September 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 1815 John Chandler who served in Congress 1820-1823; 1823-1825; 1825-1829 as a Democratic-Republican, Crawford Republican, and a Jacksonian, dies. A member of the 1819…
September 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 1775 Benedict Arnold expedition Arrives at Fort Halifax (Winslow) 1789 Henry Dearborn appointed first Maine U.S. Marshal 1898 E Plantation now a township in…
September 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 1895 First publication of the newspaper the Coast Watch in Cape Elizabeth by Libby & Smith 1912 Birth date of Nathaniel M. Haskell in…
September 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 1835 Benjamin Ames, a Democratic-Republican from Bath, acting governor 1821-1822 and President of the Maine Senate in 1824, dies. 1918 In Portland theaters, public…
September 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 1816 The Brunswick Statehood Convention convenes, only to dissolve in confusion in two months later. 1918 In Livermore Falls the Androscoggin County Fair is…
September 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 1846 Henry David Thoreau first climbs Mount Katahdin, then climbs again the next day reaching the summit. 1853 First publication of the newspaper the…
William Wingate Sewall (1845-1930), a Maine guide and log driver, was the first white child born in Island Falls, April 13, 1845. His parents had come from southern Maine: father Levi Sewall from Phippsburg, born in 1800 and Mother Rebecca Alexander from Harpswell, born in 1810. Each are 211 miles from Island Falls by Interstate …
by Leonard Brooks, Director, Shaker Museum and Shaker Library September 2, 2012 The story of the Shakers begins in the Manchester area of England in the 1740s. One of the early leaders of the Shaker church was Ann Lees or Mother Ann as she became called. Mother Ann was the Shaker leader who brought the…
Damariscotta Shell Midden (1886) Shell middens or shell heaps, are scattered along the Maine coast giving evidence of the lifestyles of its ancient inhabitants. A “midden” is a refuse…
Frank Thomas Siebert, Jr. (1912-1998) was a student of the Penobscot Indians’ language and drafted an Penobscot dictionary in 1984 which contained nearly 15,000 entries of this Native American tribe’s vocabulary. Siebert was a pathologist, self-taught linguist and collector of books on North American Indians and the American frontier. He was dedicated to preserving the…
When John Steinbeck was traveling the country in 1960, he noted that states had interesting differences expressed in their signs: The New England states use a terse form of instruction, a tight-lipped, laconic style sheet, wasting no words and few letters. . . . I am an avid reader of all signs, and I find…
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.”…
Selected works . . . Bertha and Lily, or, The Parsonage of Beech Glen: A Romance. (1854)The Dandelion (1845)Jack Spanker and the Mermaid (1843?)The Newsboy (1854)Old New York: or, Democracy in 1689. A tragedy, in five acts. (1853) The Poetical Writings of Elizabeth Oakes Smith (1845) Riches Without Wings: or, The Cleveland Family (1838) The…
(1972-1985) was born on June 29, 1972 in Houlton, and died in a plane crash on August 15, 1985. At age ten, she wrote a letter to then Soviet Premier Yuri Andropov expressing her concern over the possibilities of nuclear war. Andropov replied that the Soviets did not want war and invited her to visit him.
was born in 1792 at Buckfield in western Maine. He graduated in Bowdoin College’s class of 1818 and went on to establish Maine’s first daily newspaper, the Portland Courier. Smith created Major Jack Downing, a character he used in his quest to satirize the American political class. He was an advocate for Maine statehood, using…
1871 Born on Indian Island, grandson of the Chief of the Bear Clan. 1893 Attends St. Mary’s College, Van Buren. 1894-1895 Attends Holy Cross College, Worcester, Massachusetts, batting a powerful .444 over two seasons. 1896 Transfers to Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana, where his outfield talent catches the eye of big league scouts. 1897-1899…
located in South Portland, is one of several community colleges across the state. It was formerly know as Southern Maine Technical College, but has expanded its offerings to include additional academic courses. The college has been in existence since the mid-twentieth century and had a student body of over 7,000 in 2012. Its Mid-coast Campus…
Ellis Spear (1834-1917) was second in command to then Colonel Joshua L. Chamberlain at the famous Civil War battle of Little Round Top at Gettysburg in July of 1863. He was born in Warren on October 15, 1834. Spear was graduated from Bowdoin College in 1858 and taught school in Wiscasset. Spear entered the Union…
1903 Born on Indian Island, eldest child of Horace Nelson, a future Penobscot Governor, and Philomena Solis Nelson, a celebrated basket maker. In Penobscot her given name is “Molly Dellis.” After her mother’s early death, Molly raises her seven brothers and sisters; studies native dancing to support her family. 1920-1922 (ca.) Studies anthropology and native…
Francis (1849-1918) and his twin brother Freelan (1849-1940) Stanley were born June 1, 1849 in Kingfield. They formed the Stanley Dry Plate Company in 1883 to manufacture dry plates for the photographic process invented by Francis. After 22 years, they sold the company to Eastman Kodak in 1905. Their interest had turned to steam-powered automobiles.…