USA > Massachusetts > Commonwealth history of Massachusetts, colony, province and state, volume 3 > Part 53
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Two positions of importance were given to the Federalists, but both, were nonpolitical. Prentiss Mellen, who had been a Senator from Massachusetts at the time of the separation, was made chief justice of Maine. He proved a conscientious and learned judge, whose opinions brought honor to Maine. His chief fault was an impetuosity at the bar, which on the bench made him impatient with prosy counsel and witnesses. Once, when Chief Justice Parsons said to him: "You are aware, of course, Mr. Mellen, that there are authorities on the other side," Mellen replied: "Yes, yes, Your Honor, but they are all in my favor."
Maine established a State Court of Common Pleas, and Governor King appointed Ezekiel Whitman as chief justice. Whitman had been an active Federalist, and, at the time of his appointment, was serving a fourth term in Congress. As befitted a member from a commercial district, he gave much attention to trade questions, and opposed increases of the tariff. He bitterly condemned the conduct of General Jackson in Florida, and strongly favored an antislavery restriction on the admission of Missouri. In Maine Mr. Whitman had fought the five to four decision of the Brunswick Convention of 1816, of which he was a prominent member; and in the Convention of 1820 he was a leader of the conservatives and a champion of the large towns.
LATER RELATIONS OF MASSACHUSETTS AND MAINE
Though the political union of Maine and Massachusetts was now wholly dissolved, a property link remained. By the act of separation, the State lands in Maine were equally di- vided between the two States, and any money received from the United States in payment of claims by Massachusetts for disbursements in the War of 1812 was to be shared by the two States in the proportion of two parts for Massachusetts and one for Maine. These lands were ultimately bought by Maine. The claims, or a large part of them; were paid, and a number of years later interest was allowed.
578
SEPARATION OF MAINE
Other than formal ties between the two States exised, and Maine was soon obliged to appeal to them. In 1822, Bowdoin College received a severe blow in the gutting by fire of its only dormitory. Joseph McKeen, a son of the first president, started at once for Boston to beg for help, and reported: "I am at almost every step reminded that we are now a separate state, and must support our own institutions." Eventually Massachusetts men subscribed nearly as much as those of Maine. The gifts more than met the losses, and the college made over $3200 by the fire.
Massachusetts beneficence was probably partly due to a circular signed by Chief Justice Parker and Judge Wilde, former Maine men: "How important that a country with which such relations exist, should have preserved to it an insti- tution which, more than anything else, will strengthen these ties. It is the country to which our young men will continue to emigrate. Massachusetts will be the parent country, and Bos- ton for a century to come, be its commercial capital."
These prophecies of Maine, and that Boston would remain its commercial capital, were only in part fulfilled. The rich, treeless prairies of the West proved more attractive than the forests of Maine. Yet, for many years Boston held a financial scepter, the "Suffolk system," by which six Boston banks formed a union, popularly called "Holy Alliance" and "Six- tailed Bashaw," whose object was to buy up and send home for redemption the notes of country banks which were thought to be overextending, or which had not accepted the terms of an agreement imposed by the Suffolks.
Part of the development of Maine was due to financial help from Massachusetts. But occasionally a Maine speculation de- veloped as unwarranted and as disastrous as an old-fashioned Western boom. About 1835, the success of mills at Lowell, Lawrence and other places in Massachusetts greatly stimu- lated such investments, and mill sites on the rivers of Maine were rapidly acquired, particularly in the eastern part of the State. Timber land was also in great demand.
A wild rush ensued to Bangor, the head of navigation on the Penobscot, and the gate to the almost untouched forests of northern Maine. Humorists declared that the town was so filled with Boston speculators that the late comers paid for
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SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY
the privilege of leaning against a post while they slept. There was much misrepresentation and fraud. A few men were shrewd enough to sell soon or buy late; and a few others who had the money to hold on made fortunes; but many specula- tors and innocent investors suffered heavily. Bangor's dreams of becoming a metropolis passed away.
Today Maine furnishes a large part of her own financial capital, and gets much help from New York and Philadelphia; but Massachusetts still invests in Maine industries. Cultur- ally, Boston has become less of a leader in Maine than in the days of our fathers and grandfathers; but Boston may still be thought of as intellectually the first city in New England, and as such she receives the homage of Maine; although, like the general in the Roman triumph, she may be satirized as well as honored. Many Maine youths seek the advantages of an education at Harvard, but there is a reverse set of the tide. Massachusetts boys come to the University of Maine for a technical education, and the old Bay State is now sending nearly as many to Bowdoin as does Maine herself.
SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY
CUSHING, HARRY ALONZO .- History of the Transition from Provincial to Commonwealth Government in Massachusetts (Columbia Studies in History, Economics, and Public Law, Vol. VII, No. 1, N. Y., 1896)- See especially pp. 235-279.
ELLIOT, JONATHAN .- The Debates, Resolutions, and Other Proceedings, in Convention on the Adoption of the Federal Constitution, as Rec- ommended by the General Convention at Philadelphia, on the 17th of September, 1787 (4 vols., privately printed, Washington, 1827-30)- For the debates in Massachusetts see Vol. I. Same in a reprint.
EMERY, GEORGE F .- "Reminiscences of Bench and Bar" (Maine Historical Society, Collections and Proceedings, Second Series, Vol. VIII, pp. 113-143, Portland, 1897).
