Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History
Benson Lossing, Ed.

---

Maine,

This most easterly State in the Union was admitted in 1820. Its shores were first visited by Europeans under Bartholomew Gosnold (1602) and Martin Pring (1603), though it is possible they were seen by Cabot (1498) and Verrazano (1524). The French, under De Monts, wintered near the site of Calais, on the St. Croix (1604-5), and took possession of the Sagadahock, or Kennebec, River. Captain Weymouth was there in 1605, and kidnapped some of the natives; and in 1607 the Plymouth Company sent emigrants to settle there, but they did

Seal of the State of Maine.

not remain long. A French mission established at Mount Desert was broken up by Samuel Argall (q. v.) in 1613, and the next year Captain Smith, landing first at Monhegan Island, explored the coast of Maine. The whole region of Maine, and far southward, westward and eastward, was included in the charter of the Plymouth Company, and in 1621 the company, having granted the country east of the St. Croix to Sir William Alexander (q. v.), established that river as the eastern boundary of Maine. Monhegan Island was first settled (1622) and next Saco (1623); and in 1629 the Plymouth Company, perceiving its own dissolution to be inevitable, parcelled out the territory in small grants. In the course of three years the whole coast had been thus disposed of as far east as the Penobscot River. East of that river was claimed by the French, and was a subject of dispute for a long time.

When the Plymouth Company dissolved (1635) and divided the American territory, Sir Ferdinando Gorges took the whole region between the Piscataqua and [76]

Monhegan Island.

the Kennebee, and received a formal charter for it from Charles I. in 1639, when the region was called the province of Maine, in compliment to the Queen, who owned the province of Maine in France. In 1636 Gorges sent over his nephew, William Gorges, as governor of his domain, and he established his government at Saco, where, indeed, there had been an

The old jail at York.

organized government since 1623, when Robert Gorges was governor under the Plymouth Company. In 1639 Sir Ferdinando was appointed governor-general of New England, and his son Thomas was sent as lieutenant to administer the laws in 1640. He established himself at Agamenticus (now York), when, in 1642, the city called Gorgeana was incorporated. There the first representative government in Maine was established (1640). On the death of Sir Ferdinando (1647) the province of Maine descended to his heirs. and was placed under four jurisdictions. Massachusetts, fearing this sort of dismemberment of the colony might cause the fragments to fall into the hands of the French, made claim to the territory under its charter. Many of the people of Maine preferred to be under the jurisdiction of Massachusetts, and in 1652 a large number of the freeholders in five towns took the oath of allegiance to the Bay State. The latter province then assumed supreme rule in Maine, and continued it until the restoration of the Stuarts (1660), when Charles II., on the petition of the heirs of Gorges, sent over a commission to re-establish the authority of the grantees. Massachusetts. after long resistance, purchased the interests (1677) of the claimants for £12,000 sterling.

In 1674 the Dutch conquered the territory eastward from the Penobscot, including that of Acadia and Nova Scotia; [77] and in 1676 Cornelius Steenwyck was appointed governor of the conquered territory by the Dutch West India Company. Settlers from Boston soon afterwards expelled the Dutch. Meanwhile the horrors of King Philip's War had extended to that region, and in the space of three months 100 persons were murdered. Then came disputes arising out of the claims

Lumbering in Maine.

of the Duke of York (to whom Charles II. had given New Netherland) to the country between the Kennebec and St. Croix rivers, which in 1683 had been constituted Cornwall county, of the province of New York, over which Sir Edmund Andros (q. v.) was made governor. Massachusetts, however, continued to hold possession of the whole province of Maine, excepting at Sagadahock and Pemaquid. But when the duke became king (see James II.) the charter of Massachusetts was forfeited, and Andros ruled Maine with cruelty. The Revolution of 1688 restored the former political status of Massachusetts, and thenceforth the history of the province of Maine is identified with that of Massachusetts. It remained a part of that province until March 15, 1820, when it was admitted into the Union as the twenty-third State. In 1890 the population was 661,086; in 1900, 694,466.

