One of his biological uncles was Thomas Shannon, a U.S. congressman and a veteran of the Lewis & Clark Expedition, while another was Wilson Shannon who served as governor of both Ohio and Kansas at various times.
The name Anderson was adopted as his surname while he was a child following the marriage of his mother to Robert G.H. Anderson. The family left Wheeling for Cincinnati around 1828.
In 1832, James Shannon received an appointment as the charge d’affair for Central America but died of yellow fever on the ship en route to Guatemala. Disease also affected Anderson’s family that same year when a cholera outbreak forced them to flee Cincinnati, first to Hamilton then to Richmond, Ind. They permanently returned to Hamilton by 1837.
Although he had only received three months of formal schooling, Anderson had a natural thirst for knowledge. He voraciously read and self-educated, even teaching himself to speak both French and Spanish.
On a personal level, he was described as “an excellent raconteur, a man of keen intellect, and biting whit and impressive and dignified carriage.” Standing at over 6 feet tall and weighing over 220 pounds, Anderson also had an imposing physical presence.
Becoming engaged with politics at a young age, he supported abolitionist causes and the repeal of Ohio’s Black Laws. In 1843, despite being only 19 years old, he wrote for Columbus’ “Palladium of Liberty,” Ohio’s first Black newspaper and also soon contributed to the “Colored Citizen” published in Cincinnati.
As the scale of his efforts grew, Anderson began regularly contributing to Frederick Douglass’ “North Star” and also wrote for William Lloyd Garrison’s “The Liberator,” both of which were highly influential nationally read anti-slavery newspapers. Anderson may have had an opportunity to meet Douglass, whom he also directly corresponded with, in person during the latter’s visit to Hamilton on Feb. 8, 1858, sponsored by the Hamilton Thespian Society.
He married Mary E. (Yancey) Anderson, the daughter of a local preacher, around 1849. Possibly taught the trade by Robert, Anderson was a professional barber and operated a highly regarded “shaving saloon” on Court Street while the family resided on nearby Water Street, now Monument Avenue.
Local testimonials reported that “he can shave you to perfection.” He was also a longtime freemason.
A local leader
Anderson’s first child, Florence T. (Anderson) Nichols was born in Hamilton in 1850. While Florence and three of her siblings, Edward Anderson, Luella (Anderson) Bates, and Clara (Anderson) Puckett, survived to adulthood, five other children ranging in age from 3 months to 3 years did not.
In 1853 Anderson was selected to chair the Butler County Black Convention held in Oxford. A nationwide phenomenon original to Ohio, the Black conventions allowed for political discourse organizing, and strategizing among Free Black and Freed Black Americans.
Anderson would later be selected as a Butler County delegate to the State of Ohio Black Conventions in 1858 and 1865.
Perhaps his greatest contribution to the struggle for equal rights came when he was denied the ability to vote in the 1856 presidential election, a three-way contest between Buchanan, Fillmore, and Fremont, solely because of the color of his skin. Rather than accept this, Anderson sued, and personally financed the case as it worked through the courts.
The suit resulted in the Ohio Supreme Court case Anderson v. Millikin, with local lawyer Thomas Millikin as the opposition. Anderson argued that because he was only one-eighth Black, and predominantly white, he had the right to vote.
In 1860, the Ohio Supreme Court unanimously agreed, ruling in Anderson’s favor and enfranchising any male mixed race Ohioan who could prove their racial makeup as being more white than Black. It was just in time for the lifelong Republican to vote for Abraham Lincoln in that November’s presidential election.
An incident which occurred in 1857 exemplified his leadership abilities and the respect afforded him by his community. When a United States Marshal and two deputies, who also had the duty of pursuing runaway slaves, entered and interrupted a service at the A.M.E. church, the predecessor to Payne Chapel.
Tempers flared after an exchange of words, including a racial slur. Writing in 1896, local historian Stephen D. Cone recorded, “It was only through the efforts of Alfred Anderson, an educated, cool headed and able colored man, that a riot was averted.”
In 1863, Anderson was left a widower when Mary died during childbirth, along with her baby, and was buried with her other deceased children in Hamilton Burying Grounds. Their graves were disinterred and relocated to Greenwood Cemetery in 1872.
Anderson married for a second time in 1865, wedding Louisa Ann (Wilson) Anderson, the twice-widowed mother of two sons from her first marriage. He remained in Hamilton operating his barbershop throughout the 1870s.
The move to Washington D.C.
In March 1881, Anderson applied to be the minister to Haiti, but was ultimately not selected for the post, despite widespread support for his appointment. However, he did receive an appointment as a clerk for the Records and Pension Bureau of the War Department, prompting his move to Washington, D.C.
The office in which he worked was located within a retrofitted Ford’s Theater, the very place where Abraham Lincoln had been assassinated. He was working in Ford’s Theater on June 9, 1893 when the third floor collapsed which also collapsed the second and first floors.
The structural collapse resulted in the deaths of 22 War Department employees and around 50 injuries. Anderson was among the injured, purportedly being “seriously hurt” in the collapse.
The following year, he lost his post, and a $1,000 annual salary, when a government efficiency board cut his and 30 other clerk positions. Washington, D.C.’s “Colored American” stated that the board took this action to, “suit their own prejudices.”
Anderson moved to Xenia where he and Louisa lived with Charles A. Nichols, Florence’s widower, and their grandchildren. Anderson died in Xenia on Nov. 21, 1895 and was buried there in Cherry Grove Cemetery.
His obituary concluded, “He was a man of sterling worth and indomitable will and enjoyed the regard and respect of all, Black or white, who knew him.”
Brad Spurlock is the manager of the Smith Library of Regional History and Cummins Local History Room, Lane Libraries. A certified archivist, Brad has over a decade of experience working with local history, maintaining archival collections and collaborating on community history projects.
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