Moses Macdonald

Moses Macdonald (April 8, 1815 – October 18, 1869) was an American attorney and Democratic politician in the U.S. state of Maine who served in both houses of the state legislature, as Speaker of the Maine House of Representatives, as Maine State Treasurer, and as a member of the United States House of Representatives in the mid-nineteenth century. His public career spanned a period of significant political and sectional change in the United States, during which he participated in the democratic process and represented the interests of his Maine constituents at both the state and national levels.

Macdonald was born on April 8, 1815, in Limerick, then in Massachusetts (now in the state of Maine), the son of Major General John Macdonald and Lydia Wiley Macdonald. He received an academic education and attended Phillips Academy, a prominent preparatory institution that prepared many young men of his generation for professional and public life. After completing his studies there, he read law in the traditional manner, was admitted to the bar in 1837, and in that same year commenced the practice of law in Biddeford, Maine. His legal training and early professional experience in Biddeford provided the foundation for his subsequent entry into state politics.

Macdonald’s political career began in the Maine House of Representatives, where he served as a member in 1841, 1842, and again in 1845. A member of the Democratic Party, he quickly rose in influence within the state legislature. In 1845 he was chosen Speaker of the Maine House of Representatives, reflecting the confidence of his colleagues in his leadership and parliamentary abilities. He continued his legislative service in the upper chamber as a member of the Maine State Senate in 1847, further broadening his experience in state government during a period when Maine was still a relatively young state, having been admitted to the Union in 1820.

In addition to his legislative duties, Macdonald held important executive responsibilities in state government. He served as Maine State Treasurer from 1847 to 1850, overseeing the financial affairs of the state during a time of economic development and expansion in New England. His tenure as treasurer, combined with his legislative experience in both the House and Senate, established him as a prominent Democratic figure in Maine and positioned him for election to national office.

Macdonald was elected as a Democrat to the United States House of Representatives, winning a seat in the Thirty-second and subsequently the Thirty-third Congresses. He served two consecutive terms from March 4, 1851, to March 3, 1855, representing Maine during a significant period in American history marked by intensifying debates over sectional issues and national policy. During the Thirty-second Congress he served as chairman of the Committee on Revolutionary Claims, a panel responsible for considering petitions and claims arising from services rendered during the American Revolution. In this role, he contributed to the legislative process by helping to adjudicate long-standing financial and service-related claims, reflecting Congress’s ongoing effort to address obligations dating from the nation’s founding.

After leaving Congress in 1855, Macdonald continued in federal public service. In 1857 President James Buchanan appointed him collector of customs at Portland, Maine, an important post in a major New England port city. As collector of customs, he was responsible for overseeing the collection of tariffs and the enforcement of federal customs laws at a time when customs duties were a principal source of federal revenue. He held this position from 1857 until 1861, spanning the final years before the outbreak of the Civil War and the beginning of the conflict itself.

In his later years, Macdonald remained in Maine, where he had long been established as both a lawyer and public official. He died in Saco, Maine, on October 18, 1869, at the age of 54. He was interred in Laurel Hill Cemetery in Saco. Through his service in the Maine House of Representatives and Senate, his tenure as Speaker of the Maine House and as Maine State Treasurer, and his two terms in the United States House of Representatives, Moses Macdonald left a record of sustained participation in state and national governance during a formative era in American political history.