from The History of Hendricks County (Indianapolis: B.F. Bowen & Co., 1914)----pages 743-744
It is an easy task to describe adequately a man who has led an eminently active and busy life, and who has attained a place of relative distinction in the community with which his interests are identified. But biography finds its most perfect justification, nevertheless, in the tracing and recording of such a history. It is, then, with a full appreciation of all that is demanded and of the painstaking scrutiny that must be accorded each statement, and yet with a feeling of satisfaction, that the writer essays the task of touching briefly upon the details of the record of Benjamin W. Anderson, one of the most substantial farmers and business men of Plainfield.
Benjamin W. Anderson, president of the First National Bank of Plainfield, was born in Washington Township, Hendricks County, Indiana, on August 29, 1862. He is the son of Thomas T. and Anna (White) Anderson, his father being a native of Ohio and his mother of Wayne County, Indiana. Thomas Anderson was a farmer and brick mason and came to this county before the war, settling in Washington Township, where he bought a quarter section of land. After living on it three years, he removed to Six Points, in the same county, where he farmed for the next nine years. He then moved to Iroquois County, Illinois, where he died in 1873. His widow died September 24, 1898. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Anderson were the parents of four children, two of whom are living, Benjamin W. and Eli H., both of whom have lived all their lives in the county of their nativity.
Benjamin W. Anderson, the immediate subject of this sketch, was born in a log cabin in the clearing on his father's farm and received the limited education which the district schools of his time afforded. He then completed his schooling by attending the Central Academy at Plainfield. His whole life has been spent upon the farm and he is recognized as one of the most progressive farmers of the community. In addition to his crops of grain, he has always handled considerable live stock and no small part of his success has come from that side of his business. That he has been successful is shown by the fact that he was one of the principal organizers and stockholders in the First National Bank of Plainfield. He became president of the institution on December 24, 1903, and has held that important place up to the present time. In politics he has always taken an important part in the success of the Republican Party and in the fall of 1908 was elected to the office of township trustee, an office which he is still holding. This is accounted for by the fact that the last Legislature extended the term of office to six years.
Mr. Anderson was married on July 16, 1912, to Mrs. Minnie (Mills) Hadley, the daughter of Aaron and Hannah Mills, and to this union there has been born one son, Benjamin Eli. Mr. Anderson has been a lifelong member of the Friends Church and is now one of the board of trustees of the Western Yearly Meeting. He is an elder in the church and is superintendent of the Sabbath School at Plainfield at the present time. He is one of the trustees of Central Academy and is very actively interested in all matters pertaining to education. He is a charter member of Plainfield Lodge No. 653, Free and Accepted Masons. In addition to his farming, stock-raising and banking interests, Mr. Anderson is interested in the mill and grain business with Hubert Brown, the firm name being the Plainfield Milling Company. Mr. Anderson has been one of the valued citizens of his community and has been a hearty supporter of all enterprises which seek to ameliorate the condition of his fellow citizens or better the conditions of the county where he has spent such a busy life.