# Henry James Anderson > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Henry_James_Anderson > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Henry_James_Anderson.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_James_Anderson > Source revision: 1353745562 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|American scientist and educator (1799–1875)}} {{Infobox scientist | name = Henry James Anderson | image = | image_size = | caption = | birth_date = February 6, 1799 | birth_place = [New York, New York](/source/New_York%2C_New_York) | death_date = October 19, 1875 | death_place = [Lahore](/source/Lahore), India | field = Astronomer, geologist and mathematician | work_institution = [Columbia College](/source/Columbia_College%2C_Columbia_University) | alma_mater = Columbia College | doctoral_advisor = | doctoral_students = | known_for = Participation in the United States Dead Sea exploration expedition | author_abbreviation_bot = | author_abbreviation_zoo = | prizes = | footnotes = }} '''Henry James Anderson''' (February 6, 1799 – October 19, 1875) was an American scientist and [educator](/source/Teacher) who worked with the great-grandson of [Benjamin Franklin](/source/Benjamin_Franklin), [Alexander Dallas Bache](/source/Alexander_Dallas_Bache). He became Knight Commander, President of the Particular Council of New York, and Head of the Supreme Council. ==Biography== He was born in [New York City](/source/New_York_City), and graduated from [Columbia College](/source/Columbia_College%2C_Columbia_University) in 1818, he subsequently studied [medicine](/source/medicine) at the [Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons](/source/Columbia_University_College_of_Physicians_and_Surgeons) in New York. He did not practice medicine for long however, instead devoting himself to scientific and literary pursuits. He was appointed professor of mathematics and astronomy at Columbia College in 1825, when he was twenty-six years old; he retained his chair until 1843.{{cite BDA1906 |wstitle= Anderson, Henry James |volume= 1 |page= 108 |short=1}} Anderson was elected an Associate Fellow of the [American Academy of Arts and Sciences](/source/American_Academy_of_Arts_and_Sciences) in 1831.{{cite web|title=Book of Members, 1780–2010: Chapter A|url=http://www.amacad.org/publications/BookofMembers/ChapterA.pdf|publisher=American Academy of Arts and Sciences|access-date=April 18, 2011}} He married Fanny Da Ponte, the daughter of [Lorenzo Da Ponte](/source/Lorenzo_Da_Ponte), a collaborator of [Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart](/source/Wolfgang_Amadeus_Mozart). They had two children named Elbert Ellery and Edward Henry. Elbert Ellery married to Augusta Chauncey, granddaughter of Commodore [Isaac Chauncey](/source/Isaac_Chauncey), and their son Peter Chauncey Anderson married to Mary Yale Ogden, of the [Yale](/source/Yale_(surname)) and [Ogden](/source/John_Ogden_(colonist)) families. She was the granddaughter of Olivia Yale, daughter of Colonel Braddam Yale, and was related to [Edith Ogden](/source/Edith_Ogden_Harrison), wife of Chicago Mayor [Carter Harrison IV](/source/Carter_Harrison_IV) (himself a cousin of US President [William Henry Harrison](/source/William_Henry_Harrison)) and [Aaron Ogden](/source/Aaron_Ogden), the governor of New Jersey.{{cite book |last=Russo |first=Joseph Louis |title=Lorenzo Da Ponte: Poet and Adventurer |publisher=Columbia University Press |location=New York |date=1922 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ONk5AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA118 |access-date=December 8, 2023 |isbn=978-0598556295 |page=118}}[https://books.google.com/books?id=umVIAAAAYAAJ&dq=%22may+yale+ogden%22&pg=PA3 Social Register, New York, 1896]{{Cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/ogdenfamilyiname00whee/page/444/mode/2up?view=theater|title=The Ogden Family in America and Their English Ancestry|year=1907|publisher=J. B. Lippincott Company Philadelphia|first=William Ogden|last=Wheeler|pages=444–446 }}{{Cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/yalegenealogyhis00yale/page/158/mode/2up?view=theater&q=goodrich|title=Yale genealogy and history of Wales. The British kings and princes. Life of Owen Glyndwr. Biographies of Governor Elihu Yale|date=1908|publisher=Milburn and Scott company|first=Rodney Horace|last=Yale|pages=348–349}} From 1840 to 1844, Anderson remained briefly in Paris where he worked closely with the anti-Newtonian astronomer [François Arago](/source/Fran%C3%A7ois_Arago), [Carl Friedrich Gauss](/source/Carl_Friedrich_Gauss), and [Alexander Dallas Bache](/source/Alexander_Dallas_Bache) ([Benjamin Franklin](/source/Benjamin_Franklin)'s great-grandson), who later established the "Magnetische Verein" (Magnetic Association).