Published in The Garland Daily News in 1980 as part of a series by Betty Roberts.

THE WILLIAM LAIR ANDERSON FAMILY

William Lair Anderson was born in Kentucky in 1817. He was the third of eight children of William and Celia Ann Lair Anderson.  In 1845 he married Eliza Morris of Kentucky.  They moved to Texas from Missouri in 1850 or 1851.

William settled near his brother John Lair Anderson and his family who had come in 1846. A sister and her husband, Elizabeth and Silas Bryant, had already settled in the area. His parents, William and Celia, had also moved to Texas. The Andersons all settled in an area between present-day Rowlett and Garland.

William and Eliza hd two small sons when they moved to Texas. The other five children were born near Rose Hill. Eliza died inn 1883 and William died in 1899. Both were buried in Anderson Cemetery.

William was a very religious man and was one of the builders of the Locust Grove Methodist Church. He was active in the community and county, serving as a trustee for Dallas County Schools.

William and Eliza had six sons. The oldest son, James Austin, was born in Missouri in 1846. He came to Texas at the age of four and lived on the Anderson farm until his death in 1915. He did leave the area to serve with a Texas regiment in the Civil War. He was very active in his community and was known throughout the county as “Uncle Jimmie.” He was the father of ten children.

The second son, John William, was born in 1849 in Missouri. He was married to Mary Desdemona Mayes, and they were the parents of eleven children. John William died in 1905. Desdemona died in 1914 in Dallas at the home of their son Will.

The third son, Lite Morris, was born at Rose Hill in 1852 and died in 1871 as the result of an accident. George Washington was born in 1844 an died in 1892. He had married Lucy White and they had four chlldren.

Elias Tidwell (Bud) was born in 1859. After farming for several years, he moved to Garland where he wa a partner in the feed and seed business. He had married Lucy Crownover of Rose Hill and they had two children. Bud died in 1935. Lucy died in 1938.

Samuel Andrew Anderson was born in 1867. He married Mary Denton ad they were the parents of nine chlldren.  S.A., the last surviving child of William and Eliza, died in 1943. Mary died in 1952.

The only daughter of William and Eliza was Obithia Hampton, born in 1862. She was married to Jasmes A. white in 1879 and died three years later. They had two chldren, and both died under the age of three.

William and Eliza had seven chlldren and thirty-six grandchildren.  The Anderson name was carried on by five sons and their children. The two Anderson brothers, John Lair and William Lair, had a total of twelve children and sixty-six grandchildren.

The book, The Andersons of Rowlett, is invaluable for keeping the tremendous number of Anersons in the right families.