Lucien Anderson

Lucien Anderson (June 23, 1824 – October 18, 1898) was a Unionist slave owner and United States Representative from Kentucky.

Biography Anderson was born near Mayfield, Kentucky. The spelling of his first name is disputed; his official Congressional biography and many contemporaneous accounts spelled it, "Lucien," but some modern biographers claim the original spelling was, "Lucian."

He attended the public schools and studied law. In 1845, he was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Mayfield. He served as a member of the Kentucky House of Representatives from 1855 to 1857

He was elected as Union Democrat to the Thirty-eighth Congress, but once in office emerged as a leader of the new Unconditional Union Party, which favored the abolition of slavery. Shortly following his election, he was kidnapped by Confederate sympathizers, but then released in a prisoner swap for some Confederate prisoners. While in Congress, he advocated for the emancipation of all slaves and voted for the 13th Amendment to the US Constitution, despite having been a slave-owner, possibly even at the time of his voting for the Amendment.

After leaving Congress, Anderson resumed the practice of law. Near the end of his life he was judged to be of unsound mind as the result of his age and ill health, and a trustee was appointed to manage his affairs. He died in Mayfield, Kentucky, on October 17, 1898.