P. A. Andre

As printed in 1905

P. A. ANDRE.

Every great, monumental success contains lessons of infinite value for the beginner in business or any chosen line of activity, and the commercial and industrial leaders of the rising generation can do no better than to apply themselves to the study of the careers of men whose integrity, industry, self-reliance, and singleness of purpose have elevated them to commanding positions in the world of affairs, and won them reputations for ability and exalted character which neither time nor ill-fortune can mar or destroy. Such a success and such a life are those of P. A. Andre, of Burlington, Iowa, proprietor of the Green Horn shoe store, and for half a century one of the leading merchants of that prosperous city, which numbers him among its early pioneers, and owes him much for his part in its up-building and marvelous development.

Mr. Andre was born.\ug. 22, 1830, in the duchy of Xassau. Prussia, and emigrated to America with his father's family in 1848, stopping for a time at Xew Orleans, later at Louisville, 1\ and coming to I'lUrlington in 1831. lie is one of a family of three brothers and one sister, these being as follows: Christian, now living retired at 1604 Summer Street, Burlington; ( george, for many years a grocer in Burlington, later entering the ministry, and on the failure of his health going to England, whence he returned, and became interested in banking at Pckin, In., amassing wealth, and residing at that place until his death, greatly regretted by all who knew him for his high personal character and great scholarship; P. the subject of this review; Catherine, who is unmarried, and resides at iTno South Fourteenth Street, luirlington.

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The first connection of Mr. Andre with I lie shoe business in this city was as clerk in the shoe store of J. M. Caflfrey. whose employ he entered in 1857, and in which he continued for five years.:ind was then taken into the business as a partner, having demonstrated himself to be the possessor of unusual talent for business management. Four years later, upon the departure of Mr. CalTrey for the State of New York, he purchased the business upon very favorable terms, and has ever since conducted it with signal success, there having been no time during the last fifty years at which it has not enjoyed a fair degree of prosperity. The store has always been located on Jefferson Street, and Mr. Andre is the oldest merchant engaged in continuous business on that thoroughfare, while the name of the Green Horn shoe store has become a household word throughout a vast expanse of territory. In addition he has extensive real estate holdings in this city, and has made many real estate loans, having by virtue of his extraordinary ability and aptitude for practical affairs, built up an ample fortune. To his credit also stands the Andre Building, erected by him, which is one of the substantial business blocks of Burlington, and is now occupied by the J. S. Schramm dry-goods store. His entire active life has been de-

' voted to business exclusively, and the persistency with which he has refused to allow any other interest to district his attention may be shown by the fact that although he visited Philadelphia and Chicago during the periods of the Centennial and Columbian Expositions, respectively. he did not attend either of them, fccliiii;- that other matters were more important,

.and that his individual responsibility required another and different use of his time. One exception must be cited, however, namely, his earnest and devoted work for the church, the only organization of whatsoever nature in which he holds membership.

The circumstances leading up to the naming of the Green Horn shoe store are interesting in the light of past events and significant facts of American history. It is related that during the days of the great transcontinental rush of pioneers to the unoccupied territory of the Far West for purposes of settlement, in which the long journey was commonly made overland l)v wagon, a family of these travelers, on their return, disappointed and penniless, from the new country to the East, stopped at the Andre store and traded a pair of deer horns for a pair of shoes. These were nailed over the door, and later were painted green, hence the name. This shoe store is no doubt the oldest anywhere in this portion of the West. Its original number was 44 Jefferson Street, but is now 218, a fact which illustrates forcibly the remarkable growth and expansion of the city since the days of its foundation. Mr. Andre divides his time between the store and his outside affairs, but is usually to be found at his old place of business.

To Mr. and Mrs. Andre were born three sons and two daughters, John H., Edward, P. Henry. Lulu, and Lydia. Mrs. Andre died Jan. 18, 1881, and lies at rest in the Andre mausoleum in Aspen Grove cemetery, — a magnificent structure with solid cement foundation, granite Ijase, and superstructure of Joliet limestone, constructed at a cost of $7,000, and requiring a year for its completion. It was erected by Anderson, -of Chicago, who constructed the Grant monument at Riverside and the Douglas monument in Chicago.

Mr. Andre has been a lifelong member of the Washington Street German Methodist church, in which he has ever been and still is a very faithful and helpful worker, acting as class-leader and in other positions for many years. He was closely associated with the late Mr. John Burg in the building of the present house of worship, and their names are chiseled in the corner stone. He gave two years of his time to soliciting for the building fund, besides making a money donation of very generous proportions. In 1887 he erected a palatial home at the corner of Eighth Street and Maiden Lane, at a cost of $18,- 000. and it is there that he resides, with his two daughters.

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As printed in Biographical review of Des Moines County, Iowa (1905). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.