NEBRASKA STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY MANUSCRIPT FINDING AID
RG2973.AM: Robert Ball Anderson, 1843-1930
Papers: ca. 1912-2004
Box Butte County, Neb.: Homesteader; former slave
Size: 0.25 cu.ft.; 1 box
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
Robert Ball Anderson was born into slavery on March 1, 1843. He grew up on the Ball plantation in Green County, Kentucky. He ran away from the Ball plantation in the fall of 1864 and joined the Union army. He served with the 125th Colored Infantry. Following the end of the Civil War, his regiment was eventually sent to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. His continued service would take him to New Mexico, Texas, and Colorado.
After his military service was completed, Anderson travelled to Iowa. He spent time in Tabor, Iowa, working in a local brickyard. He worked for local farmer for a time, and then in 1870 moved to Nebraska, staking a homestead claim in Butler County. Several years of drought and grasshopper plagues forced him to lose his claim, but he then moved to Box Butte County, Nebraska, where he would eventually own more than 2000 acres of land. He married Daisy Graham on March 19, 1922. Robert Ball Anderson was killed in a car accident near Union, Nebraska on November 30, 1930.
SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE
The collection consists of biographical information and newspaper clippings about Robert Ball Anderson. Also included in the collection is a report written for an historic preservation class about the Anderson homestead. The report includes photographs of the various buildings on the homestead site as well as articles and other background information about Robert Anderson.
Note: See the photo component [RG2973.PH] for related images. See the NSHS library catalog for Anderson’s memoirs, From Slavery to Affluence [921 An23].
DESCRIPTION
Box 1
Folder
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- Biographical/research materials
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- Newspaper clippings (original)
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- Newspaper clippings (photocopies)
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- Report: “A Preliminary Investigation of the Robert Ball Anderson Homestead,” by Judy Gasseling for Geography 530 – Historic Preservation, Chadron State College, May 24, 1991
ADDED ENTRIES:
African Americans — Nebraska
Anderson, Daisy, 1900-1998
Anderson, Robert, 1843-1930
Box Butte County (Neb.) — History
Freedmen
TMM 11-12-2010
Encoded TMM 11-12-2010
