Santa Barbara County Biographies

CAPTAIN A. L. ANDERSON

Submitted by Peggy Hooper

This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm

CAPTAIN A. L. ANDERSON.� After a busy, bustling life in the East, Captain Anderson 
first came to Santa Barbara in 1878, and being attracted by the even temperature 
and restful quiet of the Montecito Valley, he there established himself in 1884, and 
his handsome residence now commands a beautiful view of the fruitful valley and 
the peaceful ocean in the distance. Captain Anderson was born at Croton, 
Westchester County, New York, and is a son of Nathan Anderson, who was an extensive 
trafficker on the Hudson River. Captain Anderson built that famous river boat, the 
Mary Powell, which is celebrated the world over for her speed and magnificence. She is 
300 feet long, with thirty four feet beam, with main, promenade and hurricane decks, 
and can carry 2,000 passengers. Her record is twenty-six and one-fourth miles per hour, 
being the fastest time of any river boat in the world. The captain ran her from 1862 
to 1878, and has had for passengers all the eminent people of the East and many  
foreigners visiting this land, as the trip up the Hudson is one of the most beautiful 
excursions in the East. The boat ran between New York and Kingston, leaving New 
York each afternoon, Sundays excepted, at 3:30 P. M., and had the record of being so 
punctual and always on time that even watches were regulated by her arrival, and 
more confidence was placed in her running time and punctuality than in the steam 
cars. The Captain speaks of her with great tenderness, and she has been the pride of 
his life; but, owing to increasing years, his son. Captain A. E. Anderson, now runs the 
boat. It has been twice rebuilt. Captain Anderson still owns a beautiful home at 
Kingston, on the Hudson, which has been in his wife's family over 100 years. He 
prefers, however, to spend the closing years of his life in the more peaceful 
temperature of Southern California. 

History of Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Ventura Counties, California  - by 
C.M. Gidney, Benjamin Brooks, Edwin M. Sheridan, Vol I, II.  -Lewis Publ. Co., 
Chicago, 1917.