George Washington Anderson

George Washington Anderson (May 22, 1832 – February 26, 1902) was an American politician, attorney, and Civil War militia officer from Missouri. A member of the Republican Party during his years in national office, he served in the United States House of Representatives from 1865 to 1869, representing Missouri during the critical early years of Reconstruction.

Anderson was born in Jefferson County, Tennessee, on May 22, 1832, the son of Ann Luke Anderson and Pierce B. Anderson. He was educated in local schools and pursued higher education at Franklin College in Tennessee, an institution where his father served for a time as a professor of mathematics. This academic environment provided Anderson with a classical education and prepared him for a professional career in the law and public service.

In 1853 Anderson moved west to St. Louis, Missouri, as part of the broader mid-nineteenth-century migration into the Mississippi Valley. He soon settled in Pike County, where he studied law and was admitted to the bar at Louisiana, Missouri, in 1854. Establishing a legal practice, he quickly became active in local affairs and entered state politics. Anderson served in the Missouri House of Representatives in 1859 and 1860, and advanced to the Missouri Senate in 1862, building a reputation as a capable lawyer-legislator in a state deeply divided by sectional conflict.

Though he had been a slave owner, Anderson supported the Union during the American Civil War. He joined the Pike County Regiment of the Missouri Home Guard and was elected captain of Company A. He led his company between June and July 1861 and was then elected commander of the entire regiment with the rank of colonel. Anderson commanded the Pike County Home Guard until the organization was disbanded on September 3, 1861. When Missouri’s militia forces were subsequently reorganized, he was chosen as commander of the 49th Regiment, again with the rank of colonel. He led this regiment from August 1862 to January 1863, and again from September to December 1864, contributing to the defense and stabilization of Union authority in Missouri during the war.

In 1864 Anderson was elected as a Republican to the United States House of Representatives, and he was reelected in 1866. He served two consecutive terms in the 39th and 40th Congresses, from March 4, 1865, to March 3, 1869. As a member of the Republican Party representing Missouri, he participated in the legislative process during a significant period in American history, taking part in the national debate over Reconstruction and the postwar settlement. During both of his terms, Anderson served as chairman of the House Committee on Mileage, overseeing matters related to the compensation of members for travel to and from the capital. He declined to be a candidate for renomination in 1868, thereby concluding his congressional career after four years of service.

After leaving Congress, Anderson returned to the practice of law in Missouri. Over time his political affiliations shifted: he first joined the Liberal Republican movement, which arose in opposition to certain policies of the Grant administration, and later aligned himself with the Democratic Party. He moved from Pike County back to St. Louis, where he continued his legal and public service career. In 1884 Anderson was appointed judge of the St. Louis Police Court’s ninth district, adding judicial responsibilities to his long record of civic engagement.

Anderson spent his later years in St. Louis but maintained ties to his native Tennessee. He died on February 26, 1902, while visiting his brother in Rhea Springs, Rhea County, Tennessee. He was buried at Leuty Cemetery near Rhea Springs. His life encompassed the antebellum, Civil War, and Reconstruction eras, and his career as attorney, state legislator, militia officer, congressman, and local judge reflected the complex political and social transformations of nineteenth-century Missouri and the broader United States.