Andrew Allison was born in Ireland and was a resident of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania before moving to North Carolina in 1751. A tailor by trade, Allison became one of Rowan County's first justices of the peace upon the county's founding in 1753. In 1768 Allison became the county sheriff, a position that attracted the ire of the local Regulator population. Allison died in Rowan County in 1780.