Source: Henry E. Dunnack, The Maine Book (Augusta, ME: 1920), pp. 80-84. Keep in mind that this book was written in 1920 and should be considered and used as an historical record. Waterboro Public Library and its staff, board, and members take no responsibility for any errors in fact or any statements of opinion that may appear in this book. In other words, verify!
| 986 | Biorn (or Bjarn), a Norseman, first European to visit America, lands at Cape Cod. |
| 1000 | Lief and Norsemen, investigating Biorn's story, spend the winter near the present site of Fall River and name the place Vinland. |
| 1002 | Lief's brother, Thorvald (Thorwald), visits Vinland and remains three winters. |
| 1008 | Thorfinn and his wife, Gudrida (Gudrid), also spend three years in Vinland. Their son, Snorri Thorfinnson, was the first white person born on the American continent. |
| 1121 | Bishop Eirik (Erik, Erick) visits Vinland as a missionary. |
| 1492 | Christopher Columbus discovers American. |
| 1497 | John Cabot, first English explorer to the New England coast. |
| 1498 | Sebastian Cabot explores entire New England coast. |
| 1500 | Gasper Cortereal, for Portugal, searching for Northwest Passage, sails along Maine coast. |
| 1524 | Giovanni da Verrazano (Verrazini), for Francis I of France, makes extended examination of Maine shores. |
| 1525 | Estevan Gomez, for Charles V of Spain, seeking Northwest Passage, enters many New England harbors. |
| 1527 | John Rut, for England, explores interior of Maine. |
| 1556 | Andre Thevet, for France, visits Maine and explores Penobscot. |
| 1583 | Sir Humphrey Gilbert, for England, explores Maine coast. |
| 1602 | Coast of Maine visited by Bartholomew Gosnold. |
| 1603 | Martin Pring makes survey of Maine's coast and larger rivers. |
| 1604-5 | Expedition of De Monts. |
| 1605 | Captain Weymouth kidnaps natives. |
| 1606 | First Virginia charter. Southern part of Maine included in grant to the Plymouth Company. |
| 1607 | Unsuccessful Popham colony at mouth of Kennebec. Building of first ship on American soil. |
| 1613 | Jesuit mission established on Mount Desert Island. |
| 1614 | Maine coast visited by Captain John Smith. |
| 1615-18 | Destructive war and pestilence among the eastern Indians. |
| 1616-17 | Richard Vines winters at mouth of Saco River. |
| 1620 | Patent of the Council for New England. The whole of Maine included. |
| 1622 | Grant to Gorges and Mason of the region between the Merrimac and Sagadahoc, under the name of Laconia. |
| 1623 | Permanent settlement made at Saco. Other settlements by this time at Sheepscot, Damariscotta, Pemaquid, Monhegan, and a few other points. |
| 1625 | Trading post established on the Kennebec by Plymouth colonists. |
| 1627 | First Kennebec patent. |
| 1628 | First charter of Massachusetts. |
| 1629 | Comnock's patent (Scarboro and vicinity). Second Kennebec, or Plymouth, patent. |
| 1630 | Two Saco patents: Lygonia patent (region of Casco Bay), and Muscongus patent (east of Penobscot), later known as Waldo patent. |
| 1631 | Pemaquid patent. |
| 1635 | Division of the territory of the Council for New England. Encroachments of the French, under d'Aulney, on the Penobscot. |
| 1636 | First organized government in Maine set up at the Saco by William Gorges, nephew of Sir Ferdinando Gorges. |
| 1639 | Sir Ferdinando Gorges' charter of "The Province of Maine." Penobscot tract (Brunswick and vicinity) ceded to Massachusetts. |
| 1641 | First chartered city in America -- Gorgeana. |
| 1651 | Massachusetts asserts its claim to Maine under the charter of 1628. |
| 1652-53 | Settlements in western Maine submitted to Massachusetts. County of Yorkshire established. Gradual absorption of other settlements. |
| 1653 | First representation of Maine, then county of Yorkshire, in the Mass. General Court. |
| 1661 | Plymouth, or Kennebec, patent sold to John Winslow and others. |
| 1664 | Royal order directing Massachusetts to restore Maine to Ferdinando Gorges (grandson of original proprietor). Eastern Maine includes in grant to Duke of York, and known as Newcastle pr the County of Cornwall. |
| 1665 | Royal commissioners set up independent government in Maine. |
| 1668 | Massachusetts government resumes control of Maine. |
| 1674 | County of Devonshire (east of Kennebec) established. |
| 1675-77 | King Phillip's War. |
| 1677 | Purchase of Maine by Massachusetts from Gorges for 1250 pounds. |
| 1678 | Andros becomes governor, under the Duke of York, of New York and Sagadahoc. |
| 1680 | Government of Maine reorganized by the General Court. |
| 1684 | Massachusetts charter vacated. |
| 1687 | Andros governor of New England. |
| 1688-89 | King William's War. Settlements in Maine ravaged. |
| 1689 | Andros deposed and provisional government set up. |
| 1691 | Second charter of Massachusetts, including whole of Maine. |
| 1697 | Treaty of Ryswick. France and England both claim Sagadahoc (territory between Kennebec and St. Croix). |
| 1703-11 | Queen Anne's, or Third Indian, War. Settlements again ravaged. |
| 1733-25 | Lovewell's, or Fourth Indian, War. |
| 1739 | Line between Maine and New Hampshire fixed, after long dispute, by the king in council. |
| 1741 | George Whitfield visits Maine. A second visit in 1744-45. |
| 1745 | Capture of Louisburg by New England troops commanded by William Pepperell. |
| 1745-56 | Renewed Indian war. |
| 1754-63 | Seven Years' War, the last of the French and Indian Wars. |
| 1760 | Cumberland and Lincoln counties established. |
| 1775 | Capture of British schooner Margranetto at Machias. Falmouth burned by British. Benedict Arnold's expedition to Quebec. |
| 1778 | Maine constituted a district by the Continental Congress, and a maritime court established. |
| 1779 | Unsuccessful attempt to drive the British from the Penobscot. |
| 1780 | Constitution of Massachussets established. |
| 1784 | Establishment of the province of New Brunswick, and beginning of the long boundary dispute between the province and Maine. |
| 1785 | Falmouth Gazette, first newspaper in Maine, established to aid the agitation in favor of separation from Massachusetts. Convention at Falmouth to consider separation. |
