Josiah Anderson was born around 1829 in Pennsylvania to Nathan Anderson and Mary Webb. His father was a farmer who owned $800 of real estate in 1850. Anderson grew up and attended school in Muncy Creek, Pennsylvania before beginning work as a farmer. He married Mary Ann Harmon on December 21, 1854, and they had at least four children: George, born around 1855; Hannah, born around 1856; Mary, born around 1858; and Robert, born around 1861. The family lived in Muncy Creek, and by 1860, Anderson owned $2,000 of real estate and $1,000 of personal property.

 

He enlisted in the Union army on July 20, 1861, and mustered in as a quartermaster sergeant in Company K of the 5^th Pennsylvania Cavalry on August 19. According to his service records, he was 5 feet, 9 inches tall, with dark hair and hazel eyes. He was captured at Reams’ Station, Virginia, on June 29, 1864. He was promoted to 1^st lieutenant on June 8, 1865, and he mustered out in Richmond, Virginia, on August 7, 1865.

 

Anderson returned to Muncy Creek after the war and worked as a farmer and carpenter. By 1870, he owned $5,000 of real estate and $1,200 of personal property. His wife Mary died in December 1893, and by 1900, Anderson was living in his son George’s household in Muncy Creek. He died there in 1907.

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