Anderson Sixth Generation:
Children of David, William, Rhoda, John, Joseph, Preston, Harmon, Abijah and James Robinson Anderson

This sixth generation of Anderson families reported here are the children of:

1. David Anderson and Lucinda Oglesbee
2. William Anderson and Amarilla Dinsmore;
3. William Anderson and his second wife Lydia Horney;
4. Rhoda Anderson and Nathan Mendenhall;
5. John Anderson and Charity Stanfield;
6. Joseph Anderson and Matilda Stanfield;
7. Preston Anderson and Eliza Janes;
8. Harmon Anderson and Margaret Horney;
9. Abijah Coffin Anderson and Eliza Tilson; and
10. James Robinson Anderson and Catherine Jay.

These families originate in the Quaker communities of Greene County, Ohio in the early 1800s: Mendenhall, Stanfield, Janes and Jay are all Quaker families. Anderson, Dinsmore and Tilson families may have been Quaker, but I have found no clear evidence of this in the Quaker records of earlier members of these families having been Quakers.

David Anderson is the only member of this generation for which I have records that is not direct line family. David is the oldest son of John Horney Anderson and Hannah Painter. David married Lucinda Oglesbee in Ohio. David and Lucinda had five children: David (1808-1839); Martha (abt 1809-1880); Elizabeth (1810- ); Jesse (1812- ); and John Horney (1813-1894).

The other members of this sixth generation reported here are the sons and daughters of James Anderson and Priscilla Coffin, our direct family lineage.

William, Preston, Harmon and Abijah Coffin left Ohio in the mid 1800s to settle in Jefferson Township, Greene County, Iowa. William and Lydia came first with their family in the 1856, Preston and his wife Eliza traveled with William and Lydia. The family of Harmon and Margaret Horney left Ohio after Harmon returned from service in the Union Army during the Civil War. Abijah Coffin and his wife Eliza Tilson and family were in Iowa by 1856 and may have come with the original group, though they are not mentioned in the stories of that move.

All of the children of these families are cousins of my Grandfather, Haramont Nathaniel Anderson. The birth dates of these cousins span the first third of the 19th Century (from 1810 for William to 1835 for James Robinson). The oldest uncle of Grandfather Anderson is William Anderson. Rhoda Anderson is his oldest aunt and is mentioned in the diary that great-grandfather Harmon Anderson kept during his service with the 110th Ohio Volunteer Infantry. All of the aunts and uncles are detailed in the preceding (fifth) generation pages.

William married twice — first Amarilla Dinsmore and second Lydia Horney (his second cousin). William and Amarilla had 6 children: James Frank (1832 – 1880); Sarah (1836 – 1924); Priscilla (1839 – 1920); Joseph Wilson (1844 – abt 1920); Ann (1846 – 1862); and Drury P. (1847 – 1928). Amarilla died shortly after giving birth to Drury. William and Lydia had 11 children: Emma Zetta (1849 – 1896); Ella Jane (1854 – ); Rhoda Margaret (1855 – ); Daniel Horney (1856 – ); Addie Rena (1858 – 1943); Alice Katie (1860 – 1948); Fred (1867 – 1944)l Viola (1870 – ); Mary (aft 1872 – ); and Maude Leota (1875 – 1964). He achieved a prominent place in his adopted community near Scranton, Iowa where he lived for nearly 50 years and is considered a pioneer of Jefferson, Iowa. Many of his children grew up and died in the Scranton area. The grandchildren are documented in the next generation.

Rhoda remained in Ohio and had eleven children. I have very little additional information about any of these families. Rhoda married Nathan Mendenhall in October of 1829. They had eleven or twelve children, depending upon the source: Elizabeth (1830 – ); Priscilla (1832 – ); Polly (1834 – ); Ruth (1836 – ); James (1837 – ); Amarilla (1838 – ); Perkins (1844 – ); Julia (1846 – ); Peter (1848 – ); Mary J. (1849 – ); and Isabelle Belle (1855 – ). The Anderson Story has 12, but not the same as some of the Ancestry.com sources.