| 1786 | Second convention for separation. |
| 1789 | Hancock and Washington counties established. |
| 1794 | Bowdoin College founded. |
| 1799 | Kennebec County established. |
| 1801 | First free public library established (at Castine). |
| 1805 | Oxford County established. |
| 1809 | Somerset County established. |
| 1813 | September 5, capture of the British brig Boxer by the American brig Enterprise off Portland. |
| 1814 | British control established on the Penobscot and elsewhere in eastern Maine, continuing until end of war. |
| 1816 | Penobscot County established. Revival of agitation for separation. First separation law: not accepted. Great western emigration, or "Ohio Fever." |
| 1819 | Second separation act: accepted. State constitution formed. |
| 1820 | Maine admitted to the Union as part of Missouri Compromise (March 15). |
| 1827 | Waldo County established. |
| 1832 | Removal of seat of government from Portland to Augusta. |
| 1838 | Franklin and Piscataquis counties established. |
| 1838-39 | Aroostook War. |
| 1839 | Aroostook County established. |
| 1842 | Ashburton Treaty, settling the disputed northeastern boundary. |
| 1846 | First Prohibition law: ineffective. |
| 1851 | Prohibition law enacted ("Maine Law") |
| 1854 | Androscoggin and Sagadahoc counties established. |
| 1855 | Mob outbreak in Portland over liquor agency. |
| 1860 | Knox County established. |
| 1863-64 | Twice invaded by Confederates. |
| 1870 | Summer visitors discover Maine. |
| 1872 | New Sweden colony established. |
| 1875 | Compulsory education bill passed. |
| 1876 | Death penalty abolished. [Then reinstated, then abolished again in 1887.] |
| 1879 | Disputed gubernatorial election, dubbed "State Steal." |
| 1880 | Adoption of constitutional amendment providing for biennial elections and biennial sessions of legislature. |
| 1884 | Prohibition constitutional amendment adopted. |
| 1891 | Australian ballot system introduced. |
| 1892 | Adoption of constitutional amendment providing educational qualification of voters. |
| 1907 | Unsuccessful attempt to remove State Capitol to Portland. |
| 1908 | Direct initiative of legislation and optional referendum adopted. |
| 1910 | Final settlement of northeastern boundary controversy with Great Britain. |
| 1911 | Augusta declared seat of government by constitutional amendment. |
| 1912 | Constitutional amendment adopted authorizing issue of highway bonds. |
| 1913 | Taxation of intangible personal property authorized. |
| 1914 | Public Utilities Commission created. |
| 1915 | Workman's Compensation law adopted. |
| 1916 | Sieur de Monts National Monument established on Mount Desert. [Name changed by Congress in 1919 to Lafayette National Park.] {Note: this is now Acadia National Park}. |
| 1917 | Million dollar appropriation for war purposes. National Guard mobilized at Augusta on July 5. |
| 1919 | 103d Infantry demobilized at Camp Devens, April 26-28. |
| 1920 | Centennial celebration at Portland, June 28 - July 5. |
Source: Henry E. Dunnack, The Maine Book (Augusta, ME: 1920), pp. 110-113. Except for the information on the Red Paint People, all information on Maine Indians comes from an article written by Fannie H. Eckstorm. Keep in mind that this book was written in 1920 and should be considered and used an an historical record. Waterboro Public Library and its staff, board, and members take no responsibility for any errors in fact or any statements of opinion that may appear in this book. In other words, verify!
Other excellent and more up-to-date sources for Maine Indian history include Abenaki Culture and History, which gives a background of the Abenakis, a handful of biographies, and a history of culture conflicts; Abenaki History, which has lots of info on the Abenakis' history, culture, location, population, divisions, names, language; and Maine Indian History, focusing on Washington County Indians: Algonquins, Abnakis, Etchimins (Passamaquoddy). Early paragraphs in Jim Brunelle's compact history of Maine also discuss the Paleoindians, including the Red Paint People.
The early voyageurs found various divisions of the Algonquin Indian tribes on the coast. More than five hundred shellheaps have been located and a great number of camp sites. However, it is clear that these tribes were not the first Indians in Maine. Dr. Augustus C. Hamlin nearly thirty years ago [1890s] discovered implements imbedded in red ochre and was led to think he had found evidence of an earlier tribe of Indians. Between 1890 and 1892 Mr. Willoughby of the Peabody Museum excavated three sites of the so-called Red Paint culture, one near Bucksport, one on Lake Alamoosook, and a third at Ellsworth. Since Mr. Willoughby's work many other cemeteries have been investigated, nine of them under the direction of Warren K. Moorehead of Andover Museum. The conclusions reached by the investigators is that throughout the state there extends a prehistorica Algonquin culture, older and apparently different from the Algonquin group.
Originally the Maine Indians were of three natural groups speaking somewhat different dialects. In southwestern Maine and New Hampshire were the Saco Indians, called also Sokokis and Sokwakiaks by the French and Indians respectively. On the three central rivers of Maine were the true Abenakis, whose name for themselves is not known. In southeastern Maine were the seafaring Indians, who called themselves Etechemins. The so-called tribes into which these have been subdivided were more properly "bands" under different chiefs and merit no special distinctions, being correctly enough designated by the locality they most frequented.
The Maine Indians were Abenakis, belonging to the great Algonquin stock. At the beginning of the seventeenth century they were numerous and powerful and federated under a single chief, the great Bashabes. They occupied all the most desirable locations along the coast and up the lower sections of all the Maine rivers. The interior of the state was their hunting ground.
