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ERNEST MARTIN ANDERSON (1929 - 1985) Ernest Martin Anderson was born July 3, 1929 in Munford, Alabama, the sixth child of Howard and Mary Boyd Anderson. Around 1947 at the age of 18, he moved to Youngstown, Ohio where he got a job in the steel mill. Later that year, he met Ethel B. Walker. In 1948 they married. They had a total of nine children, Ernest Jesse, Mary Nell, James Edward, Willie Howard, Deloris, Nathaniel, Michael, Richard, and Doris Jean. They had a child every year during the first six years of their marriage. Daddy was in and out of work for the next 13 years sometimes up to as much as 18 months at a time. For about a year, he went to live in Buffalo, New York with his cousins Curtis Boyd and Mexico Turner. He worked at a carwash there so that he could send money home to pay the bills and to put food on the table. In 1958, Robert Lawrence came to live with us. One day, Daddy had a few friends over at the house and while they were sitting around they started harmonizing. Thinking that they actually sounded good and with Lawrence's voice somewhat like that of Sam Cooke, they decided that they would get a group together. Initially, the practices were at our house and then they moved them to the homes of the other member of the group. The practicing and singing caused a love/hate relationship with us kids. The practices usually took place on Friday nights or Saturdays. Daddy would literally shut the house down during the time the group was there. He would turn off the television, radio, and record player. We would miss all of our favorite programs. However, the kids we played with acknowledged that the group sounded good and we found a lot of pleasure in the recognition that we received. With the three Anderson boys (Ernest, Jesse, and Lawrence) in the group, they became known as The Anderson Brothers. Daddy was the boss, of course, Jesse the bass, and Lawrence the voice. They were really young during this time. They had their own identities, their hair conked up, pressed and processed. They were the poor man's version of The Temptations. In 1959 after honing their talents, they went on the radio. Locally they became well known. They performed at various churches, brought in quite a number of singing groups into the area, and sang with some of the top recording artists of that time such as The 5 Blind Boys, The Staple Singers, and The Mighty Clouds of Joy to name a few. Around 1965, Daddy and Lawrence were doing quite a bit of fighting. Daddy was trying to keep Lawrence straight because of his problems with alcohol. Eventually, Lawrence left the group and soon after Jesse did also. Daddy kept on performing with various other groups and he even started several groups of his own. He even had a group in which he was the only male participant. He spent a lot of time on the road with his groups - especially in Buffalo and Alabama. As long as he was singing he was content. When I think back on how my father was viewed by others my perception of him differs slightly. Others saw him as a very nice person; friends with everyone, a happy go lucky type of guy. I saw him as Daddy, someone who would kick you in your butt. He didn't play around. He was someone who liked people and most of all he loved his family. They fought each other like crazy but no one else could even think about bothering any of them. He would start biting his lip and flick and twitch his head. The next thing you would know, he'd bop someone beside his or her head and the fight was on. He could actually box a little bit so that's why I gave him the respect that he deserved. I knew that he could and would reach out and touch you. I remember my father saying after he returned from a trip to Alabama to see his mother in 1961 that he would never go that long without seeing her again. It had been about 10 years since he had seen her last. From then on, he would make regular trips to Alabama sometimes up to three times a year. People would often ask him to drive them all over the place. If he drove south, he |