My Pedigree…
The fast account for the curious…
The photo below is my great grandfather Moses Brock Anderson (seated far right) … in the center is Benjamin Anderson, his older brother. (Benjamin was a Civil War veteran).
In 1889 they loaded up the wagon in Tennessee and moved to Comanche, Texas.
This photo is a scan I did myself from an old photo… since Moses B. died in 1931, my guess is this photo is from say, 1920s? (This author was born 1951).
George Anderson was a successful farmer, having come from Edgecombe County, North Carolina to southwest Henderson County in 1837. In the former he was married to Mary (Polly) Patterson, July 31, 1824 (marriage bond). The family’s entry in the 1850 U.S. Census, Civil District 1, August 31, page 232:
GEORGE ANDERSON, 52, North Carolina, real estate valued at $900;
MARY ANDERSON, 47, North Carolina;
JOHN ANDERSON, 22, North Carolina;
DELILAII ANDERSON, 16, North Carolina;
ROBERT ANDERSON, 15, North Carolina;
HENRY ANDERSON, 13, North Carolina;
JOSHUA ANDERSON, 11, Tennessee;
BENJAMIN ANDERSON, 9, Tennessee;
GABRILLAS ANDERSON, 8, Tennessee;
CORNELIUS ANDERSON, 5, Tennessee;
MOSES ANDERSON, 1, Tennessee;
NANCY BILBRA, 63, North Carolina.
December, 1865. John W. Anderson was Administrator for both his father George and his brother Robert.
My father’s nickname, which he was commonly called, was “Mose”. His middle name was simply an initial B. , which caused him much consternation during his stint in the Navy, WWII… he afterwards always signed his name with quotation marks, i.e., Maurice “B” Anderson. He once explained to me the “B” was for his grandfather. My grandfather was named Bart Brock Anderson.
The rest of the story to Edgecombe County… http://www.tngenweb.org/records/henderson/cemeteries/g-ander.htm
Moses Brock was luckily underage when the Civil War broke out… his older brothers unfortunately, were of age. A family tidbit has it that Benjamin was a deserter but records from the National Archives show him as being paroled at the end of the war. I prefer to give him a little respect and suspect that he actually fought in the Battle of Shiloh. John Anderson enlisted as a private and was slowly promoted to 1st Lieutenant… he spent months in a hospital apparently from dysentery or whatever… many of the folks from either side of the war just whithered away from that miserable death. Henry was killed (I think) in an insignificant little skirmish in Kentucky. Another family tidbit is that Moses Brock during the war, would run off into the woods with family valuables when any troops showed up and hide them (it didn’t really matter which side- Rebels or Yankees). Tough times. Moses Brock was damned lucky because in the later days of the war I’m sure his youth would not have been much of a factor… deep down I think older brother John protected him (John became a recruiter). After surviving the war, John went into a little business enterprise and as Fate would have it, got kicked in the head by a mule and died. I’ll shut up now because I’m tearing up… some people question why I have Southern Pride… I just shake my head.
The great grandfather of these guys was William Anderson of Edgecombe County, NC… he didn’t have a “war” to deal with … although he was registered in the militia of 1754 during the French and Indian War at the time (I don’t think the Edgecombe folks were called to fight)… His son George (my ancestor) did serve in the “important” war of Independence that some of us remember on the fourth of July. George Sr. died shortly after the trip from North Carolina to Tenn.
Andersons of Colonial N. Carolina 
Your research on the Andersons was wonderful to find. I had just hired a genealogist and the history librarian at Edgecombe to research the Andersons, so I quickly emailed your internet site to her. I’m still in the process of reading it, but thank you for sharing all of your hard work.
I have been trying to find Mary Polly Patterson’s parents. Any clues?
Thanks again for all of this. I’ll let you know if I learn any more.
Penny Fischer
daughter of Alta Marion Anderson Field
granddaughter of Albert Abner Anderson
Ggranddaughter of Moses Brock Anderson
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PENNY FISCHER
April 8, 2011 at 6:58 pm
Hi Penny
To be honest, I haven’t looked into the Mary Patterson line… I would think that there is oodles of info from the Edgecombe records. Further… I have been doggedly pursuing the parentage of William A. (died 1789)… that project has consumed my time. With that said, I welcome any input from folks like you that can shed some light on the sons of William A. Keep in touch and I’ll post any insights you come up with… as more folks discover the value of this “comment” section the more info we can all share.
Marc
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anderson1951
April 8, 2011 at 10:17 pm
My great great grandfather was George Washington Anderson of Henderson Co TN. His father was William H Anderson from north Carolina. William was born in 1824. His age would be the same as the pe was rson in the 1830 Edgecombe N.C. census under George Sr. In the 1840 Henderson TN census this person was in the household of George Jr. My William lived in the same area of Henderson County and married a Rebecca Corbitt. Just trying to figure out if my ancestor was a son or grandson of George Sr.
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Ricky Taylor
June 9, 2018 at 1:38 pm
Well you have me scratching my head… I don’t know of a William born to either George Sr or Jr???
Are you sure the George Washington Anderson you refer to was not from Halifax, NC?
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anderson1951
June 12, 2018 at 9:10 am
Hello, thank you for making your research available! After having worked on family genealogy for quite a while, it only today occurred to me to internet search for a specific ancestor. I typed in “John Anderson first appearance North Carolina” and up came your site. My Anderson branch research is currently in North Carolina, and I think if I could find the right John Anderson it will lead me to either Pennsylvania or to immigration. I appreciate your hard work, thanks again. – Lisa Anderson Haskins
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Lisa Haskins
January 18, 2022 at 5:49 pm
Hi Lisa
You need to backtrack your family to narrow it down. There are simply too many “Johns” for me to offer any clues. I have a good amount of info of the Andersons from eastern NC here on the site.
Also search Patrick Anderson’s site for some great info on the Virginia Andersons. “Andersons of Colonial Virginia”.
Good luck… Marc
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anderson1951
January 19, 2022 at 6:20 am
I am fascinated by your 17th century map of Isle of Wight va, as I am trying to follow my Bridger/Williamson ancestors around that area. Would it be possible to get a higher resolution copy? The web version is a bit fuzzy
Thanks very much
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Gus Oemler
January 29, 2023 at 9:38 pm
Hi Gus
That is as good as it gets for now… in the future i would like to re-do the map. My skills have improved considerably and it needs a facelift.
See my Nansemond map… it may have some improved Bridger map work…
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anderson1951
January 30, 2023 at 12:57 am
A very impressive mapping job. The only thing I have seen like this (but much smaller) is this
https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_gradthes/1671/
Gus Oemler
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Gus Oemler
January 30, 2023 at 3:05 pm
Do you think I may have inspired the author?….. smiling
It is a nice job on his thesis… I think the maps bring the history (or in my case) the genealogy to another level… Much more understandable.
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anderson1951
January 30, 2023 at 3:52 pm