Blaine, James G.

James G. Blaine, courtesy Maine State Museum

James Gillespie Blaine (1830-1893) was a major political force in Maine and the U.S. Congress. A Representative and a Senator from Maine; he was born in West Brownsville, Washington County, Pa., January 31, 1830. He was graduated from Washington College, Washington, Pa., in 1847, taught at the Western Military Institute, Blue Lick Springs, Kentucky. He…

Bradbury, James Ware

James Ware Bradbury

(1802-1901) a U. S. Senator from Maine was born in Parsonsfield, June 10, 1802, attended the common schools and Gorham Academy. He was graduated from Bowdoin College in 1825. Bradbury was principal of Hallowell Academy and founder of the first normal school in New England, at Effingham, New Hampshire in 1829. He studied law, was…

Chandler, John

John Chandler, Senate President courtesy Maine State Archives

(1762-1841) was born in Epping, New Hampshire, brother of Thomas Chandler and uncle of Zachariah Chandler, both penniless and illiterate. A U.S. Representative from Massachusetts and a U. S. Senator from Maine, he served in Congress in the following years: 1820-1823; 1823-1825; 1825-1829 as a Democratic-Republican, Crawford Republican, and a Jacksonian, precursors to the Democratic…

Cohen, William

William S. Cohen (1997)

William Sebastian “Bill” Cohen was a Republican U.S. Representative and a U.S. Senator from Maine, 1979-1997. Born in Bangor, Penobscot County August 28, 1940; he attended the public schools; graduated, Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Maine in 1962 and graduated, Boston University Law School 1965. He was admitted to the Maine bar in 1965 and commenced practice…

Collins, Susan M.

(1952- ) Susan Margaret Collins, a U.S. Senator from Maine, was born in Caribou December 7, 1952, and graduated from St. Lawrence University, Canton, New York in 1975.  A native of Aroostook County , her family has run a lumber company since the mid-19th century. Even after the United States Department of Agriculture proposed eliminating…

Farwell, Nathan Allen

Nathan Farwell, courtesy Maine State Archives

(1812-1893), a U. S. Senator from Maine and cousin of Owen Lovejoy, was born in Unity on February 24, 1812. He attended the common schools; taught school (1832-1833), moved to East Thomaston in 1834, and was involved in the manufacture of lime and in shipbuilding. Later, Farwell became a master mariner and trader, studied law,…

Fernald, Bert M.

Bert M. Fernald (courtesy Maine State Museum)

Fernald (1858-1926) a Senator from Maine, was born in West Poland, Androscoggin County, April 3, 1858. He attended the public schools, Hebron Academy, and a business and preparatory school in Boston. Fernald taught school, was elected supervisor of schools in at the age of twenty in 1878, and engaged in the canning, dairy, and telephone…

Gardner, Obadiah

Gardner (1852-1938) a Senator from Maine, born near Port Huron, Michigan on September 13, 1852, moved to Union with his parents in 1864. He attended the common schools, Eastman’s Business College, Poughkeepsie, New York, and Coburn Classical Institute in Waterville. He engaged in the lumber, lime, and creamery business in Rockland, and in agricultural and…

Gould, Arthur Robinson

(1857-1946) a U.S. Senator from Maine, was born in East Corinth, March 16, 1857. He attended the common schools and East Corinth Academy. Gould moved to Presque Isle in 1887, engaged in the lumber business and built power plants and an electric railroad. He served as president of the Aroostook Valley Railroad Company from 1902…

Hale, Frederick

Frederick Hale, courtesy of Maine State Museum

(1874-1963), son of Eugene Hale, grandson of Zachariah Chandler, and cousin of Robert Hale, was a Senator from Maine, born in Detroit, Michigan. on October 7, 1874. He attended preparatory schools in Lawrenceville, New Jersey and Groton, Massachusetts, and graduated from Harvard University in 1896. Hale attended Columbia Law School in 1896 and 1897, was…