Diseases, revolutions, wars with the Micmacs and the Mohawks, the encroachments of the English settlers and their allegiance to the French, diminished their numbers, disintegrated their tribes, and drove most of them eastward or to Canada. Before the Revolution, Maine was cleared of all recognizable tribes except the Penobscots and the Passamaquoddies.
Dummer's War from 1722 to 1725 marked the climax in Indian warfare in Maine. Before this, aggressors upon defenseless and weak hamlets, now the Indians themselves were hunted. The old town at Old Town and the new town at Eddington Bend were burned, Norridgewock was taken by surprise with great slaughter and its priest, Father Rale, was killed. A little band of English soldiers, in Lovewell's fight at Fryeburg, May 1725, surrounded and out-numbered, with everything against them, held out in an all-day fight and not only held the ground against a large fighting band, but practically broke it up. After this Indian warfare in Maine was sporadic and after the French were defeated at Quebec, it cease altogether. When the French joined the colonists in the Revolution, the Maine Indians became entirely friendly and never since have they disturbed the peace of their white neighbors.
Of the original tribes the Saco Indians have been extinct fully a century and a half and their language is dead. The Abenakis proper are now represented only by the Penobscot Indians of Old Town and the islands above it, who speak a modernized form of their ancient tongue. The Passamaquoddies of Point Pleasant (near Eastport) and Princeton, who, with the St. John River Indians, speak the Maliseet dialect, are the descendents of the ancient Etechemins. Together the Maine Indians number about one thousand, living in two principal towns, after the manner of the whites. They have their own churches, schools, convents for the resident Sisters of Mercy, who teach and care for them, the ministrations of the priests and their own local government. Though not citizens they are loyal and law-abiding residents of the state.
Source: Henry E. Dunnack, The Maine Book (Augusta, ME: 1920), pp. 110-113. Keep in mind that this book was written in 1920 and should be considered and used an an historical record. Waterboro Public Library and its staff, board, and members take no responsibility for any errors in fact or any statements of opinion that may appear in this book. In other words, verify!
When the settlers first came to the state, they found the Indians in possession. The usual government of the Indians was simple. There was a chief or sagamore, whose office was usually hereditary, for each tribe. Sometimes a head chief presided over several tribes with the tribal chief subordinate to him. There were no written laws, but justice was administered and penalties were exacted by the chief and his council, which was composed of the warriors of the tribe. One tribe living near the New Brunswick border developed a very democratic government. The sachem or chief was elected for life by the men of the tribe. At his death another was chosen. The choice did not always fall on the dead chief's son, though it often did so. The sachem's power was nominal. He had six councillors, whom he named, but his selection had to be confirmed by the warriors. He was commander-in-chief of the war forces, but the immediate command was given to another. Such was the government that prevailed among these tribes.
In 1603 (and again in 1606), Martin Pring, an English explorer, was on the coast of Maine. In 1604, De Monts, a Frenchman, landed with colonists on the island of St. Croix, below Calais. 1605 found Weymouth, with a band of English explorers, at St. George's Island Harbor and ascending the St. George's River.
In 1606, James I gave the charter of Virginia to Sir Ferdinando Gorges and George Popham. It created two companies, the London Company (the first colony of Virginia) and the Plymouth Company. A general council in England of thirteen members with one representative for each company in the colony constituted the government at this time. A simple code of laws was formed, some of which included that each colony would elect a president and councillors for one year; land was to descend to heirs as in England; trial by jury was established; and all offenders were to be tried in the colony. Popham was made president with a council of five presidents.
By 1607, the Popham colonists established themselves at the mouth of the Kennebec.
By 1611, there were Jesuit colonists on the Penobscot and at Mount Desert. English fishermen and traders were also then on the coast from year to year, and Captain John Smith was at Monhegan in 1614.
In 1620, James I gave to the Council of New England, which succeeded the Plymouth Company, a charter which confirmed and contained nearly all the rights of the charter of 1606. This charter held for 14 years.
From 1622 to 1632, a number of land patents were granted. The grant of the Province of Maine to Sir Ferdinando Gorges and Captain John Mason, made by the Great Council of New England, was made in 1622. Christopher Levett secured from the same source in 1623 a grant of six thousand acres in Casco Bay. In 1629, the Pilgrims at Plymouth secured a grant of land on both sides of the Kennebec, which enabled them to control the Indian trade of the river, and which later, having been sold by them, was known as the "Kennebec Purchase." A grant of land on the north side of the Saco River, including the site of the present city of Saco, was made by the Great Council in 1630 to Thomas Lewis and Richard Bonighton. Also, in the same year, land on the south side of the Saco, including the site of the present city of Biddeford, was granted to John Oldham and Richard Vines. That also was the date of the Muscongus Patent, granting lands at Muscongus to John Beauchamp and Thomas Leverett, a grant later known as the Waldo Patent. The Lygonia Patent, covering a tract of land forty miles square, extending from Cape Porpoise to the Androscoggin River, bears the same date. The Black Point grant to Thomas Cammock, a nephew of the Earl of Warwick, was made in 1631. So also in the same year a grant of land on the Pejepscot River was made to Richard Bradshaw; another of land on Cape Elizabeth to Robert Trelawny and Moses Goodyear; another on the east side of the Agamenticus River to Ferdinando Gorges, a grandson of Sir Ferdinando Gorges, Walter Norton, and others; also two thousand acres at Cape Porpoise to John Stratton; also land at Pemaquid to Robert Aldworth and Gyles Elbridge.
In 1632, grants of land on the Pejepscot River were made to George Way and Thomas Purchase.
In 1634, in the final division of the Patent for New England by the great Council, number seven, including the territory between the Piscataqua and the Kennebec, was assigned to Sir Ferdinando Gorges.
