John Smith Anderson was born in Findlay, Ohio, in 1843. His parents were Samuel and Margaret Anderson. Samuel was born in Ireland and Margaret was born in Pennsylvania. John was the second son and the seventh child in a family of eight -- six girls, two boys.
John's dad died in Marion, Ohio, when John was seven. In his teenage years, John and his older brother Samuel moved to Indiana to work in a sawmill in Liberty Mills, Wabash, IN. John's mother died in Findlay sometime around 1877. A descendant of his brother Samuel believes she died in 1877 after having remarried to a man named Angsburg.
In June of 1861, at 18 or 19 according to the 1860 census, John went down to Indianapolis and enlisted in the 13th Indiana Infantry, Company A. His company left Indianapolis on the 4th of July, 1861, to join up with Gen. McClellan's troops in defense of Rich Mountain, West Va. On March 23, 1862, his regiment successfully engaged Gen. Stonewall Jackson. He mustered out three years later in July of 1864 after achieving the rank of division wagoner.
According to his Civil War Pension file, John stated he tried returning to sawmill work in Laketon, IN, after he left the army, but the profound deafness he acquired in the war from having to maintain company wagons close to artillery made it dangerous for him to work in a sawmill.
John then tried farming as a career in Heyworth, Il, near where his sister Martha lived. Frustrated with the wet and cold of Illinois which aggravated conditions he developed in the war, John gave up farming and traveled to Texas to join up with his brother Samuel. Droving in the San Antonio area, John found his life long profession as a cattleman which suited his needs well.
Though the climate of Texas may have suited him, Texas was a tough place for a former union soldier to work in the late 1860s. John eventually returned to farming in the early 1870s. While Samuel returned to farming near Findlay, Ohio, John traveled a different path. John relocated to Humboldt, KS, in 1870 to be near his sister, Barbara Anderson Gillespie, who lived in LeRoy, KS and had marred John Gillespie in 1866. John briefly worked driving a stage and handling the U.S. Mail before John bought a farm in the Cottage Grove township next to Humboldt.
In contrast to his time in Texas, Humboldt was a very friendly and supportive town to former Union soldiers like John. In fact, John may have been introduced to his future wife by none other than another Ohio transplant, Capt. Grasson DeWitt, his future brother-in-law. DeWitt, who served in the 110th Illinois Infantry during the war, was also a good and close friend of Josiah Lockhart, John's future father-in-law. So close were Grasson and Josiah in fact that they are buried next to each other in DeWitt Cemetery, Humboldt, KS. No doubt Capt. DeWitt, as he was called by all, and John had plenty to share about their experiences in the Great Rebellion, which may have prompted Capt. DeWitt to introduce him to Lurena, his sister-in-law.
In the mid 1870s, livestock farming turned sour as the inexpensive longhorn cattle being brought up from Texas ate into John's profits. John, being a good businessman, figured that if he couldn't beat them, he would join them. So John sold his farm and took his young family, including two brothers-in-law, down to Texas to work cattle eventually ending up in Red River Station, TX, a major access portal to the infamous Chisholm Trail which crossed into the Indian Territory. The Census shows John and his brothers-in-law Josiah and Joseph Lockhart worked various ranches while his wife Lurena and his children lived in Red River Station and attended school. The census also shows that John ran his own cattle too.
From there, in the early 1880's, after James and Josiah Lockhart returned to Humboldt, John's growing family migrated up the Chisholm Trail to Arkansas City, KS, waiting for the Indian / Oklahoma Territory to open up to settlers. They became part of the Oklahoma Sooner movement and several times tried to settle the territory before it officially opened up only to be turned back by government troops. There is a report of a J. S. Anderson's family being chased out of the Indian Territory and having their goods destroyed by the troops about that time.
So sure was John, like so many others, that Oklahoma was going to be his family's home that he and Lurena named their last child, a girl, Oklahoma. Oklahoma was born in Arkansas City, KS.
