GEN. WILLIAM B. ANDERSON, who is well known in Mt. Vernon, was born in that city April 2, 1830, and was the eldest of three brothers. His father, Stinson H. Anderson, was born in Sumner County, Tenn., April 11,1800, and was a son of William B. Anderson, a native of North Carolina, who was descended from good old Presbyterian Scotch ancestry. Atone time he was a wealthy slave-holder, but the practice of slavery and his Presbyterian faith seemed in opposition and he disposed of his slaves and emigrated to Tennessee, where he died in 1820. In his family were three brothers and five sisters, but none of his brothers ever married and only two of his sisters.

One of the brothers of Governor Anderson, Eli, lost his life in the Mexican War. In 1826 Stinson H. Anderson came to Mt. Vernon, where he lived until 1842, when he retired to his farm ten miles below the city. He served in the Black Hawk War, and was Captain of Dragoons in the Florida War, being appointed by General Jackson. He served in the State Legislature from 1834 until 1836, and was appointed Warden of the Illinois State Penitentiary.

He was elected Lieutenant-Governor in 1838, and was appointed United States Marshal of Illinois by President Polk, serving from 1844 until 1848. He afterward returned to his extensive farm and there died in 1858. The mother of our subject bore the maiden name of Candace Pickering, and was a native of New York. She died in 1849.

The children in the Anderson family were, De Witt, who served for three years in the late war with the rank of Lieutenant, was taken prisoner and thus held until after the cessation of hostilities; Edward, who entered the service and died soon after the battle of Ft. Donelson; Sarah A., who is the wife of Judge Tanner, of the Circuit Court; Martha C., the wife of Col. G. W. Evans, of Mt. Vernon; and Nebraska, the deceased wife of Robert A. D. Wilbanks, who at one time was Clerk of the Supreme Court.

General Anderson was a child of twelve years when his father returned to the farm. He was educated in McKendree College, and among his classmates were Springer and Sparks. After completing the college course he returned to the farm, in 1850, and in 1853 began reading law with Judge W. B. Scales, of Mt. Vernon. He was admitted to the Bar, but young lawyers in that day had a hard time. At first he was notable to make a living by his practice, and being too proud to ask assistance of his father, who had opposed his taking up the legal profession, he accepted the office of Deputy County Surveyor.

Later he was elected County Surveyor, and in 1856 was elected to the Legislature, serving in the House with Morrison and Sparks, old classmates, and Logan. He represented his district for two terms, and then on his father's death returned to the farm to look after the estate. Mr. Anderson was thus employed at the breaking out of the late war.

In November, 1861, he was enlisted as a private, but when the Sixtieth Illinois Infantry was organized, was elected Lieutenant-Colonel and later became Colonel. He took part in the battle of Pittsburg Landing, the siege of Corinth and the battle of Stone River, and was for three months in the memorable Atlanta camp. At the battle of Mission Ridge his division was the second to cross the pontoon bridges and make the attack on Mission Ridge. He was in the Atlanta campaign and led his gallant and famous regiment through all the hard-fought and historic battles from Chattanooga to Atlanta, and down with Sherman to Savanah by the sea. At the close of the war he was breveted Brigadier-General for meritorious conduct on the battlefield.

When the war was over, General Anderson returned to his farm, and in 1868 was made a Democratic Presidential Elector. In 1869 he was a member of the Constitutional Convention that framed the present state constitution. In 1870 he was made the Democratic nominee for Congress for -the state at large against General Logan, and reduced the Republican majority in the state from fifty thousand to twenty-five thousand.

In 1872 he was elected to the State Senate. He came within two votes of being elected United States Senator when David Davis secured that ottice, and in 1874 he waselectedto Congress as an independent. There he again met three of his old classmates, Springer, Sparks and Morrison. In 1884 he was elected County Judge of Jefferson County, but resigned the following year when appointed Revenue Collector for the Thirteenth District. In November, 1893, he was appointed by President Cleveland as United States Pension Agent at Chicago, a position which he is filling at this writing with great credit to himself. This office he hopes to make tke crowning feature of his long and varied political career.

In January, 1858, General Anderson married Elvira Thorn, who was born in Virginia and is a daughter of William B. Thorn, a pioneer merchant of Mt. Vernon. They have four children. Stinson H. has gone to California for his wife's health; Edward T. is married and is chief clerk in his father's pension office; Robert is at home with his mother; and the daughter, Nevada, is the wife of Charles A. Pace, of Albion, ILL.

The General still claims Mt. Vernon as his home. Few men in southern Illinois have arisen to the same distinction to which he has attained, but all has been gained through merit. The same fidelity and loyalty which he displayed on the field of battle has marked his official career and has won him not only the respect and confidence of his own party, but also the high regard of those politically opposed to him.