Stanley Alvin Anderson was a descendant of William Patterson and his wife Keziah (Reams) Patterson. William and Keziah married on about 1 Jun 1758 in Northampton County, North Carolina. Both were members of the Religious Society of Friends, the Quakers. Facing controversy over slavery and military service, their descendants eventually migrated to Ohio and then to Boone County, Iowa. On 5 Sep 1861, Sarah Elizabeth Patterson married George Washington Vontrees in Boone County. A daughter, Elvira B. Vontrees married Elbert John Woodcock on 24 Sep 1885 in Calhoun County, Iowa. Their daughter was the mother of Stanley Alvin Anderson.