In 1635 the Council of New England dissolved, and control was taken over by the King. New England was divided into royal provinces. Ferdinando Gorges was given the region between the Piscataqua and the Kennebec, which was given the name of New Somersetshire. Captain William Gorges was sent over as the first deputy governor, appointed by the land owner (Sir Ferdinando Gorges).
In 1636 Gorges leased to George Cleeve and Richard Tucker "a neck of land called Machegonne," now Portland. The royal charter of the Province of Maine to Sir Ferdinando Gorges by Charles II, designed to confirm the allotment made to Gorges in the division of the Patent for New England, was granted in 1639. This charter contained one-sixth the present area of Maine, all the land between the Piscataqua and the Sagadahoc, one hundred and twenty miles inland. Gorges ruled as Lord Palatine after the manner of Lord Baltimore of Maryland. The country was divided into eight bailiwicks or counties, and further into parishes or tithings. The legislative body, consisting of eight members elected by the people, and the council, levied taxes and made laws. The deputy governor, chancellor, treasurer, marshall, judge marshall, admiral, judge of maritime cases, master of ordnance, and secretary were the standing councillors who met once a month as a court of justice. The religion was Episcopalian and there was no provision made for schools.
During the decade and more that followed, affairs were in a disturbed state in the province because of the conflict between King and Parliament. As the power of the royalist party in England weakened, George Cleeve in 1643, in opposition to the Gorges interest, enlisted the aid of Colonel Alexander Rigby in resuscitating the Lygonia Patent of 1630, and received a commission as Deputy President of the Province of Lygonia. Other interests were pressing. In this unsettled state of affairs civil government of necessity languished, and in 1651 the General Court of the Province of Maine appealed to Parliament for protection.
Thus far, in these beginnings of colonization, Maine had maintained an independent position. But at this juncture of affairs the colonists of Massachusetts Bay saw an opportunity to extend their dominion in this direction. Massachusetts had for a long time viewed with disfavor the growth of an independent government in Maine, and even the inhabitants felt the need of some coordinate government. The charter of the Bay colony established its northern boundary three miles north of the Merrimac River. In 1652, this was interpreted to mean three miles north of the source of the river, and a line drawn east from this point to the sea brought the land covered by the Gorges and Cleeve interests within the jurisdiction of Massachusetts, as a county under the name of Yorkshire, or County of York.
Massachusetts allowed the inhabitants of Maine to vote in the General Court without becoming members of the Puritan church, but entire freedom of worship was not allowed them. Gradually the Government of Massachusetts was extended northward. Kittery and Gorgeana yielded submission in 1652; Wells, Cape Porpoise and Saco in 1653; and Black Point, Blue Point, Spurwink and Casco in 1658.
Subsequently, after the overthrow of the Protectorate and the restoration of Charles II (around 1660), the colonists in the former Province of Maine requested to be placed again under the authority of the King, or of the heir of Sir Ferdinando Gorges. But the General Court of Massachusetts also sent a petition to the King, and matters were allowed to rest until 1664, when the grandson of Gorges obtained an order from the King requiring Massachusetts to restore the Province of Maine to Gorges or his Commissioners. After various efforts on both sides, the territory meanwhile being brought under the jurisdiction of a provincial government independed of Massachusetts and the Gorges interests, the General Court of Massachusetts, March 15, 1678, purchased of Ferdinando Gorges, grandson of Sir Ferdinando, all his interest in the Province of Maine for twelve hundred and fifty pounds sterling.
This purchase strengthened the hold of Massachusetts upon its former eastward possessions, and in 1680 the General Court proceeded to reorganize civil administration in Maine with Thomas Danforth as the first President of the Province. But the charter of Massachusetts was annulled in 1684, and the government of the whole colony, Maine and Massachusetts included, reverted to the crown. Dudley was made president of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, and Rhode Island; he had fifteen councillors appointed by England to assist him, but his administration was very unpopular and lasted only five months.
Charles II died in 1685, and James II appointed Sir Edmond Andros captain general and vice admiral of New England, New York, and the Jerseys in 1688. His was a despotic government without constitutional limits. Andros' career was cut short by a revolution in England, which drove James from the throne, and Danforth was restored to the office of president of the Province of Maine in 1689. On October 7, 1691, William and Mary (who had succeeded James II), issued a charter, which incorporated, under the title of the "Province of Massachusetts Bay," the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, the Colony of Plymouth, the Province of Maine (as far north at the St. Croix River) and the territory of Nova Scotia. In this way the title of Massachusetts to the territory east of Piscataqua was confirmed, though on account of its remoteness and the distracted state of the country, Nova Scotia was separated from the Province of Massachusetts Bay by the Lords of Trade in 1696, and it was made a royal province in 1713. Maine remained part of Massachusetts until the separation in 1820.
Government under Massachusetts for 1691 to 1774 was similar to English government. The governor, lieutenant governor, and secretary of state were appointed and commissioned by the crown to hold office during the pleasure of the sovereign. The governor had supreme executive authority. The legislature consisted of two branches, an upper, called council or board of assistants, and a lower, the house of representatives. The council was chosen by the old council and the new house of representatives. By charter, three of the council were always from the Province of Maine and one from Sagadahoc. The representatives were elected by towns. Eight were from Maine. All laws had to be approved by the king.
In 1774, General Gage dissolved the General Court. From 1775 Massachusetts was governed by the provincial congress composed of delegates from the principal towns of Maine and Massachusetts. They managed political affairs but made no laws. In 1778, Massachusetts was divided by the Continental Congress into three districts; the northern district, composed of York County, Cumberland County, and Lincoln County, was called the District of Maine.
