Forrest Milton Anderson was born 10/12/?? on a farm outside Dallas, Texas. He attended the University of Fort Worth (then affiliated with the University of Oklahoma) and later Columbia University Law School. He married Grace Ferry Barnum in 1915. He first practiced law in Dallas, then for many years in New York City. He was a municipal court judge in Pelham, New York, where the family grew up. He was admitted to practice before the US Supreme Court, but it's not certain whether he ever presented a case there.