View source for Kenneth Lewis Anderson

{{Short description|Texian politician (1805–1845)}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Kenneth L. Anderson
| order = 4th [[Vice President of the Republic of Texas]]
| order2 = 6th [[Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives]]<br>{{Small|([[Republic of Texas]])}}
| predecessor = [[Edward Burleson]]
| predecessor2 = [[David Spangler Kaufman]]
| successor = ''Vacant'' (1845–46)<br>''Office abolished'' (1846)
| successor2 = [[Nicholas Henry Darnell]]
| president = [[Anson Jones]]
| footnotes = 
| signature = 
| party = 
| birth_date = {{birth date|1805|9|11}}
| birth_place = [[Hillsborough, North Carolina]], U.S.
| death_date =  {{death date and age|1845|7|3|1805|9|11}}
| death_place = [[Anderson, Texas]], U.S.
| spouse =
| relations =
| children =
| residence =
| alma_mater =
| occupation = Lawyer
| profession =
| religion =
| website =
| term_start = December 9, 1844	
| term_end =  July 3, 1845
| term_start2 = November 1, 1841
| term_end2 = November 24, 1842
}}
{{Onesource|date=March 2024}}
'''Kenneth Lewis Anderson''' (September 11, 1805 – July 3, 1845) was a lawyer, the fourth and last [[vice president of the Republic of Texas]], 1844 to 1845.

Anderson was born in [[Hillsborough, North Carolina]], where he worked as a shoemaker at an early age. By 1824 he was living in [[Bedford County, Tennessee]], where he became [[deputy sheriff]] in 1826 and [[sheriff]] in 1830; he was a [[colonel]] in the [[militia]] by 1832.

In 1837, he and his family moved to [[San Augustine, Texas]], where his wife's brother-in-law Joseph Rowe had lived for five years. In 1838 Anderson served successively as deputy sheriff and sheriff. It was probably after he arrived in Texas that he studied to become a lawyer. President of Texas [[Mirabeau B. Lamar]] appointed him collector of [[customs]] for the district of San Augustine, and he was confirmed on November 21, 1839. He served as collector until he became a candidate from [[San Augustine County, Texas|San Augustine County]] for the [[Texas House of Representatives]] of the Sixth Congress in 1841; he won with the largest majority in San Augustine County's history at that time.

As a partisan of [[Sam Houston]], Anderson was elected [[Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives|Speaker of the House]] on November 1, 1841. He immediately led an unsuccessful attempt to [[impeachment|impeach]] President Lamar and Vice President [[David G. Burnet]]. Anderson had for a time been considered for secretary of the treasury of the republic, a post that went to [[William Henry Daingerfield]]. In 1842 he helped convince President Houston to [[veto]] the popular but dangerous war bill, which sought to force an invasion of [[Mexico]].

After one term, and despite Houston's pleas, Anderson retired later in 1842 to practice law in San Augustine with [[Royall T. Wheeler]]; he eventually formed a partnership with [[James Pinckney Henderson|J. Pinckney Henderson]] and [[Thomas Jefferson Rusk]]. In December, Anderson became district attorney of the Fifth Judicial District. In 1844, Anderson was frequently mentioned as a candidate for president of the republic, but eventually he became the candidate for vice president, on a ticket headed by [[Anson Jones]]. Anderson's opponent, [[Patrick Churchill Jack|Patrick Jack]], died before the election, and Anderson won nearly unanimously. He presided over the Senate at [[Washington-on-the-Brazos, Texas]] in June 1845, when the Texas Congress approved the [[Texas Annexation]] by the United States.

After the annexation vote, he immediately left for home despite being sick. After only twenty miles, at the [[Fanthorp Inn State Historic Site|Fanthorp Inn]] in modern-day [[Anderson, Texas]], his fever flared and he died in office at age 39. The Vice President had been considered the leading candidate to become the first [[List of Governors of Texas|governor of Texas]]. His law partner, Pinckney Henderson, was instead elected governor in December.

Both [[Anderson County, Texas|Anderson County]] and the town of [[Anderson, Texas|Anderson]] in Texas are named after him.

==External links==
* {{Handbook of Texas|id=fan08|name=Kenneth Lewis Anderson}}

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{{succession box
| title=[[President of the Republic of Texas#List of presidents and vice presidents|Vice President of the Republic of Texas]]
| before=[[Edward Burleson]]
| after=''Office abolished'' <br> in 1846
| years=1844&ndash;1845
}}
{{s-end}}

{{TXVicePresidents}}
{{TXRepublicSpeakers}}
{{Republic of Texas}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, Kenneth Lewis}}
[[Category:1805 births]]
[[Category:1845 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Hillsborough, North Carolina]]
[[Category:Vice presidents of the Republic of Texas]]
[[Category:Members of the Texas House of Representatives]]
[[Category:Speakers of the Republic of Texas House of Representatives]]
[[Category:19th-century members of the Texas Legislature]]
[[Category:Texas lawyers]]
[[Category:19th-century American lawyers]]
[[Category:People from San Augustine, Texas]]