Archives West Finding Aid

Nils Anderson, patriarch of the family, was born in 1860 in Sweden. He emigrated to Washington Territory in the late 1870s where he worked as a woodsman. He settled on Whidbey Island where he developed a logging operation and operated a Post Office. Later he homesteaded on Camano Island, establishing a logging camp there. In addition to his logging interests, Anderson also served as a county commissioner of Island County and as a Representative to the Washington State Legislature in 1921.

Anderson married Johanna (Hannah) Hellman in 1891. The union produced three daughters and a son: Mabel, Helen, Pearl and Niles. Helen Dorothy Anderson remained single and was a teacher in the Seattle Public School system. Pearl Anderson married Lemuel Wanamaker, an engineer employed by Island County, in 1927. Also educated as a teacher, Pearl Anderson Wanamaker later earned a law degree and followed in her father's footsteps in 1928 when she was elected Representative to the State Legislature. Later, she was elected State Senator from the 38th District and then State Superintendent of Public Instruction (1941-1956). The Wanamaker children include Robert (Bob), Joanna (Jo) and James (Jim).