Slavery

Birthplace in Albion of Ellijah Parish Lovejoy, an anti-slavery journalist murdered for his outspoken publications.

While an accepted custom in the colonies, it was practiced in Maine as early as 1660 (see comment below) and in 1733 when the parish at York (then Agamenticus) “VOTED that there be a Slave Bought for the Parish to be Employed for the use of said Parish in Labouring for the Rev. Samuel Moody.”…

Webster Ashburton Treaty

Daniel Webster

Before his illustrious career, Daniel Webster was a teacher at Fryeburg Academy in 1802 before pursuing his legal profession. Daniel Webster, Secretary of State, representing the United States, negotiated a new boundary between Maine and what is now Canada with Alexander Baring, Lord Ashburton, “Her Britannic Majesty’s Minister Plenipotentiary on Special Mission.” The treaty, signed…

Lovejoy, Elijah Parish

Birthplace Marker (2003)

“I cannot surrender my principles, though the whole world would vote them down. I can make no compromise between truth and error, even though my life be the alternative.“ – – ELIJAH PARISH LOVEJOY, 1835 Elijah Parish Lovejoy (1802-1837) was born in Albion on November 9, 1802, the son of Daniel Lovejoy, a Congregational minister.…

Celebrating Maine’s Bicentennial Timeline of Maine History 06: Early Statehood

Early Maine State House

1820-1849 After a brief stint in Portland, in 1827 the permanent State Capital was designated to be Augusta; in 1832 the state government moved into the new, small State House. Expansions and improvements continued for decades. Maine’s northern boundary with Canada was in dispute, fostered the “Aroostook War,” and finally was settled by the Webster-Ashburtion…