The constitution of Massachusetts, which was adopted in 1780, changed the government greatly. The executive power was vested in the governor, lieutenant governor, and an advisory council of nine members. The General Court of two branches, the Senate and the House of Representatives, met annually. Voters had to have an income of $10/year or an estate worth $200. Senators were chosen from counties or districts and their number was in proportion to the property. Maine had eight senators. The representatives were chosen by incorporated towns, one to every 150 taxable voters, and one more for every additional number of three hundred and seventy-five voters. In 1787, when the U.S. Constitution was adopted, Maine was made a representative district. It wasn't until Maine's separation from Massachusetts in 1820 that Maine became a sovereign state.
Source: Henry E. Dunnack, The Maine Book (Augusta, ME: 1920), pp. 110-113. Keep in mind that this book was written in 1920 and should be considered and used an an historical record. Waterboro Public Library and its staff, board, and members take no responsibility for any errors in fact or any statements of opinion that may appear in this book. In other words, verify!
As early as 1652 the government of Massachusetts claimed, under its charter, jurisdiction over Maine and although this claim was resisted for a time by the inhabitants of Maine they submitted to it in 1658. In 1676, under proceedings instituted by the enemies of Massachusetts in England, the jurisdiction of Massachusetts over Maine and New Hampshire was annulled. and these provinces were restored to the heirs of Gorges and Mason. In 1678 Massachusetts acquired from Ferdinando Gorges, grandson and rightful heir of Sir Ferdinando Gorges, title to the whole province, from the Piscataqua to the Sagadahoc, for twleve hundred and fifty pounds. But the right of Massachusetts was not finally settled until the charter of 1691, which not only included the Province of Maine, but the more distant Provinces of Sagadahoc and Nova Scotia.
The first move for the formation of an independent state occurred in the year 1785. The separation was much discussed during the year 1784-85 and this discussion led to the publication of a notification, in the Falmouth Gazette of September 17 and October 1, 1785, to the inhabitants of the counties of York, Cumberland, and Lincoln of a conference to be held on the fifth day of October "on the proposal of having the said counties erected into a separate government." In response to the notification, thrity-seven persons met at Falmouth and appointed a committee to prepare and send a circular letter to the several towns and plantations within the three counties requesting them to send delegates to a convention to be held on the first Wednesday of January, 1786. At the convention little more was done than to choose and hear the report of " a committee of nine to make out a statement of the grievances of the three counties labor under, and also an estimate of the expense of a separate government, and compare the same with the expense of the government we are now under." After accepting the report and ordering it transmitted to the several towns and plantations the convention adjourned to the first Wednesday of September, 1786.
The convention ins September published an address to the people transmitting a form of petition to the General Court, but upon the question whether the petition for separation "shall now be presented to the Legislature" the convention at first voted to postpone petitioning, and then, after reconsidering by a vote of fifteen to thirteen, voted to leave the petition in the hands of a committee with discretionary powers to retain, or present, as they saw fit. The convention adjourned from time to time with ever diminishing numbers and at last adjournment three of the Portland members were the only delegates present. Thus ended the first attempt at separation.
No further public discussion of the question of separation seems to have occurred until 1791, when an "address to the inhabitants of Maine upon the subject of separation from the present government, by one of their fellow-citizens" was published. This address apparently turned public attention again to the subject, for the Massachusetts Legislature on March 6, 1792, empowered the officers of the counties of York, Cumberland, Lincoln, Hancock, and Washington to call meetings of the inhabitants of the towns within these counties for the purpose of giving their votes on proposed separation. The decision of the people was adverse -- the vote being, yeas 2074, nays 2525. Four conventions were held during the years 1793-95, but very little interest was manifested in them and no decisive action was taken.
No further movement towards separation took place until 1797, when a number of petitions were presented to the legislature praying that the question might again be submitted to popular vote. The legislature authorized the holding of meetings for the purpose of acting upon the question "shall application be made to the legislature for its assent that the District of Maine be erected into a new state?" The vote showed that a majority of voters were still opposed to the separation.
In 1806 there was a renewal of the discussion and in April, 1807, the people again voted upon the question of separation. From one hundred and fifty towns from which returns were received, the vote stood, in favor of separation 3370, against it 9404. This decisive expression put the question at rest until after the close of the War of 1812. During the war the want of a local state government was severely felt. Petitions were again presented to the legislature and a resolve was passed submitting the following questions: "Shall the legislature be requested to give its consent to the separation of the District of Maine from Massachusetts Proper, and to the erection of said District into a separate state?" The whole number of votes returned was 16,894, of which 10,393 were in the affirmative and 6,501 in the negative. The whole number of voters in the District at that time was 37,858.
June 20, 1816, the legislature passed an act providing for the separation and establishment of Maine as an independent state. Section second of the act provided for the election of delegates to a constitutional convention to meet at Brunswick on the last Monday of September, 1816, and that at the same meeting held for the election of delegates the voters should be requested to give in their votes upon the following question, "Is it expedient that the District of Maine shall be separated from Massachusetts, and become an independent state?" and that if a majority of five to four of the votes returned were in favor the convention should proceed to form a constitution. The whole number of votes admitted was 22,316; of these, 11,969 were in favor or separation, and 10,347 opposed. This, of course, did not give the requisite majority of five to four, but the committee in charge ascertained that the aggregate majority of yeas in towns voting for separation was 6,031 -- the aggregate majority of nays in towns voting against separation was 4,409, and "thus there is a majority of five to four, at least." The doings of this convention came up for confirmation at the session of the General Court in December, 1816, and the committee to whom the subject was referred, after careful and thorough discussion reported that the work of the Brunswick convention was unauthorized and invalid and that, owing to the public feeling in the matter, further action at that meeting was inexpedient.
Discussion was again renewed in 1818, but nothing was done until January, 1819. Of the representatives from Maine at the session, one hundred and twenty-five were in favor of separation and only twenty-five opposed to it. About one hundred petitions were presented to the legislature and after due consideration the act of June 20, 1819, was passed by a large majority. If the popular majority in favor of the separation upon the conditions named in the act was found to be not less than fifteen hundred a constitutional convention was to be called. The number of votes cast was 24,233; in favor of separation, 17,091; against it, 7,132.
