Biography of Andrew A. Anderson

	This biography is from "Memorial and biographical record; an illustrated
 	compendium of biography, containing a compendium of local biography,
	including biographical sketches of prominent old settlers and 
	representative citizens of South Dakota..." Published by G. A. Ogle & 
	Co., Chicago, 1898. Page 290

	Scan and OCR by Joy Fisher, 1997. This file may be copied for non-profit 
	purposes. All other rights reserved. 

HON. ANDREW A. ANDERSON is an ex-member of the South Dakota legislature, and one 
of the prominent men of Kingsbury county, both in public and private life. He is 
extensively engaged in farming and stock-raising. and owns a fine 320-acre tract 
of land on section 29, Badger township, which he has successfully conducted 
since 1 880. Mr. Anderson was born on the Island of Langeland, Denmark, August 
8, 1851. Langeland is one of the smaller political divisions of the Danish 
kingdom, and lies southeast of the mainland. Its principal city is Rudkjobing. 
Mr. Anderson's father, Mads Anderson, was born in Denmark in 1815, and was a 
shingler and carpenter by trade. He married our subject's mother, whose maiden 
name was Georgia Anderson, in 1843, and their golden wedding was celebrated in 
1893. Mrs. Anderson died the following year. Her father, Andrew Anderson, also a 
Dane, was overseer and gamekeeper of one of the large estates in his native 
land. Mads Anderson still resides in Denmark. Our subject was the third child in 
a family of three - one girl and two boys - and with his brother, Emil, is the 
only survivor. Emil now lives in Denmark. He attended the Soldiers' school for 
some time when a young man, and while there received injuries from which he 
never fully recovered. He is unmarried. Andrew set out for himself at a tender 
age, and when fifteen was not only a capable coachman, but also an experienced 
farm helper. In 1872 he came to America and settled in Mitchell county, Iowa, 
where he secured employment for the next two years upon a farm. In 1874 he went 
to Osage, in the same state, and worked in a hotel and livery stable there. He 
thus continued for four years, when, having accumulated sufficient savings, he 
purchased the livery barn and ran it for two years. In 1880 Mr. Anderson removed 
to Kingsbury county, South Dakota, and bought the relinquishment of the south 
half of section 29, in Badger township, where he has since made his home. As 
before mentioned, the farm comprises three hundred and twenty acres, all 
improved, and almost entirely under cultivation. The residence is an excellent 
one, and all of the barns, outbuildings, etc., are of substantial and attractive 
construction. A well supplies an abundance of water at all times, and a cistern 
is near at hand, thus supplying the house with two varieties of the "sparkling 
liquid." Besides general farming Mr. Anderson is largely interested in stock-
raising, and frequently ships to the leading markets of the country, the product 
of his range invariably bringing good prices.

	In politics Mr. Anderson is a Republican, and in the fall of 1892 he was 
elected to the state legislature. He served during the winter of 1893, and was a 
member of the judiciary and public health committees, doing a large amount of 
work upon both. In 1894 he was again nominated for the legislature as a 
Republican, but was defeated by the Populist candidate. The latter, however, had 
but few votes to spare, as the contest was an extremely close one. Mr. Anderson 
has also been assessor of Badger township, in which office he served for seven 
years, and for three years was a school director. He is a member of the Danes 
Brotherhood, an insurance and fraternal organization in Arlington, which meets 
every full moon on Saturday evening. He has been through all the chairs in this 
lodge, from doorkeeper to president, arid is also connected with the Farmers' 
Aid Society. In religious matters he professes the Lutheran faith, and for three 
or four years was president and for a like period secretary of the local 
Lutheran church society.

	In 1877 Mr. Anderson married Miss Henrietta Christianson, of Osage, Iowa, 
where the wedding occurred. Mrs. Anderson was born in Denmark in 1856, and came 
to this country with her parents when nineteen years of age, settling in 
Mitchell county, Iowa. Her father was originally a teamster, but after leaving 
Denmark he supported himself and family by working as a laborer. He married 
Christina Christianson in his native country. Her death occurred in Iowa in 
1879. Mr. and Mrs. Anderson are the parents of eight children. whose names and 
dates of birth follow: Emil, March 4, 1879; Milo, January 4, 1882; Mamie, March 
2, 1884; Edmund, February 21, 1 886; Milo, February 25, 1888; Arthur, June 12, 
1890; Lulu, March 23, 1893; and Harold, November 22, 1895. Emil died November 6, 
1890, and Milo, born in 1882, died January 29, 1889, of scarlet fever.