Hugh Johnston Anderson (May 10, 1801 – May 31, 1881) was member of the
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...
from
Maine
Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...
and served as the
20th Governor of Maine.
Early life
Hugh J. Anderson was born in
Wiscasset
Wiscasset is a town in and the seat of Lincoln County, Maine, United States. The municipality is located in the state of Maine's Mid Coast region. The population was 3,742 as of the 2020 census. Home to the Chewonki Foundation, Wiscasset is a ...
(in modern-day
Maine
Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...
, then a part of
) on May 10, 1801. He attended the local schools, moved to
Belfast, Maine
Belfast is a city in Waldo County, Maine, Waldo County, Maine, in the United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the city population was 6,938. Located at the mouth of the Passagassawakeag River estuary on Belfast Bay (Main ...
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
Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to:
Politics
*A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people.
*A member of a Democratic Party:
**Democratic Party (United States) (D)
**Democratic ...
, 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
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and powe ...
in 1847 but subsequently withdrew and moved to Washington D.C., where he served as commissioner of customs in the
United States Treasury Department
The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the Treasury, national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States, where it serves as an United States federal executive departments, executive department. The departme ...
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.
Family
His father, John Anderson, was a native of
County Down
County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 531,665. It borders County Antrim to the ...
, Ireland; and his grandfather, also John Anderson was a prominent and influential member of the Scottish Protestant colony in that part of
Maine
Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...
1789.
Anderson married Martha J. Drummer of Belfast, Maine, in 1832.
The couple had six children:
*
, officer in the Union Army">John F. Anderson (general)">John F. Anderson, officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War, attained the rank of Brigadier General (United States), brigadier general by Brevet (military), brevet.
*Hannah Anderson (no records of marriage found).
*William H. Anderson
*Joseph Anderson
*Horace Anderson (Age 10 in the 1850 census of Belfast, Maine.)
*Thomas Anderson
He lost two sons before he died, and his wife followed him several months after his death. Interment in Grove Cemetery, Belfast, Maine.