History of Maine United States of America

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MAINE, the largest of the New England States, and the most easterly of the United States, is bounded on the N. by Canada East, (from which it is separated by the St. John's river,) on the E. by New Brunswick, S. by the Atlantic ocean, and W. by New Hampshire and Canada East. It lies between 43° 5' and 47° 30' N. lat., and between 66° 50' and 71° W. lon., being about 250 miles in extreme length from N. to S., and 190 in its greatest breadth from E. to W., including an area of about 30,000 square miles, or 19,200,000 acres, of which only 2,036,596, or less than one-ninth, were improved in 1850.

Population: Till recently, the population of Maine was almost wholly of English or New England origin, but new it begins to receive a portion of the mixed emigration from Europe. The number of inhabitants was 96,540 in 1790; 151,719 in 1800; 228,705 in 1810; 298,335 in 1820; 399,455 in 1830; 501,798 in 1840, and 583,169 in 1850; of whom 296,745 were white males; 285,068 females; 726 colored males, and 630 females. This population was distributed among 108,787 families, occupying 95,797 dwellings. Of the entire population, 517,117 were born in the state; 34,012 in other states of the Union, 1949 in England, 13,871 in Ireland, 592 in Scotland and Wales, 14,181 in British America, 290 in Germany, 143 in France, 430 in other countries, and 584 whose places of birth were unknown, making about 6 per cent. of the population of foreign birth. In the year ending June 1st, 1850, there occurred 7545 deaths, or about 13 in every 1000 persons; in the same period, 5503 paupers, of whom 950 were foreigners, received aid, at an expense of about $38 to each person. Of 230 deaf and dumb, 1 was a colored person; of 201 blind, none were colored; of 536 insane, 3 were colored, and of 558 idiotic, 3 also were colored.

Counties: Maine is divided into 13 counties, viz. Aroostook, Cumberland, Franklin, Hancock, Kennebec, Lincoln, Oxford, Penobscot, Piscataquis, Somerset, Waldo, Washington, and York. Augusta is the capital.

Cities and Towns: Portland is the largest and most commercial town; population in 1850, 20,815. The other most important places are Bangor, population, 14,432; Augusta, 8225; Bath, 8020; Cardiner, 6486; Saco, 5798; Rockland, Belfast, Brunswick, Westbrook, Calais, Frankfort, Eastport, Waldoborough, Ellsworth, and Camden.

Face of the Country: A ridge of broken and detached eminences, apparently an irregular continuation of the White mountains of New Hampshire, extends along the western side of Maine for some distance, and then crosses the state in a N. E. direction, forming a chain of scattered peaks, which terminate in Mars Hill, on the eastern boundary. Mount Katabdin, the highest summit in Maine, and inferior only to some of the higher peaks of the White mountains, has an elevation of 5385 feet above the sea level. This mountain is situated E. of Chesuncook lake, and a little below the 46th degree of N. latitude. There are several peaks varying from 1000 to 4000 feet in altitude. The ridge of highlands just described separates the waters flowing N. into the St. John's river from those flowing S. into the Atlantic. Amid this group of mountains lie a number of beautiful lakes of considerable magnitude. Another range of highlands of from 2000 to 4000 feet elevation, separates Maine from Canada E., till it strikes the head waters of the St. John's river. The state is generally hilly and diversified. Along the coast, however, from 10 to 20 miles inland, there are some small and marshy plains. Mount Desert, on an island of the same name in Frenchman's bay, has an elevation of more than 2000 feet, and forms a striking contrast with the vast plain of waters around it.

Minerals: Maine is not distinguished for its mineral resources, but iron, lime, and a fine building granite, are extensively found. Some of the marble which abounds in the state, admits of a fine polish, particularly in the neighborhood of Thomaston, and on the W. branch of the Penobscot river. Slate of a fine quality for roofing and for school purposes is found between the sources of the Kennebec and the St. John's river. Lead is found in small quantities.

