Background
Joseph Anderson was born on November 5, 1757 at White Marsh, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. He was the second son of William and Elizabeth Rosannah (Inslee) Anderson.
Joseph Anderson was born on November 5, 1757 at White Marsh, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. He was the second son of William and Elizabeth Rosannah (Inslee) Anderson.
Anderson studied law prior to the Revolutionary War and was admitted to the Delaware bar.
Anderson entered the 3rd New Jersey Regiment, Continental establishment, as ensign, in May 1776. He was commissioned second-lieutenant in July 1776, first-lieutenant in the following November, and captain in October 1777. At the time of his promotion to captain, he was made regimental paymaster, and remained such until the end of the war, revealing a financial capacity to be later disclosed more fully. He was with Sullivan in his expedition against the Iroquois, was made brevet major, September 30, 1783, and a month later took part in the siege of Yorktown.
After the war, he practised law in Delaware until he was appointed by President Washington on February 25, 1791, one of the judges in the territory of the United States south of the Ohio River, which was to become the State of Tennessee. In 1796, while still judge of the territory, he was elected a delegate from Jefferson County to the first constitutional convention of Tennessee. The convention assembled on January 11, 1796, and Anderson played a very important part.
In 1797 he was appointed United States senator from Tennessee, to fill the unexpired term of William Blount, who had been expelled. This was the beginning of a long period of service in this office ending in the year 1815. During this time he made a reputation as a man of good judgment and fair dealing and was appointed on most of the finance committees and many other important committees. He was made president pro tempore of the Senate when Aaron Burr resigned and also on one or two other occasions when the president was absent. He very ably championed the demand of the West in regard to the right of deposit at the mouth of the Mississippi.
In 1809 he demonstrated his popularity by being reelected to the Senate over John Sevier, who had been one of Tennessee's most beloved leaders, having held the office of governor for six terms.
In 1815 President Madison, in recognition of Anderson's experience and great ability in public finance, appointed him comptroller of the United States Treasury, which office he held until July 1, 1836. As comptroller, his knowledge of law, court procedure, and legal decisions was very valuable. He held this position over two of the stormiest periods of American finance, during the panic of 1819 and the beginning of the panic of 1837.
Anderson was a trustee of Blount College and of Washington College and was one of the charter members of the Delaware State Society of the Cincinnati.
Anderson was married in 1797 at the age of forty to Only Patience Outlaw, aged fifteen, a daughter of Colonel Outlaw of Revolutionary fame, and became the father of seven sons, including the United States Senator, Alexander Outlaw Anderson.