Hines, Rev. H. K., D.D. "An Illustrated History of the State of Washington." Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Co., 1893. pp. 623-624. WILLIAM R. ANDERSON, an old and highly respected pioneer of Clarke county, is the subject of the following biographical sketch: A native of Washington county, Virginia, he was born June 22, 1822, and was reared and educated amid the scenes of his birth. His parents were Jacob and Lucretia (Killinger) Anderson, natives of Virginia, and descendants of old Revolutionary patriots, whose ancestors had been among the colonial settlers of the Republic. William R. is the third of a family of eleven children. In his youth he became accustomed to the hard labor of farm life, but in later life turned his attention to the shoemakers' trade, following this occupation for twelve years. In 1848 he became an employee of the United States Government, and before the end of the year had crossed the plains to Oregon. He first located at a point nine miles below the city of Portland, and did not come to Clarke county until 1855. On the fifth day of November of that year he settled on his present farm, situated three and a half miles north of Vancouver. This tract comprises 163 acres, fifty acres of which are in an advanced state of cultivation, and five acres in an orchard which comprises a general assortment of fruits. The natural resourced of the country have ever been an unfailing source of interest and experiment to Mr. Anderson, and he has verified his faith by his successes. He has been a member of the School Board for a number of years, and in his political opinions voices the sentiments of Democracy. He was married February 27, 1851, to Miss Sarah J. Sturgess, who was born in the State of New York. They are the parents of fourteen children: Frank; Charles H.; William R. Jr.; Marilla, wife of Edward Gardner; Edward B.; Estella F., wife of Robert Shedd; Lucretia V., wife of George Baxter; George W.; Fannie E., wife of Frederick Pressler, of Vancouver; Asa; Minnie J., wife of George Housch; Nina.; Katie A. and Robert E. The life of Mrs. Anderson has been, in certain respects, an eventful one, and in her reminiscences of the early days on the frontier she is most entertaining in her narrations. She was born near Ballston Springs, New York, September 3, 1837. When she was about two years of age, her father, Moses Sturgess, removed to Illinois, where he remained until 1847, when, with his family, he crossed the plains to the Pacific coast. Their equipment included five, yoke of oxen and one yoke of cows. By making use of Mrs. Anderson's own words we can most readily recount certain of the incidents, and episodes so characteristic of this long, weary journey, typical of all that were made at that early period. She says: "We traveled and traveled, at slow and wearisome pace, until we reached the Missouri river, and I shall never forget the boat on which we crossed, nor the fear we all had of the Indians. At the point where we crossed the Missouri we took our last view of white people, save the members of our own party. So we made our start across the wild plains, infested by the crafty red men. We encountered great herds of buffalo, and would sometimes be compelled to halt the train in order to let them pass. It, was about this time that we met our first loss. We camped at night and awoke in the morning to find that forty head of our cattle had disappeared, having been either stampeded by buffalo or run off by the Indians. There were left to us only one cow and a calf, standing with two heavily loaded wagons. After an unavailing search for the animals we waited a day, when another train came along, and from this source we were enabled to secure a yoke of oxen and thus to continue the journey. At Snake river came the fatality which deprived me of my father. In fording the river on horseback he was drowned in a whirlpool or 'suck,' a Mr. Green, of the party, having met his death in the same way the day previous, A sad-hearted and jaded party was ours, but we finally reached Portland, Oregon, where we lived two months, there being but seven houses in the town at the time. We then removed to Oregon City, and there stayed until spring (1848), when we went to Vancouver and lived there about three years. There were only three American families in the town, the inhabitants being mainly Canadian French, Indians and Kanakas (natives of the Sandwich islands), all being employés of the Hudson’s Bay Company. I talked so much with the Indians that I forgot a considerable portion of my own language, finally almost abandoning my native tongue for a time. I was married to Mr. Anderson in February, 1851. He was also a pioneer, having crossed the plains in 1849. We lived opposite St. Johns, below Portland, for about two years, then moved down to the munth of the Willamette, and subsequently located the donation claim where we now live." Mrs. Anderson gave to the publishers of this volume excellent evidences of her command of the Indian dialects, and only lack of space prevents us from utilizing certain of her transcriptions. An incident worthy of note in this connection is that Mrs. Anderson assisted in sawing the lumber utilized in the construction of the first steamboat that ever plied the Columbia river. * * * * This biography was submitted to the Washington Biographies Project by Suze Gardner Hammond, . William Reese Anderson and his wife Sarah Jane (Sturgess) Anderson were old pioneers of Hazel Dell, Clark Co., WA.