[1] Born in Botetourt County, Virginia to farmer, soldier and one-term delegate William Anderson (1763-1834) and his wife, the former Anna Thomas (d. 1848), who had married in 1796.

[2] Taught first by his mother, Anderson later attended Curtis Alderson's school at Ben Salem in Rockbridge County, Virginia.

His son William soon enlisted in the Liberty Hall volunteers and fought at the First Battle of Manassas, and in September was discharged because of his knee wound.

By year's end Rockingham voters elected Francis Anderson to the Virginia House of Delegates, where he served part-time alongside veteran Samuel McD.

[9] Anderson received a presidential pardon on July 21, 1865, agreeing to not again use enslaved labor,[10] and by 1869, resumed his legal practice.