Rivers, Lakes, Bays, &c: The rivers of Maine are numerous and important, affording near their sources, or on their branches, sites for mills, with abundant water-power, and furnishing in the principal streams, channels for navigation, down which are floated those vast quantities of lumber, which constitute so important a source of the wealth of the inhabitants of this state. The Penobscot and Kennebec rivers are the largest, and, traversing the interior of the state, empty into the Atlantic, after courses of from 200 to 300 miles. The Penobscot river, in which the tide rises from 20 to 25 feet, is navigable to Bangor (52 miles) for large vessels. The Kennebec river is navigable 12 miles, to Bath for ships, to Augusta (50 miles) for sloops, and to Waterville (68 miles) for keel-boats. The Androscoggin river issues from Umbagog lake, and pursuing a very winding course through New Hampshire and Maine, joins the Kennebec a few miles from the sea. The Saco river rises in the White mountains in New Hampshire, and passing through the celebrated Notch, empties into the Atlantic in the S. W. part of Maine. The St. Croix river forms the E. boundary for about 50 miles, and the St. John's river the N. boundary for about 70 miles. The coast of Maine is lined with islands, the principal of which are Mount Desert island, in Frenchman's bay, Deer, Long, and Fox islands in Penobscot bay. The coast of Maine is indented with bays and inlets, forming the greatest number of fine harbors possessed by any state in the Union. Commencing at the E., the most important are the Passamaquoddy, Machine, Pleasant River, Frenchman's, Penobscot, and Casco bays, besides a number of smaller inlets, but all important to the trade of the state. Maine is mirrored over with beautiful sheets of water, some of them lakes of considerable magnitude, among the largest of which are Moosehead lake, 35 miles long, Chesuncook lake, 24 miles long, Millinoket, Schoodic, Eagle, Grand, Umbagog, Sebago, (and a number of others with unpronounceable names,) which diversify and give beauty to the landscape. So numerous are the lakes and bays of Maine, that it has been estimated one-tenth of its surface is covered with water.

Objects of Interest to Tourists: If the scenery of Maine was not overshadowed by the grandeur and fame of the neighboring White mountains of New Hampshire, it would be the resort of crowds of admiring tourists. In addition to its picturesque lakes and waterfalls, Mount Katahdin rears its bold summit to a height but little inferior to that of Mount Washington, and commands a panorama scarcely inferior in extent or grandeur. Sugar Loaf mountain on the Schools river, thought not quite 2000 feet in elevation, is said to overlook 50 mountains and 17 lakes.

Chase's mountain, in the same vicinity, Mars Hill on the E. boundary, (1519 feet high,) and Mount Bigelow, Saddleback, Squaw, Bald, Blue, Speckled, Gilead, and other mountains on the W., abound in sources of delight to the lover of the romantic in nature. On Mount Desert island, as has been elsewhere stated, a mountain of the same name, 2500 feet high, exhibits in striking contrast the grandeurs of the ocean and the land, pleasing the more by contrast, and heightening the effect of each other. Some of the mountains in the W. are said to attain an elevation of 4000 feet. Maine abounds in waterfalls, which lovely as they are in their scenic aspects, do not dash and foam adown their rocky descents merely for man's amusement, but are there as an unfailing source of utility in all coming time, as sites for mill seats, factories, and forges. Near Lewiston, on the Androscoggin river, the water is precipitated over a broken ledge for about 50 feet. Godfrey's falls in the Schools river, Rumford's falls in the Androscoggin river, Frye's fall, on a tributary of Ellis river, several falls in the Kennebec river at Waterville, Skowhegan, Norridgewock, and Solon, are all highly picturesque objects.

