Benjamin W. Anderson Grave Marker Dedication
Benjamin W. Anderson was born in January 1751 in South Carolina. Benjamin’s grandfather, Abraham Anderson accepted 200 acres on the Carolina coast in 1764 from King George III. Benjamin joined The Continental Army after the Tories killed his father, Joshua Anderson.
Benjamin lived in Newberry County South Carolina. He then accepted 900 acres in the new state of Georgia in Greene County.
Benjamin was married in 1784 in Georgia to Polly Rebecca Cureton. They had 9 children before she died in 1811 in Alabama.
Benjamin then married Margaret Jane Williams and they had 16 children.
Benjamin and Margaret came to Texas from Greene County Alabama with some of their children and grandchildren in 1834. Benjamin, the patriarch, in his mid 80’s was making his last great pilgrimage. There were about 33 members of the family who made the trip from Alabama to Texas.
He enlisted and served with the local militia during the Texas Revolution. He was 85 years old. He was eligible to receive a league and a labor of land. He purchased land in Nacogdoches County in what was called Blackjack. In his lifetime Benjamin Anderson moved halfway across the continent, from South Carolina to Georgia to Alabama to Texas. He participated in two major uprisings, the American Revolution and the Texas Revolution.
Benjamin loved racehorses and rode them until he broke his leg in a horserace at the very young age of only 96.
Benjamin passed away on September 14, 1853 at the age of 102.
In 1906 Benjamin’s son Thomas Howard Anderson had this to say:
“We moved to Texas in the year 1834 from Green County Alabama and landed in Sabine county and lived there a while. We then lived in San Augustine County, then Nacogdoches County, where I spent most of my young days. My father’s name was Benjamin Anderson. He was the father of twenty-five children, nine by his first wife and sixteen by my mother, but that large family has all passed to the great beyond except myself and one brother, George W. Anderson of Mason County. I am 83 years old and my brother 81.”
Benjamin W. Anderson was born the subject of an English King and died a Texian.