Leslie Anderson was born in Lincoln County, KY in 1886. According to his autobiography he worked for a local farmer for a year to save money to send himself to the Stanford Graded and High School in 1906. After six months of study he graduated and took the examination for a Teacher's County Certificate. With that certification granted Anderson was able to get his first teaching job at the Round Knob School District in Lincoln County.

In 1907 he was offered an appointment to attend school at Eastern Kentucky State Normal School in Richmond and was the 61^st student to enroll at the new school. Until his graduation in 1909 Anderson attended classes here from January through June and returned to Lincoln County to teach school from July to December. By 1922, Anderson had moved to Texarkana, TX where he started his own insurance company.

Even though he lived in Texas, he was very active in Eastern's alumni organization and attended many reunions. He died in Texarkana in 1986.