Climate, Soil, and Productions: The winters of Maine are long and severe, but the cold generally steady, and free from those frequent changes that prove so deleterious to health in the states farther south. The summers axe short, the period of vigorous vegetation scarcely lasting four months, rendering it unfavorable to maize; but the late springs favor apples, pears, plums, and melons, because they are not tempted to blossom so early as to be caught by the frosts. The snow lies for three, and in some of the interior forest districts, for five months in the year. The N. E. winds from the Atlantic, in the spring and early summer, charged with fog and chilliness, are among the most unpleasant and unhealthful features of the climate of this state. Meteorological tables kept at Biddeford, by James G. Garland, in the years 1851-2, gave the monthly mean of July at 1 1/2 P.M., at 80°; of August, 77°; of September, 59° 76; of October, 60°; of November, 40.09°; of December, 27.93°; of January, 27.41°; of February, 37.13°; of March, 41.04°; of April, 49.13°; of May, 65.08°, and of June, 75° 46'. Wind westwardly 151 days, eastwardly 54, northwardly 84, and southwardly 77. Quantity of rain, 49.24 inches. First frost in 1851. September 15th; last in the spring of 1852, June 12th; first snow, October 26; last in spring of 1852, April 16. Saco frozen over December 1st; opened March 31st. Lowest point of the mercury 8° below, and highest 98° above zero. The mercury, however, in some parts, and in severe seasons, descends to nearly 30° below zero.

The soil of Maine is as various as its surface. The best lands are between the Penobscot and Kennebec, and are highly productive; there is also much good land in the valley of the St. John's, and on some other rivers. There is a great deal of poor land in the mountainous districts, and along the coast, especially in the S. E. part of the state. The most abundant agricultural products of Maine are Irish potatoes, oats, Indian corn, hay, butter, cheese, wool, live stock, and fruits, besides considerable quantities of wheat, rye, peas, beans, barley, buckwheat, market produce, grass-seeds, maple sugar, beeswax, and honey; and some wine, hops, flax, silk, and molasses. In 1850 there were in the state 46,760 farms, occupying 2,036,596 acres of improved land, and producing 296,259 bushels of wheat; 102,916 of rye; 1,750,056 of Indian corn; 2,181,037 of oats; 205,541 of peas and beans; 3,436,040 of Irish potatoes; 151,731 of barley; 104,523 of buckwheat; 18,311 of grass-seeds; 1,364,034 pounds of wool; 9,243,811 of butter; 2,434,454 of cheese; 93,542 of maple sugar; 189,618 of beeswax and honey; 755,889 tons of hay; live stock valued at $9,705,726; orchard products at $342,865; market products at $122,387, and slaughtered animals at $1,646,773.

Forest Trees: The great staple of Maine is its lumber. Extensive forests of pine cover the country around the sources of the Kennebec, Penobscot, and other rivers in the centre and N. of the state. Hemlock and spruce abound in all parts; but white and red oak are confined to the districts near the coast. Maple, beech, birch, and ash are plentiful, and some butternut and white walnut are found, but not in abundance. Cedar swamps occur in the north central portions. The other trees are the poplar, elm, sassafras, dogwood, willow, wild plum, basswood, buttonwood, juniper, hornbeam, &c. The cutting and rafting of timber to the saw mills, where it is converted into boards, shingles, scantling, &c., is a great business in Maine. In winter, great numbers of men are employed in felling the trees, and dragging them over the hard and deep snow to the rivers, where they are suffered to lie till the breaking up of the ice in the spring, when they are floated down to the mills and places of export. Of the fruit-trees, the apple, pear, plum, and cherry flourish, but the peach does not succeed well.

Animals: The moose and caribou are still occasionally met with in the forests of Maine; the other animals are the bear, deer, catamount, wildcat, wolf, mink, wolverine, beaver, martin, sable, weasel, porcupine, woodchuck, racoon, squirrel, &c. The birds are wild geese and ducks, passenger-pigeons, hawks, eagles, owls, ravens, humming-birds, thrushes, quails, &c.

