Collection Details:

Collection Name and Number: William Dozier Anderson Papers (Z/0022).
Creator/Collector: William Dozier Anderson.
Date(s): 1933.
Size: 0.10 cubic feet.
Language(s): English.
Processed by: MDAH staff, 1952; Biographical sketch, Laura Heller, 2023.
Provenance: Gift of Mary Agnes Anderson, of Jackson, MS, in August 1952.
Repository: Archives & Records Services Division, Mississippi Department of Archives & History.

 

Rights and Access:

Access restrictions: Collection is open for research.

Publication rights: Copyright assigned to the MDAH. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to Reference Services. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the MDAH as the owner of the physical items and as the owner of the copyright in items created by the donor. Although the copyright was transferred by the donor, the respective creator may still hold copyright in some items in the collection. For further information, contact Reference Services.

Copyright notice: This material may be protected by copyright law (Title 17, U.S. Code).

Preferred citation: William Dozier Anderson Papers (Z/0022), Mississippi Department of Archives & History.

 

Biography:

William Dozier Anderson

William Dozier Anderson of Tupelo was born to Mary Rebecca Dozier (1839-1908) and Charles Wesley Anderson (1831-1882) at Cedar Grove, Pontotoc County, Mississippi, on July 23, 1862. Charles Anderson was a Confederate soldier, and his wife, Mary Dozier, was a daughter of Dr. J. M. Dozier of South Carolina and of Huguenot ancestry. William’s siblings included Charles Anderson, Anna Lou Anderson, Dozies Anderson, Maggie Anderson, and Hugh Moran Anderson.

William Dozier Anderson received his early educational training in Lee County. He attended Central University in Richmond, Kentucky, studied law at the University of Mississippi Law School in 1881 and 1882, and was admitted to the bar in 1883 in Tupelo. He began a law practice in Tupelo and served as county attorney, as city attorney, on the board of alderman, and as mayor of Tupelo for ten years.

Anderson was appointed by Governor Longino as a special judge of the Mississippi Supreme Court to replace Judge Calhoun. Governor Vardaman appointed him as a special judge of the Prentiss County Circuit Court in Booneville in 1906. He was elected to the state senate in 1907 and was a candidate for the United States Senate in 1910. On April 16, 1910, Governor Noel appointed Anderson associate justice of the Mississippi Supreme Court, and resigned this position on October 1, 1911 and returned to Tupelo to continue his law practice. However, in 1921 he ran and was elected as associate justice of the Mississippi Supreme Court where he served three full terms and retired in 1945. He was a member of the Mississippi Bar Association, a trustee of the Mississippi Historical Society, and a member of the Presbyterian church.

William married Lena Bell Clayton (July 16, 1863 - October 29, 1919) on January 27, 1886 in Tupelo. The couple had five children: John Russell Anderson (1888-1961), Mary Agnes Anderson (1892-1975), Lena Belle Anderson (1900-1981), and Charles Anderson (1904-1951).

William Dozier Anderson died on January 6, 1952, in Jackson, Hinds County, Mississippi, at the age of 89. He is buried in Glenwood Cemetery, Tupelo, Lee County.

 

Scope and Content Note:

This collection consists of letters and genealogical memoranda collected by Justice William Dozier Anderson concerning the Anderson and Dozier families.

 

Series Description:

Series description to be completed at a later date.

 

Box List:

Box list to be completed at a later date.