Hugh J. Anderson

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.

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 by	Leonard Jarvis, Jr.
Succeeded by	Alfred Marshall
20th Governor of Maine
In office January 3, 1844 – May 12, 1847
Preceded by	John W. Dana
Succeeded by	John W. Dana
Personal details
Born	May 10, 1801 Wiscasset, Massachusetts (now Maine)
Died	May 31, 1881 (aged 80) Portland, Maine
Political party	Democrat

Early life

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

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][3]

Family

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.[4]

Anderson married Martha J. Drummer (1807-1881) of Belfast, Maine, in 1832.

The couple had six children:

John F. Anderson (1832-1902), officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War, attained the rank of brigadier general by brevet.

Hannah Anderson (1833-1912) (no records of marriage found).

William H. Anderson (1835-1908).

Joseph Anderson (1837-1881), died from complications of surgery.

Horace Anderson (c.1840- ). (Age 10 in the 1850 census of Belfast, Maine.)

Thomas Anderson (1842-1879).

He lost two sons before he died, and his wife followed him several months after his death. Interment in Grove Cemetery, Belfast, Maine.[5]

References

1. *Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
2. Biographical encyclopedia of Maine of the nineteenth century, Metropolitan Publishing, 1885 pages 109-114
3. Hugh J. Anderson at Find a Grave
4. Biographical encyclopedia of Maine of the nineteenth century, Metropolitan Publishing, 1885 pages 109-114

External links

• United States Congress. "Hugh J. Anderson (id: A000190)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• Hugh J. Anderson at Find a Grave