William lived in Lunenburg County, Virginia (later Charlotte County), on land deeded to him by his father until 1768, when he sold out and moved to South Carolina. He served in the Revolutionary War, during which he was shot in the head by a Tory, carrying an ugly scar the remainder of his life. He received a land grant of 400 acres in Laurens District, South Carolina, on July 8, 1774, near the town of Waterloo. See "Waterloo: A History of the Anderson Family".

The South Carolina Magazine of Ancestral Research. Pp. 190-191: Sale Bill of the Estate of William Anderson decd. Purchasers: John Middleton, Andrew Anderson, James Anderson, James Rains, Ambrose Anderson, John Duncan, Molley Anderson, Samuel Anderson, George Morgan, Randolph Mitchell, Robert Young, James Clemons, Lewis Graves, Henry Hazel. James Anderson, admr.