Thomas Oakley Anderson

Thomas Oakley Anderson (3 July 1783 – 11 April 1844) was an American naval officer, noted for his contributions in the raiding party led by Stephen Decatur on 16 February 1804 to destroy the U.S. frigate "Philadelphia" which ran aground in Tripoli harbor during the First Barbary War.

Biography

Born in Sussex Court House (now Newton), in Sussex County, New Jersey, Anderson was the son of Colonel Thomas Anderson, Esq. (1743-1805), an attorney and quartermaster in the Continental Army during the American Revolution.

Anderson died on April 11, 1844 in Newton, New Jersey is buried in the Old Newton Cemetery, off U.S. Route 206 in Newton, New Jersey. His tombstone reads:

: "In Memory of Thomas Oakley Anderson who was born in this town on July, 3, 1783": "and died April, 14, 1844. He was formerly an officer in the Navy and engaged with": "Com. Decator in his daring achievement of the capture and destruction of the": "frigate "Philadelphia" in the harbor of Tripoli in 1804." [ [http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/nj/sussex/cemeteries/oldnewton.txt OLD NEWTON BURIAL GROUND, SUSSEX, NEW JERSEY] accessed 14 August 2006.]

External links

Notes

Other references

* [http://www.hillsdale.edu/Personal/Stewart/war/Navy3/(1804-02-17)%20Destruction%20Of%20The%20Philadelphia%20(Decatur).pdf Destruction of the Philadelphia] A letter from Stephen Decatur to Commodore Edward Preble, 17 February 1804, extracted from the "Annals of Congress" (8th Congress, 2nd Session) pp. 1637-1638.
* "Thomas Oakley Anderson Papers, 1800-1873" in the Collection of the New Jersey Historical Society (Newark, New Jersey).