Thomas Lilbourne Anderson

Thomas Lilbourne Anderson (December 8, 1808 – March 6, 1885) was a slave owner and practicing lawyer who served in the United States House of Representatives from Missouri for two terms from 1857 to 1861.

Biography He was born in Bowling Green, Kentucky, and was admitted to the Kentucky bar in 1828. He began the practice of law in Franklin, Kentucky, later moving to Palmyra, Missouri, in 1830.

Political career He was elected to the Missouri House of Representatives in 1840, and remained a member of that body through 1844. He served as a member of the Missouri Constitutional Convention of 1845. On December 24, 1853, he condemned mass escapes of enslaved people citing the high cost to slaveowners.

Congress He was first elected to the United States Congress in 1857 as a member of the American Party (Know-Nothing), winning reelection in 1859 as an Independent Democrat. He also served as a presidential elector for the Whig Party in 1844, 1848, 1852, and 1856.

Death and burial He died in Palmyra, Missouri in 1885, aged 76, and was interred in the City Cemetery.