Andrews (September 21, 1808 – December 5, 1873) was a U.S. Representative from New York and a member of the Whig Party who served one term in Congress during a significant period in American history. He was born in Ticonderoga, Essex County, New York, where he spent his early years. Andrews attended the common schools in his native region, receiving the basic education typical of the era and preparing for professional study through this foundational schooling.

Pursuing a legal career, Andrews enrolled at Albany Law School in Albany, New York. He completed his legal studies there and was graduated from Albany Law School, after which he was admitted to the bar in 1836. Following his admission, he commenced the practice of law in Ticonderoga, returning to his hometown to establish himself as an attorney. His legal practice in Ticonderoga formed the basis of his professional life prior to entering national politics.

Andrews’s growing prominence as a lawyer and citizen in New York led to his election to the United States House of Representatives. A member of the Whig Party, he was elected to the Thirty-first Congress as a Whig representative from New York. He served a single term in the U.S. House, holding office from March 4, 1849, to March 3, 1851. During this time, he participated in the legislative process at the national level, representing the interests of his New York constituents and contributing to congressional deliberations during a politically charged period leading up to the Compromise of 1850 and other sectional debates. His service in Congress occurred during a significant period in American history, in which he took part in the democratic process as a Whig legislator.

After the close of his term in Congress, Andrews did not seek further elective office. Instead, he abandoned both politics and the legal profession altogether. In 1852 he moved west to Oshkosh, Winnebago County, Wisconsin, reflecting the broader mid-nineteenth-century movement of Americans into the developing regions of the Upper Midwest. In Oshkosh he engaged in the timber and lumber business, entering an industry that was central to the economic growth of Wisconsin at the time. He remained active in this line of work for the rest of his life, devoting his later career to commercial and industrial pursuits rather than public office.

George Rex Andrews died in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, on December 5, 1873, at the age of 65 years and 72 days. He was interred at Riverside Cemetery in Oshkosh. His life traced a path from small-town New York lawyer to national legislator and then to businessman in the expanding American West, reflecting the geographic and economic transformations of the United States in the mid-nineteenth century.