Tragically, John's beloved "Lurany" died before the Oklahoma Territory opened up. The newspaper the Arkansas City Republican at the time reported that she died of heart disease. Family legend has that she choked on food. Either way, John found that her loss coupled with the lung problems John acquired in the Civil War, plus raising children by himself, and the government delays in opening the Indian Territory, made settling Oklahoma unfeasible. So, after a brief trip out west to find land for them settle right away, on Dec. 11th, 1887, according to the local paper, John packed up the family and set out for Gila Bend, AZ.
This was a good choice. According to his pension records, doctors had advised John that a hot and arid climate like an Arizona climate would be better suited to his lungs and overall health. Arriving on Dec. 16th, 1887, John soon formed the Gila Land and Cattle Company, and found that the doctors were correct in that the hot and dry Arizona climate was much better for his health.
Newspaper reports at the time that John would ride the range for days losing track of even what day it was when he came into town.
John would remain in Gila Bend for many years cutting quite a figure in the local landscape as a progressive and substantial cattle rancher using the many business talents he learned as a division wagoner in the war. He would serve on educational committees, maybe attend G.A.R. functions, and sometimes appear in court defending Josiah, his son. It was not uncommon either for a rancher during the wild west like John to be found feuding with local ranchers over whose cattle was whose or who had what rights to precious water or grasslands.
The family sold the last remaining interest in the Gila Bend enterprise in 1912, the year Arizona became a state, and each would go their separate directions. John remained in the Phoenix area and would visit his son, Josiah, his beautiful new wife Regna, at Crescent Ranch in Hayden, AZ, which Josiah bought in 1914 after the family closed down their cattle company.
In 1918, spent from years of hard work, John moved into the Old Soldiers home in Sawtelle, CA. Oklahoma Anderson Noonan and her husband Daniel lived nearby so family would always be close during his final years. In fact, both his grandson John R. Anderson and grand daughter Eleanor Jo Anderson were born in Long Beach, not far from where John would spend his final days. Family would often visit during August to get out of the Arizona heat.
After a long life, and maybe proving the old adage that old soldiers never die, they just fade away, John slipped quietly away in the night of Aug. 13, 1927. [ Newlyweds Don and Marion Kelley visited that August and John likely met Don Kelley, his granddaughter Marion's new husband, before he passed away.]
John is buried in the Los Angeles National Cemetery along side many of his fellow Civil War soldiers but far away from his beloved "Lurany" to whom he can now be next to electronically because of findagrave.com.
[Author's note: This biography was created from public records, civil war pension records, newspaper accounts, DNA matches, and family legends. Where family legends conflict, the more certain history has been chosen. ]
Note: Because John's parents can't be found, here can be found the links to his siblings
Siblings:
Martha Anderson Freeman (1829 - 1909)
Margaret Anderson Parker (1830 - 1915)
Jane Anderson Kinney (1832 - 1891)
Samuel Jefferson Anderson(1837 - 1908)
John Smith Anderson(1843 - 1927)
Barbara Ann Anderson Gillespie (1847 - 1936)
Note: Two of John's children have no FindaGrave links yet.
Oklahoma Anderson Noonan (1884-1950)
Miriam Anderson Davenport (1875-1956)
John's dad died in Marion, Ohio, when John was seven. In his teenage years, John and his older brother Samuel moved to Indiana to work in a sawmill in Liberty Mills, Wabash, IN. John's mother died in Findlay sometime around 1877. A descendant of his brother Samuel believes she died in 1877 after having remarried to a man named Angsburg.
In June of 1861, at 18 or 19 according to the 1860 census, John went down to Indianapolis and enlisted in the 13th Indiana Infantry, Company A. His company left Indianapolis on the 4th of July, 1861, to join up with Gen. McClellan's troops in defense of Rich Mountain, West Va. On March 23, 1862, his regiment successfully engaged Gen. Stonewall Jackson. He mustered out three years later in July of 1864 after achieving the rank of division wagoner.
According to his Civil War Pension file, John stated he tried returning to sawmill work in Laketon, IN, after he left the army, but the profound deafness he acquired in the war from having to maintain company wagons close to artillery made it dangerous for him to work in a sawmill.
