Author: Anderson, Leroy
Biography:
ANDERSON, Leroy (fl 1824)
Despite his distinctive name, public records for Leroy Anderson are few. According to the catalogue of the Library of William and Mary College in Williamsburg VA, he was a student at the College in 1807 and delivered an ode at the centennial celebrations there. A collection of his papers of c. 1829, acquired by the College in 1942, includes a poem, "Archbishop Sharpe of York and the Highwayman," and correspondence about subscriptions to the publication of a French and English Declaration of Independence to be issued by Anderson, Sons, and Co. in Washington DC. So it is possible that he became a publisher at some point. In the 1820s, however, newspaper advertisements reveal that he was a teacher in Richmond VA, an occasional contributor of poems and songs to newspapers and to community celebrations. He was also an active committee member in Richmond and Williamsburg, organising commemorative events of various kinds. Nothing so far has been discovered about his private life. (Swem Library Mss. Sm Coll Anderson; Metropolitan [Georgetown DC] 21 Nov. 1820; Boston Intelligencer 23 Sept. 1820; Hampden Patriot 25 July 1821; Richmond Enquirer 5 Apr. 1822, 10 Aug. 1824) HJ