Hugh Johnston Anderson was a United States Representative from Maine

Maine

Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...

. Born in Wiscasset, he attended the local schools, moved to Belfast, Maine

Belfast, Maine

Belfast is a city in Waldo County, Maine, in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 6,668. Located at the mouth of the Passagassawakeag River on Penobscot Bay, Belfast is the county seat of Waldo County...

 in 1815 and was employed as a clerk in the mercantile establishment of his uncle, and was clerk of the Waldo County

Waldo County, Maine

Waldo County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maine. As of 2010, the population was 38,786. Its county seat is Belfast.Waldo County was founded on 7 February 1827 from a portion of Hancock 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 3, 1841. He was not a candidate for reelection to the Twenty-seventh Congress in 1840, and from 1844 to 1847 was the 20th Governor of Maine

Governor of Maine

The governor of Maine is the chief executive of the State of Maine. Before Maine was admitted to the Union in 1820, Maine was part of Massachusetts and the governor of Massachusetts was chief executive....

. 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

Customs

Customs is an authority or agency in a country responsible for collecting and safeguarding customs duties and for controlling the flow of goods including animals, transports, personal effects and hazardous items in and out of a country...

 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

United States Mint

The United States Mint primarily produces circulating coinage for the United States to conduct its trade and commerce. The Mint was created by Congress with the Coinage Act of 1792, and placed within the Department of State...

 at San Francisco

San Francisco Mint

The San Francisco Mint is a branch of the United States Mint, and was opened in 1854 to serve the gold mines of the California Gold Rush. It quickly outgrew its first building and moved into a new one in 1874. This building, the Old United States Mint, also known affectionately as The Granite Lady,...

 in 1857, and was Sixth Auditor of the Treasury from 1866 to 1869.

Anderson retired from public life in 1880 and settled in Portland, Oregon

Portland, Oregon

Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...

where he died in 1881; interment was in Grove Cemetery, Belfast, Maine.