He was educated in public schools and engaged in the mercantile and railroad industries early in his life.

Andrews, working with old contacts in the federal government from his days in Pennsylvania politics, was influential in obtaining statehood for New Mexico.

Andrews organized and promoted the Pennsylvania Development Company, builders of the New Mexico Central Railroad.

While in office, he was blamed for a $300,000 shortage in a Pennsylvania bank, money allegedly used to finance the Santa Fe Central Railway.

His body was shipped back to his home in Titusville, Pennsylvania and buried at Woodlawn Cemetery.