The convention to frame the constitution for the new state met at Portland, October 11, 1819. There was a contest over the name of the new state. "Columbus" was suggested, and also "Ligonia," but "Maine" was the preference of a great majority of the delegates. By a majority of six "State" was preferred to "Commonwealth" and on a reconsideration the majority was nearly forty. There were earnest debates about certain provisions in the constitution but there was little or no acrimony in the discussion. The session lasted a little over a fortnight. The popular vote on the adoption of the constitution, as officially reported to the convention at its adjourned session, January 6, 1820, was 9,050 in favor and 796 against. As a result of the Missouri Compromise President Monroe signed the Maine bill on March 3, and on March 15, 1820, the separation from Massachusetts became complete.
The joint commission, prescribed by the Act of Separation, was filled thus: Massachusetts appointed Timothy Bigelow and Levi Lincoln; Maine, Benjamin Porter and James Bridge; and these four chose Silas Holman and Lathrop Lewis to complete the board. From October 30, 1820, to November 27, 1827, the Commissioners held twelve formal meetings, eight in Boston, three in Portland, and one in Bangor and Augusta. They made exhaustive surveys of the public lands and divided the same, in accordance with the terms of the act, one-half to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and one-half to the State of Maine. They also adjusted all personal property owned in common, giving two-thirds to Massachusetts and one-third to Maine, and made new treaties with the Indians.
Massachusetts held title to her one-half of the public lands until 1853 when the Maine legislature passed the following resolve:"Resolved: That the land agent proceed without delay to Boston, for the purpose of ascertaining from the authorities of Massachusetts, the terms on which that state will sell or surrender to Maine, all her interests in the lands of this state. Also upon what terms Massachusetts will sell to Maine her interest in the lands known and denominated as settling lands, independently of the timber lands, and report to the legislature as soon as may be."
By a further resolve the Legislature was directed to choose by ballot three commissioners to make negotiations with Massachusetts for the purchase of these lands. The commissioners for Maine were Reuel Williams, William P. Fessenden and Elijah L. Hamlin, and on the part of the Commonwealth were E.M. Wright, Jacob H. Loud and David Wilder.
An extra session of the Legislature was held September 20, 1853, at which time the report of the joint commission was received and accepted and their acts ratified and confirmed by a resolve approved September 28, 1853.
Source: Henry E. Dunnack, The Maine Book (Augusta, ME: 1920), pp. 110-113. Keep in mind that this book was written in 1920 and should be considered and used an an historical record. Waterboro Public Library and its staff, board, and members take no responsibility for any errors in fact or any statements of opinion that may appear in this book. In other words, verify!
Source: Henry E. Dunnack, The Maine Book (Augusta, ME: 1920), pp. 110-113. Keep in mind that this book was written in 1920 and should be considered and used an an historical record. Waterboro Public Library and its staff, board, and members take no responsibility for any errors in fact or any statements of opinion that may appear in this book. In other words, verify!
The Indian believed in the existence of an unseen world and of unseen beings by whom it was peopled, and with whom his priests could commune. These priests or medicine men performed the three-fold function of priest, prophet and physician. They held themselves to be kin to the mysterious powers to whose service they were devoted, and to be acceptable mediums of communication between them and the common people.
In common with other tribes of the Algonquin family, the Abenakis held that the world was under the influence of dual powers, beneficent and maleficent, and that there was one Great Spirit who held supreme rule, but at the same time did not interfere with these ever-conflicting powers. Upon this conception of deity their entire system of religious belief necessarily hinged; hence their belief in guardian spirits, which they called manitos.
They believed in a future existence, they believed in the immortal soul and that it shall pass to the South-west Elysium holding it to be a kind of Paradise. For their enemies, who they account unworthy of this imaginary happiness, they say that they pass to the infernal dwellings of Abamocho, to be tortured according to the fictions of the ancient Heathen.
They believed in the duality of the soul, which is said to have been the reason for their custom of burying domestic utensils and other articles with the dead, and of placing food upon the graves. In common with many other races of mankind, they regarded the serpent as being the embodiment of supernatural power, superior in wisdom and cunning -- in fact, a manito which demanded their reverence.
The first Christian religious service conducted in Maine was in 1604 when the French under DeMonts visited Mount Desert. The first mass said in Maine was by Father Beard in October, 1611, on an island at the mouth of the Kennebec River. In 1607 the first Protestant religious service in New England was conducted by Rev. Richard Seymour at Popham, where a church was built. In 1646 Father Druillettes became a missionary to the Indians at Norridgewock. In 1688 Father Bigot erected a church at this place, which was improved by the distinguished priest, Father Rale.
The Puritans did little to Christianize the Indians of Maine. Their one effort was confined to a mission at Arrowsic which lasted from 1717 to 1721.
For a brief period the English church was the state church of Maine under the charter given to Gorges in 1622. William Morrell, Richard Gibson and Robert Jordan, clergymen of the Church of England, tried to establish their church in Maine, but it failed and nothing further was attemped for eighty years. In 1770, the Episcopal church asked to be relived from taxes of the Standing Order. Their petition was granted in 1772. A church was established in Gardiner in 1771. In 1880 there were two churches in Maine. The Episcopalians have grown constantly in influence and membership until today [1920] there are 39 clergymen and 5656 communicants.
Thomas Farmer and John Wheelwright, Puritan ministers, preached at Saco and Wells for a brief time prior to 1647. In 1652 Massachusetts secured control of Maine and taxed the people for public worship. The minister was a town official. The first Puritan church was built at York in 1673.
The Congregational church became the successor of the Pilgrims in religious work in Maine and founded Bowdoin College. Their missionary society was founded in 1807, and Bangor Theological Seminary in 1814. They have continued from the first leaders in educational work, establishing many academies in the state.