During the Revolutionary War Maine was very little disturbed, but during that of 1812 it suffered much. The British held possession of a part of the country, but their rule was comparatively mild [78] after they gained a foothold. For more than half a century the governments of the United States and Great Britain were involved in a controversy concerning the eastern boundary, which the treaty of 1783 did not accurately define. The dispute was finally settled by treaty in 1842, each party making concessions. Maine was twice invaded by Confederates during the Civil War. On the night of June 29, 1863; the officers and crew of a Confederate privateer entered the harbor of Portland, captured the revenue-cutter Caleb Cushing, and fled to sea with her, sharply pursued by two steamers manned by armed volunteers. Finding they could not escape with the cutter, they blew her up, and, taking to their boats, were soon made prisoners. At mid-day on July 18, 1864, some Confederates came from St. John, N. B., and entered Calais to rob the bank there. Having been forewarned by the American consul at St. John, the authorities were prepared, arrested three of the party, and frightened the remainder away. During the Civil War Maine contributed its full share of men and supplies in support of the government. In 1872 a Swedish colony was planted on the Aroostook, at a place called New Sweden, where, in one year, about 600 Swedes, aided by the State, had settled upon 20,000 acres of land. They have their own municipal organization and schools, in which one of the chief studies is the English language. See United States, Maine, in vol. IX.

governors. (Prior to 1820 Maine was a part of Massachusetts.)

Name.	Term.
William King	1820 to 1821
William D. Williamson	1821
Albion K. Parris	1822 to 1826
Enoch Lincoln	1827 to 1829
Nathan Cutler	1829
Jonathan G. Hutton	1830 to 1831
Samuel Emerson Smith	1831 to 1833
Robert P. Dunlap	1834 to 1837
Edward Kent	1838 to 1839
John Fairfield	1839 to 1840
Edward Kent	1840 to 1841
John Fairfield	1841 to 1843
Edward Kavanagh	1843 to 1844
Hugh J. Anderson	1844 to 1847
John W. Dana	1847 to 1850
John Hubbard	1850 to 1853
William G. Crosby	1853 to 1855
Anson P. Morrill	1855 to 1856
Samuel Wells	1856 to 1857
Hannibal Hamlin	1857
Joseph H. Williams	1857 to 1858

Governors-continued.

Name.	Term.
Lot M. Morrill	1858 to 1861
Israel Washburn, Jr	1861 to 1862
Abner Coburn	1862 to 1864
Samuel Corey	1864 to 1867
Joshua L. Chamberlain	1867 to 1870
Sidney Perham	1871 to 1873
Nelson Dingley, Jr	1874 to 1875
Selden Connor	1876 to 1879
Alonzo Garcelon	1879 to 1880
Daniel F. Davis	1880 to 1881
Harris M. Plaisted	1881 to 1882
Frederick Robie	1883 to 1887
Joseph R. Bodwell	1887
Sebastian S. Marble	1887 to 1888
Edwin C. Burleigh	1889 to 1892
Henry B. Cleaves	1893 to 1897
Llewellyn Powers	1897 to 1901
John F. Hill	1901 to —

United States Senators.

Name.	No. of Congress.	Term.
John Chandler	16th to 20th	1820 to 1829
John Holmes	16th to 19th	1820 to 1827
Albion K. Parris	20th	1828
John Holmes	20th to 22d	1829 to 1833
Peleg Sprague	21st to 23d	1830 to 1835
John Ruggles	23d to 26th	1835 to 1841
Ether Shepley	23d to 24th	1835 to 1836
Judah Dana	24th	1836 to 1837
Reuel Williams	25th to 28th	1837 to 1843
George Evans	27th 29th	1841 to 1847
John Fairfield	28th to 30th	1843 to 1847
Wyman B. S. Moor	30th	1848
Hannibal Hamlin	30th	1848 to 1857
James W. Bradbury	30th to 33d	1847 to 1853
William Pitt Fessenden	33d to 41st	1854 to 1869
Amos Nourse	34th	1857
Hannibal Hamlin	35th to 36th	1857 to 1861
Lot M. Morrill	36th to 44th	1861 to 1876
Hannibal Hamlin	41st to 46th	1869 to 1881
James G. Blaine	44th to 47th	1876 to 1881
William P. Frye	47th to —	1881 to —
Eugene Hale	47th to —	1881 to —