John Wesley Anderson
The history of any city, county or state is the record of the lives and deeds of those who have in various ways performed the duties of citizenship. In the complex system of society as it is today there is need for men in a great variety of occupations. It is fortunate that all men do not want to be preachers or teachers or lawyers ; that all men do not want to be farmers or blacksmiths or railroad men. There are hundreds of occupations in the United States today, and a town the size of Washington C. H. will have at least a hundred different occupations. An important industry which is found represented in every town of any size in the country is the retail meat market business and this city boasts of one of the best equipped retail meat markets in the state.
John Wesley Anderson, the proprietor of the White Tile Meat Market, was born near Leesburg, Ohio, September 9. 1870. He is a son of James C. and Hannah Ellen (Swift) Anderson, natives of Ohio and the parents of seven children: William S., deceased; John Wesley, with whom this narrative deals; Chloe K., the wife of Stephen Rogers, of Seymour, Indiana: Allie. the widow of Edward Teeters; Auber D., now in the Mt. Vernon hospital; Dollie, the wife of Addie Coler. of Denver, Colorado, and James H.. of Washington C H.
James C. Anderson was reared near Centerfield, Ohio, and spent his boyhood days on the farm. At the opening of the Civil War he enlisted in Company I, Eighty-first Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and served for three and one-half years. He participated in some of the hardest fought battles of that great struggle and was wounded three times while in the service. He was killed in a railroad accident at Leeshurg, Ohio, in 1887, at the age of forty-four years. His wife lost her eyesight at the age of thirty-five and died at the age of sixty. James C. Anderson and his wife were both devout members of the Friends church, and were ahvays greatly interested in the work of the church. He was a son of Rev. Benjamin and Rebecca (Dimmick) Anderson, natives of Ohio and Scotland, respectively. Benjamin Anderson was a Methodist minister and one of the pioneer circuit riders of Ohio. The parents of the wife of James C. Anderson were William and Nancy (Amos) Swift, natives of Ireland and Ohio, respectively. She died at the age of seventy-six, while he lived until he was ninety-two years old. William Swift and wife were the parents of eight children. Hannah E., William E., John W., Mattie. Elizabeth, Stafford, Harrison and Ida.
John W. Anderson was reared on a farm in Highland county, Ohio, near Leesburg, and spent part of his boyhood days in town. He attended the public schools of East Monroe, and immediately after he left the school room began to learn the butcher's trade. He has been engaged in this business for the past twenty-seven years, twenty years of which has been spent in Washington C. H. He came to this city in 1894, and for six years worked in the shop of William H. Snider, and in 1900 he opened a shop of his own, and his place, knowm as the Whiite Tile Meat Market, is a model of cleanliness and neatness. He understands every angle of the retail meat business and by his courteous treatment of his customers and his honest, reliable methods, he has built up a trade which is second to none in the city.
Mr. Anderson was married June 14, 1892, to Jennie M. Browder. the daughter of Harmon and Lydia Jane (Coweman) Browder, and to this union have been born three children, Harold B., William H. and Chloe. Mrs. Anderson was born near Greentield, Ohio, both of her parents being natives of this state. Harmon Browder and wife were the parents of four children, Mrs. Sallie Limes, Edward, Mrs. Cora Brown and Jennie, the wife of Mr. Anderson.
Mr. Anderson and his family are loyal members of the Methodist Episcopal church. Fraternally, he is a member of the Knights of Pythias and the Royal Arcanum. In politics, he has always adhered to the Republican party, but has never l)een active in political matters.
From History of Fayette County Ohio - Her People, Industries and Institutions by Frank M. Allen (1914, R. F. Bowen & Company, Inc.)