From: "Biographical Review of Cass, Schuyler and
Brown Counties, Illinois 1892", by Biographical Review Publishing
Company, Chicago, Illinois; pages 580-581, a reprinted by Stevens
Publishing Co., Astoria, Ill., 1971, is sold by the Schuyler County
Historical Society, Rushville, Illinois.
Robert Anderson, the capable and enterprising manager of the
lumber business of J. S. & G. S. Russell, and a popular citizen of
Ashland, Illinois, was born in county Tyrone, Ireland, December 22,
1842. His parents were William and Martha (Kimpston) Anderson, both of
whom were natives of county Tyrone, where they were married and where
all of their children were born. In 1847, they came to America, and
located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where both parents afterward
died. This worthy couple were the parents of five children, of whom the
subject of this sketch was the first son. Jane, the first in order of
birth, died in young womanhood, in Philadelphia; next in order was our
subject; Kate, the third child, resides in Bucks county, Pennsylvania;
Sarah, now Mrs. Finley, lives in Philadelphia where her husband is a
carpet manufacturer; Willie was born in Philadelphia, but died in
infancy.
Mr. Anderson lived with his maternal grandfather in Ireland,
until he was twenty-two years of age, when, in June, 1865, he came to
Philadelphia. He remained in the city of Brotherly Love until the fall
of 1872, and was, in the meantime, on May 2, 1868, married there, to
Miss Mary A. Lucas, who was born in his native county, in Ireland, and
who had been a schoolmate of his in the beautiful Emerald Isle, in
which country her parents spent their entire lives.
In 1872, Mr. Anderson came to Jacksonville, Illinois, where he
entered the employ of Russell Brothers, with whom he has been connected
ever since. In 1876, he started the business in Ashland, which he now
operates, which is the only lumber yard in that city, and they enjoy a
large and lucrative trade. The entire management of this large
enterprise is vested in Mr. Anderson's hands. It is he who pays the
men, does all the collecting, and handles all the money, and is, in
fact, a trusted employee, whose integrity is unimpeachable and his
faithfulness unsurpassed.
Mr. and Mrs. Anderson have four children: Robert L., twenty-four
years of age and unmarried, is the manager of a lumber business in
Virginia, Illinois; Henrietta, is the wife of Ferdinand L. Strawn, a
prominent and successful young farmer near Jacksonville, Illinois, to
whom she was married January 6, 1892; Sarah E. and Willie Johnson are
still under the parental roof; the former, now past eighteen years of
age, is an efficient teacher in the public schools of Sangamon county;
the latter is employed, during vacation, about the lumber yard or on
the farm belonging to the Russell Brothers. All of the children have
had excellent educational opportunities in the common and high schools
of Ashland. Robert L., the oldest son, is a graduate of the
Jacksonville Business College, and Henrietta graduated in music at the
Jacksonville Conservatory of Music, and taught that beautiful art in
Ashland for several years, being very successful.
In his political affiliations, Mr. Anderson is a stanch
Republican, advocating most thoroughly the principles of that party. He
abhors free trade England, and deeply sympathizes with his oppressed
countrymen across the water. Socially, he affiliates with the I.O.O.F.,
Knights of Pythias and with the A.O.U.W. The entire family are earnest
and useful members of Pleasant Plains Presbyterian Church, contributing
liberally to its support and advancement.
Ireland and America being such friends, it is natural that their
respective countrymen should entertain the kindest regard for each
other, especially if, as in Mr. Anderson's case, they are
irreproachable in business and social life, inspiring all worthy men
with the deepest respect and esteem.
