Selden Connor

Seldon Connor (January 25, 1839 – July 9, 1917) was an American soldier, banker, and politician. A Union Army veteran of the American Civil War and a Republican, from 1876 to 1879 he served as the 35th governor of Maine.

A native of Fairfield, Maine, Connor graduated from Tufts College in 1859 and began to study law at the Woodstock, Vermont firm of Peter T. Washburn. At the start of the American Civil War in 1861, he joined the 1st Vermont Infantry, a unit raised for three months of service that included Washburn as second-in-command. Connor took part in action with the 1st Vermont, including the Battle of Big Bethel and was discharged in August. He immediately joined a new unit, the 7th Maine Infantry, as second-in-command and received a commission as a lieutenant colonel. He took part in engagements including the Peninsula campaign, Battle of Antietam, and Battle of Fredericksburg, and was wounded at Fredericksburg. He was promoted to colonel in January 1864 and appointed to command the 19th Maine Infantry. He was severely wounded at the Battle of the Wilderness, and spent more than a year recuperating, during which he was promoted to brigadier general.

After the war, Connor returned to Maine, where he served as a US revenue collector from 1870 to 1875, when he resigned so he could accept his party's nomination for governor. He was elected in 1875 and reelected in 1876 and 1877. In 1878, he won a plurality but an economic downturn enabled a Greenback Party candidate to gain traction and Connor was defeated in the state legislature's vote after Greenback legislators agreed to back the Democratic nominee.

After leaving the governorship, Connor was involved in business interests including serving as president of the Northern Banking Company of Portland. He served as US pension agent for Maine from 1882 to 1886 and 1897 to 1913, and was adjutant general of the Maine National Guard from 1893 to 1897. In retirement, Connor lived in Augusta, where he died on July 9, 1917. He was buried at Forest Grove Cemetery in Augusta.