He was a son of Judge Walker Anderson of Petersburg, Virginia, Orange County, North Carolina and Pensacola, Florida and his wife Phebe Rice Hawks Anderson of North Carolina and Pensacola.

He was a student from Pensacola, Florida at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the years 1840 and 1841. He was appointed as a Purser in the United States Navy on February 29, 1848. He served on board the Sloop of War St. Mary’s which was commissioned in 1844. On 11 April 1848, the U.S.S. St. Mary’s sailed for duty with the Pacific Squadron and, for the next five years, she cruised from the coast of California to the coast of Chile, in the Central Pacific, and in the Far East. On board the U.S.S. St Mary’s he visited both Hawaii and China during his naval career. On a trip to rejoin his ship he died of consumption at the home of his uncle, William E. Anderson, in Wilmington on June 25, 1852. He was unmarried.

Main Sources: Marriage and Death Notices from The Hillsborough Recorder, Hillsborough, Orange County, North Carolina, Volume 3, 1846-1853 compiled by Barry Munson; The Reads and their Relatives: Being an Account of Colonel Clement and Madam Read of Bushy Forest, Lunenburg County, Virginia, their Eight Children, their Descendants, and Allied Families by Alice Read (Mrs. Shelley Rouse) (1930); Alumni History of the University of North Carolina (1795-1924) Edited by Daniel Lindsey Grant; List of officers of the Navy of the United States and of the Marine Corps, from 1775 to 1900, comprising a complete register of all present and former commissioned, warranted, and appointed officers of the United States Navy, and of the Marine Corps, regular and volunteer. Compiled from the official records of the Navy Department (1901); Register of the Commissioned and Warrant Officers of the Navy of the United States; Including Officers of the Marine Corps, and others, For the Year 1848; Register of the Commissioned and Warrant Officers of the Navy of the United States; Including Officers of the Marine Corps, and others, For the Year 1853; Entry in the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships for the Sloop-of-War St. Mary’s commissioned in 1844; Google search of the phrase: “Purser Cameron Anderson"; Ship image from Wikipedia Entry for USS St. Mary's (1844).