Born in Bluffton, Ohio, Anderson moved to Sandusky County in 1881 with his parents, who settled in Fremont.

Anderson was elected mayor of Fostoria, Ohio, in 1905 and again in 1907, on each occasion for a term of two years.

He served as president of the city hospital board and director in a number of manufacturing enterprises.

Anderson was elected as a Democrat to the Sixty-first and Sixty-second Congresses and served from March 4, 1909, until his death in an automobile accident near Fostoria, Ohio, October 1, 1912.

This article incorporates public domain material from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress