Alexander O. Anderson
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- For other people with the same name, see Alexander Anderson.
| Alexander Outlaw Anderson | |
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| In office February 26, 1840 – March 3, 1841 |
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| Preceded by | Hugh L. White |
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| Succeeded by | Spencer Jarnagin |
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| Born | November 10, 1794 Jefferson County, Tennessee, USA |
| Died | May 23, 1869 Knoxville, Tennessee, USA |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Profession | Politician, Lawyer, Judge |
Alexander Outlaw Anderson (November 10, 1794 – May 23, 1869) was an Tennessee lawyer who served in the United States Senate.
The son of longtime U.S. Senator Joseph Anderson, he was born at his father's home, "Soldier's Rest", in Jefferson County, Tennessee. As a youth he graduated from Washington College in Greeneville, Tennessee. He volunteered for service in the War of 1812 and fought under Andrew Jackson in the famous Battle of New Orleans in 1814. Later that year he was admitted to the bar and began a practice in Dandridge, Tennessee. Afterwards he moved to Knoxville, and then served as the superintendent of the United States Land Office in Alabama in 1836. He was an agent in the Indian removals of 1838 from Alabama and Florida.
He was elected to the United States Senate by the Tennessee General Assembly to the vacancy caused by the resignation of Senator Hugh L. White, a member of the Whig party whose resignation was orchestrated by Governor James K. Polk so that a Democratic senator could be appointed.[1] Anderson served in that body from February 26, 1840 to March 3, 1841, when the term expired. Anderson did not stand for reelection to the seat; it was to remain vacant for a period when a group of Tennessee Democratic legislators called the "Immortal Thirteen" refused to meet and give a qurorum sufficient to allow the election of a successor, apparently preferring no representation to that by a member of the other party, the Whigs.
Anderson was a leader of an overland company going to California in 1849. He served in the California State Senate in 1850 and 1851, and then as a judge on the California Supreme Court from 1851 to 1853 before returning to Tennessee. He later practiced law in Washington, D.C., appearing before both the Court of Claims and the Supreme Court of the United States. During the American Civil War he returned to Alabama, practicing law in Mobile and Camden. Again returning to Tennessee, he died in Knoxville on May 23, 1869 and is buried in the Old Gray Cemetery.
[edit] References
- ^ Borneman, Walter R. (2008). Polk: The Man Who Transformed the Presidency and America. New York: Random House, Inc., 43. ISBN 978-1-4000-6560-8.
- Alexander O. Anderson at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress Retrieved on 2008-04-02
[edit] External links
- Alexander O. Anderson at Find A Grave Retrieved on 2008-04-02
| Preceded by Hugh L. White |
United States Senator (Class 2) from Tennessee February 26, 1840 – March 3, 1841 Served alongside: Felix Grundy and Alfred O. P. Nicholson |
Succeeded by Spencer Jarnagin |
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