Hugh J. Anderson

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Hugh Johnston Anderson
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Maine's 6th district
In office
March 4, 1837 – March 3, 1841
Preceded byLeonard Jarvis, Jr.
Succeeded byAlfred Marshall
20th Governor of Maine
In office
January 3, 1844 – May 12, 1847
Preceded byJohn W. Dana
Succeeded byJohn W. Dana
Personal details
Born(1801-05-10)May 10, 1801
Wiscasset, Massachusetts, US
(now Maine)
DiedMay 31, 1881(1881-05-31) (aged 80)
Portland, Maine, US
Political partyDemocrat

Hugh Johnston Anderson (May 10, 1801 – May 31, 1881) was member of the United States Congress from Maine and served as the 20th Governor of Maine.

Early life[edit]

Hugh J. Anderson was born in Wiscasset (in modern-day Maine, then a part of Massachusetts) on May 10, 1801. He attended the local schools, moved to Belfast, Maine in 1815, and was employed as a clerk in his uncle's mercantile business.

Political career[edit]

In 1827 Anderson was elected clerk of courts for Waldo County. A Democrat, Anderson was elected to the Twenty-fifth and Twenty-sixth Congresses, serving from March 4, 1837 to March 3, 1841. He was not a candidate for reelection to the Twenty-seventh Congress in 1840. From 1844 to 1847 Anderson was the Governor of Maine. He was a candidate for U.S. Senator in 1847 but subsequently withdrew and moved to Washington D.C., where he served as commissioner of customs in the United States Treasury Department 1853-1858; appointed head of the commission to reorganize and adjust the affairs of the United States Mint at San Francisco, Calif., in 1857; returned to Washington 1859. Sixth Auditor of the Treasury 1866-1869; retired from public life in 1880 and returned to Portland, Maine where he died May 31, 1881.[1][2]

Family[edit]

His father, John Anderson, was a native of County Down, Ireland; and his grandfather, also John Anderson was a prominent and influential member of the Scottish Protestant colony in that part of [Ireland. His father immigrated to Maine 1789.[3]

Anderson married Martha J. Drummer of Belfast, Maine, in 1832.

The couple had six children:

He lost two sons before he died, and his wife followed him several months after his death. Interment in Grove Cemetery, Belfast, Maine.

References[edit]

  1. ^ *Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
  2. ^ Biographical encyclopedia of Maine of the nineteenth century, Metropolitan Publishing, 1885 pages 109-114
  3. ^ Biographical encyclopedia of Maine of the nineteenth century, Metropolitan Publishing, 1885 pages 109-114

External links[edit]

  • United States Congress. "Hugh J. Anderson (id: A000190)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
  • Hugh J. Anderson at Find a Grave
Party political offices
Preceded by Democratic nominee for Governor of Maine
1843, 1844, 1845
Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by
John W. Dana
Governor of Maine
1844-1847
Succeeded by
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Maine's 6th congressional district

March 4, 1837 – March 3, 1841
Succeeded by

External links[edit]