Edmund Andrews was born on April 22, 1824, in Putney, Vermont.

He was an American doctor, a pioneer in surgery and medical education of the Western United States. In 1849, he received the degree of B.A. from the University of Michigan. In 1851, he received his degree in medicine, and in 1852, he became a professor of comparative anatomy at the University of Michigan. He was one of the founders of the Michigan State Medical Society, and in 1853, he began the publication of the Peninsular Journal of Medical and Collateral Sciences. In 1856, he devoted himself to practice, especially surgery. He helped to found the Chicago Academy of Science and the Chicago Medical College where he became its first professor of surgery. When the Civil War broke out, he was made surgeon of the First Illinois Light Artillery, but after a year he had to resign due to illness incurred in the service. He was the first to make and keep complete medical records of the sick and wounded in the war, and his records were accepted by the surgeon general and formed the basis on which records of that office have since been kept. He was a pioneer in practical antisepsis and was the first man in the west to employ Lister's method after its exploitation.

In 1853, he married Sarah Eliza Taylor (d. 1875). In 1877, he re-married Frances Maria Taylor Barrett. He died on January 22, 1904, in Chicago, Illinois.