{{cite web|url=https://househistree.com/people/henry-james-anderson|title=Henry James Anderson (1799–1875) |first=Mark |last=Meredith |work=House Histree |access-date=December 8, 2023}} In 1848 as a [geologist](/source/geologist), he accompanied the United States [Dead Sea](/source/Dead_Sea) exploration expedition, commanded by Captain [William F. Lynch](/source/William_F._Lynch). His reports from the expedition, ''Geological Reconnaissance of Part of the Holy Land'', were published by the United States government in 1848 and 1849. Under the aegis of the American Geographical and Statistical Society, Anderson circulated a petition urging the United States to promote Jewish colonization in Palestine, part of the Jewish restoration movement that flowered at the time.{{cite book |first=Michael B. |last=Oren |author-link=Michael Oren |date=2007 |title=Power, Faith, and Fantasy: America in the Middle East, 1776 to the Present |location=New York |publisher=W.W. Norton & Company |pages=140–141 |isbn=978-0-393-05826-0}} He was a trustee of Columbia college from 1851 until his death and was also professor [emeritus](/source/emeritus) from 1866. Anderson converted to [Catholicism](/source/Catholicism) in 1849; he was active in his new faith for the rest of his life. He was made president of the [Particular Council of New York](/source/Particular_Council_of_New_York) in 1856, and later the head of the [Supreme Council](/source/Supreme_Council_of_New_York) in 1860. He donated land for Manhattan's [St. Gabriel Church](/source/St._Gabriel_Church_(Manhattan)) in 1859.{{cite book |editor-last=Shea |editor-first=John Gilmary |year=1878 |title=The Catholic Churches of New York City |chapter=Church of Saint Gabriel |chapter-url=https://archive.org/stream/catholicchurches00shea#page/312/mode/2up |location=New York |publisher=Lawrence G. Goulding & Co. |pages=312–313 |oclc=2524004}} He visited [Pope](/source/Pope) [Pius IX](/source/Pius_IX) in [Rome](/source/Rome) several times, and was eventually made a [Knight Commander](/source/Knight_Commander) of the [order of St. Gregory the Great](/source/order_of_St._Gregory_the_Great). He made a [pilgrimage](/source/pilgrimage) to [Lourdes](/source/Lourdes) and Rome in 1875; afterwards, he travelled to Australia in order to observe a [transit](/source/transit_(astronomy)) of [Venus](/source/Venus). He planned to return home by way of India, but, after [mountain-climbing](/source/mountain-climbing) in the [Himalayas](/source/Himalayas), he died of a disease in [Lahore](/source/Lahore) on October 19, at age 76. He is buried in a vault under the [Church of the Madonna](/source/Church_of_the_Madonna) in [Fort Lee, New Jersey](/source/Fort_Lee%2C_New_Jersey), a church in whose construction he had been involved. ==References== {{Reflist}} ===Bibliography=== *{{Cite CE1913 |wstitle=Henry James Anderson |first=Thomas Francis |last=Meehan |volume=1}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, Henry James}} Category:1799 births Category:1875 deaths Category:Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons alumni Category:Converts to Roman Catholicism Category:Columbia University faculty Category:Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Category:Scientists from New York City Category:Columbia College, Columbia University alumni Category:Columbia University librarians Category:Yale family Category:19th-century American librarians --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Henry James Anderson](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_James_Anderson) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_James_Anderson?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.