Thomas Oakley Anderson

Thomas Oakley Anderson (July 3, 1783 – April 11, 1844) was an American naval officer, involved in the raiding party, led by Stephen Decatur on February 16, 1804, to destroy the U.S. frigate Philadelphia which ran aground in Tripoli harbor during the First Barbary War.

Biography
Born in Sussex Court House (now Newton), in Sussex County, New Jersey, Anderson was the son of Colonel Thomas Anderson, Esq. (1743–1805), an attorney and quartermaster in the Continental Army during the American Revolution.

Anderson died on April 11, 1844 in Newton, New Jersey and is buried in the Old Newton Cemetery, off U.S. Route 206. His tombstone reads:


 * In Memory of Thomas Oakley Anderson who was born in this town on July, 3, 1783
 * and died April, 14, 1844. He was formerly an officer in the Navy and engaged with
 * Com. Decator in his daring achievement of the capture and destruction of the
 * frigate "Philadelphia" in the harbor of Tripoli in 1804.