When twenty-three-year old John Anderson arrived in New Britain, February 26, 1876, the colony unknowingly received its greatest promoter, its most outstanding personality, and a man of such charm and strength of character, that even today, over a hundred years later, his influence has left an indelible mark on present-day Ormond Beach.
Anderson was born in Portland, Maine, August 6, 1853, the only son of Samuel J. and Jane Wade Dow Anderson. Samuel J. Anderson (usually referred to as "General Anderson") was a lawyer, tax collector of the port of Portland, Maine, and president of the Portland and Ogdensburg Railroad. During his high school years John Anderson organized a crack drill company that won the championship against eleven other organized military companies of the state, "and was especially commended by General Ulysses S. Grant."
After graduating from high school, John Anderson took a course at a commercial college, and then worked in the foreign exchange depart¬ment of Jay Cooke & Co., N.Y. The Panic of 1873 surrounded a severe international economic depression in both Europe and the United States that lasted until 1879, and even longer in some countries. After, the bank failed, Anderson began working in the bond department of the First National Bank of New York. While working there he received a letter from his cousin, Samuel Dow, from the New Britain colony in Florida that dramatically changed the course of his life. "I have found God's country. The hunting is good and the chances for a young man to show his grit and nerve were never better. Come on!" wrote Dow, and Anderson accepted the challenge and soon traveled to the New Britain Colony in Florida. He brought a friend, Charles Fox, with him and the three young men lived in Dow's palmetto shack on the corner of the James Francis' property on the mainland riverfront while exploring this fascinating place in Halifax Country.
Throughout this adventure, we meet many outstanding characters, hardworking settlers, captains of industry, and just plain good people trying to make the best out of life after a devastating Civil War. This period followed many years of massacre and plantation ruination during the previous Seminole wars in Florida. This centennial and historically accurate account of “John Anderson – His Life and Times in Ormond, Florida” accentuates his ability to understand a task’s importance to get the job done with firm integrity, commitment, fairness, and loyalty to all. “My Best for the Best” remains a true motto of our early Ormond settler, John Anderson...
