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 The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

for

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

's 3rd congressional district.

Biography

Anderson was born near

Pikeville, Tennessee Pikeville is a city in and the county seat of Bledsoe County, Tennessee, Bledsoe County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 1,824 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History The Sequatchie River valley was part of Cherokee l ...

in Bledsoe County on November 29, 1807. He attended the

common schools A common school was a public school in the United States during the 19th century. Horace Mann (1796–1859) was a strong advocate for public education and the common school. In 1837, the state of Massachusetts appointed Mann as the first secretary ...

, studied law, was admitted to the

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar ** Chocolate bar * Protein bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a laye ...

, and commenced practice in

Jasper, Tennessee Jasper is a town in and the county seat of Marion County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 3,612 at the 2020 census. The town was formed in 1820 from lands acquired from Betsy Pack, daughter of Cherokee Chief John Lowery. Jasper is p ...

Career

From 1833 to 1837, Anderson was a member of the

Tennessee House of Representatives The Tennessee House of Representatives is the lower house of the Tennessee General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Tennessee. Constitutional requirements According to the state constitution of 1870, this body is to consis ...

, serving as speaker. He was a member of the

Tennessee Senate The Tennessee Senate is the upper house of the U.S. state of Tennessee , Tennessee's state legislature, which is known formally as the Tennessee General Assembly. The Tennessee Senate has the power to pass resolutions concerning essentially any ...

from 1843 to 1845, serving as its presiding officer. Elected as a Whig to the

Thirty-first United States Congress The 31st United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C., from March 4, 1849, ...

, 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 The 32nd United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1851, ...

. 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 Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

in the Tennessee State Militia in 1861.

Death

Anderson was killed at Looneys Creek, near the present town of

Whitwell, Tennessee Whitwell is a city in Marion County, Tennessee, United States, approximately 24 miles northwest of Chattanooga. The population was 1,641 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Chattanooga, TN– GA Metropolitan Statistical Area. History The ...

in Marion County on November 8, 1861 (age 53 years, 344 days), just after having made a

secession Secession is the formal withdrawal of a group from a Polity, political entity. The process begins once a group proclaims an act of secession (such as a declaration of independence). A secession attempt might be violent or peaceful, but the goal i ...

speech. He is

interred Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and object ...

at the Anderson Family Cemetery, seven miles southeast of

Dunlap, Tennessee Dunlap is a city in and the county seat of Sequatchie County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 5,357 at the 2020 census and 4,815 at the 2010 census. Dunlap is part of the Chattanooga metropolitan area. History Dunlap was founded i ...

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 People murdered in 1861 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 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 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives 19th-century members of the Tennessee General Assembly Slave owners killed in the American Civil War