Hugh J. Anderson Politician

Hugh Johnston Anderson (May 10, 1801 – May 31, 1881) was a Governor of Maine and served in the United States Congress as a Representative from Maine.Born in Wiscasset, Maine, he attended the local schools. He moved to Belfast, Maine, in 1815 and was employed as a clerk in the mercantile establishment of his uncle. He was clerk of the Waldo County courts from 1824 to 1836. He studied law, and was elected as a Democrat to the Twenty-fifth and Twenty-sixth Congresses, serving from March 4, 1837 to March 4, 1841. He was not a candidate for reelection to the Twenty-seventh Congress in 1840. From 1844 to 1847 was the 20th Governor of Maine. He was a candidate for U.S. Senator in 1847 but subsequently withdrew. He moved to Washington, D.C., and served as commissioner of customs in the United States Treasury Department from 1853 to 1858. He was appointed head of the commission to reorganize and adjust the affairs of the United States Mint at San Francisco in 1857, and was Sixth Auditor of the Treasury from 1866 to 1869.Anderson retired from public life in 1880 and settled in Portland where he died in 1881. Sources differ whether his death occurred in Portland, Oregon or Portland, Maine. Interment was in Grove Cemetery, Belfast, Maine.