Josiah M. Anderson

Josiah McNair Anderson (November 29, 1807 – November 8, 1861) was an American slave owner, politician and a member of the United States House of Representatives for Tennessee's 3rd congressional district.

Biography

Anderson was born near Pikeville, Tennessee in Bledsoe County on November 29, 1807. He attended the common schools, studied law, was admitted to the bar, and commenced practice in Jasper, Tennessee.

Career

From 1833 to 1837, Anderson was a member of the Tennessee House of Representatives, serving as speaker. He was a member of the Tennessee Senate from 1843 to 1845, serving as its presiding officer.

Elected as a Whig to the Thirty-first United States Congress, Anderson served from March 4, 1849 to March 3, 1851. He was not a successful candidate for re-election in 1850 to the Thirty-second Congress.

Anderson was a delegate from Tennessee to the peace convention of 1861, held in Washington, D.C., in an effort to devise means to prevent the impending war. He was a colonel in the Tennessee State Militia in 1861.

Death

Anderson was killed at Looneys Creek, near the present town of Whitwell, Tennessee in Marion County on November 8, 1861 (age 53 years, 344 days), just after having made a secession speech. He is interred at the Anderson Family Cemetery, seven miles southeast of Dunlap, Tennessee in Sequatchie County.

An article in the North Carolina Standard newspaper, dated Wednesday, Nov. 27, 1861, states:

Murder of Hon. Josiah M. Anderson of Tennessee - On the day of the election, at or near Dunlap, Sequatchie County, Tennessee, Hon. Josiah M. Anderson was set upon by a band of Lincolnite assassins, and stabbed in the back, causing his instant death. Col. Anderson formerly represented the Knoxville District in the Congress of the United States, and was a delegate from Tennessee in the "Peace Congress." His only offense for which he was so basely assassinated, was his defense of the South in conversation.

References

External links

*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, Josiah M.
1807 births
1861 murders in the United States
People from Bledsoe County, Tennessee
American people of Scotch-Irish descent
Assassinated American politicians
Whig Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Tennessee
19th-century Tennessee politicians
Members of the Tennessee House of Representatives
Tennessee state senators
People from Jasper, Tennessee
People of Tennessee in the American Civil War
People murdered in Tennessee
Civilians killed in the American Civil War
Politicians killed in the American Civil War
Members of the United States House of Representatives who owned slaves
Politicians assassinated in the 1860s
Deaths by stabbing in Tennessee