History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century/4/Alfred T. Andreas

ALFRED T. ANDREAS was born in Amity, Orange County, New York, May 29, 1839. After acquiring a liberal education he went west, taught school for some years and engaged in several business enterprises. He enlisted in Company G, Twelfth Illinois Infantry and served through the war, fighting in a number of the great battles. Mr. Andreas located in Davenport, Iowa, after the restoration of peace and for many years engaged in compiling and publishing county and State atlases. In 1875 he completed and published his greatest work, which was an “Illustrated Historical Atlas of Iowa.” It was a work involving a vast amount of careful labor as it contained large and reliable maps of each of the ninety-nine counties. These maps contained a complete plat of the section lines as well as townships, showing the wagon roads, railroads, native groves and belts of woodland, towns, cities and water courses on a large scale. It also contained histories of the various counties, biographies and portraits of the prominent State officials and notable men of Iowa. It was by far the most useful and valuable publication made in the State up to that time. It was accurate and became an official authority for real estate dealers, county and State officers. Later Mr. Andreas moved to Chicago and organized the “Western Historical Company,” and gave his time to historical writing. He died at New Rochelle, New York, February 10, 1900.