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Thomas Smith Anderson

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Thomas Smith Anderson

Birth
Madison County, Tennessee, USA
Death
15 Jul 1898 (aged 65)
Arkansas, USA
Burial
Faulkner County, Arkansas, USA Add to Map
Memorial ID
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Thomas Smith Anderson, a prosperous merchant and cotton dealer, of El Paso, Ark., was born in Madison County, Tenn., August 2, 1832, and is a son of Samuel Lindsay Anderson, who is of Scotch-Irish descent and was born in the "Palmetto State." His ancestors, as well as his wife's (Eliza Braden), came to this country while it was still subject to the British crown and fought in the Revolutionary War. The paternal grandparents were married in Newberry District, S. C., and removed to Tennessee between 1800 and 1812, their son, Samuel L., being born in 1800, and died May 22, 1884, his wife dying in Tennessee in 1847. A great uncle, Joshua Anderson, was under the jurisdiction of Gen. Jackson during the War of 1812, and took part in the battle of New Orleans. In 1858 our subject came to Arkansas and located in Puiaski County (now Faulkner), where, in company with his brother, James A. Anderson, he purchased 420 acres of land, and at the time of his brother's death, in June, 1885, had cleared about 100 acres. In July, 1861, Thomas S. Anderson enlisted in Company B, Tenth Arkansas Infantry, Confederate States army, and served as second sergeant until the fall of 1862, when he was promoted to brevet second lieutenant, remaining such until the summer of 1865. He was at the battle of Shiloh in charge of the commissary department of his regiment. He was captured at Port Hudson, La., and was a prisoner of war for twenty-one months, being confined at Johnson's Island, Lake Erie, Point Lookout (Md.), and then transferred to Fort Delaware, about forty miles from Philadelphia. He was exchanged at Richmond, Va., and started to rejoin his command at Marshall, Tex., but in his attempt to regain his regiment he was compelled to endure many hardships, and, owing to exposure, he contracted rheumatism, but finally managed to reach Shreveport, that garrison being under command of Gen. Kirby Smith, and with him surrendered. He arrived at home the middle of June, and again, in company with his brother, who had also been in the Confederate army, took up farming. On May 12, 1868, he was united in marriage to Miss Margaret Ann Laws, of Haywood County, Tenn, origin, and a daughter of J. P. and Minerva (Leathers) Laws, who were born in North Carolina. In 1878 Mr. Anderson purchased a stock of general merchandise and opened a store at El Paso, where he has successfully conducted business ever since, and, in connection with this, keeps a line of such furniture as is demanded in his community. He is also an extensive dealer in cotton, and his annual sales for this commodity amount to $10,000 to $12,000. Mr. Anderson votes with the Democratic party, and while a resident of Faulkner County, and since the war, he has served as justice of the peace. He is a Mason, having been initiated into that society in 1859; was secretary of El Paso Lodge for several years, but has been demitted to Vilonia Lodge, being its Master one year. He and wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.

Chicago: Goodspeed Publishers, 1890
Thomas Smith Anderson, a prosperous merchant and cotton dealer, of El Paso, Ark., was born in Madison County, Tenn., August 2, 1832, and is a son of Samuel Lindsay Anderson, who is of Scotch-Irish descent and was born in the "Palmetto State." His ancestors, as well as his wife's (Eliza Braden), came to this country while it was still subject to the British crown and fought in the Revolutionary War. The paternal grandparents were married in Newberry District, S. C., and removed to Tennessee between 1800 and 1812, their son, Samuel L., being born in 1800, and died May 22, 1884, his wife dying in Tennessee in 1847. A great uncle, Joshua Anderson, was under the jurisdiction of Gen. Jackson during the War of 1812, and took part in the battle of New Orleans. In 1858 our subject came to Arkansas and located in Puiaski County (now Faulkner), where, in company with his brother, James A. Anderson, he purchased 420 acres of land, and at the time of his brother's death, in June, 1885, had cleared about 100 acres. In July, 1861, Thomas S. Anderson enlisted in Company B, Tenth Arkansas Infantry, Confederate States army, and served as second sergeant until the fall of 1862, when he was promoted to brevet second lieutenant, remaining such until the summer of 1865. He was at the battle of Shiloh in charge of the commissary department of his regiment. He was captured at Port Hudson, La., and was a prisoner of war for twenty-one months, being confined at Johnson's Island, Lake Erie, Point Lookout (Md.), and then transferred to Fort Delaware, about forty miles from Philadelphia. He was exchanged at Richmond, Va., and started to rejoin his command at Marshall, Tex., but in his attempt to regain his regiment he was compelled to endure many hardships, and, owing to exposure, he contracted rheumatism, but finally managed to reach Shreveport, that garrison being under command of Gen. Kirby Smith, and with him surrendered. He arrived at home the middle of June, and again, in company with his brother, who had also been in the Confederate army, took up farming. On May 12, 1868, he was united in marriage to Miss Margaret Ann Laws, of Haywood County, Tenn, origin, and a daughter of J. P. and Minerva (Leathers) Laws, who were born in North Carolina. In 1878 Mr. Anderson purchased a stock of general merchandise and opened a store at El Paso, where he has successfully conducted business ever since, and, in connection with this, keeps a line of such furniture as is demanded in his community. He is also an extensive dealer in cotton, and his annual sales for this commodity amount to $10,000 to $12,000. Mr. Anderson votes with the Democratic party, and while a resident of Faulkner County, and since the war, he has served as justice of the peace. He is a Mason, having been initiated into that society in 1859; was secretary of El Paso Lodge for several years, but has been demitted to Vilonia Lodge, being its Master one year. He and wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.

Chicago: Goodspeed Publishers, 1890


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