John W. Anderson Slave Pen, Anderson brand

It was common practice in Kentucky at this time to brand an owner's name into a log of a structure. John W. Anderson was a Virginian who migrated to Kentucky in search of wealth and land. He apprenticed in the slave trade under Edward Stone, and became a great success in the internal slave trade, buying slaves at surrounding farms and auctions in Kentucky, then transporting them to Natchez, Mississippi, to sell at auction. Anderson made quite a lot of money as a slave trader, and at the time of his death in 1834, owned 40 race horses, which were the Anderson farm's other business.