Col. John Ulster Anderson, Jr.

JOHN ANDERSON

NOTE: There were at least two different Anderson families, but the most prominent in Monmouth County was Captain John Anderson, who was the captain of the "Unicorn" and married Anna Reid.

Spurious Pedigree

Contrary to what is claimed in Genealogies of New Jersey Families John Anderson here treated is not the son of John Anderson of Dowhill, younger. The laird of Dowhill did have two sons named John Anderson, the elder of the two was born in 1665, but he predeceased his father in 1704. The younger of the two was born in 1708 but he too must have predeceased his father for the Dowhill estate passed to his father's only two surviving children, his daughters Susannah Anderson and Marion Anderson. Henry L. Fulton, Dr. John Moore, 1729-1802: A Life in Medicine

Biographical Account by Wikipedia

John Anderson was born in Fortrose, Scotland, in 1665. He was the son of James Anderson, who was born in the same town. James Anderson served for many years as alderman-magistrate. In 1675, he moved with his family to Edinburgh and finally settled in Glasgow.

After the capture of Captain Robert Pinkerton by the Spanish, John Anderson became captain of the Unicorn, which rescued the survivors of the Darien scheme, a Scottish attempt to colonize Central America in 1698. On the return voyage the ship stopped at the island of Jamaica with the goal of being repaired and to get supplies. However, after leaving the island, the ship encountered a storm, and limped its way to the port of Perth Amboy, New Jersey. After Unicorn landed and the survivors were put ashore, she was stripped down and eventually sank in the Arthur Kill, at the foot of Fayette Street.

Colonel Anderson was based in the Matawan, Monmouth County area. From 1713 through 1736 he was of the New Jersey Provincial Council. Later, Anderson was acting governor of New Jersey for 18 days. In 1713, when he was first placed on the council, an effort was made to discredit him in order to block his appointment, accusing him of being a Presbyterian, which would have invalidated his appointment. He is also accused of looting the Unicorn while she was incapacitated. Both accusations were proven false. In reality, he was a member of the Church of England.

The senior councillor actually residing in New Jersey would, by virtue of his seniority, be President of Council. Anderson became president in 1735, succeeding Lewis Morris. Upon the March 10, 1736 death of Gov. Sir William Cosby; John Anderson became acting governor, and served for eighteen days; Anderson himself died on March 28. John Hamilton then became President of Council as well as acting governor, and served as the latter until Gov. Lewis Morris took office.

Anderson married Anna, daughter of John Reid on December 7, 1701 in Tintern Manor, in Shrewsbury Township. The day after his wedding John Reid granted Col. Anderson, his son-in-law, land in Manalapan. The Reids were also of Scottish origin. The children of John and Anna Reid Anderson were: John (b.ca.1704), James (b.July 7, 1708), Hellana, Johnathan, Margaret, Anna, Elizabeth and Isabella Anderson.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Anderson_(New_Jersey)

Genealogical Accounts

1. Henry L. Fulton, Dr. John Moore, 1729-1802: A Life in Medicine, Travel, and Revolution (Rowman & Littlefield, 2014), 810 pp.
2. The Old Monmouth of Ours (Genealogical Publishing Company, 2009, 444 pp.
3. Encyclopedia of New Jersey
4. Genealogies of New Jersey Families: Families A-Z, pre-American notes on old New Netherland families, pp. 106-08 for Anderson of Dowhill
5. Find A Grave Memorial
6. “Ancestry of Lucia Hull Fish – An Ahnentafel Book” by A. H. Gilbertson 27 March 2019 version 0.153. Page 89 - 91