Anderson, Florence Bennett, 1883-

Louis Francis (L.F.) Anderson was born in Illinois in 1861, the oldest of the six children of Maria Louisa (Phelps) and Alexander Jay (A.J.) Anderson. A.J. was involved in various instructing and teaching jobs, and in 1869, the family moved from Illinois to Oregon. A.J. Anderson was asked to serve as the president of the Territorial University at Seattle (now the University of Washington). L.F. Anderson completed his undergraduate coursework during his father’s tenure. L.F. graduated in 1881, the year his father was asked to serve as the president of Whitman College. President A.J. Anderson opened Whitman College under a new academic charter in 1882 and L.F. Anderson followed him to Walla Walla and served as a teacher of Greek and Latin. After Louise Phelps Anderson, A.J.’s wife, died in 1889, A.J. resigned from the presidency in 1891. After his resignation, A.J. continued to take interest in the college, compiling scrapbooks and writing an historical essay for Whitman College Quarterly. He died in 1903. L.F. Anderson continued at Whitman and served as the temporary president after his father’s resignation. He left Whitman in controversy over the new president, James Eaton. L.F. then pursued postgraduate work with Professor Basil Lanneau Gildersleeve, a Greek scholar at Johns Hopkins University. In 1895-1896, L.F. Anderson returned to Whitman College, where he took a position as professor of Greek Language and Literature.

L.F. Anderson was very active at Whitman College, serving as the college’s vice president during his tenure. He was one of the first trustees of Whitman College and helped develop the current system of the board of overseers. L.F. married Mabel Ida Baker Anderson on October 30, 1890. Mabel was the daughter of prominent pioneer and businessman Dorsey Syng Baker, who was the founder of the Baker Bank, as well as proprietor of many other industries in the Washington Territory. L.F. and Mabel were wealthy; they traveled extensively, gave generously towards philanthropy, and built the Anderson Mansion, now Whitman College’s Baker Faculty Center. They had no children, though circa 1895, they adopted Pauline Lora (Anderson) Rudio (1889-?), the daughter of L.F. Anderson’s brother, Alexander Jay Anderson, Jr. (1863-1892). In 1915, Mabel Baker Anderson died from food poisoning. She left L.F. as executor of the estate, which was valued at over $100,000.

L.F. Anderson later remarried Florence Mary Bennett Anderson in 1918. Florence was born in 1883 in Chateaugay, New York. She earned her Bachelor of Art degree from Vassar College in 1903 and Doctor of Philosophy from Columbia University 1912. She held a position at Hunter College until she married L.F. and moved to Walla Walla. L.F and Florence were both interested in classical and Greek studies and were very active in the Philological Association and the Archaeology Association. Florence was a prolific writer, publishing over five books and numerous articles. The couple traveled and continued to establish the Anderson estate in Walla Walla.

L.F. Anderson retired from teaching at Whitman College in 1946, after sixty-three years of service. In 1950, he died due to illness. Florence continued to write and study, publishing Leaven for the Frontier, a biography of A.J. Anderson and the Anderson family, in 1953. The Anderson Mansion was sold to Whitman College in 1956 for $50,000. As part of the sales agreement, Florence continued to live in the residence rent-free until her death on December 10, 1968.

From the guide to the Anderson Family Collection, 1835-1980, (Whitman College and Northwest Archives)