Ernest Anderson was born on July 7, 1885, in Riga. In June 1903, at the age of 17, he left his ill mother, father, and three sisters in Liepaja and traveled by ship to England and then to New York. From there, he continued by train to Boston, where he joined his oldest sister, Emily Anderson (Lakewitz), at her home at 82 Delle Avenue in Roxbury, Boston.

In Boston, Ernest worked as a carpenter in large building construction alongside Fred Lakewitz, Emily's husband. When World War I loomed, Ernest, Fred, and Fred’s teenage son, Fred Samuel Lakewitz, worked in the Boston shipyards, putting hot rivets into ship holds. Fred Samuel had left school at the age of 15 to join them in this work.

Ernest lived in the Lakewitz household with his sister Emily, her husband Fred, their children Fred Samuel, Emily Marie, and Lillian Eunice, and his father, Yuris Anderson.
In April 1905, Ernest welcomed Krisch Otmann, a newcomer from Ārlava, Latvia, to Boston. Ernest helped Krisch adjust to his new surroundings by taking him on a tour of Roxbury after church.
In 1912, shipbuilding offered well-paying jobs, and Ernest continued working in the shipyards with Fred and young Fred. Around 1916 or 1917, the Lakewitz family purchased an 8-acre farm at 240 Centre Street, Holbrook, Massachusetts, where Ernest spent weekends and holidays assisting Fred and their father Yuris with farm work.

Ernest Anderson passed away at the age of 51 on September 20, 1936, from gastric carcinoma. He was working as a millwright at the time of his death. His memorial service was held at the First Baptist Church in Randolph, Massachusetts, and he was buried in Holbrook Union Cemetery next to his father, Yuris Anderson, who had died on December 10, 1934.