John then tried farming as a career in Heyworth, Il, near where his sister Martha lived. Frustrated with the wet and cold of Illinois which aggravated conditions he developed in the war, John gave up farming and traveled to Texas to join up with his brother Samuel. Droving in the San Antonio area, John found his life long profession as a cattleman which suited his needs well.
Though the climate of Texas may have suited him, Texas was a tough place for a former union soldier to work in the late 1860s. John eventually returned to farming in the early 1870s. While Samuel returned to farming near Findlay, Ohio, John traveled a different path. John relocated to Humboldt, KS, in 1870 to be near his sister, Barbara Anderson Gillespie, who lived in LeRoy, KS and had marred John Gillespie in 1866. John briefly worked driving a stage and handling the U.S. Mail before John bought a farm in the Cottage Grove township next to Humboldt.
In contrast to his time in Texas, Humboldt was a very friendly and supportive town to former Union soldiers like John. In fact, John may have been introduced to his future wife by none other than another Ohio transplant, Capt. Grasson DeWitt, his future brother-in-law. DeWitt, who served in the 110th Illinois Infantry during the war, was also a good and close friend of Josiah Lockhart, John's future father-in-law. So close were Grasson and Josiah in fact that they are buried next to each other in DeWitt Cemetery, Humboldt, KS. No doubt Capt. DeWitt, as he was called by all, and John had plenty to share about their experiences in the Great Rebellion, which may have prompted Capt. DeWitt to introduce him to Lurena, his sister-in-law.
In the mid 1870s, livestock farming turned sour as the inexpensive longhorn cattle being brought up from Texas ate into John's profits. John, being a good businessman, figured that if he couldn't beat them, he would join them. So John sold his farm and took his young family, including two brothers-in-law, down to Texas to work cattle eventually ending up in Red River Station, TX, a major access portal to the infamous Chisholm Trail which crossed into the Indian Territory. The Census shows John and his brothers-in-law Josiah and Joseph Lockhart worked various ranches while his wife Lurena and his children lived in Red River Station and attended school. The census also shows that John ran his own cattle too.
From there, in the early 1880's, after James and Josiah Lockhart returned to Humboldt, John's growing family migrated up the Chisholm Trail to Arkansas City, KS, waiting for the Indian / Oklahoma Territory to open up to settlers. They became part of the Oklahoma Sooner movement and several times tried to settle the territory before it officially opened up only to be turned back by government troops. There is a report of a J. S. Anderson's family being chased out of the Indian Territory and having their goods destroyed by the troops about that time.
So sure was John, like so many others, that Oklahoma was going to be his family's home that he and Lurena named their last child, a girl, Oklahoma. Oklahoma was born in Arkansas City, KS.
Tragically, John's beloved "Lurany" died before the Oklahoma Territory opened up. The newspaper the Arkansas City Republican at the time reported that she died of heart disease. Family legend has that she choked on food. Either way, John found that her loss coupled with the lung problems John acquired in the Civil War, plus raising children by himself, and the government delays in opening the Indian Territory, made settling Oklahoma unfeasible. So, after a brief trip out west to find land for them settle right away, on Dec. 11th, 1887, according to the local paper, John packed up the family and set out for Gila Bend, AZ.
This was a good choice. According to his pension records, doctors had advised John that a hot and arid climate like an Arizona climate would be better suited to his lungs and overall health. Arriving on Dec. 16th, 1887, John soon formed the Gila Land and Cattle Company, and found that the doctors were correct in that the hot and dry Arizona climate was much better for his health.
Newspaper reports at the time that John would ride the range for days losing track of even what day it was when he came into town.
John would remain in Gila Bend for many years cutting quite a figure in the local landscape as a progressive and substantial cattle rancher using the many business talents he learned as a division wagoner in the war. He would serve on educational committees, maybe attend G.A.R. functions, and sometimes appear in court defending Josiah, his son. It was not uncommon either for a rancher during the wild west like John to be found feuding with local ranchers over whose cattle was whose or who had what rights to precious water or grasslands.
