Abbott, Jacob

Jacob Abbott

(1803-1879) was born in Hallowell, graduated from Bowdoin College in 1820 and from Andover Theological Seminary in 1825. He was professor of mathematics and natural philosophy at Amherst College from 1825-1829. He was ordained in 1834 at Elliot Church, Boston Highlands. An author, he wrote extensively for juveniles, including his first success, The Young Christian…

Abortion

Abortions Maine and US 1978-2012

Abortion has been the center of political conflict for much of the last one hundred years, but especially so since the United State Supreme Court ruled in 1973, in the case of Roe v. Wade, that prohibition of abortion is an unconstitutional invasion of a woman’s right to privacy. However, the Court did allow for…

Academies

Early Academies in Maine From the late 1700s through the 1800s, several academies were formed to serve the needs of some Maine communities. Some were founded on religious grounds and some offered boarding programs. For example: Newcastle’s Lincoln Academy was chartered in 1801 by the General Court of Massachusetts ‘for the purpose of promoting Piety, Religion…

Acadia Acadian

Acadian Museum and Madawaska Historical Society (2003)

Originally a French colony, Acadian lands in the Annapolis Valley of Nova Scotia were passed back and forth between the French and English by various treaties settling European wars. The last of these, the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713, gave the land to England. For a time the Acadians lived peacefully with the English. In…

African Americans

Rock Rest, a former travel inn in Kittery that served Black Americans in a manner similar to "Green Book" travel guide (2018)

were in Maine at least as early as 1736 when a church in York purchased a slave for its minister. John Brown Russwurm was Bowdoin College‘s first black graduate, in 1826. The third black to graduate from an American college, he went on to become the co-founder and co-editor of the country’s first black newspaper,…

AIDS

Proportion of People with HIV/AIDS in 2009, by Region

The following maps, created by the Maine Bureau of Health, illustrate the spread of AIDS cases over the past two decades. Click on each map to see a larger, clearer version. Figure 2.3 (figure numbers are from the 2009 DHHS report cited below) below illustrates Maine AIDS diagnoses by year of diagnosis from 1984 to…

Alcohol

Beer Barrel

Maine was the home of prohibition. In 1846 Maine passed the first laws in the country outlawing the sale of alcoholic beverages except for “industrial and medicinal purposes.” In 1851, a stricter statute known as the “Maine Law” was passed and signed by the “Father of Prohibition,” Governor John Hubbard. It prohibited both the manufacture…

Amish

Amish Baskets for Sale, Golden Ridge Road, Sherman (2014) People of the Old Order Amish community have moved to the town of Smyrna in substantial numbers.     Arriving in 1996, the Amish community had grown from just a few settlers to approximately 80 people in 12 families by 2002. Their shed-building business, Sturdi-Built, has…

Anson

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Anson was the home of Francis B. Henderson, who moved there from from New York City in 1940 where he had been Captain of a barge moving critical material, equipment and supplies in New York Harbor for the military during World War II. Soon after moving to Anson, he was appointed Chief Deputy Sheriff and…

Archives, Maine State

Maine State Cultural Building in Augusta (2004)

Maine State Cultural Building in Augusta with the State’s Archives, Museum and Library near the State House (2004) The Maine State Archives, located in Augusta, is the custodian of the permanently valuable records of state government, including early court records and vital records (births, deaths, marriages, etc.). According to its website, “The permanently valuable records…