Kenneth Lewis Anderson of San Augustine County was elected to The Texas House of Representatives in 1841. A protégé of President Sam Houston, Anderson was voted speaker of the house, November 1, 1841. He pushed to have President Lamar and VP Burnet impeached for financial improprieties during their 1838-1840 administration. Questionable and unauthorized financing of the Santa Fe Expedition was the center of the impeachment proceedings. Sam Houston now in his second term as President asked Anderson not to pursue impeachment; fearing details of Texas’ forlorn financial situation would hinder any hopes of annexation.
In 1842, Anderson convinced President Sam Houston to veto a popular war bill to invade
Mexico. The action cost the President and Anderson in popularity, as Texan’s wanted revenge for the Mexican incursions of 1842. Anderson knew Texas didn’t have the men or the money for another war.
Anderson was the last Vice President of the Republic of Texas. He presided over the senate at Washington-on-the-Brazos in June 1845. There the Texas Congress approved annexation to the United States. It was the well-known lawyer’s last act for the Republic of Texas. He died of natural causes, on his way home at the Fanthorp Inn.
The 39-year-old Kenneth Lewis Anderson was to have been the First Governor of the State of Texas. His law partner, James Pinckney Henderson, was chosen for the honor.
Anderson, Texas in Grimes County was named for Kenneth Lewis Anderson as well as Anderson County in East Texas. Kenneth Lewis Anderson is one of the first to be honored in the First Footers of the Republic of Texas.
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