Hugh Johnston Anderson

Hugh Johnston Anderson (May 10, 1801 – May 31, 1881) was an American politician who served as a member of the United States Congress from Maine and as the twentieth governor of Maine. A Democrat, he participated actively in the legislative and executive affairs of his state and the nation during a significant period in American history, representing the interests of his constituents in Congress and later holding several important federal administrative posts.

Anderson was born in Wiscasset, in what is now the state of Maine but was then a part of Massachusetts, on May 10, 1801. He was the son of John Anderson, a native of County Down, Ireland, whose own father, also named John Anderson, was a prominent and influential member of the Scottish Protestant colony in that part of Ireland. Hugh Anderson’s father immigrated to Maine in 1789, establishing the family in New England. Hugh attended local schools in Wiscasset before moving, as a youth, to Belfast, Maine, in 1815. In Belfast he was employed as a clerk in his uncle’s mercantile business, gaining early experience in commerce and local affairs that would inform his later public service.

Anderson’s formal public career began at the county level. In 1827 he was elected clerk of courts for Waldo County, a position that placed him at the center of local judicial and administrative activity. His work as clerk of courts helped establish his reputation as a capable administrator and a loyal member of the Democratic Party. During this period he became increasingly active in state and party politics, building the support that would carry him to national office.

As a Democrat representing Maine, Anderson was elected to the United States House of Representatives for two consecutive terms. He served in the Twenty-fifth and Twenty-sixth Congresses from March 4, 1837, to March 3, 1841. His service in Congress occurred during a significant period in American history, marked by debates over economic policy, territorial expansion, and the evolving role of the federal government. Anderson contributed to the legislative process over his two terms in office, participating in the democratic process and representing the interests of his Maine constituents. He was not a candidate for reelection to the Twenty-seventh Congress in 1840, choosing instead to return to state-level responsibilities.

Anderson’s most prominent state office was the governorship of Maine. He served as the twentieth governor of Maine from 1844 to 1847, a tenure in which he oversaw the administration of the state during a time of economic development and political realignment. In 1847 he became a candidate for the United States Senate, but he subsequently withdrew from the contest. After leaving the governorship, he moved to Washington, D.C., where he embarked on a lengthy career in federal service that extended his influence beyond Maine.

In Washington, Anderson held several important positions in the United States Treasury Department and related federal institutions. From 1853 to 1858 he served as commissioner of customs in the Treasury Department, overseeing matters related to customs revenue and trade regulation. In 1857 he was appointed head of the commission to reorganize and adjust the affairs of the United States Mint at San Francisco, California, a critical assignment during the era of the California gold rush and the expansion of the nation’s monetary system. He returned to Washington in 1859 and later served as Sixth Auditor of the Treasury from 1866 to 1869, a post that involved auditing and oversight responsibilities within the federal government’s financial operations. After many years in public life, he retired from federal service in 1880.

In his personal life, Anderson married Martha J. Drummer of Belfast, Maine, in 1832. The couple had six children: John F. Anderson, who served as an officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War and attained the rank of brigadier general by brevet; Hannah Anderson, for whom no records of marriage have been found; William H. Anderson; Joseph Anderson; Horace Anderson, who was recorded as age ten in the 1850 census of Belfast, Maine; and Thomas Anderson. Two of his sons predeceased him, and his wife died several months after his own death, underscoring the personal losses that marked his later years.

After retiring from public life in 1880, Anderson returned to Maine and settled in Portland. He died there on May 31, 1881. Although he spent much of his career in Washington, D.C., his remains were returned to the community where his public life had begun. He was interred in Grove Cemetery in Belfast, Maine, closing a career that had spanned local, state, and national service over more than half a century.