Santa Cruz County Biographies

DR. C. L. ANDERSON

Submitted by Kathy Sedler

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

 
        The subject of this article was born near Salem, Roanoke County, 
Virginia, on September 27, 1827. His father was a farmer. When he was ten years 
old, his father removed to Indiana, and settled in Morgan County. The son 
attended Franklin College, and, after completing the course there, entered the 
medical department of Asbury University and commenced the study of his chosen 
profession. He partly paid his way through college with money earned by teaching 
school. Before graduating, in 1852, he began practice in the town of Bethlehem, 
near Indianapolis. Soon afterward he removed to St. Anthony Falls, Minnesota 
(now the city of Minneapolis). Dr. Anderson lived here for ten years, and in 
1862 crossed the plains to Nevada and took up his residence in Carson City. He 
practiced there four years, and then came to Santa Cruz, where he still lives.
        Dr. Anderson was married, in Beloit, Wisconsin, on the 29th of October, 
1854, to Miss Merial Howe. Four children were born to them, of whom three are 
now living.
        Since Dr. Anderson began the practice of medicine, that has been his 
chief occupation. Most of his leisure time is devoted to scientific study, his 
favorite branches being: geology, botany, and zoology. His impulse in this 
direction is the result of early contact with professors and students of Harvard 
and Yale Colleges, whom he frequently accompanied on botanizing expeditions. In 
his scientific studies Dr. Anderson has been associated with several eminent 
men, notably, Asa Gray, Horace Mann, Jr., Henry D. Thoreau, D. C. Eaton, and M. 
G. Farlow. Dr. Anderson is a writer of ability, and a frequent contributor to 
the magazines. His articles are chiefly upon scientific topics, and his 
contributions to this volume are fair samples of his work.
        The doctor is a prominent member of the Chautauqua Literary and 
Scientific Circle, also a member of the Masonic Fraternity and the Order of Sons 
of Temperance. He has held several public offices, was the first superintendent 
of public schools in Hennepin County, Minnesota, and as trustee helped to build 
the first public schoolhouse in Minneapolis.
        After his removal to Nevada he held the office of school superintendent 
in Ormsby County, Nevada. He was also surgeon-general upon the military staff of 
Governor Blaisdell, of Nevada. Since coming to Santa Cruz he has held the office 
of school trustee for seven years, and is also a trustee of the Free City 
Library. He is also president of the City Board of Health, and United States 
Examining Surgeon for Pensions.
 
HISTORY OF SANTA CRUZ COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.-  E. S. Harrison, 
Pacific Press Publ. Co., San Francisco, 1891