Seldon Connor (January 25, 1839July 9, 1917) was an American soldier, banker, and politician who was the 35th

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

of the U.S. state of

Maine Maine () is a U.S. state, state in the New England and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and territories of Canad ...

Biography

Seldon Conner was born in

Fairfield, Maine Fairfield is a New England town, town in Somerset County, Maine, Somerset County, Maine, United States. The population was 6,484 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. The town includes Fairfield Center, Fairfield village and Hinckley, ...

, and in 1859 graduated at

Tufts College Tufts University is a private research university on the border of Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1852 as Tufts College by Christian universalists who sought to provide a nonsectarian institution of higher learning. ...

, as well as studying law in

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the ...

. While attending Tufts University, he was a member of the

Zeta Psi Fraternity Zeta Psi () is a collegiate fraternity. It was founded in June 1, 1847 at New York University. The organization now comprises fifty-three active chapters and thirty-four inactive chapters, encompassing roughly fifty thousand members, and is a ...

. Following the outbreak of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by state ...

, Connor entered the military service in May 1861 as a private in the 1st Vermont Infantry, but became ill with chronic

catarrh Catarrh is an exudate of inflamed mucous membranes in one of the airways or cavities of the body, usually with reference to the throat and paranasal sinuses. It can result in a thick exudate of mucus and white blood cells caused by the swellin ...

, recovering the following winter. In August 1861 was commissioned as lieutenant colonel of the

7th Maine Infantry The 7th Maine Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It participated in most of the campaigns and battles of the Army of the Potomac in the Eastern Theater. Service The 7th Main ...

. Seldon became Colonel of the

19th Maine Infantry The 19th Maine Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Service 19th Maine was organized at Bath, Maine and mustered into Federal service for a three-year enlistment on August 25, 186 ...

in January 1864, and was severely wounded in the

Battle of the Wilderness The Battle of the Wilderness was fought on May 5–7, 1864, during the American Civil War. It was the first battle of Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant's 1864 Virginia Overland Campaign against General Robert E. Lee and the Confederate ...

. He was promoted to the rank of

brigadier general Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed t ...

of Volunteers on June 11, 1864. General Seldon was incapacitated from active field service due to his injuries and was mustered out in 1866. After the war, Connor began involvement in political issues in 1868, becoming an assessor of the Internal Revenue, as well as serving as the regional collector of internal revenue in 1874. In 1875, he was elected governor of Maine as a Republican. He appointed

James G. Blaine James Gillespie Blaine (January 31, 1830January 27, 1893) was an American statesman and Republican politician who represented Maine in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1863 to 1876, serving as Speaker of the U.S. House of Representative ...

to the vacant Senate seat. During his time in politics, Connor advocated civil service reform, and supported the resumption of specie payments. Connor was also responsible for promoting a free public school system, in which he was successful. Connor resigned from office on January 8, 1879, after failing to win reelection. Subsequently, he was United States pension agent from 1882 to 1886. Connor was active in veterans affairs, and in 1890 became president of the

Society of the Army of the Potomac The Society of the Army of the Potomac was a military society founded in 1869 which was composed of officers and enlisted men who served with the Army of the Potomac during the American Civil War. History After the conclusion of the Civil War, ...

. From 1896 to 1899, he was the senior vice-commander-in-chief of the

Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States The Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States (MOLLUS), or simply the Loyal Legion is a United States patriotic order, organized April 15, 1865, by three veteran officers of the Army. The original membership was composed of members ...

. In 1897, he was again appointed as a pension agent. His address on ''

Hannibal Hamlin Hannibal Hamlin (August 27, 1809 – July 4, 1891) was an American attorney and politician who served as the 15th vice president of the United States from 1861 to 1865, during President Abraham Lincoln's first term. He was the first Republica ...

'' was published in 1909. Connor remained a prominent figure in Maine politics, and also served as president of the Northern Banking Company. Seldon Connor is buried in

Augusta, Maine Augusta is the capital of the U.S. state of Maine and the county seat of Kennebec County. The city's population was 18,899 at the 2020 census, making it the tenth-most populous city in Maine, and third-least populous state capital in the U ...

References

Maine State Archives
Retrieved on 2008-04-20 *.

Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google Inc. that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical ...

. Retrieved on 2007-11-30
Governors information
Connor, Seldon. Retrieved on 2007-11-30.

Bibliography

* Connor, Seldon
An Address to Commemorate the One Hundredth Anniversary of the Birth of Hannibal Hamlin
Bangor, ME: The Press of The Thos. W Burr Printing Co, 1909. * Herringshaw, Thomas William. 1909.
Connor, Seldon
. Herringshaw's National Library of American Biography : Contains Thirty-Five Thousand Biographies of the Acknowledged Leaders of Life and Thought of the United States; Illustrated with Three Thousand Vignette Portraits. * Johnson, Rossiter, et al
Campfire and Battlefield: An Illustrated History of the Campaigns and Conflicts of the Great Civil War
aples, Fl Trident Press International, 1999. Rossiter Johnson; J T Morgan; O O Howard; Seldon Connor; Henry W B Howard; John B Gordon; James Tanner; George L Kilmer; L C Pickett; Frank Beard; George Spiel; et al. {{DEFAULTSORT:Connor, Seldon 1839 births 1917 deaths Republican Party governors of Maine People from Fairfield, Maine People of Maine in the American Civil War Tufts University alumni Union Army generals 19th-century American politicians

Biography

See also

References

Bibliography