William Anderson was born around 1849 in Virginia. Anderson worked as a laborer and resided in Hall and North Clinton (Sampson County), North Carolina, with his wife Fannie Anderson and their family. Anderson was charged with larceny on December 3, 1877, and sentenced to one year in the North Carolina State Penitentiary. Anderson was recorded in the North Carolina State Penitentiary's Descriptive Register for the Years 1869-1884 as prisoner number 2475. In the descriptive register, Anderson's race is noted as Black. Anderson was twenty-eight years old when he was arrested. Anderson was noted as possessing no formal education, meaning he could not read or write at that time. During his incarceration, Anderson was leased to the Western North Carolina Railroad Company to work on railroad construction. He was discharged on November 3, 1878. On the 1900 federal census, Anderson is recorded as being able to both read and write. Anderson went on to own his home and farm in North Clinton (Sampson County), North Carolina, by 1920. William Anderson died of a cerebral hemorrhage on February 22, 1926.