Anderson, Reuben (1793–1861)

Type: Biography

Published: November 1, 1994

Reuben (Ruben) Anderson, plantation owner, was born in Twiggs County, Georgia, on December 22, 1793. He moved to Montgomery County, Alabama, where he raised two sons and one daughter. In January 1839 he made a gift of fifty slaves to his sons. The entire family moved to Robertson County, Texas, in 1852. They established plantations in the Brazos Bottom near the Port Sullivan community. Reuben Anderson is listed as a wealthy Texan in 1860, where he owned 100 slaves, personal property valued at over $93,000, and real estate worth over $80,000. He was a Freemason. He died on May 2, 1861, and is buried in the Port Sullivan Cemetery.

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J. W. Baker, History of Robertson County, Texas (Franklin, Texas: Robertson County Historical Survey Committee, 1970). Randolph B. Campbell, An Empire for Slavery: The Peculiar Institution in Texas, 1821–1865 (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1989). Mrs. John T. Martin and Mrs. Louis C. Hill, Milam County, Texas, Records (2 vols., Waco, 1965, 1968). Richard Denny Parker, Historical Recollections of Robertson County, Texas (Salado, Texas: Anson Jones, 1955). Ralph A. Wooster, "Wealthy Texans, 1860," Southwestern Historical Quarterly 71 (October 1967).

Categories:

Agriculture
Plantation Owners

Time Periods:

Antebellum Texas

The following, adapted from the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition, is the preferred citation for this entry.

James L. Hailey, “Anderson, Reuben,” Handbook of Texas Online, accessed May 29, 2022, https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/anderson-reuben.

Published by the Texas State Historical Association.

Original Publication Date:: November 1, 1994

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