Manufactures: Maine is not so extensively engaged in manufactures as some of the New England States; she had, however, according to the census of 1850, 3682 manufacturing establishments, each producing $500 and upwards annually, of which 12 were cotton factories, employing $3,329,700 capital, and 780 male and 2950 female hands, consuming raw material worth $1,573,110, and producing 32,852,556 yards of stuffs, valued at $2,596,356; 36 woollen factories, employing $467,600 capital, and 310 male and 314 female hands, consuming raw material worth $495,940, and producing 1,023,020 yards of stuffs, and 1200 pounds of yarn, valued at $753,300; 26 iron foundries, forges, furnaces, &c., employing $364,100 capital, and 314 male and 1 female hands, consuming raw material worth $127,509, and producing 5175 tons of pig iron and castings, valued at $301,616; and distilling establishments employing $17,000 capital, and 5 hands, and producing 220,000 gallons of rum. There are 213 tanneries, employing $732,747 capital, consuming raw material worth $892,343, and producing leather valued at $1,620,636; and $17,000 were invested in the manufacture of malt and spirituous liquors, consuming 2000 gallons of molasses, and producing 220,000 gallons of rum. More ships are built, and perhaps more boards and scantling sawn in Maine, than in any other state in the Union. It was estimated that 100,000 tons of shipping would be built in the state during the year 1853. Lime is also largely manufactured for export, chiefly in Thomaston and Rockland.

Commerce: Maine has a coast indented by bays and inlets, presenting a greater number of good harbors than any other state in the confederacy, navigable by vessels of the largest class. Her rivers may be ascended by ships and other sea-crafts from 12 to 50 miles, and much farther by keel-boats. The great staple of export from Maine is lumber, of which 202,005,830 feet was manufactured in 1851, independent of lath, shingles, &c., which are also largely exported, as well as lime, marble, granite, and ice. The fisheries employ a number of vessels and hands in the catching, curing, and carrying the fish to foreign (i.e. out of the state) markets. The foreign imports for 1852 amounted $1,717,818, and the exports to $1,094,977. The completion of the Atlantic and St. Lawrence railroad, it is thought, will greatly increase the foreign commerce of Portland. The increase of the imports of 1851 over 1850, was over $300,000. The tonnage owned in Maine in 1852 was 592,805 7/9 5/5, of which 44,070 3/9 2/5 were engaged in cod, and 15,078 6/9 2/5 in the mackerel fishery; number of ships built, 354, with an aggregate capacity of 100,047 4/9 1/5 tons, being the greatest amount of ship-building in any state in the Union.

Internal Improvements: In January, 1853, Maine had 394 miles of railroad completed, and 111 in course of construction. Her chief commercial town, Portland, is connected by railroad with Boston and all the intermediate places of importance in Maine as well as in New Hampshire and Massachusetts. A line already completed to Island Pond, in Vermont, and passing within 5 miles of Mount Washington, will soon connect Portland and Montreal. From the latter, roads branch to Buckfield and Waterville; Augusta, Hallowell, and Gardiner are also united to Portland by railway, and railroads are projected to connect St. John's, New Brunswick, and Bangor, Maine, with the commercial metropolis of the state: See Table of Railroads, APPENDIX. The Cumberland and Oxford canal, including some lockage, forms a navigable line of 50 miles, uniting Portland with Sebago, Brandy, and Long Ponds.

Education: Maine has a permanent school fund, arising from 20 townships of land set apart by the state in 1820. In 1850, twenty-four half-townships more were set apart. The fund arising from the first appropriation amounted, in 1850, to $104,363. In addition to this, the banks pay a semi-annual tax of one-half of one per cent. on their capital for school purposes, and a tax of 40 cents per capita is levied in each town. All these sources yielded, in 1850, $300,000, when there were 6627 schools, and 230,724 pupils, but with an average attendance of only 91,519. The same year Maine had 92 chartered academies, and school libraries in 9 towns. There are 2 colleges in this state, with an aggregate of 217 pupils, and 43,000 volumes in their libraries, 1 theological seminary with 37, and 1 medical school with 51 students.