The family sold the last remaining interest in the Gila Bend enterprise in 1912, the year Arizona became a state, and each would go their separate directions. John remained in the Phoenix area and would visit his son, Josiah, his beautiful new wife Regna, at Crescent Ranch in Hayden, AZ, which Josiah bought in 1914 after the family closed down their cattle company.
In 1918, spent from years of hard work, John moved into the Old Soldiers home in Sawtelle, CA. Oklahoma Anderson Noonan and her husband Daniel lived nearby so family would always be close during his final years. In fact, both his grandson John R. Anderson and grand daughter Eleanor Jo Anderson were born in Long Beach, not far from where John would spend his final days. Family would often visit during August to get out of the Arizona heat.
After a long life, and maybe proving the old adage that old soldiers never die, they just fade away, John slipped quietly away in the night of Aug. 13, 1927. [ Newlyweds Don and Marion Kelley visited that August and John likely met Don Kelley, his granddaughter Marion's new husband, before he passed away.]
John is buried in the Los Angeles National Cemetery along side many of his fellow Civil War soldiers but far away from his beloved "Lurany" to whom he can now be next to electronically because of findagrave.com.
[Author's note: This biography was created from public records, civil war pension records, newspaper accounts, DNA matches, and family legends. Where family legends conflict, the more certain history has been chosen. ]
Note: Because John's parents can't be found, here can be found the links to his siblings
Siblings:
Martha Anderson Freeman (1829 - 1909)
Margaret Anderson Parker (1830 - 1915)
Jane Anderson Kinney (1832 - 1891)
Samuel Jefferson Anderson(1837 - 1908)
John Smith Anderson(1843 - 1927)
Barbara Ann Anderson Gillespie (1847 - 1936)
Note: Two of John's children have no FindaGrave links yet.
Oklahoma Anderson Noonan (1884-1950)
Miriam Anderson Davenport (1875-1956)
John Smith Anderson was born in Findlay, Ohio, in 1843. His parents were Samuel and Margaret Anderson. Samuel was born in Ireland and Margaret was born in Pennsylvania. John was the second son and the seventh child in a family of eight -- six girls, two boys.
John's dad died in Marion, Ohio, when John was seven. In his teenage years, John and his older brother Samuel moved to Indiana to work in a sawmill in Liberty Mills, Wabash, IN. John's mother died in Findlay sometime around 1877. A descendant of his brother Samuel believes she died in 1877 after having remarried to a man named Angsburg.
In June of 1861, at 18 or 19 according to the 1860 census, John went down to Indianapolis and enlisted in the 13th Indiana Infantry, Company A. His company left Indianapolis on the 4th of July, 1861, to join up with Gen. McClellan's troops in defense of Rich Mountain, West Va. On March 23, 1862, his regiment successfully engaged Gen. Stonewall Jackson. He mustered out three years later in July of 1864 after achieving the rank of division wagoner.
According to his Civil War Pension file, John stated he tried returning to sawmill work in Laketon, IN, after he left the army, but the profound deafness he acquired in the war from having to maintain company wagons close to artillery made it dangerous for him to work in a sawmill.
John then tried farming as a career in Heyworth, Il, near where his sister Martha lived. Frustrated with the wet and cold of Illinois which aggravated conditions he developed in the war, John gave up farming and traveled to Texas to join up with his brother Samuel. Droving in the San Antonio area, John found his life long profession as a cattleman which suited his needs well.
Though the climate of Texas may have suited him, Texas was a tough place for a former union soldier to work in the late 1860s. John eventually returned to farming in the early 1870s. While Samuel returned to farming near Findlay, Ohio, John traveled a different path. John relocated to Humboldt, KS, in 1870 to be near his sister, Barbara Anderson Gillespie, who lived in LeRoy, KS and had marred John Gillespie in 1866. John briefly worked driving a stage and handling the U.S. Mail before John bought a farm in the Cottage Grove township next to Humboldt.