The first Friends to visit Maine were Ann Coleman, Mary Tompkins and Alice Ambrose, who came to Berwick in 1662. A Friends Meeting House was established at Kittery in 1730, at Falmouth in 1743. Their work continued to prosper until by 1800 they had meeting places in all important towns. They have at the present time [1920] 23 meeting houses and about 1800 members.
William Screven was ordained to the ministry in Boston in 1682 and attempted to establish a church in Kittery, but the established church caused his arrest, and he was fined and forbidden to preach. A century later Hezekiah Smith founded the first Baptist Church in Maine and organized churches in Gorham (1768) and Berwick. The work prospered and an association of churches was formed in Bowdoinham in 1787. A college was organized in Waterville in 1820. There are four Baptist preparatory schools, Hebron, Coburn, Higgins and Ricker. In 1867 the Baptist Convention was organized. The Baptist and Free Baptist churches became one church in 1915 under the presidency of Gov. Carl E. Milliken, a member of the Free Baptists Church. They have 400 churches and 33,647 members [in 1920].
In 1734 William McClanethan, a Presbyterian minister, preached at Boothbay; McLane at Bristol at a later period, and in 1784 Whitaker was at Canaan and Williams at Winslow. The Presbyterian church continued to grow in membership and influence until 1800 when they were established in at least ten towns. After this period they declined and finally became Congregational churches. At the close of the seventeenth century there were 42 churches and 2186 members in Maine. At a later period there were three churches with 503 members.
In 1793 Jesse Lee was sent by the New England Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church to organize this church in Maine. he held the first services in Saco, Portland, Hallowell and Readfield in 1793. The Readfield circuit was organized, which included all the state. A church was dedicated at Readfield in 1798 by Bishop Asbury; 1500 people were at the service. Maine has the distinction of giving to the Methodist Church Bishop Soule, who drafted the plan of the delgated General Conference and also founded the Methodist Review. When Maine became a state in 1820, there were three districts, 27 circuits, 32 preachers, and 6017 members. Academies have been established at Kents Hill and Bucksport. The total membership in 1919, including probationers, was 23,791.
In 1802 Thomas Barnes preached in Norway, New Gloucester, Falmouth, Gray and several other towns. Sylvanus Cobb of Norway organized the first church in Waterville in 1826. The Gospel Banner was established and published at Augusta and exerted a large influence. The first State Convention met in 1826. They have an academy at Westbrook. Membership is about 17,000 [in 1920].
Benjamin Randall of Berwick was the founder of the Free Baptist Church. He preached in New Hampshire and Maine, forming many churches, which were organized into a State Mission in 1834.
Source: Henry E. Dunnack, The Maine Book (Augusta, ME: 1920), pp. 110-113. Keep in mind that this book was written in 1920 and should be considered and used an an historical record. Waterboro Public Library and its staff, board, and members take no responsibility for any errors in fact or any statements of opinion that may appear in this book. In other words, verify!
For current information on the Maine Library Commission, the Maine State Library, and the Maine Regional Library System (set up in 1973), you're encouraged to contact these sites themselves.
The growth of the public library idea in our state parallels that of the public school. Associations, formed at first for the exclusive benefit of the few, were gradually enlarged to include in their scope the good of all.
The first Maine legislature enacted both school and library laws modeled after those of Massachusetts. From 1798 to 1815 Massachusetts had provided by legislation for the incorporation of law, militia, and proprietary and social libraries. Our inheritance, however, was more than mere legal machinery, for, although statistics on that point are few and unreliable, the fact is well established that free libraries maintained by the people were as early as the middle of the eighteenth century considered a necessary part of our educational system.
A portion of "The Revolving Library," established in 1751 for three adjoining parishes in Kittery and York, is still in existence in the Community House at Kittery Point. The "Library Society" of Falmouth Neck, founded by twenty-six gentlemen in 1765, and succeeded in 1826 by the Portland Athenaeum, was the forerunner of the present Portland Public Library, and the oldest library now in active existence, that of Bowdoin College, was established in 1794. During the years 1798-1820 were founded the libraries of Waterville (now Colby) College, Gorham, and North Yarmouth Academies, and proprietary or social libraries in Bangor, Belfast, Bucksport, Camden, Castine, Gorham, Machias, Portland, Saco, Union, Warren, Westbrook, Winthrop, Wiscasset, and probably other places.
The lyceum and debating clubs of this period played an important part in both school and community life and the libraries gradually accumulated by these clubs grew to be of such value that it became necessary to place them under the control and management of responsible bodies. The societies or associations formed for this purpose became the proprietary or social libraries authorized by the first library laws. The free public library of the present day is the direct consequence of the need expressed by the organization of these earlier associations and in many instances is their lineal descendant.
The first free public library law was passed in 1854, Maine being the third state to enact such legislation. Towns were authorized under this law to establish and maintain public libraries, to receive bequests and gifts and to appropriate for organization one dollar for each rateable poll and for annual maintenance twenty-five cents for each such poll. This law remained unchanged for more than thirty years and, with one exception, there is no evidence that any municipality acted under its provisions. The town of Castine established a public library in 1855, and at that time received the books and property belonging to a social library founded by William Mason and others in 1801 and subsequently incorporated under the laws of 1821.
In 1893 the passage of a new public library law not only permitted but encouraged public libraries. They were made legal recipients and custodians of state documents, were granted a stipend of 10% of the amount appropriated by the municipality (changed in 1895 to 10% of appropriation for the library and in 1917 to not less than 7% nor more than 10%, the stipend in no case to exceed $500) and, in the case of new libraries in towns having less than 1500 population (restriction as to population removed in 1901) were given new books to the value of half the appropriation for starting the library but not exceeding $100. The older association libraries were given the benefits of the act when made entirely free as a result of municipal appropriation. Librarians and others were allowed to apply to the State Library for advice and instruction in library matters. As illustrative of the extension of public libraries under this act the State Library report of 1894 enumerated 34 free public libraries and 44 not free, whereas the report of the U.S. Bureau of Education for 1876 listed 17 social and 8 public libraries, only 3 of which were free.
