He attended the common schools, studied law, was admitted to the bar, and commenced practice in Jasper, Tennessee.
Anderson was a delegate from Tennessee to the peace convention of 1861, held in Washington, D.C., in an effort to devise means to prevent the impending war.
Anderson was killed at Looneys Creek, near the present town of Whitwell, Tennessee in Marion County on November 8, 1861 (age 53 years, 344 days), just after having made a secession speech.
[4] An article in the North Carolina Standard newspaper, dated Wednesday, Nov. 27, 1861, states: Murder of Hon.
Josiah M. Anderson was set upon by a band of Lincolnite assassins, and stabbed in the back, causing his instant death.