Next is John Anderson who married Charity Stanfield in 1837. John and Charity had nine children: William (abt 1838 – ); Preston (abt 1840 – ); Harmon (abt 1844 – 1897); Nathan (abt 1847 – 1871); twins Zero (1849 – ) and Cicero (1849 – 1871); Lovina Ruth (1851 – ); John (1854 – 1934) and Eli (1858 – ). The Stanfield family were members of the Quaker community. In the late 1800s the Anderson families, Stanfield and Mendenhall families were all living quite close together — often only one or two farms distant from one another (the families can be found on two or three adjacent pages of the censuses of 1860, 70 and 80). These children are recorded here, but little follow-up of their children.

Joseph, the next brother in the sequence, married Charity’s sister Matilda Stanfield in 1839. Joseph and Matilda had eleven children: John Stanfield (1840-1845); James William (1842 – ); Abijah Coffin (1845 – 1910); Felix Peterson (1848 – 1927); Milo Walton (1850 – 1932); Margaret Ann (1852 – 1945); Lewis B. (1854 – 1932); David (1854 – 1904); Joseph Franklin (1856 – 1932); Mary Jane (1858 – 1950); and Ruth Catherine (1861 – 1940). Joseph also remained in Ohio for all of his life. Note that the first three sons repeat Anderson given names in various combination. Two break with tradition: Milo and Lewis.

Preston was born in Ohio and moved to Iowa about the same time as his oldest brother, William. Preston married Eliza Janes in 1843. Eliza is likely related to Margaret Horney Anderson’s mother, Catherine Janes. The Janes family is another linked to the Quaker community in Ohio and in North Carolina. Preston and Eliza had four children: William (1847 – 1947); Julia (1851 – ); James (1856 – ); and Benjamin (1859 – ).

Harmon Anderson is my great-grandfather. He married his second cousin, Margaret Horney in 1851. Harmon and Margaret had five children before and up to the start of the Civil War and three after the end of that conflict. The children are: Melvin Leewood (1852 – 1908); Catherine Alice (1854 – 1858); Lillian May (1956 – 1950); James Francis (1860 – 1940); Anna Flora (1862 – 1950); Elizabeth Jane (1866 – 1952); William Horney (1867 – 1875); and Haramont Nathaniel (1876 – 1971).

Abijah Coffin Anderson was named for his maternal great-grandfather, Abijah Coffin. In 1855 Abijah married Eliza Tilson, then about 1878 he married Casandra Kate Alney. Abijah and Eliza had eight children: Jeannette C. (1856 – 1858); Mary E. (1857 – 1888); Anna B. (1859 – 1862); Theodore (1863 – 1864); Jasper (1866 – ); Laura (1869 – 1958); Orrie (1869 – 1893); and George (1871 – 1947). Laura and Orrie were fraternal twins. Abijah and his second wife had one daughter, Hattie J. (1878 – ). Abijah, as did his older brother Harmon, served with the Ohio Volunteers during the Civil War.

James Robinson is the last son of James and Priscilla Anderson. James Robinson married Catherine Jay in 1852. James Robinson and Catherine had two children: James Ambrose (1853 – ) and William A. (1857 – ). After the death of Catherine in 1877, James married second Anna Sanders in 1878. James Robinson remained in Ohio on the farm inherited from his father, James Anderson. James Robinson is the subject of an essay in “The Portrait and Biographical Album of Clark and Greene Counties.”

These children and their families are reported below. Some of their off-spring will be followed on into the seventh generation of Anderson families.

The Anderson Story, a family history prepared by members of the Anderson clan in the 1960s and self-published in 1968, has two different stories about the migration of the families from Ohio to Iowa in 1856. One is by William T. Anderson, oldest son of Preston Anderson and Eliza Janes, the other is by Charles E. Snodgrass the oldest son of Preston’s niece, Sarah Anderson and John Snodgrass

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