In contrast to his time in Texas, Humboldt was a very friendly and supportive town to former Union soldiers like John. In fact, John may have been introduced to his future wife by none other than another Ohio transplant, Capt. Grasson DeWitt, his future brother-in-law. DeWitt, who served in the 110th Illinois Infantry during the war, was also a good and close friend of Josiah Lockhart, John's future father-in-law. So close were Grasson and Josiah in fact that they are buried next to each other in DeWitt Cemetery, Humboldt, KS. No doubt Capt. DeWitt, as he was called by all, and John had plenty to share about their experiences in the Great Rebellion, which may have prompted Capt. DeWitt to introduce him to Lurena, his sister-in-law.
In the mid 1870s, livestock farming turned sour as the inexpensive longhorn cattle being brought up from Texas ate into John's profits. John, being a good businessman, figured that if he couldn't beat them, he would join them. So John sold his farm and took his young family, including two brothers-in-law, down to Texas to work cattle eventually ending up in Red River Station, TX, a major access portal to the infamous Chisholm Trail which crossed into the Indian Territory. The Census shows John and his brothers-in-law Josiah and Joseph Lockhart worked various ranches while his wife Lurena and his children lived in Red River Station and attended school. The census also shows that John ran his own cattle too.
From there, in the early 1880's, after James and Josiah Lockhart returned to Humboldt, John's growing family migrated up the Chisholm Trail to Arkansas City, KS, waiting for the Indian / Oklahoma Territory to open up to settlers. They became part of the Oklahoma Sooner movement and several times tried to settle the territory before it officially opened up only to be turned back by government troops. There is a report of a J. S. Anderson's family being chased out of the Indian Territory and having their goods destroyed by the troops about that time.
So sure was John, like so many others, that Oklahoma was going to be his family's home that he and Lurena named their last child, a girl, Oklahoma. Oklahoma was born in Arkansas City, KS.
Tragically, John's beloved "Lurany" died before the Oklahoma Territory opened up. The newspaper the Arkansas City Republican at the time reported that she died of heart disease. Family legend has that she choked on food. Either way, John found that her loss coupled with the lung problems John acquired in the Civil War, plus raising children by himself, and the government delays in opening the Indian Territory, made settling Oklahoma unfeasible. So, after a brief trip out west to find land for them settle right away, on Dec. 11th, 1887, according to the local paper, John packed up the family and set out for Gila Bend, AZ.
This was a good choice. According to his pension records, doctors had advised John that a hot and arid climate like an Arizona climate would be better suited to his lungs and overall health. Arriving on Dec. 16th, 1887, John soon formed the Gila Land and Cattle Company, and found that the doctors were correct in that the hot and dry Arizona climate was much better for his health.
Newspaper reports at the time that John would ride the range for days losing track of even what day it was when he came into town.
John would remain in Gila Bend for many years cutting quite a figure in the local landscape as a progressive and substantial cattle rancher using the many business talents he learned as a division wagoner in the war. He would serve on educational committees, maybe attend G.A.R. functions, and sometimes appear in court defending Josiah, his son. It was not uncommon either for a rancher during the wild west like John to be found feuding with local ranchers over whose cattle was whose or who had what rights to precious water or grasslands.
The family sold the last remaining interest in the Gila Bend enterprise in 1912, the year Arizona became a state, and each would go their separate directions. John remained in the Phoenix area and would visit his son, Josiah, his beautiful new wife Regna, at Crescent Ranch in Hayden, AZ, which Josiah bought in 1914 after the family closed down their cattle company.
In 1918, spent from years of hard work, John moved into the Old Soldiers home in Sawtelle, CA. Oklahoma Anderson Noonan and her husband Daniel lived nearby so family would always be close during his final years. In fact, both his grandson John R. Anderson and grand daughter Eleanor Jo Anderson were born in Long Beach, not far from where John would spend his final days. Family would often visit during August to get out of the Arizona heat.
