Joseph E. Anderson (April 4, 1873 − March 22, 1937) was an American politician. Anderson was born in

Lake Forest, Illinois Lake Forest is a city located in Lake County, Illinois, United States. Per the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 19,367. The city is along the shore of Lake Michigan, and is a part of the Chicago metropolitan area and t ...

on April 4, 1873. In 1891, he entered business with his father. He was married October 1, 1901, to Anna Syvertsen. A

Prohibitionist Prohibitionism is a legal philosophy and political theory often used in lobbying which holds that citizens will abstain from actions if the actions are typed as unlawful (i.e. prohibited) and the prohibitions are enforced by law enforcement.C Canty ...

, he ran for the

Illinois House of Representatives The Illinois House of Representatives is the lower house of the Illinois General Assembly. The body was created by the first Illinois Constitution adopted in 1818. The House under the constitution as amended in 1980 consists of 118 representativ ...

in 1908 unsuccessfully before being successfully elected two years later from the 8th district in 1910. The 8th district included Boone,

Lake A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from ...

, and McHenry counties in northern Illinois. In the 1912 election, Anderson decided, instead of running as a Prohibitionist, to run in the Republican primary which he lost to what ''American Advance'' described as "pro-liquor Republicans." During his single term in the House, he served on the following committees: Building and Loan; Drainage and Waterways; Education; Federal Relations; Good Roads; Insurance; Municipal Corporations; and Temperance. He served on the Lake Forest City Council from 1918 to 1921. He died on March 22, 1937. As of 2022, he is the last member of the Prohibition Party to serve in the

Illinois General Assembly The Illinois General Assembly is the legislature of the U.S. state of Illinois. It has two chambers, the Illinois House of Representatives and the Illinois Senate. The General Assembly was created by the first state constitution adopted in ...

References

1873 births Members of the Illinois House of Representatives Illinois Prohibitionists People from Lake Forest, Illinois 1937 deaths 20th-century members of the Illinois General Assembly {{Illinois-Ilrepresentative-stub