Religious Denominations: Of the 851 churches in Maine in 1850, there belonged to the Baptists 283, to the Christians 9, the Congregationalists 165, the Episcopalians 8, the Free Church 19, the Friends 24, the Methodists 171, the Presbyterians 7, the Roman Catholics 11, the Union Church 83, the Unitarians 15, and to the Universalists 53. The remaining churches were owned by the Church of the Second Advent and the Swedenborgians-giving one church to every 685 persons. Church property valued at $1,712,152.

Public Institutions: The state prison of Maine is at Thomaston, and is conducted on the Auburn (or silent) system. The prisoners are engaged in stone-cutting and quarrying. There is a state insane asylum located at Augusta, which was partly destroyed by fire in December, 1850, when 27 of the unfortunate lunatics perished in the flames. It was sufficiently repaired to receive patients in about a month after the calamity. In 1852, Maine appropriated $5126.25 for the education of the deaf and dumb and the blind, (the former in the asylums of Connecticut,) $3000 to the state reform schools, $602 for the insane hospital and $500 for the state prison.

Government, Finances, Banks, &c: The governor of Maine is elected annually by popular vote, and receives a salary of $1500 per annum. He is aided by a council of seven persons, elected on joint ballot by the legislature. The senate, composed of 31, and the house of representatives, of 151 members, are elected annually by the people. Three months' residence in the state previous to an election, gives every male citizen of the United States, not a pauper or criminal, the right of suffrage. Maine is entitled to six members in the national house of representatives, and to eight electoral votes for president of the United States. The judiciary consists: 1. Of a supreme judicial court, composed of 1 chief and 6 associate judges, holding courts in three judicial districts, the western, eastern, and middle, for the purpose of hearing and determining questions in law and equity: other cases are tried in the several counties where they are commenced. The judges of this court have salaries of $1800 dollars per annum; 2. Of probate courts, held in each county, and receiving salaries of from $160 to $500; 3. Of municipal and police courts in the larger towns.

The assessed value of property in Maine in 1850 was $96,765,868; public debt in 1852, $600,500; school fund, $350,000; other productive property, $700,000, and ordinary expenses, exclusive of debt and schools, $150,000. In January, 1853, there were in this state 39 banking institutions, with an aggregate capital of $3,923,000, circulation $3,254,882, and coin $622,300.

History: A settlement was made on the site of the present town of Phippsburg in 1607, contemporaneously with Jamestown in Virginia, but afterwards abandoned. Settlements from New Hampshire gradually extended themselves into Maine, and York and Saco are known to have had an existence in 1625. In 1635 a French armed vessel took possession of a trading house on the Penobscot and sent the colonists back to Plymouth. In the same year Maine fell into the hands of Gorges, but after his death in 1652, was annexed to Massachusetts, as far as the Kennebec river. In the latter part of the 17th century, Maine suffered much from incursions by the savages and French, many of the towns being laid waste and the inhabitants slaughtered. This state of things was terminated by the treaty of Utrecht in 1712, by which Maine passed with Acadie into the hands of the English, and lost its separate history in that of Massachusetts, to which it was attached. During the Revolutionary war, Portland was bombarded by the English in 1775, and more than 100 buildings, public and private, were destroyed. The ever-memorable march of Arnold, on his passage to Quebec, in the fall and winter of the same year, took place along the margin of the Kennebec, within the limits of the present state of Maine. In 1820 this state became an independent member of the great American confederacy. After a long diplomatic controversy, which had nearly resulted in an appeal to arms, Great Britain and the United States, by treaty, in 1842, defined the N. and N. W. boundary of Maine to be the St. John's and St. Francis rivers to Pohenagamook lake, and from thence in a S. W. direction along the highlands to the N. E. corner of New Hampshire.