After a long life, and maybe proving the old adage that old soldiers never die, they just fade away, John slipped quietly away in the night of Aug. 13, 1927. [ Newlyweds Don and Marion Kelley visited that August and John likely met Don Kelley, his granddaughter Marion's new husband, before he passed away.]
John is buried in the Los Angeles National Cemetery along side many of his fellow Civil War soldiers but far away from his beloved "Lurany" to whom he can now be next to electronically because of findagrave.com.
[Author's note: This biography was created from public records, civil war pension records, newspaper accounts, DNA matches, and family legends. Where family legends conflict, the more certain history has been chosen. ]
Note: Because John's parents can't be found, here can be found the links to his siblings
Siblings:
Martha Anderson Freeman (1829 - 1909)
Margaret Anderson Parker (1830 - 1915)
Jane Anderson Kinney (1832 - 1891)
Samuel Jefferson Anderson(1837 - 1908)
John Smith Anderson(1843 - 1927)
Barbara Ann Anderson Gillespie (1847 - 1936)
Note: Two of John's children have no FindaGrave links yet.
Oklahoma Anderson Noonan (1884-1950)
Miriam Anderson Davenport (1875-1956)
John's dad died in Marion, Ohio, when John was seven. In his teenage years, John and his older brother Samuel moved to Indiana to work in a sawmill in Liberty Mills, Wabash, IN. John's mother died in Findlay sometime around 1877. A descendant of his brother Samuel believes she died in 1877 after having remarried to a man named Angsburg.
In June of 1861, at 18 or 19 according to the 1860 census, John went down to Indianapolis and enlisted in the 13th Indiana Infantry, Company A. His company left Indianapolis on the 4th of July, 1861, to join up with Gen. McClellan's troops in defense of Rich Mountain, West Va. On March 23, 1862, his regiment successfully engaged Gen. Stonewall Jackson. He mustered out three years later in July of 1864 after achieving the rank of division wagoner.
According to his Civil War Pension file, John stated he tried returning to sawmill work in Laketon, IN, after he left the army, but the profound deafness he acquired in the war from having to maintain company wagons close to artillery made it dangerous for him to work in a sawmill.
John then tried farming as a career in Heyworth, Il, near where his sister Martha lived. Frustrated with the wet and cold of Illinois which aggravated conditions he developed in the war, John gave up farming and traveled to Texas to join up with his brother Samuel. Droving in the San Antonio area, John found his life long profession as a cattleman which suited his needs well.
Though the climate of Texas may have suited him, Texas was a tough place for a former union soldier to work in the late 1860s. John eventually returned to farming in the early 1870s. While Samuel returned to farming near Findlay, Ohio, John traveled a different path. John relocated to Humboldt, KS, in 1870 to be near his sister, Barbara Anderson Gillespie, who lived in LeRoy, KS and had marred John Gillespie in 1866. John briefly worked driving a stage and handling the U.S. Mail before John bought a farm in the Cottage Grove township next to Humboldt.
In contrast to his time in Texas, Humboldt was a very friendly and supportive town to former Union soldiers like John. In fact, John may have been introduced to his future wife by none other than another Ohio transplant, Capt. Grasson DeWitt, his future brother-in-law. DeWitt, who served in the 110th Illinois Infantry during the war, was also a good and close friend of Josiah Lockhart, John's future father-in-law. So close were Grasson and Josiah in fact that they are buried next to each other in DeWitt Cemetery, Humboldt, KS. No doubt Capt. DeWitt, as he was called by all, and John had plenty to share about their experiences in the Great Rebellion, which may have prompted Capt. DeWitt to introduce him to Lurena, his sister-in-law.
In the mid 1870s, livestock farming turned sour as the inexpensive longhorn cattle being brought up from Texas ate into John's profits. John, being a good businessman, figured that if he couldn't beat them, he would join them. So John sold his farm and took his young family, including two brothers-in-law, down to Texas to work cattle eventually ending up in Red River Station, TX, a major access portal to the infamous Chisholm Trail which crossed into the Indian Territory. The Census shows John and his brothers-in-law Josiah and Joseph Lockhart worked various ranches while his wife Lurena and his children lived in Red River Station and attended school. The census also shows that John ran his own cattle too.