GOODWIN, WILLIAM F., editor .- "The Thatcher Papers" (Historical Maga- zine, and Notes and Queries concerning the Antiquities, History, and Biography of America, Second Series, Vol. VI, 1869, pp. 257-271, 337- 352)-Letters written to the Hon. George Thatcher during 1787-1788.
HARDING, SAMUEL BANNISTER .- The Contest over the Ratification of the Federal Constitution in the State of Massachusetts (N. Y., Longmans, Green, 1896).
HATCH, LOUIS CLINTON .- Maine; a History (3 vols., N. Y., Am. Histori- cal Society, 1919)-See Vol. I, chaps. VI and VII.
KIDDER, HENRY PURKITT, and PEABODY, FRANCIS H .- "Finance in Boston" (JUSTIN WINSOR, Memorial History of Boston, 4 vols., Boston, Os- good, 1882-1886)-Vol. IV, chap. VI. See especially pp. 164-167.
580
SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY
MAINE: CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION, 1819 .- The Debates, Resolutions, and other Proceedings of the Convention of Delegates, Assembled at Portland on the 11th, and Continued Until the 29th Day of October, 1819, for the Purpose of Forming a Constitution for the State of Maine. To Which is Prefixed the Constitution. Taken in Convention (Portland, A. Shirley, printer, 1820)-Reported by Jeremiah Perley.
STANWOOD, EDWARD .- The Separation of Maine from Massachusetts (Mass. Historical Society, Proceedings, Third Series, Vol. I, pp. 125- 164, Boston, 1908)-Thorough and valuable.
TALBOT, GEORGE FOSTER .- "General John Chandler, of Monmouth, Maine, with Extracts from his Autobiography." (Maine Historical Society, Collections, First Series, Vol. IX, pp. 169-205, Portland, 1887).
TALBOT, GEORGE FOSTER .- "Ashur Ware: a Biographical Sketch" (Maine Historical Society, Collections and Proceedings, Second Series, Vol. I, pp. 409-421, Portland, 1890).
WILLIAMSON, WILLIAM DURKEE .- The History of the State of Maine; from Its First Discovery, A. D. 1602, to the Separation, A. D. 1820, Inclusive (2 vols., Hallowell, Glazier, Masters and Co., 1832)-See especially Vol. II, pp. 671-679.
WILLIS, WILLIAM .- A History of the Law, the Courts, and the Lawyers of Maine, from Its First Colonization to the Early Part of the Present Century (Portland, Bailey and Noyes, 1863).
Falmouth Gazette and Weekly Advertiser, Portland. The name was changed to that of Cumberland Gazette; by amalgamation it became the Weekly Herald and Gazette and was finally absorbed in the Portland Gazette. A very full set of Portland papers is preserved in the Portland Public Library.
Portland Gazette, April 16, 1798, [to 1820 and later].
A very full set of Portland papers is preserved in the Portland Public Library; and sets are to be found in the larger libraries of Massa- chusetts.
APPENDIX
LIST OF OFFICERS FROM 1775-1820
GOVERNORS
John Hancock
1780
tc
1785
James Bowdoin
1785
to
1787
John Hancock
1787 to Oct.
8, 1793
Samuel Adams
1794
to 1797
Increase Sumner
1794 to June
7, 1799
Caleb Strong
1800
to
1807
Jas. Sullivan
1807 to Dec. 10, 1808
Christopher Gore
1809
to
1810
Elbridge Gerry
1810
to
1812
Caleb Strong
1812
to
1816
John Brooks
1816
to
1823
LIEUTENANT-GOVERNORS
Thos. Cushing
1780 to Feb. 28, 1788
Benjamin Lincoln
1788
to
1789
Samuel Adams
178
to
1794
Moses Gill
1794 to May 20, 1800
Sam'l Phillips
1801 to Feb. 10, 1802
Edward H. Robbins
1802
to
1806
Levi Lincoln
1807
to
1809
David Cobb
1809
to
1810
William Gray
1810
to
1812
William Phillips
1812
to
1823
CHIEF JUSTICES
John Adams
1775
to
1776
Resigned
William Cushing
1777
to
1789
Resigned
Nathaniel Peaslee 'Sargent
1790
to
1791
Francis Dana
1791
to
1806
Resigned
Theophilus Parsons
1806
to
1813
Samuel Sewall
1814
to
1814
Died
Isaac Parker
1814
to
1830
JUSTICES
William Cushing
1775
to
1777
Nathaniel Peaslee Sargent
1775
to
1790
William Reed
1775
to
1776
Superseded
Jedediah Foster
1776
to
1779
James Sullivan
1776
to
1782
Resigned
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582
APPENDIX
JUSTICES-Continued
David Sewall
1777
to
1789
Resigned
Increase Sumner
1782
to
1797
Francis Dana
1785
to
1791
Robert Treat Paine
1790
to
1804
Resigned
Nathan Cushing
1790
to
1800
Resigned
Thomas Dawes
1792
to
1802
Resigned
Theophilus Bradbury
1797
to
1803
Removed
Samuel Sewall
1800
to
1814
Simeon Strong
1801
to
1805
George Thacher
1801
to
1824
Resigned
Theodore Sedgwick
1802
to
1813
Isaac Parker
1806
to
1814
Charles Jackson
181
to
1823
Resigned
Daniel Dewey
1814
to
1815
Samuel Putnam
1814
to
1842
Resigned
Samuel Sumner Wilde
1815
to
1850
Resigned
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