Biographies:

Selden Connor, governor of Maine, was born in Fairfield, Maine, Jan. 25, 1839; son of William and Mary (Bryant) Connor. He was graduated at Tufts college in 1859 and studied law at Woodstock, Vt., where he enlisted in the 1st regiment of Vermont volunteers for three months' service in the civil war. At the close of this service he became major and soon after was lieutenant-colonel of the 7th Maine regiment, which he commanded in the peninsula campaign from the beginning of the "Seven Days" battle. He commanded the 77th N.Y. volunteers for a short time after the battle of Antietam, and his own regiment at the battle of Gettysburg. In January, 1864, he was made colonel of the 19th Maine infantry and commanded the brigade as ranking officer. His wounds received in the battle of the Wilderness incapacitated him for active service. He was commissioned brigadier-general June 11, 1864, and in 1867 was appointed a member of the staff of Governor Chamberlain. In 1868 he was made assessor of internal revenue and in 1874 was appointed by President Grant collector for the Augusta district. In 1875 he was elected governor of Maine and was twice re-elected, serving 1876-79. He was U.S. pension agent under appointment from President Arthur, 1882-85.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

John Winchester Dana, governor of Maine, was born in Fryeburg, Maine, Jan. 21, 1808; son of Judge Judah and Elizabeth (Ripley) Dana. He was admitted to the bar and practised in Fryeburg, where he held several local offices. In 1834 be was married to Elizabeth Ann Osgood. He was governor of Maine, 1847-50; charg? d'affaires at Bolivia, S.A., 1853, and minister resident, 1854-59. In March, 1859, he returned to his native state but in 1862 again visited South America for the benefit of his health. He died in Rosario, New Grenada, S.A., Dec. 22, 1867.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

George Evans, senator, was born in Hallowell, Maine, Jan. 12, 1797. He was graduated at Bowdoin college in 1815 and was admitted to the bar in 1818. He practised in Gardiner, Maine, and represented that town in the state legislature, 1825-28, being speaker of the house in 1828. He was a representative in the 21st-26th congresses, 1829-41, and a U.S. senator, 1841-47. As a representative of the Whig party he commanded a large influence over the minority and in the senate he was chairman of the committee on finance. He was a candidate before the Whig national convention of 1848, for the vice-presidential nomination, and he was appointed by President Taylor chairman of the Mexican claims commission. He was attorney-general of Maine, 1853-55; an overseer of Bowdoin college, 1827-45; a trustee, 1845-67; and received from that institution the degree of A.M. in 1818 and that of LL.D. in 1847. He also received the degree of LL.D. from Washington college, Pa., in 1846. He died in Portland, Maine, April 6, 1867.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

Samuel Clement Fessenden, representative, was born in New Gloucester, Maine, March 7, 1815, son of Gen. Samuel and Deborah (Chandler) Fessenden. He was graduated at Bowdoin in 1834 and at Bangor theological seminary in 1837. He was pastor of the 2d Congregational church, Rockland, Maine, 1837-56, editor and proprietor of the Maine Evangelist, 1856-58, and was admitted to the bar in 1858. He was judge of the municipal court of Rockland and a representative in the 37th congress, 1861-63. He was on the board of examiners of the U.S. patent office, 1865-79, and U.S. consul to St. John, New Brunswick, Canada, 1879-81. His son Joshua Abbe, born Feb. 15, 1841, was appointed sergeant, 1st Maine cavalry in September, 1861; 2d lieutenant, U.S. cavalry in March, 1862; 2d lieutenant, 5th U.S. artillery Sept. 6, 1862; was brevetted 1st lieutenant for gallant services at Stone's River, Dec. 3, 1862, and captain for gallant services at Chickamauga, Sept. 20, 1863; was promoted captain, 5th U.S. artillery June 26, 1882, and retired in 1896. Another son, Samuel, born April 12, 1847, was 2d lieutenant, 5th Maine battery in 1864, 1st lieutenant, 7th Maine battery in 1865; became a distinguished lawyer at Stamford, Conn., and a leader of the Republican party in that state, and was for many years a member of the Republican national committee. Samuel C. Fessenden died in Stamford, Conn., April 18, 1882.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

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