From there, in the early 1880's, after James and Josiah Lockhart returned to Humboldt, John's growing family migrated up the Chisholm Trail to Arkansas City, KS, waiting for the Indian / Oklahoma Territory to open up to settlers. They became part of the Oklahoma Sooner movement and several times tried to settle the territory before it officially opened up only to be turned back by government troops. There is a report of a J. S. Anderson's family being chased out of the Indian Territory and having their goods destroyed by the troops about that time.
So sure was John, like so many others, that Oklahoma was going to be his family's home that he and Lurena named their last child, a girl, Oklahoma. Oklahoma was born in Arkansas City, KS.
Tragically, John's beloved "Lurany" died before the Oklahoma Territory opened up. The newspaper the Arkansas City Republican at the time reported that she died of heart disease. Family legend has that she choked on food. Either way, John found that her loss coupled with the lung problems John acquired in the Civil War, plus raising children by himself, and the government delays in opening the Indian Territory, made settling Oklahoma unfeasible. So, after a brief trip out west to find land for them settle right away, on Dec. 11th, 1887, according to the local paper, John packed up the family and set out for Gila Bend, AZ.
This was a good choice. According to his pension records, doctors had advised John that a hot and arid climate like an Arizona climate would be better suited to his lungs and overall health. Arriving on Dec. 16th, 1887, John soon formed the Gila Land and Cattle Company, and found that the doctors were correct in that the hot and dry Arizona climate was much better for his health.
Newspaper reports at the time that John would ride the range for days losing track of even what day it was when he came into town.
John would remain in Gila Bend for many years cutting quite a figure in the local landscape as a progressive and substantial cattle rancher using the many business talents he learned as a division wagoner in the war. He would serve on educational committees, maybe attend G.A.R. functions, and sometimes appear in court defending Josiah, his son. It was not uncommon either for a rancher during the wild west like John to be found feuding with local ranchers over whose cattle was whose or who had what rights to precious water or grasslands.
The family sold the last remaining interest in the Gila Bend enterprise in 1912, the year Arizona became a state, and each would go their separate directions. John remained in the Phoenix area and would visit his son, Josiah, his beautiful new wife Regna, at Crescent Ranch in Hayden, AZ, which Josiah bought in 1914 after the family closed down their cattle company.
In 1918, spent from years of hard work, John moved into the Old Soldiers home in Sawtelle, CA. Oklahoma Anderson Noonan and her husband Daniel lived nearby so family would always be close during his final years. In fact, both his grandson John R. Anderson and grand daughter Eleanor Jo Anderson were born in Long Beach, not far from where John would spend his final days. Family would often visit during August to get out of the Arizona heat.
After a long life, and maybe proving the old adage that old soldiers never die, they just fade away, John slipped quietly away in the night of Aug. 13, 1927. [ Newlyweds Don and Marion Kelley visited that August and John likely met Don Kelley, his granddaughter Marion's new husband, before he passed away.]
John is buried in the Los Angeles National Cemetery along side many of his fellow Civil War soldiers but far away from his beloved "Lurany" to whom he can now be next to electronically because of findagrave.com.
[Author's note: This biography was created from public records, civil war pension records, newspaper accounts, DNA matches, and family legends. Where family legends conflict, the more certain history has been chosen. ]
Note: Because John's parents can't be found, here can be found the links to his siblings
Siblings:
Martha Anderson Freeman (1829 - 1909)
Margaret Anderson Parker (1830 - 1915)
Jane Anderson Kinney (1832 - 1891)
Samuel Jefferson Anderson(1837 - 1908)
John Smith Anderson(1843 - 1927)
Barbara Ann Anderson Gillespie (1847 - 1936)
Note: Two of John's children have no FindaGrave links yet.
Oklahoma Anderson Noonan (1884-1950)
Miriam Anderson Davenport (1875-1956)
Inscription
John S. Anderson
Co. A
13 IND. INF.