Since 1893 the number of libraries has steadily increased, and the opening of the centennial year finds Maine with 212 public libraries, 113 of which are entirely free and 99 require a small fee. The total number of books in these libraries is 1,120,230.
The Maine Library Association, organized in 1891, has, since its reorganization in 1901, been an active agency in energizing the library spirit of the state. Two meetings are held each year -- one in the spring, and one in the fall at the same place and time as the Maine Teachers' Convention.
The entire library situation is now more promising than at any other time in the history of the state. Trustees are asking for trained and efficient workers, municipalities are requiring adequate service and librarians are consistently and constantly striving to raise themselves and their libraries to the highest standards demanded by our modern professional and industrial life.
The two central library agencies authorized by the state are the Maine State Library and the Maine Library Commission.
Through the efforts of the Maine Federation of Women's Clubs, a traveling library system was established by law in 1899. To carry out its provisions and to encourage free public libraries, the act created a Library Commission of five members, including the State Librarian. The first year 42 carefully selected traveling libraries were prepared and circulated. From year to year old libraries were broken up and new ones added, the report for 1919 showing a total circulation of 500 -- an increase of about 24 libraries a year. The libraries contain 50 books each and are sent for six months to any part of the state on payment of five cents a volume to cover cost of transportation. Communities which would otherwise have no access to books are through the traveling libraries brought into direct and constant association with the world's best literature. The Commission has held summer schools and institutes for librarians and assisted by advice and personal visitation in the establishment and growth of new libraries. A library organizer is now employed by the Commission and her services in organizing new libraries, in converting private into public libraries, in cataloging, classifying, buying and general administration are at the call of any library in the state.
The State Library had its beginning in the resolve of the legislature of 1836, which required the Secretary of State to purchase a library, under the direction of the governor, for the use of the legislature and to expend $500 for that purpose. By a legislative act of 1839 the books belonging to the state by purchase or donation were collected and deposited in the south wing of the State House, and constituted the State Library under the charge of the Secretary of State. In 1861 the Library was made a separate department under the direct control of the Governor and Council, as a board of trustees, and they were authorized to appoint a State Librarian. The Library was located on the top floor of the south wing of the State House until 1891, when new rooms were provided for it in the west wing of the enlarged building. In the year 1910 when the State House was still further enlarged, the main portion of the Library was removed to the second floor of the north wing.
Originally established for the members of the legislature and the various departments of state government it now serves all the people of the state. On its shelves will be found 125,000 books and pamphlets and 170 current periodicals, containing a full and equal representation of the various branches of history, law, science, religion, political economy, industrial and fine arts, language, and literature. Technical and elementary books in every trade, profession and industry are continually being added in order that every worker may find there the information he most desires or needs. Any resident of Maine may borrow books and magazines or obtain information from the Maine State Library.
Source: Henry E. Dunnack, The Maine Book (Augusta, ME: 1920), pp. 110-113. Keep in mind that this book was written in 1920 and should be considered and used an an historical record. Waterboro Public Library and its staff, board, and members take no responsibility for any errors in fact or any statements of opinion that may appear in this book. In other words, verify!
Brief History: Bowdoin College was incorporated by the General Court of Massachusetts upon the joint petition of the Association of Ministers and the Court of Sessions of Cumberland County. The Act of Incorporation was signed by Governor Samuel Adams, June 24, 1794, The college was named in honor of James Bowdoin, a distinguished governor of Massachusetts, of Huguenot descent....Circumstances delayed the opening of the college until 1802.
For more on Bowdoin's history or Bowdoin's illustrious alumni, go to these sites.
Brief History: Colby College originated with the Baptist churches of the District of Maine. Upon the petition of the Bowdoinham Association, the Cumberland Association and the Lincoln Association for the incorporation of a college, the General Court of Mass. passed an act to establish a literary institution in the District of Maine, under the name of the Maine Literary and Theological Institution, but refused the power to confer degrees [until June, 1820]. The act was signed February 27, 1813....The first class graduated in 1822.... In 1821 the name of the institution was changed to Waterville College. In 1867 it was again changed to Colby University in honor of Mrs. Gardner Colby, a generous benefactor. In 1899 it was once more changed to Colby College in recognition of the real character of the institution.
For more on Colby's history, go to this site.
Brief History: Bates College admitted its first class in 1863 and received its charter in Jan. 1864. Bates was named for one of its largest benefactors, the late Benjamin E. Bates, of Boston.
For much more on Bates' history, go to this site.
No graduates of note listed in The Maine Book (1920).
Brief History: The Univ. of Maine is the direct outcome of the Morrill Act approved by President Lincoln, July 2, 1862. The legislature of the State of Maine accepted the conditions of this Act in 1863 and in 1865 created a corporation to administer the affairs of the College. The institution opened in September, 1868.... The original name of the institution was "The State College of Agriculture and the Mechanical Arts." In 1897 by act of the legislature of the state the name was changed to "The University of Maine."
Brief History: Bangor Theological Seminary was incorporate Feb. 25, 1814, under the name "Maine Charity School." This legal title was changed to the one by which it has generally been known by an act of the Maine legislature in 1887. The institution grew out of the work of an association of Congregational ministers and layment in southwestern Maine, called "The Society for Theological Education," one of the earliest, perhaps the earliest, educational society in the U.S., incorporated under the law of Massachusetts, Feb. 27, 1812. The seminary was opened in Oct. 1816, at Hampden, in connection with Hampden Academy, and under the care of The Rev. Jehudi Ashmun, later prominent in the American Colonization Society. In 1819 the institution was removed to Bangor, its present site being the gift of Isaac Davenport, Esq., of Milton, Mass., [an Orthodox Unitarian] who also gave the site for the present Unitarian Church of Bangor.