Background
Sherlock James Andrews was born on November 17, 1801 in Wallingford, Connecticut, United States, the son of a distinguished physician, Dr. John Andrews.
Sherlock James Andrews was born on November 17, 1801 in Wallingford, Connecticut, United States, the son of a distinguished physician, Dr. John Andrews.
He was educated at Cheshire Academy and at Union College, graduating at the latter in 1821.
His marked ability speedily won him a distinguished position at the bar. Of a distinguished presence, witty and learned, with a remarkable vocabulary, he achieved an enviable reputation as an orator.
His public career began in 1840 when he was elected to Congress on the Whig platform. Ill health compelled him to resign his seat in May 1842, but not until he had definitely taken his stand beside John Quincy Adams in the fight against the suppression of anti-slavery petitions.
In 1848 he was appointed judge of the superior court of Cleveland, an office he filled with distinction until it was abolished. In the Ohio constitutional convention of 1850-1851 he was an influential member, and fought especially for the rights of the colored race. The situation was a critical one, for, with the Democrats in control of the convention, there was real danger that the "Black Code" of Ohio might be restored.
Leading the fight against a proposal to prohibit the immigration of free Negroes into Ohio, Andrews made a speech that was a model of its kind, voicing the determined opposition of the Western Reserve to the proposed measure, yet recognizing the view-point of southern Ohio. Such moderate and tactful leadership won the day, and the measure was voted down.
In the next struggle, in favor of granting the Negro the suffrage, Andrews found the opposition too powerful. He was chosen as one of the attorneys to defend the men who rescued a Negro, John Price, from the slave catchers, at Wellington, Ohio, in 1859. His last public office was that of delegate to the constitutional convention of 1873. Here his long experience and his high standing throughout Ohio made him easily a leader, and he became chairman of the important committee on the judicial department.
Andrews remained a Whig representative his whole life.
In 1828 Andrews married Ursula McCurdy Allen, who also came of a well-known Connecticut family.