A successful and influential member of the Macoupin county bar is
William E. P. Anderson, who has been engaged in the practice of his
profession in Carlinville for forty years. He was born at Shaws Point
township, this county, on the 31st of May, 1850, being a son of Erasmus
S. and Mary E. (Hogan) Anderson, natives of Kentucky. The Anderson
family have been residents in America since 1744, when they located in
Virginia to the interests of which colony they were ever loyal and
stanch, valiantly participating in the war of the Revolution. The
paternal grandfather, Colonel James Campbell Anderson, was a native of
Virginia, but was one of the pioneer settlers of Kentucky. The maternal
grandfather, Isaac Hogan, was a native of the Blue Grass state.
Left an orphan at the age of fifteen months, William E. P. Anderson was
reared by his uncle, Crittenden H. C. Anderson, who was also his
guardian. His boyhood and youth were spent in the country, his
elementary education being obtained in the district schools. He attended
the public school of Carlinville, both Blackburn and Illinois Wesleyan
Universities; also a private school at Philadelphia. Having decided to
adopt the profession of law for his vocation, in 1870 he entered the
office of John Mayo Palmer, where he assiduously applied himself to his
studies preparatory to his examination for admission to the bar. In 1871
he went into the office of the Honorable W. R. Welch, who subsequently
became a judge of the circuit court, where he continued his studies
until admitted to the bar on the 31st of August, 1871. He remained in
Mr. Welch’s office until June of the following year when he opened an
office of his own in the building where he is still located. Mr.
Anderson has been very successful in his practice and has quite
extensive realty interests, owning a couple of fine farms near
Carlinville.
Bloomington, Illinois, was the scene of the
marriage of Mr. Anderson on the 23d of October, 1873, to Miss Nellie
Douglas Hamilton, a daughter of John and Rebecca (Pritchard) Hamilton,
natives of Ohio. The Hamiltons are one of the old American families,
having located here during colonial days, many of their members having
participated in the Revolution. To Mr. and Mrs. Anderson were born three
children, namely: William Hamilton, a resident of Baltimore. Maryland,
who married Miss Clarice Otwell and has two children, Frederick Otwell
and Elinor; Crittenden H. C., of Prairie Home, Texas, who married Miss
Nellie Patchen and has two children, Walter E. P. and Crittenden Id. C.,
Jr.; and Walter Stratton, a lieutenant in the United States navy, who
married Miss Virginia Ewing.
Mrs. Anderson holds membership in
the Methodist Episcopal church, while fraternally Mr. Anderson is a
member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, his local affiliation
being with Carlinville Lodge, No. 107, I. O. O. F., in which he has
filled all of the chairs. He served ten years as its representative in
the Grand Lodge and is at present, and has been for the past seven
years, a member of the judiciary and appeals committee of the Grand
Lodge of Illinois. He also belongs to the Knights of Pythias, being a
member of Orient Lodge, No. 95, K. of P., having filled all of the
chairs in this latter order, served two years as its representative in
the Grand Lodge also. His connection with organizations of a more purely
social nature is confined to his membership in the Sangamon Club of
Springfield and the Rinaker Fishing & Pleasure Club. His political
prerogatives Mr. Anderson exercises in support of the men and measures
of the democratic party. He has always taken quite a prominent part in
all municipal affairs, his first official connection with the local
government being in the capacity of city attorney in 1874 and 1875. Two
years later he was elected to the board of supervisors of which he was a
member at the time of the courthouse litigation, when the proposition to
compromise the debt was accepted by bondholders and creditors. In 1887
Mr. Anderson was appointed master in chancery by Judge Welch, to which
office he was reappointed by Judge Philips, Fouke, Creighton and
Shirley, covering a period of twelve years in this connection. He has
more than a local reputation both professionally and politically, and in
1884 represented his congressional district on the Democratic state
central committee. Educational matters have always enlisted the personal
interest of Mr. Anderson and for ten years he was a most efficient
member of the board of education, during one year of that time acting as
president of the board. He was one of the organizers of the Carlinville
Building Association, of which he has always been a director and
stockholder, recognizing the great value of such an organization to the
community. Mr. Anderson is one of the representative citizens of
Carlinville in the progress and development of which he has been a
prominent factor, ever having given his assistance and co-operation in
promoting every movement that would in any way advance the best
interests of the community at large.
Extracted 18 Nov 2018 by Norma Hass from History of Macoupin County, Illinois: Biographical and Pictorial, by Charles A. Walker, published in 1911, Volume 2, pages 636-637.
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