His parentage and early life are unknown. On censuses his children always indicated that their father was born in Pennsylvania. Andrus (as the family always referred to him) married Catherine Dunn before 1885; their son Thomas was baptized in April of that year in Plymouth, Luzerne Co., PA. Another son John was born/baptized in 1887 in the same locale. Then sometime before 1890 they moved to Allegheny County. Their daughter Mary (my great-grandmother) was supposedly born in Pittsburgh. However one of her sisters was born in McDonald, PA per her obit. Where exactly they resided during their years in Western PA is one of the things I'd like to find out.

In the Pittsburg Post, Friday, 16 February 1900, the following appeared (tacked on to the end of an unrelated story of a fatal trolley accident): "Coroner McGeary was notified last night that Andrew McDaniels, aged 40, had been run down and killed on the Pittsburgh & Mansfield railroad at Signon on Monday". In the succeeding days no follow-up articles appeared (other than the railroad stressing that they were not responsible for any injuries/fatalities that occurred on railroad property!). It looks like "Signon" is a mispelling of "Sygan", a small town outside Pittsburgh in S. Fayette Township. Catherine thought that he had been murdered since he was due to testify in a legal matter. Perhaps this was the coping mechanism of a distraught widow left to raise 7 children on her own.

After Andrus' death, Catherine (4 months pregnant with their last baby) moved back to Plymouth with the children. Interestingly, this daughter born after his death ended up residing in Carnegie, PA for 18 years after her marriage and she is buried in Bridgeville (near Sygan). Her family said she wanted to be buried in the same cemetery as her father...

I've ordered the microfilm of the Pittsburgh death records. Here's hoping that Andrus is listed & it provides at least some new info to investigate!