Diplomat politician representative
Anderson was born at Soldier"s Retreat near Louisville, Kentucky. His father was a Revolutionary War captain in the 5th Virginia continentals, who led the advance of the Americans at the battle of Trenton (24 December 1776), crossing the Delaware River in the first boat.
Anderson attended private schools, later graduating from The College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia in 1804. He later studied law and was admitted to the bar, practicing law in Louisville.
His mother was Elizabeth Clark Anderson, of the Rogers Clark family. Anderson was elected to the Kentucky House of Representatives in 1815 and then was elected as a Democratic-Republican to the United States House of Representatives in 1816 and 1818, serving in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Congresses from March 4, 1817 through March 3, 1821. While in Congress Anderson served as the chairman of the House Committee on Public Lands in the Sixteenth Congress.
Anderson did not seek reelection to the House in 1820.
Anderson was appointed as the first United States Minister to the Gran Colombia on January 27, 1823. In 1824 he negotiated with Pedro Gual and concluded the Anderson–Gual Treaty, the first bilateral treaty that the United States. signed with another American state.
Anderson took his leave from his post on June 7, 1823 after being commissioned as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the Panama Congress of Nations. Anderson died en route to his post in Turbaco, near Cartagena, Colombia on July 24, 1826.
He is buried at Soldier"s Retreat.
Anderson County, Kentucky is named in his honor. Anderson was a Freemason. He was the first master of Lexington Lodge Number 25, now known as Lexington Lodge Number 1.
He served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from Kentucky. He later served again as a member of the Kentucky House of Representatives in 1821 and 1822 and served as Speaker of the Kentucky House of Representatives in 1822.
