James Andrus
(1835-1914)

25th District Representative

Democrat

Yes

60

June 14, 1835

Florence, Huron, Ohio, United States

December 8, 1914

Laura Arrilla Altha Gibson (1837-1905) Married March 11, 1857
Manomas Lovina Gibson (1842-1940) Married September 17, 1863

Rancher, Merchant, Banker

James Andrus and his family left Nauvoo, Illinois, in 1846. While staying in Winter Quarters, Nebraska, his father was called as a missionary in Europe. At the age of fourteen, Andrus helped drive his family’s wagon across the plains, arriving in Utah in 1848. In 1857, he married Laura Altha Gibson (1837-1905) and later in 1863, Manomas Lovina Gibson (1842-1940). Beginning in 1866, Andrus served in the Utah Territorial Militia for fifteen years and was involved in the Native American campaigns across the west. His family settled in St. George, Utah, in 1867 and he became involved with livestock. Later Andrus became the general manager of the Canaan Cooperative Livestock Company. He also raised cattle, bred fine horses, and was involved in many irrigation projects. Additionally, Andrus found financial success as a merchant and banker, using the funds to build schools. In 1914, Andrus died at his home in St. George from heart disease.
During his time as a State Representative, he served as chairman of the Livestock Committee and helped author the estray law.

Crampton, C. Gregory, and David E. Miller, eds. “Journal of Two Campaigns by the Utah Territorial Militia Against the Navajo Indians, 1869.” Utah Historical Quarterly 29, no. 2 (1961). https://issuu.com/utah10/docs/uhq_volume29_1961_number2/s/99023.

Newell, Linda King. A History of Piute County. Salt Lake City, Utah: Utah State Historical Society, 1999. https://digitallibrary.utah.gov/awweb/awarchive?type=file&item=34351.

Webb, Katie. James Andrus history. 1936. MSS B 289 The Works Progress Administration (Utah Section) Biographical Sketches, ca. 1930-1941, Box 1, Folder 26, J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah. https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6b0192m/700414.

https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/KWNR-VGK

Image of James Andrus by courtesy of HathiTrust Cropped from page 84 of Drumm, Mark. "The Bee Hive State." Drumm's Manual of Utah, and Souvenir of the First State Legislature, 1896. Hathi Trust Digital Library. Salt Lake City, Utah: M. Drumm, 1896. https://hdl.handle.net/2027/hvd.hx4jb7?urlappend=%3Bseq=90