Title: Richard Clough Anderson papers Creator: Anderson, Richard C. (Richard Clough), 1750-1826 Inclusive dates: 1821-1822 Extent: 10 items Abstract:
The Richard Clough Anderson papers contain 10 letters from several veterans regarding land in central Ohio and northern Kentucky, granted to them by military warrants.
Language: The material is in English Repository: William L. Clements Library, University of Michigan
909 S. University Ave. The University of Michigan Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1190 Phone: 734-764-2347 Web Site: www.clements.umich.edu
Cataloging funded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC). This collection has been processed according to minimal processing procedures and may be revised, expanded, or updated in the future.
Preferred Citation
Richard Clough Anderson Papers, William L. Clements Library, The University of Michigan
Richard Clough Anderson was born on January 12, 1750 at Goldmine, Hanover County, Virgina, to Robert Anderson, the son of a Scottish immigrant, and Elizabeth Clough. Richard was educated at home and at the age of 16 entered into an apprenticeship with Patrick Coots, a local merchant. He served with the Hanover Minutemen and the 5th Virginia Regiment during the Revolutionary War, and participated in the early reconnaissance efforts near Trenton on Christmas Day, 1776; in June 1783, he was a charter member of the Society of the Cincinnati. Toward the end of the war, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel, and after the war he was appointed surveyor general for western lands distributed to Virginia veterans. He moved to Middletown, near Louisville, Kentucky, and became the first master of the Lexington Masonic Lodge. He died on October 15, 1826. Anderson married twice: Elizabeth Clark (m. November 24, 1787) and, following her death in 1795, Sarah Marshall (m. September 17, 1797). His son, Richard C. Anderson, Jr., became a member of the United States House of Representatives from Kentucky.
The Richard Clough Anderson papers contain 10 letters from several veterans regarding land in southwestern Ohio, granted to them by military warrants. The correspondents, writing from a variety of locations in southwestern Ohio, requested Anderson to assist in registering their claims, delineated by military warrants issued by the United States government after their Revolutionary War service. The claims contain specific descriptions of the new property boundaries, often pegged to local geographic features, and one contains a manuscript map of the relevant plots (July 25, 1821). The collection reflects the procedural elements of western settlement in the early 1820s.
