Into the complex fabric of our national commonwealth have entered elements representing every civilized nation on the globe, each element having its part in conserving the textile strength of the composite whole, the entirety constituting the grandest republic the world has ever known. Among those from foreign lands seeking new homes and working out new destinies on American soil, the strong, stalwart, mentally alert sons of Scandinavia have been especially prominent in that they have brought with them these noble attributes of manhood and that love of personal freedom for which the people of the northland have long been distinguished and which constitute such important elements of true American citizenship. The well-known business man whose name introduces this sketch is a representative of the above nationality and as such worthily upholds the honor of his fatherland, although a lover of his adopted country and to all interests and purposes as loyal a citizen of the United States as an American to the manner born. Aaron Frederick Anderson hails from far-away Sweden, where his birth occurred on the 8th day of March, 1858. His father being a tiller of the soil, he was reared to agricultural pursuits and assisted to run the home farm until his twentieth year, meanwhile receiving a good education in the common schools, and when not engaged in the fields, learning the shoemaker's trade, at which in due time he became an efficient workman. Thinking to better his condition in a country abounding in more favorable opportunities than prevailed in his native land, Mr. Anderson, in 1878, came to the United States, making his way direct to Cadillac, Michigan, where he began working at his trade. Meeting with encouraging success from the start, he was induced after a few years to engage in the general boot and shoe business; accordingly, in 1885, he purchased a full line of goods, and in due time succeeded in building up a lucrative trade, which was successfully conducted until 1901. Meanwhile, in 1897, he became interested in the lumber industry and, to better prosecute the same, disposed of his mercantile business in 1901, since which time his attention has been exclusively devoted to lumbering, with fortunate financial results.

Mr. Anderson is essentially a business man, possessing the sound judgment and clear insight necessary to success in large and important undertakings. With comparatively no outside assistance, he has steadily pursued his way from a modest beginning until he now occupies a conspicuous place among the enterprising and well-to-do men of his adopted city. Strong determination, perseverance in the pursuit of an honorable purpose, unflagging energy and careful management, are among the salient features of his career and his life stands in unmistakable evidence that success is not a matter of genius or the result of fortune's favors, but is more the outcome of earnest and well directed endeavor.

Mr. Anderson was married in Cadillac on the 26th of September, 1882, to Miss Addie Greenburg, the union resulting in the birth of six children, namely: Fred W., Clarence E., Ester E., Ruth F., Helen M. and Rachel D., the second of the family dying at the age of twelve years. Mr. Anderson is an influential member of the Swedish Baptist church of Cadillac, and contributes liberally to its material support. Personally he is quite popular, possessing in a marked degree the characteristics which win and retain warm friendships and which render one a favorite in the social circle. He is public spirited and progressive, deeply interested in the welfare of the community and does all within his power for its advancement along material, social, educational and moral lines. His business efforts, as already stated, have been crowned with a large measure of success and it is no fulsome praise to state that no citizen of Cadillac stands higher in the confidence and esteem of the people or has shown himself more worthy of public regard. Mr. Anderson has worthily upheld an honored ancestral name and his loyalty to friends and devotion to family mark him a true man and an upright citizen.