EDWARD L. ANDERSON. A banker, tobacco manufacturer and one of the leading business men of Gallatin, Mr. Anderson is now foremost in influence and position in the affairs of Sumner County. However, he began his career as a poor boy, educating himself, and the success he has won and the influence he has acquired have all been the result of a notable career of self-achievement.

Edward L. Anderson, who represents one of the old families of Tennessee, was born at Livingston, Overton County, Tennessee, December 30, 1879. His parents were Byrd and Geneva (Draper) Anderson. The paternal great-grandparents were Caleb Anderson and wife, who were early settlers of Jackson County. Edward B. Draper, the maternal grandfather, was also an early settler in the same County, where he lived and died, being an extensive farmer and the owner of a number of slaves. He also had a tannery and made shoes. The results of the war broke him up in business.

The founder of the Anderson family in Tennessee was the great-grandfather of the Anderson now in business at Gallatin. He was Caleb Anderson, who came from Virginia to Jackson County, Tennessee, at a time when most of the country was still public domain, and he took up a large quantity of land, including some splendid water power. The water power was developed for the operation of a mill, which this pioneer settler erected on his land. The land and mill property which this pioneer established in Tennessee were passed on to his descendants, and the land is still held in the name of members of the Anderson family, while the mill is being conducted by one of his grandsons.

William Carroll Anderson, the grandfather, was born in Jackson County, Tennessee, where he spent all his life as a prosperous farmer and miller, being connected with the business which had been established by his father. During the Civil war, when he was in his old age, some soldiers from the Union army captured him and compelled him to ride a horse bareback to Gallatin. This was an experience which almost killed him, and he never entirely recovered from the effects of that ride. One of his sons, named John, was a soldier of the war and was killed at Fisher Creek.

Byrd Anderson, father of the Gallatin business man, was born in Jackson County in 1851, and is now a resident of Sumner County. Farming has been his occupation throughout practically all his life. His wife, Geneva (Draper) Anderson, was born in Overton County in 1856. Of the six living children, Edward L., is the oldest. The father is a Democrat. He is a member of the Methodist church, while the mother is a member of the Christian church.

Reared on the home farm, Edward L. Anderson was educated principally in Burritt College at Spencer, Tennessee, where he graduated in 1897. This education was the result of money which he had himself earned. For a number of years he has been connected with the manufacturing of tobacco, and this has in fact been his principal business ever since he was a boy. He has a large factory at Gallatin, and has made it the source of a very prosperous income.

Mr. Anderson has for three years been superintendent of the Electric Light & Water Company at Gallatin. He is vice-president of the Sumner County Bank & Trust Company, and is a director and stockholder in the First National Bank. He also has interests in farming, and is one of the most substantial men in business circles of his home city.

In 1905 he married Miss Jamie P. Anderson, a daughter of James Anderson, who for a number of years was judge of the county court of Sumner County and a prominent man in local affairs. The two children of their marriage are: Walter L., and Edward L., Jr. Mr. Anderson and his family are members of the Christian church. In politics he is an independent Democrat, and has served as an alderman of Gallatin.

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