Hugh Johnston Anderson

Democrat Representative of Maine's 6th district

Congresses Served

House Terms

May 10, 1801 (80 years old)

Birthday

May 31, 1881

Death

Served as a member of the United States Congress from Maine
Held the position of the 20th Governor of Maine
Born in what is now Maine, then part of Massachusetts, and moved to Belfast, Maine in 1815
Worked as a clerk in his uncle’s mercantile business before entering politics
Elected clerk of courts for Waldo County in 1827
Served in the Twenty-fifth and Twenty-sixth Congresses
Was not a candidate for reelection in 1840
Ran for U.S. Senator in 1847 but withdrew
Served as commissioner of customs in the United States Treasury Department from 1853 to 1858
Appointed head of the commission to reorganize the United States Mint at San Francisco in 1857
Became Sixth Auditor of the Treasury from 1866 to 1869
Retired from public life in 1880 and died in Portland, Maine in 1881
His father was an immigrant from County Down, Ireland
Married Martha J. Drummer in 1832 and had six children, including a son who served as an officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War
Lost two sons before his death; his wife died several months after him
Buried in Grove Cemetery, Belfast, Maine