William T. Haines (courtesy Maine State Museum)
William Thomas Haines (1854-1919) born in Levant on August 7, 1854, attended local schools and the University of Maine. After receiving his LL.B. from Albany Law School in 1878, he was admitted to the Maine bar the following year.
Haines began his legal practice in Oakland, then moved to Waterville. He created the Waterville Loan and Building Association and the Haines office building.
A politically active Republican, he was Kennebec County Attorney from 1882 to 1887, after which he was a State Senator then a State Representative. In 1896 he became Maine’s Attorney General.
Haines defeated incumbent Democratic Governor William Plaisted in the election of 1912. His 1914 bid for reelection was thwarted as Oakley C. Curtis the Democrat won, taking advantage of a split in the Republican Party.
Having presided over an anti-trust act and a public utilities act, Haines retired to his law and business interests. He died in Augusta on June 4, 1919.
Additional resources
Chase, Henry. ed. Representative Men of Maine.
*Kennebec Journal, Augusta, June 5, 1919.
*McIntyre, Philip W. and Blanding, William F. Men of Progress. Boston: New England Magazine, 1897, pp. 394-396.
Sobel, Robert, and John Raimo, eds. Biographical Directory of the Governors of the United States, 1789-1978, Vol. 2
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*Cited in Friends of the Blaine House at http://blainehouse.org/governors(accessed April 25, 2011) (accessed April 25, 2011)