William Dozier Anderson

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William Dozier Anderson (July 20, 1862 – January 6, 1952) was a Mississippi lawyer, politician, and judge who served as mayor, state legislator, and a longtime Supreme Court justice. He was mayor of Tupelo from the late 1890s to the early 1900s. He served in the Mississippi House of Representatives (representing Lee and Itawamba counties) in 1898 and then in the Mississippi State Senate for the 1908–1912 term, where he chaired the Judiciary Committee.

In 1910, Governor Edmond Noel appointed him to the Supreme Court of Mississippi, and he served until 1911 before returning to private practice in Tupelo. He later acted as counsel for the Mobile & Ohio Railroad and the Cumberland Telephone & Telegraph Company. In 1920 he was elected again to the Supreme Court, serving the 1921–1929 term.

Anderson ran for the United States Senate in 1910, receiving 23 votes in the legislature before withdrawing. He was educated in Birmingham, Alabama, and at Central University in Kentucky, studied law at the University of Mississippi (1881–1882), and was admitted to the bar in 1883. He practiced in Tupelo and held roles as City and County Attorney and as an attorney for the Mobile and Ohio Railroad; he was also a Special Judge in the Mississippi Circuit Court in 1906.

Personal life: He was born to Charles Wesley Anderson and Rebecca Ann Dozier Anderson. He married Lena Bell Clayton on January 27, 1886, and they had five children: Clayton, John Russell, Mary Agnes, Lena Bell, and Charles. He died in 1952 at age 89.